Aussie bike shops face $1.1 million fine in fixie clampdown

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Brake friction pads are securely attached to the backing plate or holder and, when applied, touch only the wheel rim.

Fashion and haters aside, no disc brakes in Aus either then huh?

So a penny farthing would be out of the question then ...

I ride a brakeless fixie just for getting about and to go from my car to work because I can't park too close as it's in a crappy area.

Pretty much I know when a dangerous area is like if there are side roads and I slow down. Sure I might not then get my PB on a given road each day but it's still a fuck load quicker than walking!

I quite like the simplicity though and I think I'm a better road user having ridden one for a while

alotronic - yep I've been to Melbourne and learned the (in)famous hook turn. It takes some getting used to. I've driven there, never ridden there so I'll have to take your word for the risk factors. One way to compare would be to evaluate accident statistics I suppose.

Australian Nanny State?! That makes me laugh!

Australia is one of those places where the rules may look tight but in practice things are wayyyy looser than here. For example you don't need an annual vehicle check in Melbourne, you just wait until a cop takes the time to stop and put a sticker on your bomb, which, as you can imagine, happens... pretty much never.

As for riding in Melbourne it's a fraking full on experience. Nothing quite like being at the lights on a massive urban gird with wiiiide roads surrounded by men in V8 who believe that 30mph actually means it's ok to drive at 50. Plus the 'hook turn'. Look that one up! If you think riding in London is hard, well.... it's busier but a lot less dangerous. Ended up doing 90% of my riding on the (rather good) bike path network.

A classic example of some d*ck head with nothing much to do and probably some pressure from an outraged state representative whose limo got cut up by a fixie on the way to work.

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I wish people would keep whinging about a Nanny State every time these things come out. As has already been discussed the loopholes in the standard allow brakeless fixies for trak use, which basically means such bikes will have signs/stickers on them saying "Track Use Only" in big red scary letters. These stickers will be taken off and the bikes ridden however the owners damn well please. I remmeber seeing such stickers on bikes in london when i was there 12 months ago, has it made any difference? Of course not!

Of course the road rules also require "at least one funcioning brake", i'm not sure if a brakeless fixie satisfies this.

It's almost as if Australia would rather nobody cycled, given the amount of rules and legislation they have regarding the area.

The 'stirrup' thing is because if the brake cable snaps, the canti brakes spring apart pulling the stirrup down (cable joining the two canti brakes) onto the tyre, which can suddenly bring the front tyre to a halt (esp if its an off road mtb tyre).

rules is rules, the Australian nanny state is an embarrassment and shameful to all that was good in its past.

Stato - yep a front reflector bracket fits the bill. To be honest, anyone riding a brakeless fixie on the road needs their head examining. I'm not sure about the front brake only bikes.

But what if the Aussie dealers are pitching bikes at track riders? Does this mean when you buy a track bike it has to have brakes as well?

"For bicycles with cantilever brakes—a safety device is fitted to prevent the stirrup cable from touching the tyre."

What this when its at home then? dont think ive ever seen anything that would satisfy this law, apart from a front reflector baracket off the fork crown maybe.