Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - From fixed gear to single speed; I'm in love!

Hey guys, just wanted to know if anyone else had a similar experience. Over the past few months (could be the winter months) I feel like I have lost a lot of interest in my fixed gear. It just didn't have that same spark as it did a year and a half ago. So I decided to flip the wheel and go for a single speed ride the other night.

At first it felt very weird to be able to coast, but after a few minutes I was hooked. I felt like I rediscovered my enjoyment for biking once again. Overall, I feel much more comfortable on the bike. Being able to stand and coast when I start to get a little sore is very nice, and also motivates me to ride harder/longer. It makes me want to ride again, and ride for greater distances - I'm sure this is partially because I can physically handle longer distances with a single speed, haha. Just curious if anyone else had a similar experience, considering most posts I read on here are from people that feel the opposite way that I do.

http://www.sliceofscifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/nc_evolution_080103_ms.jpg

:)

I hear that road bikes are the new fixed gears.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3212/2789412684_bfd348794e.jpg..

I love it also. I have a flip flop hub ,but never tried fixed. I like to haul ass coasting down knarly hills at 40 mph. One wrong move and it's over. The last year I owned my old MTB, I kept it in one gear anyway, so I was kinda ready for a singlespeed. I do like the simplicity of it.

There are uses for both. If I'm trying to get somewhere fast or going a longer distances I'll single-speed it. If I'm just riding for fun I run it fixed. I don't buy into the whole fixed zen thing. Fixed is definitely fun and makes slow casual group rides a lot more interesting but I feel a lot more zen when I can coast, pump speed bumps smoothly, bunny hop potholes, and stand on the pedals to get some extra height for seeing over traffic. For that matter the brifters on my road bike pretty much disappear from conscious thought after a while and it becomes a very zen thing to constantly be putting just the right amount of power in. Especially in hilly areas where you can big ring the descents- closest thing I know to flying without wings.

My ss/fixed road bike gets a lot more daily use than my geared bike simply because it's a better match for commuting around a fairly flat urban area. Someone with just an allen key can't steal several hundred dollars worth of shifters in a few seconds. I also use that bike for alleycats because using a road bike in one of those just feels like cheating even if it's allowed.

I'd probably ride my Cannondale as a singlespeed more often if it had cable guides so I could add a rear brake without it looking silly.

As it stands, though, I'll probably sell it for something more interesting. I've been looking at vintage bikes A LOT lately and I've seen some cool stuff within the same dollar range I could get for my FG.

Having quite possibly blown up my knee for the 3rd time, I will probably be sticking with single speed.

I've preferred FG for most of my riding these past +25 years. Now, my folder is the only bike I ride that is not fixed (and has gears, oh my!) but I ride it only when with my wife and I know the pace will be pretty relaxed.

You gotta mix it up to keep it interesting...FG/SS/gears, road/offroad, etc. Just to kick it up a notch I think I'm gonna start commuting on a unicycle.

You gotta mix it up to keep it interesting...FG/SS/gears, road/offroad, etc. Just to kick it up a notch I think I'm gonna start commuting on a unicycle.

What is your gearing?

What is your gearing?

LOL. I've never even ridden a unicycle. I'm considering buying one though. I've seen unicyclists on local MTB trails and it peaks my interest.

I haven't tried the FG thing yet. My wife got me a Schwinn Cutter for Christmas, but she got me a 2009 model (ss only; the 2010 has a flip-flop). Going from geared to ss was a blast, too. When you're geared, there's a certain monotony associated with feeling like you always have to be putting out a certain amount of power. On my ss, there are times when I'm mashing, times when I'm spinning, and times when it's best to just coast and enjoy the scenery.

I almost picked up a seatpost-mounted beam rack a couple weeks ago on CL. It would have allowed me to quickly convert a bike to a commuter. If I ever get a rack like that I'll probably try a commute with the ss (17 miles each way with some hills).

LOL. I've never even ridden a unicycle. I'm considering buying one though. I've seen unicyclists on local MTB trails and it peaks my interest.

