Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Why did you start riding fixed?

I searched but couldn't find a thread like this, I'd like to know everyone's excuse!

I started because the friction DT shifters on my old Centurion LeMans Rs wouldn't stay put. They constantly needed adjusting to avoid chain issues/noise. Also, I was a new rider then and DT shifters were scary to reach.

Pulled everything off and put on a fixed wheelset.

my friend was like 'yo check this out' and put on the MASH DVD. true story.
i also grew a pretty sweet moustache that year.

Track racing.

I read about it on Sheldon's site. At first I was seriously like, "why the heck would I want a bike like that?" It didn't take long before I was cobbling together my first FG conversion.

I had a frame and I already had my road bike, so fixed was the next move after learning of its popularity and my growing curiosity.

During the summer of 2009 I randomly became infatuated with fixed gear bikes by checking out some online blogs and Fixed Gear Gallery. I convinced my parents to get me one for Christmas, but didn't end up placing the order until sometime in March of 2010. I've been riding fixed since then. I'm considering a road bike, but I keep "accidentally" spending money on new track bikes.

When I got in a bike accident, then snapped my chain a week later, it was the cheapest way to get my bike back on the road.

i really dont know why... probably to sup my wife

...to sup your wife.

Endurance training.

I wanted to be different, so I put together a FG like all the cool kids.
Seriously though, a couple years ago I became obsessed with the idea of fixed gears. Since I hadn't been on a bike for a few years I decided to put one together. Now I love it and haven't turned back.

Because I'm still like I was back when I did my first conversion back in 2000, not a fan of gears.

Hipster cred.......




personal health

My roommate all through college was an art major.


(hipster)

To loose weight cuz I'm a fat lard. From 245 now 225. And still loosing. 20 miles a day

Outstanding, just a a bit of advice, you may want to start upping the mileage, 20 miles will soon become routine and weight loss will start to diminish.

Outstanding, just a a bit of advice, you may want to start upping the mileage, 20 miles will soon become routine and weight loss will start to diminish.

Yes I notice that after 3months. It's starting to be too easy. So I up my gear inches from 75 to 80. And probably add 5 more miles in 2weeks

Cool. Good luck with it.

Try lowering you gearing and pedaling faster.

It just looked like fun. It turned out to be true.

When I was racing in High School all the roadies I trained with had fixed gear beater bikes for the winter. So when I needed a beater bike to lock up on campus I decided to build one. Even though the one I have now isn't much of a beater......

Try lowering you gearing and pedaling faster.

It was to my understanding that if you bring your heart rate up too much (enter the anaerobic stage of exercise) your energy source moves to carbs instead of fats as in aerobic. Assuming there is a diet to go alongside this exercise, it would seem as though this would be counterproductive. Granted, this is provided my limited knowledge of physical training.. So I am only asking to further/make changes to said knowledge.

As for fixed.. I started on a singlespeed, at one point in time my freewheel went ka-boom, and I had to ride fixed until I could get a new one. I ended up hating the freewheel because of the pawls and stayed fixed.

****in' brakes on my Dawes SST i bought from a guy off CL kept giving me problems, I was one of the people who hated fixed gears and said "nope never" until that single speed freewheel went out, the wheelset was flip flop and had a cog on the other side already, 16t fixed so i turned it around and said "**** it" and fell in love:).

Build leg strength. I was a swimmer.

Well, I wanted a fixed gear because they look clean as hell. Then after I started riding one I kept riding because never feeling slack in the chain is addicting.

My commute was short, and I wanted more workout. Peeps told me it was fun. It is fun, and I get more workout.

WINNING!

It was to my understanding that if you bring your heart rate up too much (enter the anaerobic stage of exercise) your energy source moves to carbs instead of fats as in aerobic. Assuming there is a diet to go alongside this exercise, it would seem as though this would be counterproductive. Granted, this is provided my limited knowledge of physical training.. So I am only asking to further/make changes to said knowledge.

As for fixed.. I started on a singlespeed, at one point in time my freewheel went ka-boom, and I had to ride fixed until I could get a new one. I ended up hating the freewheel because of the pawls and stayed fixed.

The idea is to spin, but keep it aerobic. You go anaerobic when you have to stand up and mash.

It was to my understanding that if you bring your heart rate up too much (enter the anaerobic stage of exercise) your energy source moves to carbs instead of fats as in aerobic. Assuming there is a diet to go alongside this exercise, it would seem as though this would be counterproductive. Granted, this is provided my limited knowledge of physical training.. So I am only asking to further/make changes to said knowledge.
\
I'm no expert either but that's not how it works. Your body moves to fat for energy after you have exhausted your energy reserves of glycogen -made from eating carbs. This is commonly called "hitting the wall" or "bonking" - exhausting your glycogen- and working through it to begin metabolizing fat. This all happens in endurance exercise. -- the goal is to increase lactic acid threshold to be able to go harder without the burn (more oxygen)--

Anaerobic(without oxygen) exercise is power lifting and sprinting or other such short duration work. --lots of burning lactic acid--

but let's not turn this thread into some fitness science debate

found a bike in the garbage, thought the hub or derailleur was shot (turns out the freewheel was gummed up, but i didn't figure that out til about a year after it got stolen). took apart the rear hub bearings to regrease it because i thought that would fix it. lost bearings, gave up, and bought a fixed rear hub and rebuilt the wheel.

ended up really liking the finished product, despite bouts of pedal strike induced crashes. that bike ended up getting stolen, so i built another. and another. and another...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VmjX1jXiPV0/STg1Oj2DdNI/AAAAAAAAADU/KKoxxt8CXtM/s1600/jamtrack.jpg
this thread is depressing.

