Fixed/Single Speed Commuting

Feltup

Actually I just ran it through gear calc pro and according to that I had a cadence of 132rpm

itboffin

A quick, simple & cheap SS conversion

Feltup

Are those Aksiums?

itboffin

Feltup wrote:

Are those Aksiums?

Yep :roll:

vanquished

Well, I've finally dipped a toe(clip) into fixed geat waters, and took my Bowery 72 for its first ride today. Somewhat unimaginatively, I rode to work... on my day off.

I'm thinking it may take a while to get used to the lack of a freewheel, so for the time being I'm taking it rather easy; the Carrera's PB is unlikely to be threatened any time soon.

Pretty, pretty bike, though :-)

homercles

Just popping in to say hello as there's every chance I'll be in here asking questions soon. I joined the dark side today and ordered my Singlecross, should have it start of next week.

Looking forward to joining the ranks, though I think I'll be free rather than fixed initially - a short period of adjustment from the roadie, then perhaps some experimenting.

I'm particularly keen to know what Sheldon Brown means when he says that fixed riders will learn to 'post' over the bumps - anyone?!?

vanquished

@homercles

Speaking of speed bumps and fixed gear, nearly got caught out by them last night - normally I stand on the pedals, to allow the bike to flex up and over (Hull's roads aren't the velvety smooth stuff you lot have darn sarf*). So, I stand up with the pedals at quarter-to-three, and nearly get thrown as the cranks keep rotating...

So, memo to self:
shoulder check? keep pedalling
signalling? keep pedalling
slowing down to approach junction? keep pedalling
corners? roundabouts? keep pedalling?

Actually, y'know what? I could probably abbreviate the list to 'KEEP PEDALLING', writ large.

* aye, it's grim up north, tha' knows...[/b]

biondino

I pick up the fixie-wixie tonight! If I don't post in the next 24 hours, please send out a search party to check the gutters between London Bridge and Putney...

Feltup

Ooooooh have fun and remember when riding a fixed - keep pedalling. Sounds obvious but sometimes you forget and all hell breaks loose.

Christophe3967

biondino wrote:

I pick up the fixie-wixie tonight! If I don't post in the next 24 hours, please send out a search party to check the gutters between London Bridge and Putney...

Enjoy. Are you going fixed? Picture please.

wgwarburton

Feltup wrote:

Ooooooh have fun and remember when riding a fixed - keep pedalling. Sounds obvious but sometimes you forget and all hell breaks loose.

Yes, but the bike will remind you soon enough...

My "thing to remember" is that you can't hold up the inside pedal when cornering.

Watch out for fast bends, especially if the camber is against you... In my experience pedal strike generally hurts more than being reminded to keep spinning....

Cheers,
W.

nielsamd

homercles wrote:

I'm particularly keen to know what Sheldon Brown means when he says that fixed riders will learn to 'post' over the bumps - anyone?!?

Probably meant you can't stand on the pedals or put equal weight on both (not turning cranks) and use your legs as shocks the same way you might with a freewheel. You rely on your seatpost more. It is a bit disconcerting at first or if you switch back and forth to a freewheeled bike regularly and have to remind yourself. If anyone has some special winning technique to clear an unexpected bump or pothole on a fixed, short of a suspension post, I'd be curious to hear what it is.

biondino

Hehe cheers! I don't think I'll be going fast at all, and definitely not on corners - plus, it's a track bike, so it should have a higher BB, right?

I realised this morning that being weaker and less fit my pedalling is noticeably less fluent. Hope this won't be a problem!

gtvlusso

biondino wrote:

Hehe cheers! I don't think I'll be going fast at all, and definitely not on corners - plus, it's a track bike, so it should have a higher BB, right?

I realised this morning that being weaker and less fit my pedalling is noticeably less fluent. Hope this won't be a problem!

It will have a high BB if it is a real track frame - enjoy, bloody good face - you will be grinning all the way home!

majormantra

neilsamd wrote:

If anyone has some special winning technique to clear an unexpected bump or pothole on a fixed, short of a suspension post, I'd be curious to hear what it is.

I've seen videos of people bunnyhopping on fixed but I certainly can't do it. Also, there's a big difference between doing it when the cranks are in precisely the right place and doing it spontaneously to hop over a pothole that suddenly appears in front of you. I tend to lift the front wheel a little and let the rear one take the blow if I can't avoid a bump, but I'd love to be able to hop properly.

Matthew

itboffin

bunny hops on a fixed bike, mmm! don't like the sound of that.