I have a good solid month of practice and I can still only ride about 15 ft. I think it's hard but once I get it I'll be STOKED!!

Having quite possibly blown up my knee for the 3rd time, I will probably be sticking with single speed.

What exactly happened, Brian?

What exactly happened, Brian?

Ouch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondromalacia_patellae).

Ouch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondromalacia_patellae).

CMP. Ouch indeed. There are people who very unambiguously claim that fixed gear cycling will cause CMP (http://yamabushi.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/why-fixies-are-bad-for-your-knees/) in many cyclists. I know this is a highly taboo topic in this subforum, but just like sex, one day will have to be tackled.

Ouch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondromalacia_patellae).

Anyway, I had a spell of CMP myself, and what helped me was glucosamine and cycling in low gear. I noticed that cycling in low gear is more beneficial than just not cycling at all.

I like to ride both, depending on my mood and type of ride.
But instead of flipping wheels, I have a separate dedicated SS road bike with both brakes installed. I like using the SS instead of the FG on long rides with long descents.

CMP. Ouch indeed. There are people who very unambiguously claim that fixed gear cycling will cause CMP (http://yamabushi.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/why-fixies-are-bad-for-your-knees/) in many cyclists. I know this is a highly taboo topic in this subforum, but just like sex, one day will have to be tackled.

Yeah, and riding geared will cause CMP in many cyclists, and other sports/activities will cause CMP in many people. OTOH, many people like myself ride/race fixed for decades and don't get CMP, while many who ride/race geared do. One of the races I do on the track involves a full-power standing start from zero rpm in a high gear (90+ gi), which absolutely places the highest possible loading on my knees. When I was racing masters in my late 30's, there a fellow competitor who developed CMP and had to completely abandon bike racing. And this guy was not a gear masher either. The thing that gets me about all these studies is that they draw sweeping conclusions from incomplete and uncorroborated data.

CMP. Ouch indeed. There are people who very unambiguously claim that fixed gear cycling will cause CMP (http://yamabushi.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/why-fixies-are-bad-for-your-knees/) in many cyclists. I know this is a highly taboo topic in this subforum, but just like sex, one day will have to be tackled.

How ironic. My original injury happened in the bathroom, stepping from a ladder to a wet counter top while removing wallpaper. My foot shot out in an unnatural direction. It's entirely possible that the current injury was partly the fault of my fiance'.

CMP. Ouch indeed. There are people who very unambiguously claim that fixed gear cycling will cause CMP (http://yamabushi.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/why-fixies-are-bad-for-your-knees/) in many cyclists. I know this is a highly taboo topic in this subforum, but just like sex, one day will have to be tackled.

I think it depends on the individual, really. I took up competitive cycling at the advice of an orthopedic surgeon I knew and trusted after injuring my knees during a downhill race (ski) in the late 70s. After a few years I was introduced to the beauty and simplicity of 'track bikes' and have been riding them ever since with no issues or problems. I still have scrawny bird legs, although at the time I began fixie riding I had hoped that I'd end up having legs like Eric Heiden, but they seem to work just fine and my knees have never given me an ounce of trouble.

Yeah, and riding geared will cause CMP in many cyclists, and other sports/activities will cause CMP in many people. OTOH, many people like myself ride/race fixed for decades and don't get CMP, while many who ride/race geared do. One of the races I do on the track involves a full-power standing start from zero rpm in a high gear (90+ gi), which absolutely places the highest possible loading on my knees. When I was racing masters in my late 30's, there a fellow competitor who developed CMP and had to completely abandon bike racing. And this guy was not a gear masher either.
What you are saying is, people are very different from each other. No scientific study that deals with people's physique can overlook this even in the slightest. For instance, there probably are some people with higher predisposition for CMP. Others, such as you, can develop into great athletes without any side effect from cycling in any gear used in track competitions. Is this at all different from "my grandma was smoking two packs of cigarettes since she was 16, and she's still going strong at 88"?
(Note: Neither of my grandmas were smokers)

How ironic. My original injury happened in the bathroom, stepping from a ladder to a wet counter top while removing wallpaper. My foot shot out in an unnatural direction. Ouch, ouch, ouch! I really feel terrible reading/hearing this sort of stories.

