Fixies

[sandra]

Lord knows I'm not going to buy one but all this talk has peaked my interest. I don't know anything about them and am just curious. What makes them good or why do people want them?

[Pax]

Around here (I work on a college campus) it's THE hip thing to ride, it sets the hard core "real" riders apart from the rest.

I'd love to try one out but have no desire to own one...I loves my triples!

[Brandy]

They're different, simple...yet you have to remain so much more aware when you're riding them.

For me personally, my desire to try riding fixed gear came from watching my boyfriend. He commuted 65 miles each way to work on his while training for Furnace Creek 508 and I just became fascinated with the simplicity of them. Well that and though he's a strong rider with lots of miles on his legs, I saw them transform (more definition and muscle gain) from riding his fixie so much. He just did a 508 mile race on his fixed gear...for the challenge of it. It was truly amazing.

As a coach, he wanted to get me on a FG for several reasons. I have a tendency to stand to climb and then coast on the transition from standing back to seated, which causes me to lose the momentum that I gained from standing. All of that work for nothing. He knew the fixie would cure me of that...AND IT DID!

He also wants me training on the FG during the fall/winter in order to work on my spin...I tend to favor lower cadences. This also ensures that when I'm out doing three hours of base building, that I'm actually pedaling the whole time instead of coasting!

While I'm currently riding his Pinarello Pista, we're planning to build a steel frame Milwaukee for me (like his http://epictrain.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html) it's just a gorgeous bike!

[Kalidurga]

That Milwaukee is one hot lookin' bike.

There are a few Bianchi Pista's that I see frequently downtown and they are just such beautiful bikes that they make me crave a fixie. All that shiny silver just makes me salivate. And the idea of that zen state of constant pedaling, plus low maintenance, is very appealing. How I'd figure out the right gear combo for my wimpy legs is beyond me, though

[Brandy]

Isn't she gorgeous? My dilemma in building one is choosing the custom paint, I can't decide because I don't know that anything will look as good as his. Milwaukee now has new stainless steel badges that they braze onto the frame that look so sweet! http://www.benscycle.net/badgechoose.html

I'm a sucker for white bar tape, so that eliminated my original desire for the cream color (like their cream city track frame) and I am leaning toward a pearlescent white. I don't know...it's so hard to choose! I went through a short phase where I thought I wanted a black frame with pink anodized components, pink bar tape, pink Velocity Deep V rims, etc...but then decided that I wanted something more classic looking. ahhh...decisions, decisions...

You'll figure it out. Play around with the gear inch calculator and based on your typical cadence and preferred speed you can come up with something.

http://epictrain.com/files/Gear_Inch_Calculator.xls

[Christopher]

hiya
There's a good explanation at
http://pedalpowerct.com/page.cfm?pageID=199

Basically I ride one for the reliability as I live in a pretty damp area (NW England) with only a 7 mile round trip to work: no mechs to clog up or indexing to drift out. You also stay pretty warm on a fixie with all that spinning, oh and it grips really well on damp/icy pavement

I could care less that they're trendy. Over here, most roadies would ride fixed all winter. Fixed Gear Gallery have a dream machine: Freddie Grubb 1960s 3-speed fixed:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2004/g/hughes.htm