Fixed/Single Speed Commuting

pst88

brownbosh wrote:

Is that 84 a uk model? If sop whats the rrp?????

£600. It looks sweet... but £600 sweet? Not so sure. Sticking with my pimped out '08 Bowery thanks . Although I like how the standard Bowery '09 no longer has the Giant name on the seat tube, it's all black except for a military dog tag style plate on the down tube. Now we're talking.

James1823

Hello,
I'm thinking of getting some 3/4 length shorts for commuting on my fixed wheel bike. Tucking my trousers into socks is getting annoying, and riding in work trousers seems to cause a bit of saddle soreness. Can anyone recommend some? I'd like to continue to commute in winter by bike but don't like the idea of full length tights.

brownbosh

pst88 wrote:

brownbosh wrote:

Is that 84 a uk model? If sop whats the rrp?????

£600. It looks sweet... but £600 sweet? Not so sure. Sticking with my pimped out '08 Bowery thanks . Although I like how the standard Bowery '09 no longer has the Giant name on the seat tube, it's all black except for a military dog tag style plate on the down tube. Now we're talking.

Still set on the 2009 brushed alu langster with the addition of monocoque pro vibe seatpost, stem and bars at the moment but tempted by the touche too! Im not paying 600 quid for a giant bowery with a chromo fork and seat post but it does look sweet!!

attica

So at the moment we're rather split into the factions:geared, single speed and fixed, where fixed is a subset of single speed.

Looks like we'll be re-evaluating those factions soon, have a look at this.

On a slightly different note, I think it's probably only a matter of time before we see competitive road bikes with hub gears, like the diesel engine, the old fashioned will come back revamped and suddenly better than petrol/derailleur

brownbosh

Whats the point??? Surely building strength using a single gear and improving your pedalling technique because of having to spin is the whole idea? Adding gears removes the reason to just have 3 (other than better power transfer and reduced maintenance for you commuting types). :?:

pst88

brownbosh wrote:

Surely building strength using a single gear and improving your pedalling technique because of having to spin is the whole idea?

I thought it was just to show off?

2wheelzgood

knowing nothing of hub gears and Sturmy Archer technologies, can a hib fixed take the forces especially though reverse/skidding and hammer down catch-that-roadie efforts?

But yeah, I'm with brownbosh, I found when I moved to one gear (free) that just pressing harder and spending time upping my manliness and game would get up hills faster than when I had 24 ratios.

il_principe

James1823 wrote:

Hello,
I'm thinking of getting some 3/4 length shorts for commuting on my fixed wheel bike. Tucking my trousers into socks is getting annoying, and riding in work trousers seems to cause a bit of saddle soreness. Can anyone recommend some? I'd like to continue to commute in winter by bike but don't like the idea of full length tights.

Look no further than Swrve: http://swrve.co.uk/mens%20shorts.html

I have 2 pairs one of the Sprint fit and the other in cotton. They do WWR shorts as well which use the same fabric as Rapha but are about half the price and look far better!

Littigator

Yeah, I'm a bit torn about the 3 speed hub, it's a neat idea and it's always lovely to see old tech revitalised, but the riding principal of a single speed just doesn't stack up with the 3 speed hub.

Someone mentioned about the '09 Bowery having no ref to Giant on the frame. I've thought about spraying it over on my '08. Not that I'm ashmed to have a Giant, they make great frames for Colnago after all

But I do hate people judging my bikes by the brand or labels. People get all like "oooh that's soo the Microsoft of bikes" 'yeah F off and die Codpiece face' if I like the bike I'll ride it.

Like my road bike frame, I got it from Ebay for £400, full carbon, made as an exact copy of a £1500 Willer, same geometry and same factory manufactured it, but no one's heard of it so they can't judge it. I actually love that now I've got it.

brownbosh

Love your insult - do you have enough to write a book? :P

brownbosh

errr and being a ponce i just bought a chrome 2009 langster today pro vibe mono seatpost, pro lightweight cnc stem and bar plus nickel chain and it looks the nuts! Cant ride it as ive had it spoke locked and it needs 12 hours to dye. Roll on the a.m. Gonna try a 25 mile short hilly route i use as a quick training loop and feel the ss pain for the first time. Bring it on!

dafruk

brownbosh wrote:

Whats the point??? Surely building strength using a single gear and improving your pedalling technique because of having to spin is the whole idea?