Just try the glucosamine, and any physiotherapy you are prescribed (I do think that cycling, albeit in lower gear, is however therapeutic for CMP).

I think it depends on the individual, really. I took up competitive cycling at the advice of an orthopedic surgeon I knew and trusted after injuring my knees during a downhill race (ski) in the late 70s. After a few years I was introduced to the beauty and simplicity of 'track bikes' and have been riding them ever since with no issues or problems. I still have scrawny bird legs, although at the time I began fixie riding I had hoped that I'd end up having legs like Eric Heiden, but they seem to work just fine and my knees have never given me an ounce of trouble.
First of all, I'm glad you found the perfect "medicine" for your ailment. I, too, think that cycling can do wonders for one's knees. It's probably not universal, but it worked for me. My gearing is, however, below the average of what I see posted on BFFGSS.

As for your scrawny legs: pics or it didn't happen (c'mon, if Scrod can do it, you can, too.)

EDIT: Is there a "Post pics of your legs"-thread?

EDIT: Is there a "Post pics of your legs"-thread?

Making one right now.

You can hurt yourself overdoing anything. All the time people get carpal tunnel from typing. One of the main advantages of singlespeed as I see it over FG is that you can gear it lower without having problems on downhills, so you can get moving quickly in traffic and go easier on the knees. That said, mine's still fixed- but I have a geared bike for when I want to coast.

Well after banging my kneecap nice and hard after deciding to skate board after a 8 year hiatus, (man those new school decks are tiny), I can safely say I'm glad my ride to/from work is on a SS. SS since messin' in the 80's, but getting a cog for the fixed side of my new wheels, but I'll be saving that mostly for fixed only events.

Switched to plain SS from fixed. Miss a lot about fixed riding - especially climbing - but DO NOT miss downhills fixed.

The New York Asian Escorts guy seemed pretty fun.

You gotta mix it up to keep it interesting...FG/SS/gears, road/offroad, etc. Just to kick it up a notch I think I'm gonna start commuting on a unicycle.
Last month, just before the weather turned nice and warm into spring and the fair-weather cyclists all showed up, I saw a woman possibly at least 60yrs old crossing the williamsburg bridge on a unicycle. Too bad she was on the other side of the bridge I can't get a picture or talk to her.

First of all, let's deal with this bogus myth that bicycles and, specifically, fixed gear bicycles cause knee pain.

A properly fitted fixed gear bike represents an excellent therapeutic device for correcting knee issues arising from the rest of the rider's life.

The REPITITIVE movements of cycling on an incorrectly-fitted bike can aggravate an existing knee issue by trapping the knee in a bad situation.

Conversely, the REPETITIVE movements of cycling on a correctly-fitted bike can heal a knee by constraining the knee in a good situation.

The stresses on knee imposed by cycling do not come anywhere near the normal stresses of running or going up stairs.

Oh, shucks.

I started writing this from work and now they expect me to do my job.

Later.

^ /thread

I've got an SE Draft fixed that I want to convert to a single speed for a friend. How would I go about doing this as cheaply as possible?

First of all, let's deal with this bogus myth that bicycles and, specifically, fixed gear bicycles cause knee pain.

A properly fitted fixed gear bike represents an excellent therapeutic device for correcting knee issues arising from the rest of the rider's life.

The REPITITIVE movements of cycling on an incorrectly-fitted bike can aggravate an existing knee issue by trapping the knee in a bad situation.

Conversely, the REPETITIVE movements of cycling on a correctly-fitted bike can heal a knee by constraining the knee in a good situation.

The stresses on knee imposed by cycling do not come anywhere near the normal stresses of running or going up stairs.

Oh, shucks.

I started writing this from work and now they expect me to do my job.

Later.

true, but with SS and fixed gear you're in the wrong gear 90% of the time. mashing is no good for the knees, but the stronger muscles you can build from mashing can alleviate knee pain because joints last longer with stronger muscles.

Mashing for too long can cause it, but doing it for short periods can help.

