riding fixed

clarkey cat

slapped a lockring on the SS last night so going to give riding fixed a try.

Any tips - other than growing an ironic 'tache and trimming my bars down to the width of a coke can?

Greg T

You need more width when filtering as your inside pedal will keep turning when before you can lift it up and coast over the kerb.

gtvlusso

keep pedalling - otherwise it can be an epic fail.

I don't really get what you said about putting a lockring on? How will that fix your hub? or do you have a flip flop hub and need to lockring the fixed sprocket side?

gtvlusso

Oh yeah - when tipping into a corner - remember, you cannot lift your inside crank to gain more clearance - another epic fail.

asprilla

Greg T wrote:

You need more width when filtering as your inside pedal will keep turning when before you can lift it up and coast over the kerb.

Oh yes, caused me more than a few scares.

veronese68

What is the point of those really narrow bars? I saw a bloke that looked like his thumbs were touching his bars were so narrow. Surely anything narrower than your hips is pointless.
I know, I'm an old git with no sense of style.

clarkey cat

or do you have a flip flop hub and need to lockring the fixed sprocket side?

This.


Just riding it around the block I almost came a cropper with the going round a corner technique.

gtvlusso

clarkey cat wrote:

or do you have a flip flop hub and need to lockring the fixed sprocket side?

This.


Just riding it around the block I almost came a cropper with the going round a corner technique.

It will amaze you how much you freewheel for on a 'normal' bike.....subconciously. Fixed really makes you rethink your riding!

clarkey cat

Yes I can imagine. I'm a bit nervous.

Got 20 miles home to get it right though so hopefully will pick it up by the time I get home (if I get home).

SimonAH

Be very alert when hopping up curbs - that is the point that overcoming the urge to freewheel is at it's strongest initially! I did faceplant really quite spectacularly on day two (the most dangerous day because you think you've got it sussed by then).

Greg T

until you learn to control the bike though the pedals it wil be harder to do close in tight man-oo-vering as one foot is going up and down like the Assyrian Empire...

Avoid having to do tight slow turns for a long while

Learn to trackstand - took me ages, bear with it - makes life much easier and teaches control to help with tight turns etc - also - chicks dig it.

Give yourself more slow down time to avoid having to stop - I found riding fixed made me look deeper down the road to get my line / speed right - it's a good thing.

Irvinet

clarkey cat wrote:

slapped a lockring on the SS last night so going to give riding fixed a try.

Any tips - other than growing an ironic 'tache and trimming my bars down to the width of a coke can?

When you come to a stop and your pedal is in the wrong spot to start off again the easiest way to fix this is:

- Apply front brake.
- Lean forward to unweight and lift rear wheel.
- Rotate pedal to where you want it.

clarkey cat

When you come to a stop and your pedal is in the wrong spot to start off again the easiest way to fix this is:

- Apply front brake.
- Lean forward to unweight and lift rear wheel.
- Rotate pedal to where you want it.

Obviously this is the main reason why I'm going to ride fixed in the first place: It looks cool!

Greg T

Irvinet wrote:

When you come to a stop and your pedal is in the wrong spot to start off again the easiest way to fix this is:

- Apply front brake.
- Lean forward to unweight and lift rear wheel.
- Rotate pedal to where you want it.

I have never done this . . . . It is therefore impossible and unnecessary

It's easier to not stop with your foot in the wrong place . . Yes this means that sometimes you are a bit behind / ahead of your normal stop space . . .

timmyflash

Don't focus on riders peddling in front of you. Went on my first proper ride (i.e. 60 miles, not just the daily commute) on fixed on the weekend and almost came a cropper a couple of times when i was following my mate, he stopped peddling, so i stopped peddling, as i would on freewheel - fortunately a quick jolt reminded me to keep moving...

Irvinet

Greg T wrote:

Irvinet wrote:

When you come to a stop and your pedal is in the wrong spot to start off again the easiest way to fix this is:

- Apply front brake.
- Lean forward to unweight and lift rear wheel.
- Rotate pedal to where you want it.

I have never done this . . . . It is therefore impossible and unnecessary

It's easier to not stop with your foot in the wrong place . . Yes this means that sometimes you are a bit behind / ahead of your normal stop space . . .

