How hard is learning to ride fixed?

pastryboy

compared to for example, learning to ride clipless?

asprilla

It's easy. I still occasionally forget I can't freewheel but then I still occasionally forget I'm clipped in.

SimonAH

It's not difficult - but the penalties for getting it wrong can be severe........

My pitfall was hopping a curb resulting in a massive off as my legs forgot to keep moving on day two. No issues since though and the rewards are great. I love it.

You just have to invest a lot of concentration for a couple of days to relearn the 'muscle memory' that you employ on a normal bike. After that it's fine - just like you can get off a motorcycle and drive a car without thinking about it.

Lazarus

I'd say it's about on par with going Clipless for the first time.

You will forget to keep peddling and the bike will give you a stern reminder but it doesn't happen often. I found the most unnerving thing about riding fixed was taking corners whilst still peddling , took a while to convince myself that you can still lean the bike over without it grounding.

dreamlx10

It's not hard at all, and well done for saying fixed, that's a good start.

JackPozzi

I'd say it's pretty easy. Don't know what cleats you normally use but I found it heped to put pedals with spd one side and flat on the other when I first started riding rather than the keos I have on my other bikes. It just makes it easier to get going as you can't stop pedalling to clip in when starting from a standstill.

andy83

Just make sure first time you ride its not on open roads, just do quiet roads, after 2 minutes it feels fine, although in first couple of weeks you will have a few moments when you forget that you cant freewheel

christopher247

I've just done it! Compared to riding clipless, similar in my view...

Felt very strange first time (tried on quiet roads first, highly recommended...), then takes a bit of getting used to when in traffic etc. After a couple of 8 mile both ways commutes, I feel quite confident now, but still concentrating quite hard and not riding too fast...

Alphabet

not too hard at all. i finally changed from a freewheel the other week.

when i first went to spds i was a little apprehensive after all the chatter about forgetting to clip out and all that, but it turned out to be absolutely fine. same with going fixed.

couple of things i noticed though - going round corners and worrying about pedal or wheel strike - i haven't found I've had to slow down or take corners wider particularly. you've got be be really leaning to cause yourself issues. looking over your shoulder while pedaling is also absolutely fine. no wobbles there. the things that have nearly had me come a cropper are:

grabbing my water bottle while going along - harder than your freewheeling brain thinks

stopping at the lights - feet are in all sorts of odd positions so sods law means they'll got green while you're spinning the back wheels to get your lead foot up. also find i'm a bit more wobbly standing there clipped in without the ability to move my foot.

overtaking/speeding up - this is the big one for me. those times where you give it the beans to overtake something, I personally seem to be hard-wired to freewheel when I'm up to speed. On my second commute fixed I was at the front of some traffic going through some road works, speed up to proper full whack and stopped my legs. very nearly got launched over the front of the bike and presumably under the car behind me. won't be doing that again now.

after only a few days it feels utterly natural and onthe one afternoon where i was feeling knackered and turned the wheel round back to the freewheel for the commute home, i had to stop 10 minutes later and put it back as it felt a bit funny.

it's fun. do it.

lost_in_thought

It's completely fine, I have never understood what all the fuss is about. Just don't stop pedalling - simple!

And with the lights, you don't have to be right on the line every time you stop - just stop with your lead foot in a position you'd want to push off from. Having ridden fixed with panniers for some time, the lift'n'spin isn't always an option.

gtvlusso

It is fairly easy - very enjoyable!

I took my rowing girls to the velodrome a few years back - warned them not to stop pedalling and did expect to be carting at least one of them to hospital.....they all adjusted to fixed riding in minutes.....

nicklouse

the hardest thing that i have found is when wanting to bunnyhop something. (curb/pothole/crud) where i would normally freewheel upto it and then pop over it..... well you cant.

Alphabet

nicklouse wrote:

the hardest thing that i have found is when wanting to bunnyhop something. (curb/pothole/crud) where i would normally freewheel upto it and then pop over it..... well you cant.

yeah, best i can do is a very lame manual

Alphabet

oh, another thing - don't even attempt a skid stop if you're on a high gear ratio. I'm on 81" and I'd need legs like Chris Hoy to manage it i think

notsoblue

Surely the most difficult adjustment to riding fixed is the skinny jeans?

Aidy

I learned how to ride on a fixed gear bike when I was four.

That was enough. Freewheels all the way.

MonkeyMonster

notsoblue wrote:

Surely the most difficult adjustment to riding fixed is the skinny jeans?

the idea of CP in skinny jeans

asprilla

Alphabet wrote:

after only a few days it feels utterly natural and onthe one afternoon where i was feeling knackered and turned the wheel round back to the freewheel for the commute home, i had to stop 10 minutes later and put it back as it felt a bit funny..

Having ridden fixed though the winter I was repairing a puncture in Richmond Park and I was knackered so I thought I'd turn the wheel round and use the freewheel. I stoped about 4 miles later and swapped it back again because it just felt wrong.

Alphabet

Asprilla wrote:

Having ridden fixed though the winter I was repairing a puncture in Richmond Park and I was knackered so I thought I'd turn the wheel round and use the freewheel. I stoped about 4 miles later and swapped it back again because it just felt wrong.

odd isn't it? sort of like your cranks have gone all funny or something. I don't like it.

jumping back on my mountain bike straight after was fine though.

Butterd2

Pretty much everything already covered above, it's great do it.