I recently converted an old road bike I had laying around into a true single speed and HATED it compared to my fixed gear.

Mashing for too long can cause it, but doing it for short periods can help.

This is how it worked for me- I strained something in my knee at Thanksgiving and couldn't ride more than 5 miles without pain. The wife got me the ss for Christmas and in about a week it was feeling much better.

true, but with SS and fixed gear you're in the wrong gear 90% of the time. mashing is no good for the knees, but the stronger muscles you can build from mashing can alleviate knee pain because joints last longer with stronger muscles.

Mashing for too long can cause it, but doing it for short periods can help.

90% is a figure often thrown about but its wrong. Loke most people, my fg/ss bikes are geared to more or less equal the gear ratio that I am most often using when on my roadie. Even with lots of hills, I would say I am in the right gear 60-70% of the time, perhaps more.

90% is a figure often thrown about but its wrong. Loke most people, my fg/ss bikes are geared to more or less equal the gear ratio that I am most often using when on my roadie. Even with lots of hills, I would say I am in the right gear 60-70% of the time, perhaps more.

I'd say I'm in the right gear 50% of the time.
that's what I get for living in a windy city with a bunch of rolling ravines.

I just set my GI to under 68~70 and spin like crazy when the wind really kicks up.

When I'm in the wrong gear, I walk. :D

...mashing is no good for the knees...

AEO got ahead of me, or, rather, I got behind because I couldn't finish my post at work.

I'll copy and paste what I started and then build on it:

=====

First of all, let's deal with this bogus myth that bicycles and, specifically, fixed gear bicycles cause knee pain.

A properly fitted fixed gear bike represents an excellent therapeutic device for correcting knee issues arising from the rest of the rider's life.

The REPITITIVE movements of cycling on an incorrectly-fitted bike can aggravate an existing knee issue by trapping the knee in a bad situation.

Conversely, the REPETITIVE movements of cycling on a correctly-fitted bike can heal a knee by constraining the knee in a good situation.

The stresses on knee imposed by cycling do not come anywhere near the normal stresses of running or going up stairs.

And, in addition to knee pain caused by incorrect-fit, we have the issue of mashing.

Mashing means pushing down on the forward descending pedal, and, because we all learned to ride on platform pedals, we all learned to ride by mashing.

We all mash, and especially those who think they don't mash.

I mash and you mash.

We have so habituated to mashing that we no longer realize we do it: we do it as part of our non-self-conscious movement, like walking.

We don't think about the act of walking, nor how we do it; and, this not-thinking about how we walk corresponds to how we move the pedals and cranks around the bottom bracket spindle.

The mechanics of mashing:

When we mash, two sets of muscles in our hips and legs accomplish the mashing.

One set of muscles used in mashing has its origins in our lower hips or buttocks, behind our legs, and attaches to the back of our femur or thigh bone.

This set of muscles pulls the femur down and back.

The other set of muscles used in mashing has two origins: the first origin on the inside of the pelvis and front of the spine runs over the front of our thighs and over our knee caps to the front and top of our shin bone, and never even touches our thigh bone; the second origin begins on the front of the thigh bone and runs over and around our knee to the shin bone; and, together, these two sets of muscles in the front of our thigh typically straighten the knee.

So, the muscles running from the back of the hips to the back of the thigh push the knee down into the top of the shin bone; and, the muscles in the front of the thigh straighten the knee and, sadly, for most of us, also pull the shin bone up into the knee joint against the downward force of the knee.

The back leg muscles push the end of the thigh bone down into the knee joint and the front leg muscles pull the shin bone up into the knee joint.

In this double-whammy of knee compression, the muscles in the front of the leg multiply the stress on the knee to a greater degree than that caused by the actual work of spinning the crank, because, in the process of straightening the knee, the front muscles also pull up on the shin bone and additionally compress the knee joint.

The knee joint gets mashed by mashing. :)

We have identified the two elements of knee pain: incorrect fit and mashing.

In order to minimize knee pain, let's talk about correct fit for riding on the street.

And, let's emphasize something here: RIDING ON THE STREET.

