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

[Tri Girl]

Thanks for the link, Christopher. NOW I understand!
Question, tho. Does your cadence determine how fast you'll travel downhill? If you slowly pedal downhill, will you go very slowly?
They are just fascinating bikes- I'd love to see someone riding one.

[mimitabby]

a friend of mine just completed the Paris Brest Paris 1200 kilometer ride in 90 hours on a fixed gear. he came back and said "I have no idea why i wanted to do this on a fixie" If you have hills to deal with, they're no fun. Especially downhill; because you can't stop pedalling!
Both of my sons have fixies and love them; but when we go out on a serious ride (with hills) they don't mind bikes with gears.

[sandra]

So interesting! Thank you. Even though it is not something I would want, I LOVE learning all this different stuff. Now I will have to be on a lookout for someone on a fixie. I never really knew that much about them and would have thought they were like an old bike with no gears. Not so.

[Brandy]

Thanks for the link, Christopher. NOW I understand!
Question, tho. Does your cadence determine how fast you'll travel downhill? If you slowly pedal downhill, will you go very slowly?
They are just fascinating bikes- I'd love to see someone riding one.

My boyfriend did several of our double centuries last season on his fixed gear and while he could stay with the lead group on the flats and many of the climbs, he would get dropped on the descents every single time. If you play around with the Gear Inch Calculator you can see what your cadence would be at a certain speed with various gearing. Obviously your speed has to top out because at the higher cadences you're bouncing all over the saddle and your legs just can't spin any faster.

It took him a lot of experimenting prior to Furnace Creek 508 to decide what gearing to go with. Ultimately he chose 49/17 because he didn't want to lose as much time on the descents. It ended up being too big of a gear and he lost way more time on the climbs. His descending speed topped out at around 30mph, which is very slow compared to the other racers on multispeeds that were flying down Towne's Pass at 45-55 mph.

As far as pedaling slowly downhill, that works to some extent, but unlike some others, our FG's are equipped with both front and rear brakes. I just don't trust being able to slow down enough without them.

Hope that helps!

[Christopher]

Thanks for the link, Christopher. NOW I understand!
Question, tho. Does your cadence determine how fast you'll travel downhill? If you slowly pedal downhill, will you go very slowly?
They are just fascinating bikes- I'd love to see someone riding one.

Sort of - it depends on the gearing. The Young People can seem to spin at very high cadences (150-200 rpm+) and so can go fast downhill in a low gear. I let my legs spin up until I get scared (at ~120 RPM I guess) and then use the brakes!
Pedalling slowly CAN work but not if the hill is so steep the bike just runs away downhill with you. Sometimes you can stand and make the drivetrain lift you right up (a strange feeling), but even that won't work on some of the paved cliffs around here with 20-25% gradients.

Sandra, there seem to be a lot more fixies in urban areas than in the sticks. In 18 months of commuting up here I have only seen two other fixed-wheels, yet there are literally hundreds in SF, London etc

[mimitabby]

one of the hotshot guys (over 50 years old) we ride with came out on one of our more hilly rides on his fixie last year. He powered up the hills easily enough; but I'll never forget the way he looked going downhill. He looked like a cartoon character on speed. his legs HAD to be killing him, his cadence must have been ... well, his legs were blurry and jerky. We eventually passed him on our tandem, feeling like we were on a big cruiser... effortlessly screaming down the hill.

[Brandy]

a friend of mine just completed the Paris Brest Paris 1200 kilometer ride in 90 hours on a fixed gear. he came back and said "I have no idea why i wanted to do this on a fixie" If you have hills to deal with, they're no fun. Especially downhill; because you can't stop pedalling!
Both of my sons have fixies and love them; but when we go out on a serious ride (with hills) they don't mind bikes with gears.

That was the same reaction we as the crew kept hearing from George during Furnace Creek. It was a huge challenge for him...35,000+ feet of elevation gain and you're right, it wasn't just the climbing, it was the lack of recovery on the descents that was so hard.

[Christopher]

Keep us updated on that Milwaukee, Brandy. I was seriously tempted by those frames. Next time I visit my sister in Sheboygan I'd love to visit that shop!

[Brandy]

Absolutely Christopher, I'm really looking forward to building this bike!