Commuting - It's official - I'm a kook

My old steel rigid MTB is now a fixed gear. Rode it to work today. Definitely on the lunatic fringe now. Hopefully my friends won't notice me not coasting and still think it's a single speed.

I don't know if I'll stick with it. It's sort of a training thing. Gotta make the most of my short 5 mile commute. Also its a winter thing. If I get good at it, I can stop wearing out my brakes and rims in the winter road muck.

The gearing is 38x15 with 26x1.5 street tires and platform pedals.

Mind sharing what the conversion cost?

get some clips or look pedals with some road shoes and then you can really spin it up without killing yourself !! =)

pricepoint.com has some good combo deals... you get the pedals/cleats and the shoes combined..


like this for $ 109 !!

http://www.pricepoint.com/images/styleImages/D_285%20SETPR4%20KIT.jpg

It's been a gradual process of changing things on this bike for the past year. I bought this bike used in the early 1990's for $150. It's a 1980's Specialized Hardrock. Last summer, the gears started slipping. The drive train was worn out. I bought a pre-built rear wheel with a Surly hub and Sun Rhyno-Lite rim from my LBS. I have ridden this wheel for the past year as a single speed. The crank was a cheapo rivetted POS. I bought a BMX crank, Surly chainwheel, and Shimano BMX freewheel. I have been riding this for the past year. The original SS configuration had a 35 tooth chainwheel. I have changed it to 38t now. This bikes horizontal dropouts are short. Not all combinations of chainwheel and rear cog work because adding or removing a chain link moves the axel 1/2 an inch.

I'll count the cost without the extra stuff I bought while playing around with SS and different gear ratios.

$140 wheel
$50 crank
$35 chainring
$20 cog
$15 chain

Total cost to "fix" my broken bike was $260. Remember, though, that my bike didn't work before this project. A friend of mine with an almost identical bike had the LBS replace his worn out drive train with new cheapo parts (identical rivetted chainring). He paid $200 for the repairs.

I also bought new handlebars and a new seat, but that wasn't necessary for the fixed gear conversion.

I converted my old Paramount to a single speed last year but then converted it back to a 7 speed single ring. I could not get up any of the mountains around here. There are some bad ass fixed gear mountainbikers I know of in Virginia and West Virgina, I don't know how they do it.

I ride a fixed gear road bike on my 5 mile commute and it's just pure fun.

Welcome to the Dark Side!!!!

Am I nuts for trying to ride a fixed gear without my feet attached to the pedals? I kind of don't want any mechanical attachment because I plan to use this settup in the winter. My bike went down fast on ice twice last winter. Thanks to using platform pedals and having quick footwork, I was still standing afterwards in both cases. There is no time for unclipping once the wheels start to move sideways.

In my experience, there is no difference between clipless and platforms when it comes to quickly removing your feet from the pedals when you need to. The difference is when you're actually trying to maintain the connection. I've never accidentally unclipped. Clipless are safer than platforms in every scenario I can think of.

In the winter, I run platforms too. Why? So I can use my $50 work boots to keep my tosies warm instead of $200 cycling boots that might not work too well. Its not quite as good. High cadences are scary without clipless, IMHO. Even then I'm not too fond of high cadence riding (down hills mostly). As soon as the temp in the morning is consistently back above 30-35 degrees though, I'm back on clipless. Besides, the shock factor of platforms is great. When I was buying my clipless shoes and pedals, I told the LBS owner who was helping me that clipless would be an improvement over the platforms I've been riding for the last 6 months on my fixed gear bike. His jaw dropped and he said "You've been riding fixed on PLATFORMS!?" I think I changed his paradigm.

I ride platforms fixed in the winter in Minneapolis. It does make a difference. I can put a foot down before I fall over on ice. When I've ridden clipless on the same conditions, it feels dangerous...

I've got platforms on my new fixed gear experiment, but plan to switch to clipless. I have clipless on other bikes, and never have a problem unclipping - but i've unintentionally unclipped on the mtb a couple of times. If you start w/ cheap welgo type spd pedals, you can turn the tension screws way down. You can basically just yank your foot out in any direction.

