Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - What type of fixed-gear riding do you do?

Mine is a little of everything...urban, rural backroads, club rides with roadies, greenways, and single track.

i got nothing but street and laps around various parks around here.. & still too much of a a wuss to do kissena

Mine is a little of everything...urban, rural backroads, club rides with roadies, greenways, and single track.

My fixie gets used primarily for my 15 mi. small-town/suburban daily commute and around-town transportation.

I'd get dropped if I rode with the roadies around here on a fixie. There aren't too many flat rides and I can think of no gearing that would allow me to keep up on the climbs *and* in the flats/downhills. Plus some of the roadies around here would probably get pissy if I showed up to a group ride on a fixie. So any longer road-rides fixed are done solo.

I've done one century on it (an easy, mostly flat one) with some other fixed-gear riders, and I did the Rosarito-Ensenada fun-ride on it.

-Trevor

<8 mile suburban getting around

Turd we will get you there..
S/F<
CEYA!

my 15 km RT commute. and some weekend errands.
and maybe the long way home some days.

I'm hitting the velodrome this fall though!

Plus some of the roadies around here would probably get pissy if I showed up to a group ride on a fixie.

As a long as you've got a brake why would they care? Plenty of "roadies" train on fixed-gear bikes. No offense, I just don't understand why people perpetuate these stereotypes of various cycling cultures.

soccer-mom dodger, suburban lolly-gagging, urban linefinder, paved trail bolter, whatever, whenever - I just love my bikes. And I love the experiences, the insights and the friends I have made on them.
They are always my milemarkers. I have worked hard to draft old men on lugged steel, spring-heeled jacks. I have crushed a suburban triathlete paceline and then laughed with them. I have been run over, hit, and tossed about the narrow confines of cityspace.
Halos of acrid fumes. Sharp winds delivering icy daggers.
I have visited the dead, and brought life to old friends.
Kids smile at people on bikes. Kids rarely smile at people in cars.
The neighbors giggle at my riding style and how I can "stand still" in the pedals.
I smile more on my bike - inside and outside.
Time passes in a richer state on a bike.
And it is my time. The world drops like a cheap curtain and shows me it wares.
To me, there is nothing like riding a bike. The most beautiful sense of separation and connection.

Nice post [165]. And I meant to answer the question: all kinds--urban, suburban, daytime, nighttime, sun, snow, slow, fast, to the grocery store, for 100 miles--but sadly no racing yet. It's late.

As a long as you've got a brake why would they care? Plenty of "roadies" train on fixed-gear bikes. No offense, I just don't understand why people perpetuate these stereotypes of various cycling cultures.

I'm not just pulling that out of nowhere and assuming that 'cause they're "roadies", that someone would object.

I say that 'cause I'm a regular on the local road-racer training rides, and I know the group well enough to know that there's a couple uptight riders who, for whatever reason, would probably get pissy if someone showed up on a fixed-gear.

-Trevor

Hey Trevor, where in the 909 are you? I'm in Rancho Cucamonga.

if i leave my house and it is more than a block and less that 10 miles one way, i'll be on the fixie. that is assuming i don't need to haul more stuff than i can cram in my bag or otherwise strap to my body. anything other than that, i'd rather not do. i don't do group rides or races ... unless it is a group heading for a bar and the last one there has to buy.

']Kids smile at people on bikes.

This is so true(and I love it)

I'm not just pulling that out of nowhere and assuming that 'cause they're "roadies", that someone would object.

I say that 'cause I'm a regular on the local road-racer training rides, and I know the group well enough to know that there's a couple uptight riders who, for whatever reason, would probably get pissy if someone showed up on a fixed-gear.

-Trevor

That's because they are fricking noobs. I for one wouldn't care if a fixie showed up. I wouldn't care if 50 fixies showed up.

Everything from my 7 rt commute to group rides to 50+ milers on the weekend.You should ride your fixie on group rides.It's fun to pass the hardcore roadies(they do anything to get back in front of you).

My fixie is a commuter bike and an errand-running machine. I bought it in DC when I rode it to work 5 miles a day. I moved to Chicago and I ride it 18 miles a day on the current commute. It's a beast -- steel frame, wrapped in innertubes, pursuit bars and a front brake. It has crappy WTB clipless pedals on it and it's beautiful. It probably gets about 75-100 miles a week, all told.

I just bought another bike (#3) this week though . . . so the fixie is going to get some rest (not rust . . . just rest) for a bit, while I break the newbie in!