Whilst out on my newly finished cross bike today I had a small mechanical issue with effectively turned it into a fixed wheeler for a few miles, well I couldn't coast anyway, not a very pleasant experience. :?

vorsprung

itboffin wrote:

A quick, simple & cheap SS conversion

Cheap?
You seem to have used a SS converter kit. That's at least 10 british pounds
Please do again using a couple of knackered 8 speed cassettes and an angle grinder

itboffin

My Raleigh 531 single speed is rapidly reaching EOL and I was thinking I could swap all the parts over to one of these http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productDe ... OLAFRAK200

I'm loving my Dolan cross have any of you FGSS folks ridden a Dolan track bike?

flamite

just purchased my first fixed gear, 80's conversion, now am just itching to ride it, prob wont be commuting on it straight away though....!

any hints tips? dont think ill be going clipless straight off....

homercles

flamite wrote:

any hints tips? dont think ill be going clipless straight off....

If you believe Sheldon, not going clipless might be a bad idea - scroll down to the bit on pedals...

http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

biondino

Be prepared to be terrified and not want to ride it again for quite a while...

il_principe

biondino wrote:

Be prepared to be terrified and not want to ride it again for quite a while...

MTFU*

* I say this as someone who has only ever tried fixed in RP and rejected it utterly. SS all the way for me TY.

Christophe3967

jashburnham wrote:

biondino wrote:

Be prepared to be terrified and not want to ride it again for quite a while...

MTFU*

* I say this as someone who has only ever tried fixed in RP and rejected it utterly. SS all the way for me TY.

Phew. I did ride mine fixed for the first three days and rode it back to Pearsons when the freewheel broke recently, but frankly, I fnd the whole business pretty stressful in traffic. And it was never going to be quicker.
And it really hurts my knees, and nobody likes a hurty knee

majormantra

flamite wrote:

just purchased my first fixed gear, 80's conversion, now am just itching to ride it, prob wont be commuting on it straight away though....!

any hints tips? dont think ill be going clipless straight off....

You'll definitely want some form of foot retention, it'll get hurty* without. Toe clips with loose-ish straps work well and are easy to get in and out of.

Matthew

*Technical term for when you slip of the pedals and the bike flays you alive.

Clever Pun

MajorMantra wrote:

flamite wrote:

just purchased my first fixed gear, 80's conversion, now am just itching to ride it, prob wont be commuting on it straight away though....!

any hints tips? dont think ill be going clipless straight off....

You'll definitely want some form of foot retention, it'll get hurty* without. Toe clips with loose-ish straps work well and are easy to get in and out of.

Matthew

*Technical term for when you slip of the pedals and the bike flays you alive.

flat and straps are the minimum for riding fixed

vanquished

Seconding the toe-clips suggestion - but then, I can barely ride without them even on geared steeds. Must try clipless pedals at some point.

Echoing, also, biondino's comment of preparing to be terrified - my first moment of fear was when I was attempting to filter up alongside a queue of stationary cars at a set of traffic lights: and coast... whoAAA!!!! Even at slow speeds, a fixed has quite a kick that will take you by surprise. I managed to avoid swerving into the nearest car mainly by dint of my lightning reflexes (otherwise known as sheer panic).

Keep pedalling. Srsly. Keep pedalling.

The basic, basic tip would be, start off slowly, and try to get a feel for the bike.

Feltup

Nightmare last night as the Trixie tool I had on the seat tube bottle bosses came loose and flicked round jamming between the crank and the frame. Result is I have a nasty dent in the down tube of the frame just above the bottom bracket. Really annoyed with myself that I didn't do the screws up tightly enough.

Can you repair frames or do I just ride and hope? Luckily on the Singlecross that part of the tubing is massive so the loading on the tube wall where the dent is should be fairly low.

Apart from that it was a fun part bridlepath part road run home and it avoided the A4.

nielsamd

Feltup wrote:

Nightmare last night as the Trixie tool I had on the seat tube bottle bosses came loose and flicked round jamming between the crank and the frame. Result is I have a nasty dent in the down tube of the frame just above the bottom bracket. Really annoyed with myself that I didn't do the screws up tightly enough.

Ouch! Sorry to hear that! But...small if not tiny consolation: .. your heads up is appreciated since I was thinking of doing that tool mount thing myself (though on the bosses the Singlecross has *under* the downtube...will have to see if that could also swing it out into the cranks path...I suspect it might, in a different way.).

Maybe send a photo of the dent to Specialized just to get an opinion on safety. Not sure if that would affect a warranty (which, statistically, you're probably unlikely to use anyway) on the rest of the bike/frame. Or put up a photo here and see what the general feeling is.

Feltup

The under tube bosses would probably be the safest bet. I think sending a photo to Specialized might be the best option tbh.
Thanks!

el_presidente

To protect themselves legally Specialized will be obliged to say you can't ride it, whatever the size of the dent.

You will get a more realistic answer posting the photo here or taking it to a friendly LBS.