Fresh Air

Fresh Air, originally uploaded by M.V. Jantzen.

A guy helping a girl fix her flat tire before the start of the critical mass. Dupont Circle, Washington, DC.

Comments

[dynaryder]

Was anyone at this CM? Following the link to the Flickr page,it looks like CM took the Key Bridge again. I stopped riding CM for this very reason.

[The Roacher]

Why does she only have a rear brake?

I would assume she has a bell and a light for safety, but skips a helmet and front brake?

[Will]

She also wants to give away her bike to a needy thief, as indicated by the chintzy cable lock I could chew through.

[Eric_W.]

You guys are in a very charitable mood today. Why so negative?

[Michael H.]

Looks like a fixie. Many of those bikes don't have brakes. It's possible that the bike has disc brakes but that's unlikely. I think those are only found on mountain bikes.

[Scott F]

@The Roacher

Lights contribute a lot more to safety than helmets (assuming helmets contribute ANYTHING toward safety, which has never been conclusively demonstrated).

The helmet supposedly - though no properly conducted study has ever shown this - makes you slightly better off in an accident. Lights help you avoid an accident in the first place by making you visible to others.

[TFAK]

Haha, I love Eric's comment. Positive energy, people! If anything, you gentlemen should be offering to help improve this young lady's life (and back) by purchasing some swept back handlebars for her. The sight of people using drop bars outside of competition and touring makes my heart (and back) ache.

[The Roacher]

@scott

What about brakes?

I really don't care if you wear a helmet or not. That your call, I like my brain.

But I do care if you can't stop you bike because you only have a rear brake and run into me.

[Michael H.]

If it's a classic fixie, then the bike may not have any brakes at all, front or rear. The only way to stop those bikes is to crank back on the pedals.

You're right that it can be kind of dangerous, for the rider and for others nearby. That's why some jurisdictions require all bikes to have brakes, even the fixies.

[washcycle]

I don't know of any evidence that they're dangerous. People who know nothing about bikes sometimes claim they're dangerous because they think that a bike without brakes must be dangerous. You need to know what you're doing when you ride one. Same as everything else. But they can stop pretty quickly if you do - from what I hear.