I thought it was just ease of mainenance.

Littigator

brownbosh wrote:

errr and being a ponce i just bought a chrome 2009 langster today pro vibe mono seatpost, pro lightweight cnc stem and bar plus nickel chain and it looks the nuts! Cant ride it as ive had it spoke locked and it needs 12 hours to dye. Roll on the a.m. Gonna try a 25 mile short hilly route i use as a quick training loop and feel the ss pain for the first time. Bring it on!

ohh sir chrome sir suits you sir ooh ooh

brownbosh

indeed it does sir......ooooh does it shine sir, oh refelect you know, can you see who's behind you when you glance eh? do you rub it? Shiny sleek steed, oh do you sir, i should say , suits you !

biondino

Littigator wrote:

People get all like "oooh that's soo the Microsoft of bikes" 'yeah F off and die Codpiece face'

Hang on, wasn't that me? I think Giants are ugly, that's my main gripe. The frames less so, but the visuals are at best boring.

lost_in_thought

Littigator wrote:

Yeah, I'm a bit torn about the 3 speed hub, it's a neat idea and it's always lovely to see old tech revitalised, but the riding principal of a single speed just doesn't stack up with the 3 speed hub.

Someone mentioned about the '09 Bowery having no ref to Giant on the frame. I've thought about spraying it over on my '08. Not that I'm ashmed to have a Giant, they make great frames for Colnago after all

But I do hate people judging my bikes by the brand or labels. People get all like "oooh that's soo the Microsoft of bikes" 'yeah F off and die Codpiece face' if I like the bike I'll ride it.

Like my road bike frame, I got it from Ebay for £400, full carbon, made as an exact copy of a £1500 Willer, same geometry and same factory manufactured it, but no one's heard of it so they can't judge it. I actually love that now I've got it.

I'm not into the 3-speed fixed hub ta very much like... I think the whole point of a fixie is that there's naff all to break, makes them easy as pie to maintain. Introduce gears and that pretty much goes out the window.

I like the 'giant' on the 08 bowery - it's subtle. My legs partially obscure it when I'm going along... god... look at us... the 08 bowery... it's soooooooo last year daaaaaaaaaahling...

brownbosh

When you look at the fabrication materials its more last century! (and then a bit)

lost_in_thought

brownbosh wrote:

When you look at the fabrication materials its more last century! (and then a bit)

Oi! Shut it! Me and my bowery riding homies are like TOTALLY going to like come round your house and like kick your @rse...

brownbosh

my my (he says in a terry thomas stylee whilst twiddling an imnaginery moustache)


c'mon be honest though-its made of poorly painted pig iron?

attica

Careful what you say Brownbosh, that young lady rides a GI that puts the rest of us to shame.
You mind she doesn't hunt you down and scalp you for all you're worth.

brownbosh

Im a big boy and i like the feisty ones so i think ill be ok. Nowt wrong with top end giants but the budget ones are both fugly and heavy. Matter of personal opinion i suppose, my mother still thinks im a pretty boy. (diluded old bat!)

itboffin

Very sad news!
I went into my garage this morning took the lovely red rocket out of my workstand only to find two holes in my front tyre, lucky whatever punctured it didn't let all the air out on the last ride.
So it's a geared ride for me this morning boo

on-oneplus26

Hiya folks,

I am in the process of bodging a SS comuter (my boss at work says it should be fixed though) using a geared road frame. However don't want to spoil the look of the thing with a tensioner so can anyone point me towards a "majic gear" calculator. Im sure there must be one out there.....

Thanks

Littigator

brownbosh wrote:

Im a big boy and i like the feisty ones so i think ill be ok. Nowt wrong with top end giants but the budget ones are both fugly and heavy. Matter of personal opinion i suppose, my mother still thinks im a pretty boy. (diluded old bat!)

Yeah BB, watch it cos me and LiT are gonna mess you up real bad man, she will like duff you up big style and my chinese burns are a thing to be feared man...yo...errr yeah!

boybiker

If I went totally mad and decided to try a fixed bike commute how could I find the correct ratio which wouldn't kill me on climbs and so on?

2wheelzgood

it depends on all sorts,length of ride, how long you've been riding and whether you've done any singlespeed before. stepp ness of climbs.