I had a single speed with flip flop hub and saw all the cool cats riding fg so i figured i give it a shot.
I love the ride of a fg now, would never turn back

cheapest build option after my road bike was stolen, friend sold me the rear wheel cheap. Was also recommended I at least give it a shot by same friend and several others...

I thought it was cool that bike messengers rode fixed and wanted to try. Also wanted a bike that was slower / more of a challenge to ride with my son, it felt like overkill riding a 27 gear road bike w a 5 year old on a single speed bmx.

i recently got back into cycling with an old raleigh grand prix. started riding with some friends who had fixed gears. never really thought about it till one day i tried to hop on one of their bikes and well, it was pretty different i have to say. later on down the line, a friend of mine was thinking about buying a singlespeed, and she showed me the website. thought i twas a pretty good looking bike, and bought one as well. low and behold, it had a flip flop hub. everything started evolving from there...

Had a K2 full susp, dual disc mtb 24-speed with road tires and 1000's of miles on it (nearly 40lbs of bike). I bought it before I knew anything about bike fit and ended up several sizes too big. Sold it and bought my FG off of BD... loving it so far.
Need to get in shape as I'm starting fire rescue training this summer and I was told FG is what a lot of pro cyclist train on. I hate running and I hate the gym, but I love riding my bike.

To get faster on my road bike..

My old Simplex derailleur took a crap and wasn't shifting properly, and I had no idea how to fix it, so I bought a hub, cog, and lock-ring, and threw it on.

I tried it, and fell in love with the simplicity.

This is why I got one, I found sprinting on my fixed gear really helped my sprinting on my road bike. I'm also more comfortable at lower cadences now than I used to be.


To get faster on my road bike..

Bought a Langster for a singlespeed commuter, built it up fixed day one just to "try" it, took off rear wheel and removed freewheel from non-drive side and tossed into parts bin.

besides riding fixed being a requirement to live in my Brooklyn hood, I think the aesthetic of fixed gear bikes are appealing and the resulting leg strength is also a nice perk.

Was biking 25 miles a day for school on my geared commuter mountain bike, it started to suck when it got below 10F or so, the sand/salt/snow mixture boogered up brakes and derraileurs.

In the spring, I got an old frame, welded up a ghetto hub and tried it out, liked the way it felt, so that next fall/winter, I had a proper wheel built up and didn't look back.

Now (about 8 years later), I am probably going to go back to a geared bike (want to buy 1x9 29r) as climbing the hill to my new house just isn't fun, even with 38x17 gearing.

I still love taking my fixed gear bikes out, but find myself riding less and less because the last half mile is over 11% grade.

I don't need to be fixed; I'm not broken... so I ride SS.

in october of last year me my friends decided to go on a road trip to southern cali, 3 days before we left my motobecane's BB got messed up and I didnt have any money.
so i hoped on CL and found a schwinn maddy to trade for my laptop, the next day i rode to santa cruz on a fixed gear, on HWY 1, it was the most amazing trip ever-we ended up staying at big sur, since it was beautiful, ive been riding everyday since

saw a white girl doing this thing* at the red light on wangfujin and dian lou in beijing where she didnt have to get off her bike: it looked so effortless, so logical, so.much.grace

then friends here had concepts that just looked almost toy-like, adorable, agressive, zen.
and the rest is historys

saw a white girl doing this thing* at the red light on wangfujin and dian lou in beijing where she didnt have to get off her bike: it looked so effortless, so logical, so.much.grace

then friends here had concepts that just looked almost toy-like, adorable, agressive, zen.

I saw thousands upon thousands of Indians doing the fixed thing in Delhi and on NH 1, and thought we could all use a little more "developing country" in this hizouse.

In reality it was a nice way to reconnect with pops, who's a huge roadie, but on my own terms. I also dislike shifting.

muk fal.

I live in Echo Park, which is a hipster hot bed. I've seen fixed gears rolling around the neighborhood since I moved in. I was riding an old roadbike previously. My first Bike, a Langster Tokyo was too flashy for me. I didn't feel comfortable riding it so I sold it and bought the Sputnik after research. My Ex Girlfriend found it on CL, I bought it the same day. Fell in love with riding fixed because of its simplicity, its feedback and its challenge.

srsly tho, fixed gear has helped my general bike and fitness much more then i thought it would.

At first I thought, as I'm sure many people outside of this forum still do, riding fixed was nuts. Many of my friends rode them but that didn't pique my interest. It wasn't until my Dad started talking about them, bought one, and I rode his that I thought "that is super fun!"

My old bike was super heavy, and the cables had rusted out so I was only riding one gear anyway. Found a cool conversion on craigslist and have been riding it ever since. I do like the extra control you get, but mostly I ride fixed because it's fun.