tjspiel

cheater

BarracksSi

Pick a gear combo on your geared bikes and don't shift for a week.

You could pick one that'll give you the same ratio as whatever singlespeed you're looking to buy, or you can change it around and plan on changing the new bike's chainring or cog to match. Just don't shift at all no matter how tired you get.

xray1978

Ok, I'll add my 2 cents here. Get a fixie with a flip flop hub that takes a freewheel. When riding around town use the free hub, if you want to train use the fixed side. I am not anywhere near triathlete condition and I can make it up any hill I need to with a 42x16 setup. I find this ratio is fast enough that I don't feel like a turtle and low enough I can cart me up the hills with out undue strain.

I have a marathon runner friend who uses a fixie to help with his marathons, I don't see how it could be anything but beneficial to your training.

HardyWeinberg

I'm not really advocating (or 'pretending') anything. Performance of my bikes seems to be independent of gearing, and mostly affected by what kind of load I'm carrying.

Doohickie

I've done hills that were reported as steep as 12% (for maybe a half mile) with 46/18.

Pscyclepath

Because fixed gears can't coast (No freewheel). If the wheels are turning, so is the drivetrain.

What you're thinking of is a singlespeed, which has a freewheel.

hairnet

Riding fixed gears is fun for some of us. It's a different riding experience.

with that, I've done stuff around 10% + with 48/19. If you can control your legs and use your brakes properly you won' be spinning down hills like a mad man. Don't take your feet off the pedals

tcs

Al Kreitler, call your office.

tcs

CliftonGK1

I live at the top of a 2.25 mile climb with an average 5.3% grade, but it actually has a couple sections of 0.25mi at 8 - 9 % grade.
I did a fixed century with 6500' of climbing last year. There are guys in my rando club who ride 1200k with over 25,000' of gain in under 90 hours.

irclean

+1 Great idea (and so simple, as most great ideas are.) I have a dept. store hybrid that I am considering turning into a single speed (not fixed - not yet, anyway). This idea will help me decide on gearing. Any other suggestions for gearing would be based on that rider's experience, ability, and riding environment.

RT

I gave myself a week to talk myself out of going 1x8 with a 42t front, 11-30 in the rear. It is a hilly commute here in the mountains, but I thought I could live without the big ring on the flats and the granny ring on the steep inclines, the steepest of which is 6% for two miles. As coloso said, never again. Going downhill is no fun (coasting), and the climb was brutal. Just enough of the granny is missed, and the entire big ring. If 1x8 is unacceptable, I can't even imagine what a single speed would be like. I don't understand the single speed thing.

spock

I don't have a fixed gear bike but sometimes I like to climb a hill in big gear and I use the weight of my body to push which basically requires very little effort. It is slow but effective.

CliftonGK1

I ride singlespeed for about 20 - 25% of my miles here in the Cascade foothills and mountains. I tried fixed, but just don't like the effort of keeping up with the pedals on the long descents (and I'm a Clyde, so I need a lower gear ratio for climbing). The beauty of singlespeeding is that it's a thought-free ride. No worrying about gearing down at the right time for a hill, or if you're keeping the proper cadence, or all the other crap that many people worry about while riding. Just hop on and start pedalling. Some of the steeper long hills around here are my favourites: Sahalee Hill is 10% for 1.25 miles. Novelty Hill averages 5.3% for 2.25 miles, and then there are the loooong climbs like Chuckanut Drive, which is 4% for 5 miles, and the mountain passes which average 5 - 6% for 15 - 20 miles.

mihlbach

I've never noticed climbing with a fixie or SS to be much more painful or tedious than climbing on a geared bike, you just end up strategizing a bit differently when you approach the climb. Over time I just trained myself to stand and hammer over the hills without even thinking. Finding the best gear is a bit of trial and error, but I think you'll be surprised how high a gear you can successfully climb with. I actually gear my fixed gear pretty high (49/16) because I like to really crank it up in the morning. The best strategy, I think, is to find the highest gear possible that will still allow you to maintain a decent cadence when climbing your steepest hill. I tend to gear my singlespeeds a bit lower than my fixie, because I can coast downhill, but also because I tend to ride SS when I'm more interested in taking it easy. However, you still want to have a high enough gear to maintain a reasonable speed on the flats. By a few freewheels and experiment.

Good luck!

RT

I understand what you guys are saying, I just cannot visualize the gain, aside form a few grams of chainring. 42/16 is not a climbing gear for me. I could, I guess, but why torture myself? 42/anything is not good for speed on descents. If my commute were flatter, I'd definitely consider 1x8.

Loose Chain

I got an idea, get a ss with a three speed hub, lol, with quick release. U lock your frame, remove the wheels and take to your apartment. What is up with the folding bike junk? Wheels the size of a scooter and all dorky like.

Metricoclock

my bike polo bike is fixed gear with a 26x18 drivetrain, it climbs hills like they are not there, just kinda sucks when you want to go hills. It's always a give and take, but if you are unsure don't worry about running a lower ratio than if you were going to be going long distance at high speed.

LosAngelesRidin

I ride 46:17 fixed

I keep up with my roadie friends just fine up hills & down

just run a front brake & you'll be fine.

c_bake

+1 I'm good up to around 6%. I commute on my SS 40 miles each direction 3x a week. It's great and it gives me a good workout. Sometimes I will ride it on group rides where I know the route is fairly flat and I get odd looks from the riders w/ gears, it gets worse when I drop them on climbs and out spin them on the flats.