Well, I'm not completely alone:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html#mounting

It becomes pretty automatic after a while is a lot more elegant than lifting the saddle.

Obviously if you are riding brakeless then it is not an option.

jds_1981

I'd say don't ride too quickly (& don't fit new bar tape the day before.)

I came a cropper on a roundabout on my first day fixed - as I came onto the roundabout I saw someone start to cross a zebra crossing on the far side so I stood up to cruise, stopped pedalling and stuck my arm out all at the same time (while doing somewhere above 20). Normally the pedals will remind you to keep pedalling but not in this scenario where they'll first try to throw you off, then pull you back :S

Greg T

AH!!!!

I'm being a dick!

You mean with one foot down!

I thought you meant an Endo- as the rear wheel lifts you have the presence of mind to adjust your feet before it drops and you segue into a perfectly executed trackstand!

YES....

When you are stopped - one foot down, apply front brake, push down on handlebars, up pops the back - spin the wheel, drop it down . . .

ahhhhhh . . . . .

Irvinet

Greg T wrote:

AH!!!!

I'm being a dick!

You mean with one foot down!

I thought you meant an Endo- as the rear wheel lifts you have the presence of mind to adjust your feet before it drops and you segue into a perfectly executed trackstand!

YES....

When you are stopped - one foot down, apply front brake, push down on handlebars, up pops the back - spin the wheel, drop it down . . .

ahhhhhh . . . . .

Good point.

Yes, quite right... though if you can do it while trackstanding then you get extra points.

mossychops

Is there a simple way to just buy a kit converting to fixie or ss? I am going to convert my old 26" wheel, 1995, Gary Fisher Marlin into a commuter. I did have a look about on the internet last night and its neither as cheap or simply as I had expected. A nice kit with crank, chain, rear wheel (ready built) etc would be really useful.

Also have headsets changed? Can I remove the forks and just swap for new forks with a disc brake? Obviously I'm hoping to do all of this under the £100 mark or I would be better off buying a new fixie/ss.

I'm looking forward to it though.

Clever Pun

Since you've been running SS you will now effectivly have 3 brakes at your disposal, your leg braking will get better with time and you'll end up using them to control your speed a lot of the time.

Do you have the same GI as on the SS? sometimes it's better to increase the rear cog by one tooth to get you in the game as your legs will get tired as you start off. No freewheeling is tough to start with.

clarkey cat

44 x 15 for the fixed.

Was riding 44 x 16 on SS.

Didn't want to spin out so went one lower... was that the wrong decision?

How can I calculated my GI?

dhope

Asprilla wrote:

Greg T wrote:

You need more width when filtering as your inside pedal will keep turning when before you can lift it up and coast over the kerb.

Oh yes, caused me more than a few scares.

Yes, I did this on the way in this morning despite commuting almost exclusively fixed for the last year. Certainly wakes you up.

Butterd2

mossychops wrote:

Is there a simple way to just buy a kit converting to fixie or ss? I am going to convert my old 26" wheel, 1995, Gary Fisher Marlin into a commuter. I did have a look about on the internet last night and its neither as cheap or simply as I had expected. A nice kit with crank, chain, rear wheel (ready built) etc would be really useful.

Also have headsets changed? Can I remove the forks and just swap for new forks with a disc brake? Obviously I'm hoping to do all of this under the £100 mark or I would be better off buying a new fixie/ss.

I'm looking forward to it though.

Converting to SS is easy, Velosolo do kits that replace cassette with single cog, then remove rear mech and add chain tensioner - simple.

Going FG is much harder, you will need vertical dropouts.

Butterd2

clarkey cat wrote:

44 x 15 for the fixed.

Was riding 44 x 16 on SS.

Didn't want to spin out so went one lower... was that the wrong decision?

How can I calculated my GI?

Here
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Assuming you are on 700C wheels that is 80.6 GI's which is quite long for road use.

Butterd2

dhope wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

Greg T wrote:

You need more width when filtering as your inside pedal will keep turning when before you can lift it up and coast over the kerb.

Oh yes, caused me more than a few scares.

