Fixed Gear Bikes

snafu1322 · Post by **snafu1322** » 18 Sep 2007 13:47

Anyone ride one here?

Thinking about buying one, need some advice on weather to buy new, used, or a conversion.

Thanks

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 18 Sep 2007 14:58

hehe strangely there are now many footbag players riding fixed gears.

Here are all the ones I can think of:

Tom Mosher
Jared Mackay
John Bagi
Jon Haber
Andrew Grant
Nathan Pipenberg
Jakob Wagner
Rene Ruhr

I love my bike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a raleigh Super Grand Prix with some medium crappy parts on it.

snafu1322 · Post by **snafu1322** » 18 Sep 2007 15:15

Oh and how are they for long rides?

Footbag Forever · Post by **Footbag Forever** » 19 Sep 2007 07:14

ask Tom Stepek,
tstep84 on here. He does a lot of long rides.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 19 Sep 2007 07:34

It depends what you consider a long ride.

I know some people do 100 miles and more in a single ride on fixed gears.

I usually rarely do more than 15 KM, but that's mostly to do with the type of riding I am doing.

I love fixed gears!!!!!

Outsider · Post by **Outsider** » 19 Sep 2007 09:49

So, Tom, or any other Fixed-Gear enthousiasts out there...

What is it about Fixed-Gear bikes that gets some people so excited? I've never ridden a fixed-gear rig before (not counting the bikes I had when I was, like, 9) and I can't see what the big deal is from where I'm standing.

I've got a nice Cannondale cyclo-cross with Shimano 105 shifters and deraileurs, and I just love those modern shift-lever-brakes. Those things rock, and seem like the best thing to ever happen to road bikes.

So, whats the fixed-gear thing all about, Tom?

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 19 Sep 2007 10:27

Outsider wrote:So, whats the fixed-gear thing all about, Tom?

]

Well mister outsider, let me give you an inside look.

Fixed gears are the purest form of bicycling.

You are directly connected to the whole biking experience, and you are in direct control of your speed via your feet.

Unlike the bike you had when you were 9, fixed gears can not coast!!!

They do not have back pedal brakes!!!!!!!!

You resist the pedals to slow down and outright stop them with locked legs to skid.

What happens is you wind up 'in the zone' and so directly connected to the road. there are no bullshit parts (like dÃ©railleurs and freewheels and brakes) getting in the way of your enjoyment and you wind up with alot more involved experience. I find that freewheels and brakes detach me from the bike.

There are lots of other benefits that come from fixed riding but I don't really feel the need to go into them.

Basically, it provides you with the most enjoyable riding experience possible on a bicycle.

This all said, there are many situations that a fixed gear is NOT optimal for.

That said, I do my best to rip my fixie through every gnarly sitch I can get into!

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 19 Sep 2007 13:40

i enjoy the fact that i am almost always working, i don't stop pedalling, because if i do, i stop moving. i feel far more aware of my surroundings when i'm riding my fixie, and far more involved. It's kinda the feeling between driving and automatic and a standard car. with a standard i feel far more in control of the drive, more in control of my speed, acceleration and stopping, and it's the same type of feeling when riding my bike. I'm in direct control of my speed, acceleration and stopping through the work of my legs.
Also, there's less to go wrong with it on the road. you are not going to derail the chain right off your bike, it won't get caught or twisted or bunch up, which happened to a friend of mine. His chain got tangled with his deraileur when he was shifting, it tore the deraileur off his bike and lodged it in his spokes, bringing his wheel to an immediate stop and pitching him over his handle bars while riding in traffic (not that this a regular occurance, but you get the picture). You won't snap a brake cable, there aren't any, or have to replace brake pads, clean shifters and levers, etc.
There are downsides to riding fixies though. You might go through tires faster if you do alot of skid stopping, and you'll wear your chain ring and your chain faster if you don't have a proper chain line. Since the size of your chain ring in relation to the size of your cog will determine the gearing of the bike, a really big gear might be impractical for long rides in stop and go traffic, as you'll have to push really hard to get it going. Doing this over and over again is fairly taxing, which is why i'm looking at buliding a single speed so i can coast here and there. right now i ride a 48/15, but i plan on changing to a slightly smaller gear, like a 46/16. In contrast, a really small gear isn't great if you need to ride quickly over longer distances, as your legs will have to go at light speed to get any serious speed. with no ability to coast you've got to keep your leg speed up the whole time. Alot of fixie riders ride breakless, using only leg power to stop them. I ride brakeless at present, but i plan to add a brake next season. i had a close call the other day where a pedestrian stepped into my path, to my right was a high curb and to my left was heavy traffic and i was in an awkward position to break. i had to do one more half turn of my crank before i could put adequate back pressure to stop. Having a hand brake would have allowed me to start stopping a bit sooner. That said, i managed to ride away unscathed, missed the pedestrian and didn't get hit by a car.
One of the bonuses of riding a fixie are the cool fixie tricks you can only do on a fixie, like riding backwards (which i am pretty bad at but learning), track stands, and skidding. Also fixie riders love fixies, in a kind of footbagger type of way. We love to talk footbag talk, They like to talk fixie talk, and the community seems similar in my experiences.

