Vocab clarification for new rider, please????

[CrystalClear]

Ok. So I presently live in Seattle, a very trendy cycling city. I have only been riding a road bike for a little over a month but have made a few friends in the bike community. They are all very knowledgeable, ride fixies and think rather highly of themselves. I went on a ride with them today and they were using single speed and fixie interchangeably. To my knowledge they are two different designs for a bike. If anybody knows, can you please explain what a fixie and a single speed are please??? If they are the same thing, please forgive my ignorance. :)

I am also interested in learning basic maintenance for my bike, do you recommend any links or literature???

[Eden]

a single speed generally refers to a bike with only one gear, but a free wheel on the back - so you can coast. A fixie is a "fixed gear" the when the gear turns the chain has to turn, the pedals have to turn - so no coasting.

[Zen]

A fixie is a "fixed gear" the when the gear turns the chain has to turn, the pedals have to turn - so no coasting.

Think 'front wheel of a tricycle'.

[CrystalClear]

Tricycles.....got it. I was right, you can't use them interchangeably!

[Torrilin]

Well... a lot of commercial single speed bikes have a fixed/free hub. One side of the hub has a fixed cog, so if that's hooked to the chain the bike is a fixie. The other side has a freewheel, so if *that* cog is hooked into the chain, the bike is a singlespeed. So these bikes can sort of be both at once, since you can use them either way. They also come with brakes, which some fixed gear riders think is heresy. I like being able to stop, so I like brakes.

[Eden]

around here if you want your fixie to be street legal you have to have at very least a front brake on it. (a single speed must have brakes otherwise - no way to stop!)
What Torillin is referring to is called a flip-flop hub, fixed on one side free on the other, so you can choose depending on your situation. You can also set them up with a different gear on either side.

[lph]

Think 'front wheel of a tricycle'.

I am, and I'm shuddering.

Nope, fixies just aren't for me.

Hey, CrystalClear, nice avatar!

[PscyclePath]

Ok. So I presently live in Seattle, a very trendy cycling city. I have only been riding a road bike for a little over a month but have made a few friends in the bike community. They are all very knowledgeable, ride fixies and think rather highly of themselves. I went on a ride with them today and they were using single speed and fixie interchangeably. To my knowledge they are two different designs for a bike. If anybody knows, can you please explain what a fixie and a single speed are please??? If they are the same thing, please forgive my ignorance. :)

I am also interested in learning basic maintenance for my bike, do you recommend any links or literature???

The League of American Bicyclists offer their Road I and Road II bike classes, which includes some basic maintenance. Road I is oriented more toward riding safely in traffic but includes some very basic maintenance pointers (fixing flats, brake checks & adjustments); Road II builds on that and gets a little more into routine maintenance. There appear to be a bunch of instructors in the Seattle area, but I don't see any of the courses currently scheduled. You might try the web site at http://www.bikeleague.org/cogs/resources/findit/?courses=1&instructors=1&state=WA&submit.x=22&submit.y=15 and see if anyone will be teaching Road I anytime soon...

[Zen]

Then there's this (http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2005/mar/TheBikeCo-op.htm) which comes under the heading of "Too Much Free Time"

[CrystalClear]

Thanks for the clarification and taking it much further than I ever expected. Definitely over my head, but I have gained interest. It may be a project much further down the road since I only switched to the road bike world about a month ago. The simplicity of a single speed is aesthetically pleasing.

The link for the maintenance classes is great, time permitting, but I am really looking for some readings....if anybody knows a couple books or links that would be great????? I might post another thread.

Thanks for the comment on the avatar, a friend of mine is an amateur photographer and shot that without me knowing it. I really like it though. Makes me look like I really know how to work on a bike, besides change my pedal. :D

[Calliope]

CrystalClear,

I'm in the same spot: trying to learn more about repair. I've had several recommendations for "Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance" by Lennard Zinn.

Good luck!