Fixed/Single Speed Commuting

iPete

Just want something girthy to grip, is that so much to ask?

itboffin

;-)

Anyway so this morning I completed my usual ride in on the SS and was only 7 mins slower over the 15.6 miles not to shabby for a Monday and running a 48/17 gear, the ride homes gonna hurt.

Seems the strava app doesn't pause when you stop start so shoving my phone in the bag and faffing about with gloves etc needs more planning.

iPete

Ran 51x17 for the first time today, it is a pan flat ride so all good there except my top end didn't seem to be any faster than last week running 42x15. Confused.

Am pretty sure Strava auto pauses, it does give you a time and elapsed time..

Time 01:16:47
Elapsed Time 01:22:31

itboffin

The ride home was actually not bad with the exception of a whole new range of clicks and creaks as well as a nagging but vague memory that one of my rims might be worn out, now is it the front or back?

But can I do a week .....

Harry182

iPete wrote:

cheers!

Now can anyone recommend some oversized low drop road bars?

Turns out Deda Newtons are too skinny where your hands sit and too big a drop [142mm]. Anything to match 3T Ergonova?[123mm] They also seem to have a much nicer grip.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/3t-ergonova-pro ... handlebar/



P-X Carbons look good but have been out of stock for ever.

Deda RHM 02's fit the bill. Pretty cheap at Ribble (possibly cheaper elsewhere). Not particularly light but nice shape (ymmv) and nice thickness throughout.

iPete

oh cheers!
Torn, love the looks and weight of the 3T Pro bars + stem combo but that deda is uber cheaper and matches my seatpost. </fixie tart>

gtvlusso

itboffin wrote:

The ride home was actually not bad with the exception of a whole new range of clicks and creaks as well as a nagging but vague memory that one of my rims might be worn out, now is it the front or back?

But can I do a week .....

[Motivation]

Rule #5 // Harden The fark Up.

[/Motivation]

itboffin

iPete wrote:

Hai thread! Was lookin for this one... Have one week of FG commuting under my belt, looove it! Off down to Sigma to get all the freaking different tools you need for a track bike to change my cogs. Not been a cheap venture

itboffin wrote:

How can I fashion a temp water bottle holder on my Dolan track bike, no frame mounts you see

Elite VIP bottle cage clamps..

Fitted a set of those just now what a poor design they're never going to hold tsk!

iPete

You're doing it wrong. Mine holds a 750ml bottle, not a wibble!

It's fiddly granted! Make sure you get the cage on before you tighten the screws.

iPete

What do you call a 'clipless moment' when toe overlap causes your slow downfall to the curb? :oops:

dhope

iPete wrote:

What do you call a 'clipless moment' when toe overlap causes your slow downfall to the curb? :oops:

Nearly managed this too a few times, especially with full mudguards. Tend to do it in slow filtering. Not come off, yet...

iPete

was hoping you'd say the condor has no toe overlap </looking for an excuse>

clarkey cat

are you commuting on this every day iPete?

it is seriously ugly by the way - in a good way.

dhope

iPete wrote:

was hoping you'd say the condor has no toe overlap </looking for an excuse>

Cut off your toes for extra speed. Marginal gains, innit

iPete

clarkey cat wrote:

are you commuting on this every day iPete?

it is seriously ugly by the way - in a good way.

yup last the last 2 and a bit weeks, my wrists are ruined. New stem, bar combo in the post.

Fortunately its freaking fun to ride.

clarkey cat

I've just flogged my fixie but I dont think my new place of work has secure parking so I wouldnt mind an ugly fixy that I wont mind locking up outside. Something like yours would be ideal.

SimonAH

After mainly using the CX if wet and the L3 if dry it's been a while since I've taken the fixie into the office.

Did today, and grinned like a loon.

Went out at lunchtime too and cracked out a ten for the sheer fun of it.

Bikequin

First fixed commute this morning so on I-Pete's advice I thought I'd join the thread. Have been commuting SS for a few months and finally decided to take the plunge and try it fixed, immediate thoughts are that Fixed makes filtering a lot harder and that its going to take some time to get used to. Also I normally ride 48 x 17 and the fixed ratio is 48 x 18 made a bigger difference than I thought it might.

Also I was under the impression that riding fixed you could break with your legs - I just about can but really not very quickly at all and its also going to tear my legs to pieces if I keep trying to do it as I am now - is there a technique to breaking with your legs or just MTFU?

gtvlusso

Bikequin wrote:

First fixed commute this morning so on I-Pete's advice I thought I'd join the thread. Have been commuting SS for a few months and finally decided to take the plunge and try it fixed, immediate thoughts are that Fixed makes filtering a lot harder and that its going to take some time to get used to. Also I normally ride 48 x 17 and the fixed ratio is 48 x 18 made a bigger difference than I thought it might.

Also I was under the impression that riding fixed you could break with your legs - I just about can but really not very quickly at all and its also going to tear my legs to pieces if I keep trying to do it as I am now - is there a technique to breaking with your legs or just MTFU?