Only problem I had and still sometimes still struggle with is if you you trying to filter down narrow gap between car and pavement, remember you cannot keep your inside pedal high. I had one incident with a cab, but was only doing a couple of mph, pedal came round hit top of kerb and I stopped rather abruptly and being clipped in had little option but to rest arm on the roof of the cab. Though to be fair if the gap's that tight maybe you shouldn't be trying to squeeze down it anyway.

woodford2barbican

Butterd2 wrote:

Pretty much everything already covered above, it's great do it.

Only problem I had and still sometimes still struggle with is if you you trying to filter down narrow gap between car and pavement, remember you cannot keep your inside pedal high. I had one incident with a cab, but was only doing a couple of mph, pedal came round hit top of kerb and I stopped rather abruptly and being clipped in had little option but to rest arm on the roof of the cab. Though to be fair if the gap's that tight maybe you shouldn't be trying to squeeze down it anyway.

This ^^^^^ sums up reason that my attitude to riding fixed wheel is that it reduces the utility of your bike. There are manoeuvres that are no longer advisable / if not impossible as a consequence of riding without a free wheel.

I'd rather ride a folding bike than a fixed wheel bike.

Butterd2

woodford2barbican wrote:

Butterd2 wrote:

Pretty much everything already covered above, it's great do it.

Only problem I had and still sometimes still struggle with is if you you trying to filter down narrow gap between car and pavement, remember you cannot keep your inside pedal high. I had one incident with a cab, but was only doing a couple of mph, pedal came round hit top of kerb and I stopped rather abruptly and being clipped in had little option but to rest arm on the roof of the cab. Though to be fair if the gap's that tight maybe you shouldn't be trying to squeeze down it anyway.

This ^^^^^ sums up reason that my attitude to riding fixed wheel is that it reduces the utility of your bike. There are manoeuvres that are no longer advisable / if not impossible as a consequence of riding without a free wheel.

I'd rather ride a folding bike than a fixed wheel bike.

^^^^^^^ Be my guest

Butterd2

^^^^

On a serious note I do accept that it is not for everyone, but would recommend you to try and make up your own mind.
I agree it does limit the "utility" of your bike but that's why I have 2; the FG is for commuting/hacking around town and the CR-1 is for Sunday best, Sportives, Touring etc.
My commute is only 7 miles each way and I feel I get much more exercise out of using the FG, to ride it on the Scott feels easier and hence less beneficial.
Still don't get why FG is higher up the SCR food chain than a Roadie though I am certainly quicker on the Scott as I simply run out of cadence at about 22mph on the FG.

dhope

Butterd2 wrote:

Still don't get why FG is higher up the SCR food chain than a Roadie though I am certainly quicker on the Scott as I simply run out of cadence at about 22mph on the FG.

Don't think it is higher SCR. Would think your Scott (edit: Pace rather) would be a functional SS rather than proper rapid or tarty shiny. Swap it out for a chrome Bianchi Pista with drops and you're definitely in tarty shiny territory but I class my Langster with flat bars, a mudguard and saddlebag as functional (and thank god too, only thing that'd save my scalp as I spin out too soon on it)

Butterd2

Thanks, just read the rules again. The Scott CR-1 is a proper carbon fibre racing bike and as I still have hair (on my legs at least) that gives me an SCR 4. I had been treating the Pace FG as a 3 but as you rightly point out I should probably class it as a 5 as it is more of a functional FG than a tarty pista type bike.
This suddenly changes my commute from the odd race with a messenger to a TRE (Target Rich Environment) with every road bike a opportunity, what I am to do with all the scalps?

Cheers for the advice, hopefully I'll catch up with you on the ride in one morning.

shm_uk

I'm not so worried about the 'how hard is it to ride fixed' question.

I'm more interested in the 'what on earth's the point in riding fixed' question.

Butterd2

^^^ Try it, you'll either get it or you won't.

edhornby

tip on the pedal position at lights thing

you can either stop at a sensible place behind or even, gasp, in front of the line, or

one foot down, hold the bike on the front brake, rock the bike onto the front wheel so the back wheel is in the air, spin the pedals so they are in the right position and drop the back wheel down

greg66_tri_v2.0

There is (almost) nothing that would persuade me to try. Like walking on hot coals (not tried), or bungee jumping (tried), I simply cannot see the appeal (at least outside a velodrome. Every abomination has its place).

I find it quite hard not to freewheel - even very slightly - as I unclip. I'm one of those odd types who always prefers to unclip at the same point on the clockface every time. I could see that causing major up-fcukery. In particular at junctions. With cross traffic. Where overshooting is not advised.

I also happen to maintain a huge prejudice in the shape of fixed riders = greater than average proportion of RLJ-ers. It's because they don't want to stop, y'see.

lost_in_thought

Greg66 wrote:

I find it quite hard not to freewheel - even very slightly - as I unclip. I'm one of those odd types who always prefers to unclip at the same point on the clockface every time. I could see that causing major up-fcukery. In particular at junctions. With cross traffic. Where overshooting is not advised.

Fixed gear bikes: Have Brakes.

Butterd2

Greg66 wrote:

I also happen to maintain a huge prejudice in the shape of fixed riders = greater than average proportion of RLJ-ers. It's because they don't want to stop, y'see.

Surprisingly I am the opposite on my FG, because my top speed is limited (if someone can hold 23mph they win) I now stop at every red light and use it as an opportunity for some sprint training when they go green.