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » 19 Sep 2007 14:08

that was silly downtalk to someone who seems to know quite a bit about bikes, tom...

i like my fixed gear. i think they are better in traffic because it doesn't require effort/thought to go the speed you want, it just happens. i can also ride a lot slower/trackstand if i'm riding fixed.

i like my geared bike for long or fast rides though

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 19 Sep 2007 16:52

Nathan, I didn't mean to sound downtalky, I was excited I guess.

I just went on a ride on my fixie and it was the best.

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 19 Sep 2007 18:13

hey tom, What's the deal with velocity deep-v rims? what's the hype about? how come every one wants 'em? is it just style or is there more beyond the fact that you can get 'em in a bjillion colours?

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » 19 Sep 2007 18:24

they are really strong- so good for street riding and hopping curbs and stuff

jon · Post by **jon** » 19 Sep 2007 18:36

If you wanna be a cool hipster and be a non-conformist you have to get the same pista/deep v (or aerospoke)/tt pad/spoke card/cycling cap/downward sloping stem with riser bar bike that everyone else has or you are NOT cool!

Why I like fixed? It makes me a stronger rider in terms of strength and cadence smoothness. I feel in more control on the road cause I am constantly in control of my speed. I feel like I have more control in the rain. You can build up one cheap or get a top of the line track bike for much cheaper then a good road bike. It makes me feel cool!

jon · Post by **jon** » 19 Sep 2007 18:42

oh ya ... they can be pretty too

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 19 Sep 2007 18:49

orgasm!!!

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 19 Sep 2007 18:52

jon wrote:If you wanna be a cool hipster and be a non-conformist you have to get the same pista/deep v (or aerospoke)/tt pad/spoke card/cycling cap/downward sloping stem with riser bar bike that everyone else has or you are NOT cool!

ungh, saddly that is why i'm not cool: i am not down with tt pads, fake spoke cards (if i race an alley cat, then i'll rock one), cycling caps, downward sloping stems (though i would like one that doesn't poke me in the balls when i skid), or riser bars.

jon · Post by **jon** » 19 Sep 2007 19:06

Its only ok to have a downward stem if you have a riser bar. That way they cancel each other out. Also acceptable is are stem risers with a dropped bullhorn bar or a crazy aero bar setup.

None acceptable setups include downward stems with road drops, flat stem with a flate bar, a rising stem with a riser bar (unless the riser bar is flipped upside down), bars that have been taped using bar tape, any bar with a brake or bell on it, or basically anything that makes sense.

quadgun · Post by **quadgun** » 19 Sep 2007 19:28

I have this old RoadBike I bought for a penny ... I wonder if I can transform it into a fixed-gear bike ...
I'll post a picture of the bike when i get a chance, and you guys can let me know if its possible

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 19 Sep 2007 19:45

Is it just a matter of changing the cassette, rear hub, bottom bracket and chainrings? I really don't know, I just wanted badly to post in this thread with all the cool people. That bike above looks so fast and light... wooooooo.

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 19 Sep 2007 21:12

Zeke wrote:Is it just a matter of changing the cassette, rear hub, bottom bracket and chainrings? I really don't know, I just wanted badly to post in this thread with all the cool people. That bike above looks so fast and light... wooooooo.

you don't even need to do all of that. you can reuse your old chain rings and bottom bracket. it's the rear hub that is most important. you can turn any bike into a fixed gear bike by tossing on a rear wheel with a fixed hub and adjusting the chain length (although it probably won't have a very good chain line, and as jon pointed out, your bars will probably be set up properly... er i mean, wrong.)