Postby Toff » 28 Jan 2011, 14:55
Screaming down the big hill into Watson's Bay on Australia Day (74 inches, about 70km/h ~That's about 204rpm!!!), I was hard on the front and back brakes, and the back wheel lifted right off the ground. My cadence dropped to about 150 and my back wheel skipped along the ground until my bike speed slowed to my wheel speed.
Riding fixed gear gives you so much more environmental feedback than riding with a freewheel. You need to learn to harness this information to control your bike rather than have it control you. I was effectively using 3 brakes to slow, not just 2. Hence the greater control... Yes, it takes practice, but I'd suggest that you've probably already taught yourself the big lesson that you can't stop turning your legs. If you do it again, your body will begin to instinctively know what to do. It's guaranteed that you will forget you are riding fixed every now and then, but it will only take a moment before your body remembers, your legs automatically turn, and you roll forward again, without any risk of crashing.