Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Really noob question.....

I just bought a fixie for keeping in shape during the winter. It's a converted old Schwinn, quite nice, but came without pedals. I can't imagine using clipless pedals. particularly during the winter. What kind of pedals are best used on these bikes?

clipless pedals are fine for a fixed gear bicycle. it's either that or toe straps...

Just go to yor LBS and say 'I'd like some cage pedals and toe clips please.' Make sure you get the right axle size (1/2 inch or 9/16ths).

Personally, if it was me (and it was a while ago) I'd get cages with clips and leave the clips off for the first 100 miles. There will be a time when you're cruising along, just chillin and you'll forget and try to coast. This will try to eject you from the bike. Hard. Or even worse, you do a nice stop light sprint, get yourself up to about 150 rpm's and then try to coast. It's ugly. If you leave the clips off you'll just get your feet thrown off the pedals these first few times and probably won't crash.
Lots of people never do crash, but I'm SURE I would have had I put the clips on right away.
Best of luck to you, coasting makes you weak anyway.

Suntour superbe pro with track cages, Christophe clips
and Alfred Binda straps.

Marty

note that it's worth your while to find "track pedals" (MKS makes an inexpensive set - the MKS sylvan track pedals), as they are generally much more narrow than regular pedals and give you better clearance when cornering.

there's nothing like taking a tight corner, striking your pedal on the ground and having the motion lift your bike up and land you on your side.

Suntour superbe pro with track cages, Christophe clips
and Alfred Binda straps.

Marty

can you still get binda straps?

I've got binda extras on two of my bikes, but the beater only has crappy nylon straps. I'd love to change that.

On the other hand, when you forget to pedal and get ejected from the bike at the end of the stoplight sprint, the clipless pedals will disengage effortlessly on your way over the bars. That way at least the bike doesn't land on top of you.

On the other hand, when you forget to pedal and get ejected from the bike at the end of the stoplight sprint, the clipless pedals will disengage effortlessly on your way over the bars. That way at least the bike doesn't land on top of you.


there's nothing like taking a tight corner, striking your pedal on the ground and having the motion lift your bike up and land you on your side.


There will be a time when you're cruising along, just chillin and you'll forget and try to coast. This will try to eject you from the bike. Hard. Or even worse, you do a nice stop light sprint, get yourself up to about 150 rpm's and then try to coast. It's ugly.

Geez, thanks guys. Your inspired advice make me want to run right out and try the bike. Even with ice on the road. Probably won't hurt a bit.

The good thing about ice is that when you land you slide. It really cuts down on the abrasions. Blunt trauma isn't so bad. Blunt trauma with massive skin removal sucks. :)
Have a nice day.

........Have a nice day.

Thanks a bunch! <g>

i've NEVER gone over the bars on my track bike the way they're talking about. i've never seen anyone else do it either. you won't fly over the bars if you just take it slow at first and get used to the bike.

A little too fast, a little front brake, a little trying to coast because you forgot you're on a fixed gear and it can happen.

Granted - it probably felt like I flew farther than I did, but I was lucky enough to disengage on the way over. breaking the collarbone and the stiches in my left elbow were bad enough. Getting tangled up in the bike wouldn't have mead things any better.

I never claimed to be graceful. But I was tired, it was my first big urban ride, and I let it hang out just a little too far. Moral of the story: Take it slow when you're getting started.

But I was tired, it was my first big urban ride, and I let it hang out just a little too far. Moral of the story: Take it slow when you're getting started.

Didn't help that somebody up ahead was starting to give you a really good look at a clean set of wheels.

OK, another noob question; why the brake on the front wheel? Why not on back?

OK, another noob question; why the brake on the front wheel? Why not on back?

You really don't need any brakes, because backpedaling slows you down. A front brake, however, is a nice peace-of-mind failsafe.

OK, another noob question; why the brake on the front wheel? Why not on back?


The vast majority of your breaking power comes from the front. When you use a rear brake, you tend to skid, which does a bad job of stopping you.

OK, another noob question; why the brake on the front wheel? Why not on back?

Cuz the momentum's all up front. Or most of it, anyway. Using just a front brake will stop you nearly as fast as using both. And no, it won't throw you over the bars. That's just inertia, like you keep going once the bike's stopped. You gotta learn to shift your weight so you stop along with your bike.

This is actually sorta related to such fixie skills as learning how much to unweight the rear wheel for a skid stop. Sheldon Brown has a reasonable explanation of this somewhere in his sea of html, and I'm sure there must be others, but basically it's that simple.

Laughing Boy

sheldon brown (sheldonbrown.com) has a good article on why the front brake is all you ever need when braking because at the maximum amount of braking force you can acheive you are at the edge of going over the handlebars. It's not so much why do you have a front brake, as more that you don't need a back brake because your feet are directly connected to the back wheel giving you direct control of that wheel. Some ride without front brake (or rear), if you follow sheldon's logic this would mean you can't brake as quickly, however there are emergency measures you can take when riding brakeless see http://www.63xc.com/gregg/101_13.htm

oh and I never flew over the handlebars, I had my knees jerked back into motion a couple of times, but it's really much less painless than you think, just try and avoid riding in heavy traffic to start with.