Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.thebankman
04-14-07, 10:31 AM
Friday the 13th was a great day.
My newly built, first fixed gear bike was completed yesterday and had my first crash. Having built up an Araya road frame with good components researched through some of the rants and raves here on BF, I took it out and started slow. To those of you who are interested in moving from freewheeled bikes to fixed, make no mistake it's like night and day. Climbing a rolling hill which I ride up every day, I got excited about the sheer speed and direct feel of the beast and like a cowboy riding a bull, the ***** bucked me right off when I tried to rest and coast for a second, not remembering I had to keep moving. And just like a bull rider, the bull is in fine shape while the rider gets knocked around some. Not a scratch on the bike, but I've got welts and cuts all over the place.
Afterwards I headed back to the LBS and ordered more parts for it.
Make no mistake, this is a sick addiction.
Here is the bike, Araya road frame, original parts with Miche crank, Deep V w/ Phil fixed/fixed hubs, Surly gears. So far a blast to ride...like learning how to ride with training wheels all over again.
Later in the day, I headed to the local coffee shop. A grey-beard with a road bike struck up a conversation with me, claiming he used to ride fixed many years ago ("I was a pioneer") and he confessed he couldn't swtich between fixed and freewheel bikes. Too much thinking involved, he said. "It's too much work to concentrate like that." He was a pretty cool old dude with a gorgeous chrome single speed road frame. His wife thought we were both nuts.
Cheers, Alan
My newly built, first fixed gear bike was completed yesterday and had my first crash. Having built up an Araya road frame with good components researched through some of the rants and raves here on BF, I took it out and started slow. To those of you who are interested in moving from freewheeled bikes to fixed, make no mistake it's like night and day. Climbing a rolling hill which I ride up every day, I got excited about the sheer speed and direct feel of the beast and like a cowboy riding a bull, the ***** bucked me right off when I tried to rest and coast for a second, not remembering I had to keep moving. And just like a bull rider, the bull is in fine shape while the rider gets knocked around some. Not a scratch on the bike, but I've got welts and cuts all over the place.
Afterwards I headed back to the LBS and ordered more parts for it.
Make no mistake, this is a sick addiction.
Here is the bike, Araya road frame, original parts with Miche crank, Deep V w/ Phil fixed/fixed hubs, Surly gears. So far a blast to ride...like learning how to ride with training wheels all over again.
Later in the day, I headed to the local coffee shop. A grey-beard with a road bike struck up a conversation with me, claiming he used to ride fixed many years ago ("I was a pioneer") and he confessed he couldn't swtich between fixed and freewheel bikes. Too much thinking involved, he said. "It's too much work to concentrate like that." He was a pretty cool old dude with a gorgeous chrome single speed road frame. His wife thought we were both nuts.
Cheers, Alan