After near 5 years of riding fixed and doing 20 miles a day....I am now heading back to SS to give the legs a rest....

dhope

clarkey cat wrote:

I've just flogged my fixie but I dont think my new place of work has secure parking so I wouldnt mind an ugly fixy that I wont mind locking up outside. Something like yours would be ideal.

What size? 53cm too small?

SimonAH

Bikequin wrote:

First fixed commute this morning so on I-Pete's advice I thought I'd join the thread. Have been commuting SS for a few months and finally decided to take the plunge and try it fixed, immediate thoughts are that Fixed makes filtering a lot harder and that its going to take some time to get used to. Also I normally ride 48 x 17 and the fixed ratio is 48 x 18 made a bigger difference than I thought it might.

Also I was under the impression that riding fixed you could break with your legs - I just about can but really not very quickly at all and its also going to tear my legs to pieces if I keep trying to do it as I am now - is there a technique to breaking with your legs or just MTFU?

Get your bodyweight back as far as you can........

TBH, unless you are running really spinny little polo bike gearing, there is less braking going on than speed modulation. I run 89" and actually stopping the bike in any sensible distance from speed is never going to happen - which is why I have a serious front brake.

I do however play the 'no touching the brake lever except in emergency' game, and used to keep a count of brakeless commute runs - resetting the number to zero if I wimped out and hit it :-)

At slower speeds and with chidren though it's a total joy to just leg brake - to the extent that when I got my CX I had to fit interrupter levers as I kept nearly running into the back of my little girl as I was riding with my hands either side of the stem forgetting that I had no way of braking from there!

clarkey cat

dhope wrote:

clarkey cat wrote:

I've just flogged my fixie but I dont think my new place of work has secure parking so I wouldnt mind an ugly fixy that I wont mind locking up outside. Something like yours would be ideal.

What size? 53cm too small?

Yes sorry too small. It may all be academic though as the wife wants to go back to working full-time (boo hiss) which means I'd have to do the nursery drop meaning I cant ride (boo hiss).
I'm trying every trick in the book to get her to reconsider.

nickd01

Thought I'd say hello, as most of the time I'm on a white Condor fixie (48*16) from Richmond to Liverpool St.

Was a windy ride in today, I'm praying for a tailwind as my legs still haven't recovered from the weekend.

Maybe someone wants to give me a nice tow home?!

iPete

Ar you running fixed nick, usually in lycra? might have seen you once or twice although that's quite a vague description!

I'm going to cut my toes off. The sudden massive increase in traffic is making fixed a right pain at times. Think I'm gonna buy myself a condor pista frameset for crimbo, move all the Trek parts over, shift the frame and run SS.

dhope

iPete wrote:

Think I'm gonna buy myself a condor pista frameset for crimbo, buy extra parts for it, keep all the Trek parts and the frame and have the choice of Fixed or SS.

ftfy

iPete

correct answer!

don't s'pose you can assist with project 'purchase justification'. What seatpost, headset and crank system does your condor take? can't seem to see a proper spec on their website!

Am running 27.2 seatpost, standard 1 1/8 stems/bars [i think] and a some kind of truvative crank with SRAM GXP external bb. if it ticks all the above i'll be hiding my plastic.

dhope

iPete wrote:

correct answer!

don't s'pose you can assist with project 'purchase justification'. What seatpost, headset and crank system does your condor take? can't seem to see a proper spec on their website!

Am running 27.2 seatpost, standard 1 1/8 stems/bars [i think] and a some kind of truvative crank with SRAM GXP external bb. if it ticks all the above i'll be hiding my plastic.

I've got Campag Record Pista [English] BB and crankset. 27.2 Thomson layback seatpost.
Bars - http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/HBD ... _handlebar
Stem - Easton EA90
Whatever the Condor standard headset is. 1 1/8 I think offhand.

But if it helps then I can edit the above to say is entirely non standard and you need to buy new stuff


I'm tempted to get a track bike, shift the fancy wheels and campag pista to that, then put the normal Condor stuff I have back on the commuter and have a proper racy track bike for sunny days and Herne Hill, and a normal nice fixed commuter with guards etc but not quite as OTT as it is now
So, y'know - what you're doing but in reverse

Drfabulous0

Bikequin wrote:

Also I was under the impression that riding fixed you could break with your legs - I just about can but really not very quickly at all and its also going to tear my legs to pieces if I keep trying to do it as I am now - is there a technique to breaking with your legs or just MTFU?

To do an emergency stop you have to flick the rear wheel up in the air, ideally using the front brake I hope you fitted, then lock your legs before it lands back on the ground making it skid. Not a great way to stop but it is a god way to control your speed.

SimonAH

<bangs head on table> of course! That's why I can't skid except on wet grass with my gearing! Think I'd just use bodyweight rather than front brake to lift the rear end, but that should work!

<tries to recall where the elbow and kneepads are stored before giving it a go later>

jds_1981

SimonAH wrote:

<bangs head on table> of course! That's why I can't skid except on wet grass with my gearing! Think I'd just use bodyweight rather than front brake to lift the rear end, but that should work!

<tries to recall where the elbow and kneepads are stored before giving it a go later>

I always had to get forwards at 48*16 to skid. Prefer to just use my brakes though.