Fixed/Single Speed Commuting

attica

Ooh late night tooth counting (hic!)

You truly have my utmost respect, you are putting the rest of us to shame and I'm going to have to get down the bike shop first thing and have my tiny ring expanded.

So tell me, does length really matter?

lost_in_thought

Attica wrote:

Ooh late night tooth counting (hic!)

You truly have my utmost respect, you are putting the rest of us to shame and I'm going to have to get down the bike shop first thing and have my tiny ring expanded.

So tell me, does length really matter?

Yes, indeed! Not tired after polish restaurant (stara polska in marylebone), so counted my teef!

Honestly, i bought the gollum bike like this, unknowingly... it just means i accelerate slower that the rest of you, but I'm getting there! And I quite like the low cadence - high speed thing!

Also, my old bike was so heavy, this one seems like a nice easy ride!

2wheelzgood

Nice one LIT. mine arrived today. just 30 mins ago and it's unpacked but not built!
48.16 for me but I think I'll go 18 or 17 at least.

It's SO shiny! and LITS, it comes with white bar tape! Every part says BIANCHI on it!
Amazingly the new pedals shimano a520 came too so tonight, Michael, I will be Chris Hoy!

Littigator

Hooray for 2WG, start pimping your ride and buffing your nuts my friend (cackle)...

Right that's it Cartwright...headmasters office I've had enough of you in this class!

Anyhoo, LIT, fair play on your gear inches that is proper nails, I'm still forlornly waiting for my 52 chainring in today's post so I can show off tonight by snapping leg bones as I try to accelerate away on my stick insect legs, but it doesn't look like it's going to get here in time

lost_in_thought

Littigator wrote:

Anyhoo, LIT, fair play on your gear inches that is proper nails, I'm still forlornly waiting for my 52 chainring in today's post so I can show off tonight by snapping leg bones as I try to accelerate away on my stick insect legs, but it doesn't look like it's going to get here in time

You can always have a go on the gollum bike, see what you're letting yourself in for! Although, I'm going to try and flip over the stem this lunchtime, so I may well break it somehow before this evening...

2wheelzgood

Surely you don't want to be potentially compromising you're bike or riding postion with such a big stage as the gamers unrace this evening.
Talk about walking the walk. LIT is possibly more man than any of us here. Speaking of men. Where is Greg66?

lost_in_thought

2wheelzgood wrote:

Surely you don't want to be potentially compromising you're bike or riding postion with such a big stage as the gamers unrace this evening.
Talk about walking the walk. LIT is possibly more man than any of us here. Speaking of men. Where is Greg66?

Shouldn't think it'll make a blind bit of difference! The personal training session I've got in a couple of hours will destroy any chance I have of breaking the 20mph mark! But my god, I'll try...

And to be honest the bike is such a heap of rubbish that minor adjustments like that will have hardly any impact... I think!

il_principe

I've been watching the track cycling for insporation - Team GB = AWESOME, another cycling gold, yey!

2wheelzgood

aye amazing. not to put the other down but Hoy could've sprinted that team race by himself!
We're gonna get so many gold's on the track!!!!
8)

Littigator

My expanded ring has arrived, YAY!

And I've managed to fit it ok, WOOHOO!

But now my chain's too short, DOH!

I had to tow it to the LBS where one of my racers was already in for a tweak and ask them to switch the chains.

The mechanic gave me one of those 'what have you been messing about with now that you don't understand' looks but said come back in half an hour....nice!

il_principe

Dammit, i was going to order a 50T ring but have realised that it'll render my BRAND NEW swanky blue chain too short, grrrrr.

lost_in_thought

Everyone's getting bigger gears! Not me.

Greg T

lost_in_thought wrote:

Everyone's getting bigger gears! Not me.

We are in a stiff gear arms race.

Currently top of the tree is a 1945 Post Hiroshima USA is LITs. She has the gearing and everone else is desperately trying to keep up.

JBs 1950's UK, he's got the kit and the know how but needs to get the raw materials together.

I'm Russia, I've got very little know how but have scant regard for my own safety and will push on regardless.

Litts is France and wants to stick it to the USA, UK and Russia real bad but look good at the same time, also have it away with his Mistress over lunch time.

