Fixed/Single Speed Commuting

itboffin

Littigator wrote:

OMG...if I ever thought my 52 was impressive...check out this cheeky chappie Nick Obwdler is a TTing legend who sports a jaw-droppingly impressive 77 tooth chainring!

[drool]WANT WANT WANT[/drool]

BTW thanks GT my all white Raleigh SS will very shortly be an all white fully Miche fixie - the cravings took over after seeing your Miche sprocket + carrier, I've gone the whole way including hubs, which will be home built (too much free time).

I'll be breaking my fixie virginity any day now... gulp!

Clever Pun

Had a moment this morning coming north to the tunnel (the raised wooden bit) I stood up and forgot to keep pedaling.... queue bike skewing left/right and me getting the seat shoved up my jacksy, managed to keep it upright and laugh when the danger was gone...

that might be an embarrassing bruise

Littigator

AHA! Weclome to the bucking bronco club. On my way home the other day some tourists stepped out in front of me...cue swerve and fogetting to pedal. My curse at them turned into a panicked yelp as I skewed across Regents Street sideways

lost_in_thought

I have to admit guys, I find this ongoing trouble a bit odd...

I have forgotten to pedal a total of twice since I started riding fixed nearly a year ago... and both times were within about 2 weeks of starting!

Mind you, it's probably not been that long for you guys, has it?

Greg T

I did my first skid stop last night completely by accident...

Just coming past the Tower of London going west wher the road just starts to drop and



Taxi pulls in suddenly to dump Japanese tourists....

Ski Sunday!

Da da da du du du da da da da da da.....

I retained my cool.....

Also - I feel completely vindicated in my 18 cog gear choice last night as it was proper blowy and I was smug.

And spinny.

Ha!

lost_in_thought

You've actually got a geared bike really, haven't you? It just takes you a lot longer to change them!

Do you carry a selection of sprockets with you??

It was hard work last night on the way home, I agree. Did you monitor any change in speed?

Greg T

lost_in_thought wrote:

You've actually got a geared bike really, haven't you? It just takes you a lot longer to change them!

Do you carry a selection of sprockets with you??

It was hard work last night on the way home, I agree. Did you monitor any change in speed?

Yeah yeah yeah......

I'm going to swap my bike computer over from the road bike this weekend (if I get the chance) and do some scientific analysis of my "Performance".....

Don't forget I've got a back brake as well..... and am also seriously considering some mudgaurds...... My heretical ways are challenging the inquistion.

Clever Pun

Littigator wrote:

AHA! Weclome to the bucking bronco club. On my way home the other day some tourists stepped out in front of me...cue swerve and fogetting to pedal. My curse at them turned into a panicked yelp as I skewed across Regents Street sideways

I actually laughed out loud at that...sorry

jedster

right. I mean RIGHT!

I demand FCN penalties for anyone who puts better wheels on their commuting bike. It's a commuter. You're only allowed to change the wheels when they get so buckled that the rub on the brakes despite hours of buggering about. Changing your wheels is almost by definition TRYING TO HARD. And we know where that get's you.

Tell you what, I'll let you off with -1. Unless they are carbon (shudders) or have bladed spokes.

Bah. Hum bug.

(note this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I have to leave a bike at the station over night and any tartiness is surely going to end in tears)
J

ride_whenever

what about getting your old wheel relaced with sapim cx-rays? Sure they're bladed, but they last ages, and definitely aren't tarty at all...

lost_in_thought

Greg T wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

You've actually got a geared bike really, haven't you? It just takes you a lot longer to change them!

Do you carry a selection of sprockets with you??

It was hard work last night on the way home, I agree. Did you monitor any change in speed?

Yeah yeah yeah......

I'm going to swap my bike computer over from the road bike this weekend (if I get the chance) and do some scientific analysis of my "Performance".....

Don't forget I've got a back brake as well..... and am also seriously considering some mudgaurds...... My heretical ways are challenging the inquistion.

I've got a back brake as well now, which is actually quite nice when you're trying to signal right and need to stop suddenly.

I'm actually genuinely interested in your performance overall with different gearings, you can be the guinea-pig for the high GI vs. Buns spinning techniques.

And I agree on the FCN penalty for changing your wheels... TARTS!

Littigator

Greg T wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

You've actually got a geared bike really, haven't you? It just takes you a lot longer to change them!

Do you carry a selection of sprockets with you??

It was hard work last night on the way home, I agree. Did you monitor any change in speed?

Yeah yeah yeah......

I'm going to swap my bike computer over from the road bike this weekend (if I get the chance) and do some scientific analysis of my "Performance".....

Don't forget I've got a back brake as well..... and am also seriously considering some mudgaurds...... My heretical ways are challenging the inquistion.

Recent indepth analysis at the SCR Gamer Laboratory (I'd tell you more but I'd have to kill you) has revealed that in terms of GI vs high speed spinning...

Sorry what's that holds ear, squints into camera and listens intently to high-pitched squeaky voice

Sorry, apparently I've told you too much already! Your life may be forfeit at any moment but for now you remain safe!

lost_in_thought

You are a very silly man.

Clever Pun

pah less rolling resistence = faster with less effort

plus you can't really tell and no one on a piece of sh!t commuter is going to but 1/2 decent wheels on as it's frankly like polishing a turd.

I've just remembered I saw a fashion SS (silly coloured rims etc) going up a slight and I do mean slight incline on the way home last night really struggling... as I cruised past I said you wanted one gear now man up and cycle

and belted off into the distance hopefully having crushed him

il_principe

Clever Pun wrote:

pah less rolling resistence = faster with less effort

plus you can't really tell and no one on a piece of sh!t commuter is going to but 1/2 decent wheels on as it's frankly like polishing a junk.

