Fixed/Single Speed Commuting

BlackMarketSuperstar

ddraver wrote:

ddraver wrote:

Well it would appear that I ve stripped the threads off of the hub this morning so that's going back to Evans!!

I could make a comment about Italian Workmanship but I prefer to thin of myself as a huge hunk of power instead

^^Mine's back at Evans waiting for a judgement on whether the blatant stripping of the hub is a warranty issue or not

God I cannot stand Evans! Curse whoever decided to get use the Evans only R2W scheme!!!

hope youre not in a hurry, my roubaix's been in with evans for a week with a crack in the frame & no decision :roll:

ddraver

Total Charlatans have said it's not a warranty case so that's a new wheel for me

Absolute complete and total incompetant w*nkers. I knew I should never have bought from there I knew it!

So angry!

cookeeemonster

ddraver wrote:

Total Charlatans have said it's not a warranty case so that's a new wheel for me

Absolute complete and total incompetant w*nkers. I knew I should never have bought from there I knew it!

So angry!

out of interest which evans did you take it? Not Spitalfields by any chance?

ddraver

No the West End/Mortimer Road Store branch

I mean seriously how can you "retighten" something that has no threads on it!!!

ddraver

So with that in mind can anyone recommend any Fixie wheels?

Need to be fixed/fixed and with a brake track if poss.

dhope

ddraver wrote:

So with that in mind can anyone recommend any Fixie wheels?

Need to be fixed/fixed and with a brake track if poss.

http://www.v-sprint.com/
Jess Varnish's father makes a good fixed wheel
Can use 'lfgssprice' as a discount code (might only be if you're buying a pair)

iPete

ddraver wrote:

So with that in mind can anyone recommend any Fixie wheels?

Need to be fixed/fixed and with a brake track if poss.

I'm currently rocking BLB King hubs (fixed/fixed), kind of aero spokes (ugo tells me off if I say bladed or something) and Archetype rims. Excellent wheels but there are certainly cheaper options like the v-sprints.

Fixie link in my sig has more details..

ddraver

Well no reply from V-Sprint so it looks like it's a choice between

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/miche-x-press-r ... ke-wheels/

or

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/halo-aero-rage- ... ike-wheel/ on front (with the brake track) and http://www.wiggle.co.uk/halo-aero-track-rear-wheel/ on the back

They basically seem much of a muchness to me. Does anyone have any experience?

dhope

ddraver wrote:

Well no reply from V-Sprint so it looks like it's a choice between

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/miche-x-press-r ... ke-wheels/

or

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/halo-aero-rage- ... ike-wheel/ on front (with the brake track) and http://www.wiggle.co.uk/halo-aero-track-rear-wheel/ on the back

They basically seem much of a muchness to me. Does anyone have any experience?

No reply? Odd - he's normally quick. Try the lfgss thread
http://www.lfgss.com/thread90468-13.html

goonz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5VmLYA-_9w

dhope

goonz wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5VmLYA-_9w

Diesel/Pinarello 'fixie bike'. Doesn't look anything special for £800
You're almost in Condor territory for that money. Or Dolan track bike with upgraded Sugino 75

ddraver

dhope wrote:

No reply? Odd - he's normally quick. Try the lfgss thread
http://www.lfgss.com/thread90468-13.html

yep the e-mail on that page worked fine, the one on the website did nt...

So - ordered now

roger_merriman

I have one of these

Now I found it a comfy bike, even over 100miles or more. But not any more.

There is far too much bar to saddle drop now.

And the brake levers are too far from my hands. they are just either side of the stem.

So I need to raise the bar and move the brake levers so i'm more confident sounds like a riser bar or similar?

I'm trying to make this bike useable for myself again for the odd commute or park/Surrey ride if it goes well. if not I need to sell it really.

goonz

The drop isn't that bad? How about a shorter stem?

dav1

pastryboy wrote:

Time for a new bike soon. Aside from the Merlin single malt, are there any other fixed bikes that have rack/mudguard mounts?

When I was shopping I saw the State bikes had mounts like the merlin. They come in at £400. I believe dolan FXE frames dalso have mudguard bosses if you want to go for a custom build.

dav1

So legs are now suffering.

I was sick of spinning out when trying to push the speed up and fancy taking the fixie out for club TTs midweek. Decided I should get a 14t sprocket to go 44x14 (82.6 GI).

My commute was no slower but St. Michaels hill was 1.5 mins of pain (i wonder if Marlborough hill will hurt as much tomorrow ). The bike does seem to have lost its bite now, just cant pick up speed and mash like I did on 44x16 (73.2 GI). but I do like crusing along at 20 with a comfortable cadence on the flat and the ability to hit 30+ on descents without spinning like mad. Gonna stick with it for a while, at least until I have done a couple of TTs on it. Hopefully I will MTFU by then and be able to ride it well.

iPete

roger merriman wrote:

I'm trying to make this bike useable for myself again for the odd commute or park/Surrey ride if it goes well. if not I need to sell it really.

10mm shorter stem and bull horns with TT levers? Not sure of that is overall better or even more aggressive.

roger_merriman

iPete wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

I'm trying to make this bike useable for myself again for the odd commute or park/Surrey ride if it goes well. if not I need to sell it really.

10mm shorter stem and bull horns with TT levers? Not sure of that is overall better or even more aggressive.