Not riding on the track; not time trials; and not road racing; but, rather, riding on the street.

For riding on the street, the concept of Knee Over Pedal applies.

However, Knee Over Pedal does not mean point of knee over pedal, but, rather, the Tibial Head of the shin bone over the pedal spindle.

The reader can find the Tibial Head of his shin bone by bending and straightening his/her knee while probing the hollow on the inward side of the knee cap.

The big round bump on the top of the shin bone, on the inward side of the knee cap, corresponds to the Tibial Head.

For those who can't find the Tibial Head with their fingers, just think an inch to an inch and a half behind the forward knee cap when on the bike and with the pedal cranks horizontal.

A plumb line hanging vertically from the Tibial Head should pass through the pedal spindle.

One places the knee correctly over the pedal by moving the saddle fore and aft.

Get a little help from a friend who can hold the string for you.

If the string goes in front of the spindle, move the saddle back; and, if the string goes behind the spindle, move the saddle forward.

This does not address the actual position of the foot on the pedal, a position which one adjusts by moving the cleats.

In Keirin racing, and perhaps in other track-type races, the rider orients his foot to the pedal with exaggerated cleats on the bottoms of his shoes that hold the foot in a fore and aft position, and in a toe in or toe out position.

In conjunction with the straps, the cleats hold the feet against the pedals so that the feet cannot move nor reorient themselves in any direction or angle.

With clipless pedals, riders who have orthotists, prosthetitists, and other types of high-level (usually expensive) bike fitters, ride with zero float cleats that accurately place the foot fore and aft and toe in and toe out; and, in addition, these types of riders have internal orthotics to tilt the foot and ankle either in or out.

If you have enough money and know to whom to give the money, you can get your foot placed on the pedals EXACTLY right for your knee health; in fact, AMAZINGLY right.

For those who don't have access to a bicycle orthotist or prosthetitist, they can generally sit on the edge of a flat surface, such as a strong table, that allows their legs to hang free from the knee; with the legs hanging free, they can look at their feet to see how their feet hang naturally, either toe in or toe out; and, looking at the angle of the foot, adjust the cleats on their shoe to give them about half of that angle...or look at your wet footprints to see how your feet go when you walk (really, just angle the cleats a tiny bit in the opposite direction as the toe goes, so that you can barely tell you've angled it; but, if your toe hangs in or out, naturally, or if you walk with your toes out or in, naturally, you should ride with your toe a little in the same direction).

Since the person fitting his or her own cleats does not have access to accurate measuring tools, he or she should use floating cleats rather than zero float cleats.

A little float makes up for the normal inaccuracy of guestimating.

As for fore and aft placement of the foot on the pedal, start by aligning the center of the cleat with the big ball of the foot just behind the big toe.

Some people have their cleats slightly in front of the ball, and other have their cleats slightly behind the ball; and, I have one cleat in front of the ball and one cleat behind the ball.

Start with the cleats centered on the ball.

Regarding saddle height, most people ride with their saddle WAY too high.

With your pedal in the full down position, you should have the ability to fully drop your heel as far as your ankle flexibility will allow, and still have a slight bend (15 degrees) in the knee.

Regarding handle bar height and reach, the rider should have the handle bars high enough and close enough to the saddle to allow the rider to briefly lift his or her hands from the handlebars while pedaling hard, without too much effort in the torso.

In other words, your hands should feel light enough on the handlebars that you could lift them off the handlebars for a moment without too much effort.

Generally, in terms of height, this places the tops of the bars just slightly below the top of the saddle.

For a sense of the torso angle one should seek out by moving the handlebars fore,aft, up and down with different length and angle stems, try the following method:

Sit on a hard chair on a hard floor with bare or stockinged feet.

Sit as far forward on the chair as feels safe and comfortable, and put your feet together just under the forward edge of the chair seat.

Make a fist with each hand and pushing your hands in front of you where you think you might like them on your handlebars, and using your fists and arms as a forward counter balance, slowly begin to stand up...very slowly and carefully...and note the angle of your torso at the very moment your bottom starts to break contact with the chair.