2WG is Israel, he denies he's got a tiny cog and refuses to be drawn on matters concerning his lack of gear inches. Other men's bikes punct*ure on their own when he's around.

Atts is North Korea. Small desperate and tooled up to the eyeballs, don't mess with Atts.

Who's India?

Littigator

More worringly who the feck is Iran?

Hated by everyone and threatens that they have all the kit but really it's only for commuting (honest)

Littigator

jashburnham wrote:

Dammit, i was going to order a 50T ring but have realised that it'll render my BRAND NEW swanky blue chain too short, grrrrr.

Sell the chain on the LonFGGSGSGSGSGSGGGS thingy and get the bigger ring!

Just been out for a lunchtime spin round the park on my newly lenghtened inches...very satisfying!

biggstevie

Just won a langster from ebay 2007 model £175 cant wait to get it

2wheelzgood

You'll love it stevie. I put my Pista togather today and have ben out on it thsi evening briefly. WOW wowowowwowowowow.

Greg, your UN report on the stiff gear arms race is not exactly spot on. Indeed with a 42 up front and a chain tensioner pushing the chain down, my gear looks small but the 8, sorry 80, inches are deceptive (that's what all the girls say anyway).
I am calling for an amendment to treaty 4214.4816 the shiny big ring straight to track ends on a 16 is positively United States of American. I've got the big cojones!

Funny you shoule curse ma y mates like that> went to meet one yesterday for a ride and he'd slashed his tyre going up a curb and was walking home when I saw him. Tried a repair but cos I was there, no doubt, the tyre boot ballooned and then popped. wasted that Co2 while we were at it!

2wheelzgood

I rode my fixie to my girl's last night it was super, a warm (by the time I caned around town) ride and some nice downhills to get used to the backforce.. the new cog slipped though a little which was dodgey.

A couple of my mates told me skidding and slowing will be really hard on an 80 inch gear. I didn't want to believe it as on the ss going from 70 to 80 didn't have as great an effect on spinning up and effort as I'd expected.
But slowing is hard on my fixie and aI tried to skid but even in the wet/damp it was very hard.
I think I'm going to get a 17t rear so it's a 75inch gear.. nice middle ground.

so guys who are thinking about going to a big fixed gear, do bear this in mind..for ss it's fine as you don't have this problem but, granted I'm very new to fixed riding , I'm very aware f going fast at all esp on slopes that are even slightly downhill. I'm so much slower than on my ss.
Uphill cranking seems fine but it being fixed, it wears you out faster as you cannot rest.

mad but I love it.

now where do I get a good c-spanner

ps. I just saw Vicky Pendleton win a sprint .phoaar!

Greg T

So then.....

I had my hub sorted out by the LBS guys over the weekend....

I've now got a fully functioning flip flop hub, 16 T freewheel and 18 T fixed...

Running the fixed into work this morning

72 GI...

Thought I'd have a practice yesterday afternoon - just as well..... It did take me a good half hour pedalling around a car park ar slow speeds getting used to the back pressure - very weird......

So this morning I was fully fixed up and had a couple of comedy moments. It's now obvious that once you are stopped your ability to move you bike around is significantly curtailed. Just need to edge around this bus - can't - your legs are all over the place.

Argh....

I had to explain myself to a burd getting through the roadworks at the limehouse overpass thing as I was in all kinds of "tricky little gap can't get my pig bike round this very tight corner" trouble.....

Still - I'll see how I go with it in the coming weeks....

I still have a hankering for my road bike and the gearing........

dafruk

All this gearing chat got me interested to actually work out what I was pushing. So spent some time looking up the details to come up with 48-11. I still find I spin out a bit once up to speed and really want a higher gear, think I might look into a bigger ring.

And before you all fall in amazement at my feet,I'm talking top gear on a tourer and not a single/fixie. I'm not that much a glutton for punishment! Everyone talks about enjoying the speed on the flats, Edinburgh doesn't have ay flats so I'll keep my gears thanks.

Shame as being a single tart has always been an ambition of mine!

