Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Does anyone else get this feeling?

When I'm out on the fixed I just enjoy the riding along. I don't seem to want to rush, monitor my speed or anything else. Thing is, I'm only 10% slower than the full road bike.

Hills never seem so tough, spinning like a lunatic downhill can be a bit crazy but then I just approach the crest slowly and apply brakes if it gets crazy.

Every other bike I've got makes me want to go fast, faster, fastest.

Is this just me or a genuine fixed thing? Perhaps it's the simplicity of the bike affeecting my whole attitude (a sort of cycling Feng Shui).

I tend to keep a steady pace on my fixie b/c 1. You are always pedaling 2. I prefer not to stop at every traffic light 3. when I am on the bike my feet touch don't the ground until I get to my destination.

I think that keeping a steady pace b/c it is fixie keeps you from the usually rush and hurry, especially when in traffic with cars since they speed to every light...and then I casually keep passing them by. My GF complains when we ride together b/c I will even keep my pace going down hill, she rides a geared machine.

You're right. For me, the almost complete silence of the bike also contributes to the feeling, and to a higher awareness of the countryside I'm passing through. Quantifying a ride on my fixie with a computer or heart rate monitor just seems wrong somehow.

Harry

for me, it's not so much a matter of overall speed, but rhythm. and, the relaxed concentration of getting into the flow of pedalling all the time while moving through the landscape.

the silence of the bike is definitely a big part of it, along with the fact that there's no need to apply mental energy to shifting or braking (even though 2 of my 3 have a front, i almost never use them).

it's also about finding your gear inches window. we all know what this is about, especially when we've got it wrong. find the right combination of ring and cog so that it fits one's preferred cadence and level of effort over the great part of the normal terrain.

when you get it all right, the bike seems to pedal all by itself.

...it's like sipping fine wine...

I know what you are talking about, and I feel it too. But as my legs get stronger, I find myself wanting to really hammer some of the uphills. Just the short ones though.

oh, there's always the hammering. to hammer is to be a god in your own eyes, for a very short time.

thankfully, the world is not flat, at least where i live.

when i first started riding fixed, i took me about a month to get over the surprise of climbing so damn fast. of course, i did so simply because i had no other choice. either keep the pedals ticking over, or stop in ignominious shame and walk.

I know this feeling also. While I've done some century hammers on the fix, I've really come to prefer riding the fix alone. At one with spinning the Earth underneath me, or something like that. I'n not real into Zen or anything, I just find it a satisfying experience. Seems like I just flow down the road.

People, normal bike riders that is, think we are weird. Are we?
Perhaps a poll in Road Racing or somewhere would tell the story.

This feeling... I mean "this feeling" is either my arse getting sore from coasting or my legs getting stronger or faster from fixing. Give me fixed. Any day.

there is no other choice on a fix than to hammer up the hills.

(hills are also a little bit easier on a fixed gear than a bike that coasts, because the biek does some of the work for you. your momentum keeps the pedals moving, as opposed to a road bike, where YOU have to keep the pedals moving.)

i love my fixed gear bikes.

I usually try to keep a steady pace, keeping a nice tension in my legs if I want a little workout, or else just nice and relaxed if I am cruising around. About the only time I am tempted to go really fast is when I am fighting traffic and I want to prove that my bike is faster than the cars. :D

Steady pacing is the thing I love about riding fixed though. On my freewheel I would have to pedal pedal pedal, coast, pedal pedal pedal, coast. You can't really keep a steady speed. I have been riding fixed for six months now, and always pedalling is like second nature now. It's just like walking really; You just move your legs how fast you want to be going. I mean you would feel ridiculous if you had to hit a brake to slow yourself down when walking down the sidewalk, right??

-Jason