yes, true - but i was making the assumption we were speaking of riding on the road here - on the track, in the clear, yeah - itll take some speed off...
but on the road for the most part, its just too risky.
whenever friends who ride fixed no brakes on the road try to talk their way out of the "ok so what do you do if your chain falls off" (which it shouldnt - at least if properly tensioned, but with all the people jumping on track bikes these days, its scary how many loose chains i see...) - the glove brake thing is the first to come up, and using it like that, or for any sort of *real* braking is functionally useless...
personally, id rather have too much leg speed than not enough fingers :)
-joel
> > i just always hear the "wear a glove" braking idea from all my fixed no
>> brakes friends, and i think of it as an urban legend or old wives tale at
>> this point...
>>
>
>No it's not urban legend, it IS an old track trick, and if you look at enough
>pictures, you'll see old trackies missing a couple of fingers.
>I have personally used the technique for years (and still have my fingers).
>When running double or triple toe straps, taking your foot out to push on a
>tire is not an option. The proper technique for using your hand is to press
>with your palm on the tire, in FRONT of the fork crown. You need a thick
>glove because it gets hot fast and stays hot for quite awhile. It's not for
>stopping, it's for getting rid of too much speed so you can get back under
>leg control.
>On the road I like to run a front brake controlled by a Campy bar end
>shifter.
>Stevan Thomas
>Alameda, CA
>
>
>_______________________________________________
--
joel metz : magpie@messengers.org : http://www.blackbirdsf.org/
bike messengers worldwide : ifbma : http://www.messengers.org/
po box 191443 san francisco ca 94119-1443 usa
==
i know what innocence looks like - and it wasn't there,
after she got that bicycle...