A fixed gear for a road/towpath/dirt commute?

Kelloggs

I currently ride my Tricross Comp the 16 miles from home to work, it consists of road, towpath, with a small section of mud/dirt along the way. I am considering selling this and going for a fixed gear, mainly to improve fitness and speed for the weekend riding (Focus Cayo). Any advice???? Should I and if so which one?

BUICK

There's a single speed Tricross now if you like that bike? I'm not sure what the conventional wisdom is on this, but to be honest I don't think riding fixed necessarily makes you fitter (takes a step backwards)... You don't have the option to coast, but you don't have to coast if you have the option, and fixed bikes tend to be pretty lightweight - which in terms of making training 'hard' is counterproductive, surely?

Therefore, if you want to train harder and get fitter - fit a rack to the Tricross and carry more weight on the bike?

ride_whenever

Fixed will make you a lot smoother in your pedalling stroke. But if i were buying a bike for towpaths and wanted single/fixed gearing, one stand out option a Pompino (I have just bought a 2nd hand one!) Gorgeous to ride and really quick, it'll take racks etc. and the frame isn;t too brutal, which is what you want for rough terrain.

william79

I was in a similar situation, looked at all of the options and went for a new Pompino in March.

The Pompino is perfect for my similar commute. It has enough braze ons & good tyre clearance too, to open up the options. You can run it fixed or single speed (perhaps even a hub gear if you have a change of circumstance & need gears in the future). It's not too heavy & lovely to ride.

I used to commute on a geared road bike, but it took a couple of weeks to build up my fitness on the Pompino (because you pedal every single mile) & a while to get used to the fixed concept.

The simplicity is great; no gears to adjust / maintain.

Kelloggs

thanks for your advice, I am tempted to give it a go. Might be late to work for the first week or so!