Yes, I did this on the way in this morning despite commuting almost exclusively fixed for the last year. Certainly wakes you up.

Have you moved, your commute shows you living just down the road from me?

(I'm at the top of Charlton Church Lane)

gtvlusso

I have gone the other way:

from 48 x 15 to 44 x 15 to 44 x 16 - just to make it easier on my knees on the hills - getting to be an old man now!

dhope

Butterd2 wrote:

dhope wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

Greg T wrote:

You need more width when filtering as your inside pedal will keep turning when before you can lift it up and coast over the kerb.

Oh yes, caused me more than a few scares.

Yes, I did this on the way in this morning despite commuting almost exclusively fixed for the last year. Certainly wakes you up.

Have you moved, your commute shows you living just down the road from me?

(I'm at the top of Charlton Church Lane)

I had moved briefly to Charlton but I'm back in Maze Hill at the moment, about 3 doors down from where I was before. You must live around the corner from Obie then - he was on the same road as me (black geared Cotic).

Irvinet

mossychops wrote:

Is there a simple way to just buy a kit converting to fixie or ss? I am going to convert my old 26" wheel, 1995, Gary Fisher Marlin into a commuter. I did have a look about on the internet last night and its neither as cheap or simply as I had expected. A nice kit with crank, chain, rear wheel (ready built) etc would be really useful.

Also have headsets changed? Can I remove the forks and just swap for new forks with a disc brake? Obviously I'm hoping to do all of this under the £100 mark or I would be better off buying a new fixie/ss.

I'm looking forward to it though.

Never seen a fixie conversion "kit." People come from too many different starting points and with different end goals to make a kit profitable I think.

SS conversion is easier than fixed on most modern frames because you can use a chain tensioner to overcome the chain tension issue.

The cheapest way is to pick one of your existing chainrings and cog combinations. Shorten your chain onto those. Get rid of your derailers, shifters, etc. Instant ghetto-SS. If you don't have horizontal dropouts you may need to add a chain tensioner or keep your rear derailer.

Next you can replace the unused cogs with spacers. Get shorter chainring bolts and get rid of the unused chainrings. You will have ditched a bunch of weight and complexity, but it won't be pretty and your chain line is unlikely to be perfect either. But you will find out if you like SS for very little cash.

If you like it you can get a rear wheel with a track hub and new cranks etc... At this point you may decide to buy a dedicated fixie anyway.

Butterd2

dhope wrote:

I had moved briefly to Charlton but I'm back in Maze Hill at the moment, about 3 doors down from where I was before. You must live around the corner from Obie then - he was on the same road as me (black geared Cotic).

Haven't noticed him but then if he's riding at your sort of times then I will still be tucked up in bed!

CyclingBantam

Irvinet wrote:

mossychops wrote:

Is there a simple way to just buy a kit converting to fixie or ss? I am going to convert my old 26" wheel, 1995, Gary Fisher Marlin into a commuter. I did have a look about on the internet last night and its neither as cheap or simply as I had expected. A nice kit with crank, chain, rear wheel (ready built) etc would be really useful.

Also have headsets changed? Can I remove the forks and just swap for new forks with a disc brake? Obviously I'm hoping to do all of this under the £100 mark or I would be better off buying a new fixie/ss.

I'm looking forward to it though.

Never seen a fixie conversion "kit." People come from too many different starting points and with different end goals to make a kit profitable I think.

SS conversion is easier than fixed on most modern frames because you can use a chain tensioner to overcome the chain tension issue.

The cheapest way is to pick one of your existing chainrings and cog combinations. Shorten your chain onto those. Get rid of your derailers, shifters, etc. Instant ghetto-SS. If you don't have horizontal dropouts you may need to add a chain tensioner or keep your rear derailer.

Next you can replace the unused cogs with spacers. Get shorter chainring bolts and get rid of the unused chainrings. You will have ditched a bunch of weight and complexity, but it won't be pretty and your chain line is unlikely to be perfect either. But you will find out if you like SS for very little cash.

If you like it you can get a rear wheel with a track hub and new cranks etc... At this point you may decide to buy a dedicated fixie anyway.

Or you could just not change gear?