I've just remembered I saw a fashion SS (silly coloured rims etc) going up a slight and I do mean slight incline on the way home last night really struggling... as I cruised past I said you wanted one gear now man up and cycle

and belted off into the distance hopefully having crushed him

Hahaha, the shame of the Hipster!

lost_in_thought

jashburnham wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

pah less rolling resistence = faster with less effort

plus you can't really tell and no one on a piece of sh!t commuter is going to but 1/2 decent wheels on as it's frankly like polishing a junk.

I've just remembered I saw a fashion SS (silly coloured rims etc) going up a slight and I do mean slight incline on the way home last night really struggling... as I cruised past I said you wanted one gear now man up and cycle

and belted off into the distance hopefully having crushed him

Hahaha, the shame of the Hipster!

Brilliant! That'll learn him... Fashion fixie people annoy me - they give the rest of us who ride fixies for practicality or fitness or just because we enjoy it a bad name riding like c0cks and generally being idiots. I went into cyclesurgery the other day, and the guy asked me if my bike was fixed. I said yes, and his response was 'wicked! Are you going to, like, trick it out'?

I nearly slapped him. :x

Clever Pun

for the record I said turd not junk

what does trick it out mean? why the flying fu<k would you do that? is it things like card spokes???

lost_in_thought

Clever Pun wrote:

for the record I said turd not junk

what does trick it out mean? why the flying fu<k would you do that? is it things like card spokes???

I think it means make it all colour co-ordinated, saw off all but 2 inches of the handlebars on either side, that type of thing.

Echo the sentiment of the rest of your post!

Littigator

Clever Pun wrote:

pah less rolling resistence = faster with less effort

plus you can't really tell and no one on a piece of sh!t commuter is going to but 1/2 decent wheels on as it's frankly like polishing a turd.

I've just remembered I saw a fashion SS (silly coloured rims etc) going up a slight and I do mean slight incline on the way home last night really struggling... as I cruised past I said you wanted one gear now man up and cycle

and belted off into the distance hopefully having crushed him

Brilliant, that was a coffee on the keyboard moment

redvee

Love speeding past 'gearies' on inclines, only hope they see the fact I am doing it with one gear.

Littigator

I must have this bike...I neeeeeed this bike. This bike was made for me...alll £2109 of it!!!!

lost_in_thought

Why?! What is good about it? I need educating... :shock:

Littigator

Sorry for the annoying sized picture, here's the write up from BikeRadar for it.



http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/track/product/titanium-32339

lost_in_thought

So the rear brake lever is a dummy? Odd...

Clever Pun

lost_in_thought wrote:

So the rear brake lever is a dummy? Odd...

Nope.. it's a classic design allowing the rider to use the hoods

It's what I'm aiming to do with my project rather than a fricking bmx lever

itboffin

whilst at Waterloo yesterday I had some spare time before my meeting so I popped into Evans store, they had the usual display of delicious road machines but also a number of single speeds/fixies - boy are those mass built factory fixies ugly and damn expensive, what gives! surely the whole point of single speed is it should be cheaper?

Now i'm really glad I built my own.

wgwarburton

LiT,
This reminds me of the discussion last week about the difference between a #200 fixie and a #2000 one.

I have (as you've maybe seen from previous posts) two fixies- a winter hack and a nicer one. This is the result of winning two eBay auctions at the same time.

The bikes are very similar apart from the frames- one is made from Reynolds 531c- this is classy steel: lightweight, strong, springy enough to give a good ride but stiff enough to transfer power. The other is a cheapo Raleigh Equipe, made from standard CroMo.
The rest of the bike is much the same- inexpensive 36-spoke wheels, 700x28c tyres, alloy seatpost & stem, Weinmann brakes, Stronglight chainset, toeclipped pedals- what else is there on a fixie? Even the geometry isn't much different, though the Raleigh is bigger (24" instead of 22"). I ran the same gear (64") on each for most of the last two years, too.


The Raleigh weighs about 2Kg more than the 531c frame & it feels lifeless and unresponsive. When you push on the 531c's pedals you can feel it accelerate, power up a hill and it goes- it feels like your energy is going into movement... Do the same on the Raleigh and it feels like half your energy is being soaked up by the bike.. it doesn't leap forward when you stamp the pedals, and slows the instant you stop pushing.

Intellectually, it shouldn't make much difference- Stick a U-lock in your backpack on the 531c and you weigh the same as the Raleigh, but somehow it doesn't feel the same. the 531c is a joy to ride.. the Raleigh just isn't in the same class.

...and that's the difference between a #200 bike and a #400 bike...

Cheers,
W.

lost_in_thought

Buns,

good answer!!

If JA is still bringing the Prince to beerz and still feels OK about letting me push the cranks round I minght have a go.... but then I will hate my cr@ppy roadie for ever and ever.

wgwarburton

... sorry should have wrapped that up:

My Raleigh hack is about 12Kg
The 531c (Marlboro) is anout 9.5 Kg
The Burl Ti is 7Kg

That's very, very light... the bike will be a bit faster than mine but it will _feel_ way, way quicker... which is what you get for your #2000...

Is it worth it? I don't have #2000, let alone #2000 spare.... and even if I did I couldn't justify spending it on this :-(

Cheers,
W.

(PS. the 531c frame cost me about 35 quid on eBay. The Raleigh was about 15 quid for the whole bike, though the wheels were pretty trashed)

itboffin

Now that's a bargain you must have been watch ebay night and day to get such a deal, I did the very same thing bidding on multi old bikes and won two, now one is happily my SS (531) and the other soon to be fixed (heavy steel) you summary is spot on.

That said I rode my commuter hybrid for the first time in a few weeks and boy that's a fast bike in fact it actually seems quicker than the SS 531 and my Trek road, could that be possible?