Sadly even just riding on the tops does a number on my shoulders now, need make it a far more upright position would seem. Going to try a riser bar with a higher angled stem and see how that goes, should still be a light simple bike but with a bit more drag in the wind, but I might be able to ride it, as it's presently had a few test rides but mostly sat doing nothing.

EKE_38BPM

Dav1 wrote:

So legs are now suffering.

I was sick of spinning out when trying to push the speed up and fancy taking the fixie out for club TTs midweek. Decided I should get a 14t sprocket to go 44x14 (82.6 GI).

My commute was no slower but St. Michaels hill was 1.5 mins of pain (i wonder if Marlborough hill will hurt as much tomorrow ). The bike does seem to have lost its bite now, just cant pick up speed and mash like I did on 44x16 (73.2 GI). but I do like crusing along at 20 with a comfortable cadence on the flat and the ability to hit 30+ on descents without spinning like mad. Gonna stick with it for a while, at least until I have done a couple of TTs on it. Hopefully I will MTFU by then and be able to ride it well.

You've increased your gearing by almost 13%! No wonder your legs are suffering. Old forumites, was it LiT who killed her legs by running too high a fixie gear?
LiT is no longer on this forum. She now plays online games instead. A loss to Commuting Chat.

ddraver

My V-sprint wheels have arrived and look most pimping

Thanks for the recommendation dhope. Will give them a proper ride when I ve got over this stinking horrible cold



Edit - spent a fee hours setting it up now

Put a Brooks Cambium Saddle on it - which thus far I like a lot

Bar tape n the frame is ostensibly to cover the frame where it rests against bike stands but is actually to cover up all the flipping Cinelli Logos.

The new wheels are fantastic, much stiffer and more responsive than the, admittedly cool but crappy, ones they replaced. having the choice of running 2 fixed gears is nice too. I can't say I found SS any less tiring on off days.

Just need to get the steerer tube cut down now, still experimenting a bit though..

ddraver

Just a thought - how do you wrap your bullhorn bars? Inside out (ie the opposite way to the traditional standard bar way) end to stem?

How do the cool kids do it?

dav1

ddraver wrote:

Just a thought - how do you wrap your bullhorn bars? Inside out (ie the opposite way to the traditional standard bar way) end to stem?

How do the cool kids do it?

I do mine the other way around - from stem to end.

I do away with the tape by doing half a turn the wrong way then completely wrapping over the end tight on the way down to give a super neat bit. I then use the bung/brake leaver to tie in the tape as usual.



I also have a question about chains.

My wheel is right at the end of the drop outs now so I have almost no room when the chain stretches, problem is if i take a link out then the wheel wants to be right at the front and I cant get the chain on. Is there a simple solution to this problem or do I wait for a bit more stretch and loose the link later?

dhope

ddraver wrote:

...
Bar tape n the frame is ostensibly to cover the frame where it rests against bike stands but is actually to cover up all the flipping Cinelli Logos.

The new wheels are fantastic, much stiffer and more responsive than the, admittedly cool but crappy, ones they replaced.

That is a very tidy looking bike. I quite like the bar tape to cover the logos. Glad the wheels turned out well.

Dav1 wrote:

question about chains.

My wheel is right at the end of the drop outs now so I have almost no room when the chain stretches, problem is if i take a link out then the wheel wants to be right at the front and I cant get the chain on.

You could get a single half link. Check the width of the chain before you do (i.e. 3/32 or 1/8) but should be able to get something like this
http://www.amazon.com/KMC-Half-Link-Sin ... B00288K96C

ddraver

it's the proper old school fabric bar tape on the frame - looks more like rim tape (may even be Velox)...

goonz

Dav1 wrote:

ddraver wrote:

Just a thought - how do you wrap your bullhorn bars? Inside out (ie the opposite way to the traditional standard bar way) end to stem?

How do the cool kids do it?

I do mine the other way around - from stem to end.

I do away with the tape by doing half a turn the wrong way then completely wrapping over the end tight on the way down to give a super neat bit. I then use the bung/brake leaver to tie in the tape as usual.



I also have a question about chains.

My wheel is right at the end of the drop outs now so I have almost no room when the chain stretches, problem is if i take a link out then the wheel wants to be right at the front and I cant get the chain on. Is there a simple solution to this problem or do I wait for a bit more stretch and loose the link later?

Think there is something called a half link for this exact problem...not used it myself but heard it mentioned a lot on the other forum.

dav1

Page 5? lets fix this shall we...

Anyway I have come the the conclusion that 44x14 (82.6 GI) is too big a gear for brizzle. It was great for longer and flatter training rides and/or visits to the east but hillier routes and commuting with a backpack when tired was just not working.

Picked up a 15 t sprocket this afternoon for a much more reasonable 77.1 GI.

redvee

My older SS is 74.2 GI and the newer one is 73.1 GI.

itboffin

redvee wrote:

i'm old my SS is 74.2 GI and the newer one is 73.1 GI.

LMFTFY

Londonscottish

ddraver wrote:

it's the proper old school fabric bar tape on the frame - looks more like rim tape (may even be Velox)...

Hate logos, love what you have done there.

ddraver

Confession - Every time I think I ve "got" skidding it turns out that I'm just unscrewing the cog...