']...To me, there is nothing like riding a bike...

ooh yeah, me too. i ride one or the other fixed gear bike anywhere and everywhere. having a more rugged commuting setup gets me to places my track bike really ought not to go. i guess i'm recommending that everyone have (at least) one of each.

Training. To put the hurt on when the nordic ski season is off. I ride a 48/17 with an odometer (and a front brake). 20 plus miles daily during the week and about 80 over the weekend. Time dissolves on this bike. The only comparable experience for me is how five or six hours pass in a (photography) dark room unnoticed.

I sleep easy at night.

work mostly, occasional alleycat race or group ride with rec riders

I ride my bike mostly for fun and to and from work, on the road, up and down curbs, on the dirt, over rocks, all on the same wheels with 700x23 tires. i'm totally guilty of wheel abuse.

17 mile RT urban/suburban commute on my Mercier track bike. My hybrid conversion is my winter commuter, grocery getter, and kiddie trailer puller. Long rides are still for the recumbent.
Craig

all city riding, anything else would require leaving london. i don't know how to do that yet.

around 10 miles daily commute and some trail riding

Mostly urban(SanFrancisco) and suburban(SanJose) commute, brakeless.

Weekends, I ride primarily in the city (because I can't stand rides in the country, it's so boooooring) and occasionally on the velodrome.

Offroad has no appeal to me, if I want to see the wilderness I'll go hiking.

I own three bikes, one dedicated track bike(the Don Walker), one dedicated commuter(IRO MarkV), and one inbetween bike(KHS Aero).

Training.. I have an iro MarkV and and its awesome to see the progress I've made on the regualar{geared**bike while riding fixed.

cheers-
Jim

I'm not just pulling that out of nowhere and assuming that 'cause they're "roadies", that someone would object.

I say that 'cause I'm a regular on the local road-racer training rides, and I know the group well enough to know that there's a couple uptight riders who, for whatever reason, would probably get pissy if someone showed up on a fixed-gear.

-Trevor

Weird, I've never observed anything but respect from road cylists towards those on fixed-gear bikes. Unless of course they've got that snotty my fixed can smoke your 5k+ carbon fiber blah blah blah attitude.

Back on topic.. I commute to my shop, ride with friends, suffer through north jersey climbs then hop on the train to bomb through NYC on my carlton track bike. I leave the racing and group rides however, to my bianchi road bike. :)

City, backroads, fire roads, and i occasionally hurt myself on singletrack.

Well said 165. Especially the cheap curtain...

I do easy-going space-out adventures, pub runs, singletrack poaching, dreamtime wanderings, wine-country exploring, bike path ego-battles, lunchtime crusades to burrito cart, puddle jumping, eternal commuting, and soon-to-be double century.

I keep one bike at a time. It's my joy, my pain, my little piece of freedom from everything else. I use it for everything. Even if it's just as easy or as short to walk someplace, I'll consider riding instead. I feel disconnected and dirty when I have to use public transport or drive someplace (unless it's unimaginably far).

I just separated my collarbone in a small accident this Monday due to a silly fair weather driver (read as: stupid F@#king driver)- my third in six months. It's a warzone out there - I bike so much that maybe it's just higher exposure. Everyday, at least twice a day. keevohn said bad things happen in three's, if so, I'll be good after this one.

It's driving me batty though.

i read once you get into an accident once every 2000-3000miles. so yeah last year
i hit my average, at my current rate i won't have one 'til 2007. ugh i need to ride more.

speaking of which: chicagoland-ers should all check out our awesome rails-to-trails system. crushed limestone with some paved sections that goes all over the chicagoland area. I used to bike from the hollywood casino in aurora to the grand victoria in elgin and then out to elmhurst for a celebratory (or mourning) drink and then back home to naperville.

pros - trail riding gets you trained for biking in packed snow, & car-free
cons - your bike can get dusty or even muddy
scratch that getting muddy is fun & sexy

otherwise city streets, country roads, & soon the track

jeff

Offroad has no appeal to me, if I want to see the wilderness I'll go hiking.

Ha ha, if I want to see the wilderness I'll ride my fixed to the bar and watch the Nature Channel on TV!

Everything.

I bike around town and to work. I do long rides too. I bike in blizzards and in heat waves. I've done rides with roadies who have nothing but respect for tackling the distance and the terrain on one gear. I run to the package store.

I ride my bike.

i'm riding sideways, this way thatta way...

commute, urban riding, long rides, short rides, single track, fire road, basically i ride when ever i get the chance.