"Gags" wrote:

Today's efforts have resulted in me coming to a number of conclusions:

1. Skidding the rear wheel doesn't actually slow you down real quick -
not sure if this has anything to do with my technique (or lack of it) but
because I had to unweight the rear so much to stop it spinning, I just
seemed to keep skidding without actually losing too much speed.

Braking is most effective when the tyre is braked to the extreme, just
before losing traction. That's exactly what ABS on cars does, applies the
brakes, then momentarily releases them before traction is lost, then
reapplies, all in microseconds. To stop real quick.... don't skid!

I can also only do fixie skids with my left foot back and so potentially I
would have to roll for a few metres before even starting to skid - add in
the added difficulty of tram tracks and gutters and I really don't know
how anyone can ride without brakes (may have something to do with me
running too big a gear or the fact that they are ****loads better riders
than me??).

Lower gears give you more leverage to climb hills and accelerate, and more
leverage to stop the fixed wheel turning. Also it will be quicker to get the
crank into position on the left.


3. Skidding on a regular basis would be an expensive pastime for me -
when I left for work this morning the rear tyre was a conti GP4000 with
about 150km of previous wear as a front tyre (I only put it on last night
after I had finished practicing). When I got home I had a look at the
tyre and there are a number of significant flat spots on it and one of
them is down to the canvas!!!

Yeah, skidding destroys tyres. No surprises there! Nice prank, but not a
serious traffic technique.

--
Cheers
Peter

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