Don't ride bikes without brakes folks, it does funny things to your brain. Exception apply on a velodrome.

  • BoxedFenders [any, comrade/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Because you can't coast you are forced to keep spinning as long as the bike is in motion, no matter how tired you are. They're not ideal if all you want to do is get from point A to point B as efficiently as possible, but the journey is more rewarding after you complete it. I guess it's kinda like shaving with a straight razor, driving a manual car, or taking photos with an analog camera (not coincidentally all mocked as hipster affectations); superior technologies have long since rendered them obsolete, but the privileged manchild that resides within us wants to cultivate these skills to stroke our own egos.

      • ClimateChangeAnxiety [he/him, they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Coasting is continuing to go forward after you’ve stopped peddling.

        On most bikes if you stop peddling the peddles will stop spinning and you’ll keep going forward. On a fixed bike the peddles are directly connected to the back wheel, so if the wheel’s spinning the peddles are spinning. There’s no letting go and just drifting forward.