By changing stems (borrow stems from friends and bike shops), find a stem length and angle that, with your saddle properly adjusted, puts your torso in an angle similar to the one you observed in the chair and hard floor exercise described above.

Once you've found the right length and angle stem, buy one and put it on your bike.

If you've done all the above, your bike now fits FOR RIDING ON THE STREET.

Now you can work on your spin and learn how to not mash.

STOP MASHING and, with a properly fitted bike, your knees won't hurt.

How to stop mashing?

In order to stop mashing, you need to over compensate by pulling up on the pedals more than you push down.

That said, even when it feels as though you pull up on the pedals more than you push down, you will still push down more than you pull up (subconsciously).

You won't feel it, but you will push down more than you pull up, even when you try to pull up more than you push down.

Certain visualizations will make your pulling even more effective and, at the same time, will quiet down your subconscious mashing.

First, visualize your spin not as a circle but as a square.

For the present time, forget about the top and bottom of the square and instead focus on the back bottom corner of the square.

As your foot goes down, mashes, try to drop your heel at the bottom so that you stick your heel into the back bottom corner of the square.

Visualize yourself putting your heel into the back bottom corner of the square.

Just do this with one foot or leg: the other foot and leg will follow the pattern without you thinking about it.

Pick a heel, left or right, and stick it into the back bottom corner every time around.

Having dropped the heel, don't think about pulling up on the pedal but, instead, think of the middle of your thigh, and visualize yourself pulling up on the middle of your thigh.

Forget that you have a shin bone and a knee, and instead, when your heel hits that back corner, pull the middle of your thigh up with your hip muscles.

As you get better at this visualization, see yourself as pushing your heel down and back and then pulling the middle of your thigh up, so that a line sticking out of the middle of your thigh goes up through your armpit and shoulder.

Pick one leg and focus on visualizing pushing your heel down and back into the corner and then pulling the middle of your thigh up so that the line sticking out of the middle of your thigh goes up through your armpit and shoulder.

Heel down; middle of thigh up.

You will still mash without knowing it.

However, you will change how you mash, meaning, you will use more of your hips to mash and less of the front of your thighs to mash; and, your pulling up will begin to do a greater portion of the total work done in the spin.

Ideally, the force of the feet against the pedals should remain constant throughout the spin.

In the real world, we can eventually make the pull and mash equal, but we will generally not put as much work into the top and bottom of the spin square as we do the up and down of the spin square.

Real world: take what you can get.

Using the visualization I've described takes about four years of everyday awareness to make the habit of pulling as much as you mash a subconscious practice.

Making the pull up equal the push down takes about four years of remembering to do the visualization.

However, the very first time you do the visualization, especially on a slight hill or against a wind, you will feel yourself leap forward with no extra work other than paying attention to your spin, and this should motivate you to remember to practice the visualization on hills and against the wind.

Make the bike fit and start pulling instead of mashing, and your knees will feel wonderful.

When my knee hurts, I get on my fixed gear bike to make it feel better.

I don't have time to edit this, so please forgive the typos, etc.

My Surly CC was, for the first few years of its life, strictly FG. I have a flipflop hub, but I never bothered to flip it until last summer, when I started using the bike to haul my toddler around. When I made the switch, I also swapped out my eggbeaters for MKS Touring pedals. Thus two transitions in one: from FG to SS, and from foot retention to normal street shoes. What I feel isn't exactly "love," but rather respect: SS and plain pedals afford conveniences that I, as an all-weather commuter and kid hauler, appreciate.

true, but with SS and fixed gear you're in the wrong gear 90% of the time.

What is the right gear, then? I live in FL and there's one bridge I go across maybe once a week, otherwise it's completely flat. I really want to be in the right gear though, what is it???

What is the right gear, then? I live in FL and there's one bridge I go across maybe once a week, otherwise it's completely flat. I really want to be in the right gear though, what is it???

for florida? 56x13 with 700c wheels.

for florida? 56x13 with 700c wheels.

Gah! My kneecaps would shoot out like hockey pucks... I think I'll stick with 48x17... it is pretty windy here...