If you have a largeish chainring, you have more scope to play about with cogs at the back which will be cheaper and anyway bigger rings wear less and look more impressive.
Plus you can shout about your huge ring like Greg does!

common commuter gearing is between 70-80 but 80 fixed is tough to start with, I immediately went back to 74 even though I have been ss-ing for 6 months. mainly due to it being mega hard to stop a large gear.
70 inches will give you 30mph if you spin well and your karma is good 8) not for very long though!

my ss is 42 14 (was 16)
my fixie is 48 17 (was 16).

so get a 46 or 48 I reckon as cogs smaller than 16 are not that easy to get and will wear more as said.

hth

this is all based on a road bike btw. I'd like to see 48 16 on a bmx!!!

Littigator

My bowery came with 46 17 which was waaaaaaay to soft, although my commute is flat and only about 6 miles so I like to cane a good pace all the way.

I switched up to a 52 on the front which with the 17 on the rear gives 82 gear inches. It's a stiff start (snigger) but once you get it running you get a very good pace out of it.

However, if you have any climbs or a longer distance I think 2WGs recommnedation of a 46/48 to start with wouldn't see you too wrong.

I got a cheap shimano sora chainring for only £8 so it doesn't cost a lot of cash to switch up once you've tried a lower one.

Also, if you get a flip flop hub you can at least start with the freewheel side and giove your legs a rest every now and then. I took a week or so to get used to the fact that there is NO rest when you're on fixed...but you do get used to it.

2wheelzgood

good tips also but lits does like to lay the smackdown from what I gather!
I like to be able to crank up the hills yet 74 is great and lets me sprint to match my mates with 80inches too.

it is possible to put a fixed cog on a free side of a flip flop (but not free on a fixed side).
so once you;ve gotten used to 1 gear, you could run 1 different fixed cogs and swap the wheel out at hills. But you'll surprise yourself if you have just one gear, how much you can achieve just by accepting you have to crank up the hills or (gasp) walk!

Someone was on about gears and how with a single gear, they realised how lazy multiple ratios had made them. Yes it helps but a bit more effort will make much more difference than changing down and making it easier on your legs as you'll go mega slow!
Gears mainly help to obtain maximim downhill velocity IMHO.

1 tooth will make much more difference than you think (10-15% effort per tooth generally dep on front chain ring size) rabbit is a great gearing tool, and Sheldon's will tell you how much harder gears are to each other. I cannot work out the % as it's not as simple as the ratios between different gain lengths as far as I know.

1 tooth on the rear more or less = 3 on the front.

http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/ ... pplet.html
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

ps can we all have a nice big big up to single speeds. I will get my girlfriend to sign up here.. she sees me on it enough!
She rides a nice old Puch with 10 gears working from 12 but uses just 1. We need to finalise the singlespeed conversion mindset in her mind and find a nice + vvvvv cheap classic looking but rack/handlebar stylee ss.
I had my mate space out the casste so she could access the biggest gear but it slipped her tongue that she hasn't changed from the 71 incher in 2 months!

Clever Pun

boybiker wrote:

If I went totally mad and decided to try a fixed bike commute how could I find the correct ratio which wouldn't kill me on climbs and so on?

choose a gear on your road bike and ride the entire commute there and back, no changing

if you think it's to slow/easy then bring it up likewise if you've overcooked it bring it down... remember hills are fu<kers late in the week when you're tired and only have one gear to mash

once you're happy you then have a SS ratio front/back*27 for fixed I would add another tooth to the back and go from there... well that's what I've done

48-17SS and I'm flipping my flop this weekend to a fixed of 48-18

On the flats I might get frustrated but on the hills I can make it... Hell, I'll just have to learn to pedal faster

Littigator

biondino wrote:

Littigator wrote:

People get all like "oooh that's soo the Microsoft of bikes" 'yeah F off and die Codpiece face'

Hang on, wasn't that me? I think Giants are ugly, that's my main gripe. The frames less so, but the visuals are at best boring.

whoops, sorry BD it was just a general rant really :oops:

But anyway, boring eh...well there's not a lot you can do with a black frame with Giant written in small(ish) silver lettering on the downtube eh! But I like it;s minimalist simplicity ACTUALLY