All you "platforms for boots" guys--PowerGrips! Seriously. They're 90% of clipless (at a fraction of the cost). Lugged boots and agressive pedal tread can result in problems getting in and out. I tend to use less aggressive pedal tread.

I think it's better than riding fixed w/o anything, anyway.

When you calculated the cost of your fixie conversion, you forgot to include ink, piercings, Carhartt shants, and a hipster girlfriend.

When you calculated the cost of your fixie conversion, you forgot to include ink, piercings, Carhartt shants, and a hipster girlfriend.

Nobody will mistake my bike for a wannabe track bike. It's got northroad bars with torpedo grips and fenders. Probably looks more like a Raleigh 3-speed with a seized rear hub. Several people have suggested I should have streamers attached to the grips.

All you "platforms for boots" guys--PowerGrips! Seriously. They're 90% of clipless (at a fraction of the cost). Lugged boots and agressive pedal tread can result in problems getting in and out. I tend to use less aggressive pedal tread.

I think it's better than riding fixed w/o anything, anyway.

I have PowerGrips on my road bike SS conversion. They are useful in climbing hills in the relatively high gear I have on that bike. No way am I using them on icy roads, though.

My plan is to use a low gear on my fixed MTB and go slow. I have to admit, though, that trying to hold the speed down on the downhill descents this morning I was wondering if I should be attached to the pedals. Not for the spinning aspect of it. I was keeping the speed in check by resisting the pedal motion. I think that would have been easier with a means of pulling up on the pedal.

Trackstand that thing at every stoplight! You'll confuse the **** out of everyone, including bikers.

When you calculated the cost of your fixie conversion, you forgot to include ink, piercings, Carhartt shants, and a hipster girlfriend.

HaHa (rofl). Those hipster girlfriends can be costly.

HaHa (rofl). Those hipster girlfriends can be costly.

I don't think it would be the girlfriends. It's the divorce that would be costly. :love: :fight:

That reminds me. I better get the fenders back on my road bike SS conversion tonight. A couple people have confused it's stripped down looks, large chainring, and moustache bars for a "track bike". :( I'm on thin ice now.

But you were a kook before, so what's your point? :D

HaHa (rofl). Those hipster girlfriends can be costly.
Anyone have a price quote for one?

HaHa (rofl). Those hipster girlfriends can be costly.

actually mine is pretty low-maintenance..

Fixies are a blast to commute on. I cant wait for ENO wheel to be complete so I can rock my Trek back and forth to work. Yes it can be a pain on hills but the commute for me is in a flat river valley.

Plus I enjoy taking a fixie through some basic singletrack and fireroads.


Craig

Today my left knee finally doesn't hurt anymore. I think the fixed gear experiment was a failure. I only rode it one day. Checking the speed of the bike on the downhills with backwards pressure on the pedals caused the stress on my knees. Oh well. I tried it. Maybe someday I'll try again on flat ground. For now, its back to the freewheel.

Just thought I'd let you know how it turned out.

Yikes! Knee pain is terrible. Were you running a brake? Some days my knees aren't up to the task and I use the brake quite a bit. Other days I am mostly brakeless.

Unless it's excruciating, it might be worth it to play with your saddle positioning. I found that a very small (1 or 2 mm) adjustment made all the difference in the world with my fixie.

Yikes! Knee pain is terrible. Were you running a brake? Some days my knees aren't up to the task and I use the brake quite a bit. Other days I am mostly brakeless.

I have a front brake on this bike. I used it several times when I wanted to stop or when the downhill speed started to get too high. Mostly, I tried to control the speed with the pedals. I could feel my lower hamstrings really stressed when trying to slow the bike. Probably a few things I could do if I want to try again.

Lower gear ratio.

Attach feet to pedals. I really could have used the force of two feet trying to slow the bike. With the platform pedals I could only push down when the pedals were cycling up. That was the painfull part. Pushing down with the leg extended back.

Use shorter cranks. These are 175mm cranks and I'm 5'6". I like them fine for my low gear ratio SS. Maybe the longer cranks get my feet to high and rearward at the point I am pushing backwards on the pedals in fixed gear mode.

Train on flat ground before trying the commute.

I say make friends with that front brake. It takes a while of riding fixed before your muscles get used to it ;)