I would like to begin by saying this site is a valuable source of information and I would recommend it highly to other riders . My name is Michael Stafford I am a m/cycle instructor from Victoria. 

I have read your article on "locked brakes-sometimes this is the fastest way to stop " and have serious reservations as to the safety implications for riders.  I do realize that you have made strong points as to reasons for not locking brakes, but still feel that the article creates a dangerous precedent for novice riders. 

You say in your article that a locked wheel will "plow through the material and in so doing creates a dam of the material in front of itself" and in so doing, slows the wheel creating a "greater stopping force than whatever traction your rotating could provide".  Yet earlier in the article you say that "If you lock a front brake you lose ALL steering control", so one would be led to believe (as is indeed factual ) that locking a brake on a loose surface would in actuality destabilize the bike at a greater speed than on a sealed surface. 

Does the rider have the benefit of knowing the depth of the gravel/sand etc. in an emergency?  For if it is loose enough to create instability but not deep enough to create a dam effect of any significance the rider would lock the brake for no particular benefit, and in fact create a more dangerous situation.  Remember a novice rider may be reading your article, not a skilled rider who may assess the situation they have found themselves in. 

Roads in general are cambered so as to create water run off.  So again locking a brake on a road with a loose surface would create a situation where the tire would skid out to the camber of the road.  In the article you say "ONLY IF YOU ARE driving in a straight line!", the speed at which the locked tire would follow the camber of the road would render the riders ability to continue in a straight useless unless she/he released the brake to regain steering control, then we are back to our original emergency.  In theory this technique may be true, but it ( in my opinion) is dangerous to generalize with such statements. 

Again keeping this in mind I know that you have repeatedly stated locking a brake is not the best way to stop in an emergency, I still feel this article to be misleading. After saying all of this I would advise riders to ride very slowly on these surfaces, and by doing this the need to react in an emergency would be negated. As we know as riders it is better in all cases to anticipate rather than to have to react ! 

Thanks again for your site, now I'm off to forward your informative site to everyone I know that rides a bike.  Good stuff James ! 

Cheers,

Michael