2wheelzgood

you know you want to! I saw a few fixed riders in Edinburgh.

a big gear like that is fine if you have smaller ones to set off with.. putting wattage through an 11t rear up hills from 0mph is not my idea of knee-comfort! 117gear inches!! WHAA!

good on you though for considering a move to 1 gear! try ss first!

cjcp

Have any of you ridden one of these? Just wondered what you thought.

http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/images/Epi ... %20Big.jpg

To avoid Greg T and the other SSer deviants I met on Friday getting the wrong idea, I remain firmly of the view that a selection of (bigger) gears remains the way forward.

il_principe

Can't find that on Epic's site, be interested to know more about it. Incidentally it comes with exactly the same wheels as the Pearson Touche by the look of things...

cjcp

jashburnham wrote:

Can't find that on Epic's site, be interested to know more about it. Incidentally it comes with exactly the same wheels as the Pearson Touche by the look of things...

Yeah, I couldn't find it on a recent search, but had posted the link on another forum so got it from there. I admit that it does look nice.

2wheelzgood

look sleek. low and stbale im, newbie opinon. If I'm not entirely wrong, it's odd for a fixie. there are big gaps between tyres and frame.. no toe overlap though!

I like my overstated shiny and white bike! my girlfried saw it yesterday and one of the first comments was.. what tyres are they, just normal ones? You need something nicer, like white ones! :oops:

Greg T

Stop it.

Why does everyone have nicer bikes than me?

Unless you all retrench and buy tractors I'm going to have to "up bike" in the early new year and I can't afford it..

I was just thinking the other day that I could strip the road bike down, get an eccenttic hub and convert it to SS. I'd then recycle my components to equip a new Gucci frame....

You see - This is how it starts, first it's stiffening the gearing - suddenly I'm looking at building bikes from scratch to keep up with Tykes.


Send help - and a nice old campy frame..... 55cm, horizontal drop outs, plenty of chrome.

il_principe

I reckon the Viner frame:



Looks very similar to the Pearson:

lost_in_thought

Greg T wrote:

So then.....

I had my hub sorted out by the LBS guys over the weekend....

I've now got a fully functioning flip flop hub, 16 T freewheel and 18 T fixed...

Running the fixed into work this morning

72 GI...

Thought I'd have a practice yesterday afternoon - just as well..... It did take me a good half hour pedalling around a car park ar slow speeds getting used to the back pressure - very weird......

So this morning I was fully fixed up and had a couple of comedy moments. It's now obvious that once you are stopped your ability to move you bike around is significantly curtailed. Just need to edge around this bus - can't - your legs are all over the place.

Argh....

I had to explain myself to a burd getting through the roadworks at the limehouse overpass thing as I was in all kinds of "tricky little gap can't get my pig bike round this very tight corner" trouble.....

I still have a hankering for my road bike and the gearing........

Hurrah! Don't give up! Have you had the exciting moment yet where you relax and stop pedaling and suddenly PING up into the air as your still-moving pedal propels you upwards? That's fun that is.

Another thing I found and still find rather tricky is squeezing down the side of totally stopped traffic - pedal strike on the pavement due to my panniers keeping me too far away from the traffic can be exciting...

And what's more, you haev to learn to stop in the right place for your start at the lights... Pendleton seems to start with her pedals in the 10 and 4 o'clock positions... I'm going to try it and see if it improves my acceleration on the way home

And I still have a nastier bike than anyone on this thread!!

2wheelzgood

10 and 4 hey.. I can get going at 8 o'clock but it's tricky and easy not to get enough momentum.

stopping: I have to learn to skid and skip as Sheldon says backpressure is bad. There is apparent evidence that it is counter-productive to increasing muscle mass (shock horror thigh measurement moment) and in fact cause micro cuts (Muse rock) in the muscle fibre. eek.

I've ordered a 17t cog.
Skid patches with a 48/16 is only 1 , with a 17 it's 17. yaaay! and ought to be easier without giving up too much top speed ( not that I'm man enough to rev up yet on the fixie)

attica

dafruk wrote:

Everyone talks about enjoying the speed on the flats, Edinburgh doesn't have ay flats so I'll keep my gears thanks.

Shame as being a single tart has always been an ambition of mine!

My friend from Exmoor rides a 73" all over the place, he doesn't have any problem with hills as he proved by whipping my 4ss up Cheddar Gorge last Saturday, and me still on my 69" tractor.

Trust me, hills are a positive joy on a SS/Fixie, no thinking about what gear to choose, just get on and do it. It's a really pure way of climbing and you don't loose any momentum like when you bail onto the granny ring.