Im building up a singlespeed with a fixed/free hub, cant decide whether to have the brake on the front or the back. Is there any obvious disadvantages to either?

no, you put both on a singlespeed, and a front brake on a fixed.

If its ss- both.
if fixed front (70% braking power)
you HAVE to have 2 brakes.

fsck, beaten.

front. is about 70-80 percent of your stopping power. back isn't all that necessary, just don't have the brake set too close to the rim so that there is still some variability in the pressure you can apply and you're all good. or run both to be on the safe side and all problems as sorted.

i'm too slow...

to be honest, if you have to ask this question, you might be better getting the bus.

no offence taken

.

++

you should put the brake on the back only, and attach the lever to the underside of the top tube, near the seat tube. street cred.

DrAlfonzo, note the word 'crash' in the name of the above poster. If you follow his advice you will do this. :)

2 brakes, if you insist on being suicidal, put it on the front, not the back.

Better yet, Harden The Fuck Up and go fixed. It takes literally 2 days to get used to, then you can ride with 1 brake like the 'cool kids'.

edit, re-read your post, less blunt advice:

You're obviously new to all this, start out SS with 2 brakes, then once you're used to it, flip the wheel (and keep both brakes) and try it fixed. Once you feel comfortable that you can control your speed by resisting the pedals, then you can take off the back brake. :)

^^ that is exactly what I did. ^^

hahaha :)

That's pretty much what I did as well. Except I ran out of money when building my bike up and could only afford one brake (so ss with front only). Did some bloody scary front wheel skids in traffic - very lucky not to have come off. Not good.

ss = 2 brakes.

i did a front wheelie skid this morning on my fixed, couldn't feel my fingers, and just pulled a bit to hard, then it warmed up to the 20s. i like the weather here, maybe i will bring it with me.

To be fair, i followed my own advice then went down a big hill as soon as i got my fixed-wheel and woke up in an ambulance. so its not guaranteed to keep you safe. :)

yes but you destory everything.

No brakes. It's cheaper.

**runs and hides**

this is true. This week has been pretty bad - a hat, a pair of shoes, a camera and a glass.

asm, did you seriously give all this good advice about what you did...2 brakes...try it and see... then wipe out the first time you went fixed? that's fuckin hilarious (not the ambulance bit - did they angle grind you better)?

Dr- why not start on the fixed side with 1 brake, see how you get on with it and if you don't like/can't handle fixed, flip it and get the 2nd brake.

I was well nervous when i was getting my first fixed bike, so i did the usual rationalisation...get a flip-flop, 2 brakes...blah, blah.
Went to visit the guy who was building it up, and he had it set up fixed to test it himself and within 5 mins of riding it i told him to forget the other brake. i have the cleanest freewheel sprocket you'll ever see!

i rode with only a front brake on flats, so not entirely safe. the stupidest thing was the colossal hill i thought it'd be great to ride down. My memory goes blank after "ah a big hill! Lets see how fast i can go!" But i think my foot slipped off the pedals, resulting in a loss of control.

yikes! Happy you are still here to tell the tale. Sort of sounds fun though...what hill did you say? :-0

yeah foot coming off the pedals happened for me on my first ride - I was really impatient and didn't wait for my straps to arrive in the post :S

i didn't go as far as ending up in an abulance though!

Thanks for the advice. asm; I am new to this, although ive ridden bmx for a while and rode brakeless, got sick of being pulled for having no brakes.

anyway, i'll just trial and error and hopefully not fucking kill myself. ta!

well it's not about yourself. it's about other road users. just make sure you don't take any innocent people out whilst doing it. you don't want to be another 50x14 brakeless legend.

i know, which is the point of this thread ;)

@ ed whats an innocent person?

maybe he does..

perhaps, deep down, everyone desires the freedom and carefree lifestyle of a brakeless, overgeared renegade..

maybe there's a little bit of 50x14 in ALL of us?