Fixed for winter?

Matt.K

Half watching the weather this morning I heard the woman say something about the warm weather not lasting and it getting much colder next week with winds from the arctic

It made me think about something I've been considering for a while now.
I'm currently riding singlespeed 48x18, but I'm sure I read somewhere (possibly on Sheldon Brown) that fixed gear is better for when it gets slippery/icy as you can instantly feel when the rear wheel starts to lose traction.

Does anyone have any experience of this?
I've been considering trying fixed for a while and this could be the perfect excuse, but then also I don't want to be caught out riding an unfamiliar drivetrain style when I hit some ice, panicking and going flat on my a*se!

Wooliferkins

For years roadies put their best bike away in winter and rode fixed. You are more directly in touch with things on a fixed, it is still down to handling skills and it still sets the adrenaline pumping when the wheel slips but you have to deal with what you feel as you cant try and coast through it.

Clever Pun

Wooliferkins wrote:

For years roadies put their best bike away in winter and rode fixed. You are more directly in touch with things on a fixed, it is still down to handling skills and it still sets the adrenaline pumping when the wheel slips but you have to deal with what you feel as you cant try and coast through it.

you can try and coast but you'll end up off your seat

fixed riding is the way forward when the weather is bad, better for fitness too

Winter miles and all that

el_presidente

I think it's true - a couple of times on my fixed with knackered rear tyre i've lost the back end on wet bends, but you feel it so quickly it almost self corrects and neither incident resulted in a spill. Could just be my awesome bike-handling skills of course.

MonkeyMonster

Been pondering getting a low maintenance fixie - especially given the commute has no real hills... Anyone prepared to let me try theirs to see how it feels? When sober that is...

petejuk

Its usually the leaning on bends that causes the tyres to slip away in the wet. You can't do this when pedalling round them for obvious reasons. You are more likely to ground a pedal than your tyre lose grip when riding a fixed wheel bike.