Question about Fixed Gear Bikes

[lovelylibrarian]

I commute on a hybrid in San Francisco and recently I've been seeing so many fixed gear bikes. It could just be that I'm noticing bikes more in general as my interest in biking increases.

What is the benefit of having a fixie? I'm just trying to understand more about them. They look pretty cool but I would think having gears would be a big help in a city like San Francisco with so many hills.

[SadieKate]

It's just a choice these folks make. Another type of bike.

Track bikes are fixed gear. Way back when in the olden days, all bikes were fixed gear. Just a choice and, for some, a culture.

[Blueberry]

Here's Sheldon Brown on why:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

CA

[OakLeaf]

I've seen fixies parked in SFO, never seen somebody riding one. They'd have to have amazing legs in that city! It's hard enough just to walk some of those hills!

Occasionally I entertain a thought of converting my old road bike to a fixie. Don't know where I'd ride it though

[kie_fujo]

My dh rides fixed. I find it to be quite a fast and powerful bike. Of course that has to do with the gearing he runs. I would never want a fixie. I like having the option to coast, but they are great for training cause yr forced to pedal. Gears for going uphill are nice, but imagine flying down a hill and you can't stop pedalling. It can be quite scary imo. But he loves it.

[lovelylibrarian]

Here's Sheldon Brown on why:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

CA

This link really helped. Thanks!

[martinkap]

I ride fixed gear (48/16 ratio with 170mm cranks) but I do have both brakes; Front is on the right side, rear brake (which I never use) is on the left - it matches my motorcycle. My fixie is not fashionable - it has BOTH brakes to start with (big NOT HIP in fixie community), it has fenders (another NO-NO in fixed gear world - but I hate to come to work with mud on my back), it does not have the clean lines empty, simple bike look because I keep it practical...

Why did I choose fixed:

• I wanted to have the best work out on my way to/from work (6.5 miles one way - flat with one 250ft hill)
• I wanted as maintenance free bike as possible
• I wanted something simple (just ride) and not be puzzled by gears at 7am in the morning
• I wanted bike which would be not desirable for thieves
• I wanted to have fun (to be fast, exhausted but with huge smile on the face)

After riding fixie for about a year I can summarize.
Pros:

• It is major FUN
• It is FAST
• Continuous peddaling has calming, meditating effect on me (repetative movements always had)
• I love riding up a hill in full sweat and then spin it down. It feels very real. I know every small incline or decline on the road - because I feel it, I cannot miss it coasting over it.
• Even though I have both brakes, I do control my speed (to a certain degree) by resisting pedaling. It is so natural to be immediately able to react that sometimes I feel that the bike is reading my mind. I don't even realize that my mind tells my legs to slow down, how fast the connection between me and the bike is.

Cons:

• Even though I am ready to do my first century on my fixie, it would be hard to ride it on RAGBRAI or other tour rides.
• Some hills are just too steep. It is a bit frustrating to walk up and be passed by geared bikes
• Fixie is a bike which is very hard to give up and go back to coasting bikes!

Often (especially after long rides - 60miles and up) people ask me if I am more tired since I had to pedal 'all the time'. I tell them following example:

Remember the days you spent whole in the museums or galleries? You walked towards a painting, stop, wait, walked towards another, stop, wait etc? After one afternoon, walking, standing, walking, standing, even though you maybe walked 5 miles in total, you are pretty much exhausted, your legs hurt and you are ready to sit down? Now, compare it to going for a hike. You start walking, you get your rythm, your speed and you walk for hours. Maybe 15-20 miles in a day. You stop 3-4 times for several minutes but once you start walking and you get into the grove, you can almost effortlessly walk? Well, that is difference between coasting bike and fixed gear. On the coasting bike, you pedal, you coast (either there is a turn, or you braking, or there is a downhill) then you pedal again, then coast, the muscles are getting stiff then back into fast pedalling etc... On the fixed gear, I start pedal and I don't stop. I get into the rythm, and the pedaling motion becomes part of me. I pedal through the turns, I pedal even when I am on the brakes, I pedal downhill, but some of the pedalling is just my legs resting on the pedals - the bike is rotating them for me - and some of the pedaling is me pushing the bike. However, the motion, the speed is not changing!

Sorry for the long rant

Martina