Do you need brakes on a fixed gear bicycle?

Fixed gear bicycles have been traditionally utilized for velodrome racing long after most different bicycles had changed to utilizing freewheels. On the high-speed velodrome it is quite dangerous if the rider ahead of you might brake abruptly. The average reaction time for humans is 0.25 seconds to a visual stimulus. You have less than 10% of that time to brake to avoid a collision. For this reason, brakes in velodrome use have been banned. Although you don't need them, we strongly encourage you to have them on for riding in public because you never know when some idiot in a car will cut you off.

Also, read our other blog post "are fixed gear bikes legal" where we write on the legality of using fixed gear bikes without brakes and the rules in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and United Kingdom

We ship all our bikes with front and rear brake, to find out more about our bikes click on the logo below

'Unknown Bikes Europe' is the official source of Unknown bicycles, frames, components and other accessories for every fixed gear rider throughout Europe. We build premium fixed gear and single speed bicycles with great passion. Visit our website to find out more.