jodphoto

I like to describe fixed gear riding to those who ask me "why" or "how". I too, lead with, "It's really fun." Then I ask if they want to take mine for a spin.

I relish the physical and metaphysical connections with the bike, but when I try to describe these; I see their eyes roll and I realize I sound like a hoople.

But, if I suggest that they "Just shut the **** up and ride", then I'm being "rude".

As rare a commodity as the truth is, the supply exceeds the demand. You old show-off.

bowzette

jodphoto

Rip VanWinkel, here,

I just woke up from my nap and suddenly bicycles have "breaks" instead of "brakes". WTF? Has the Tea Party finally implemented their education plan?

North Coast Joe

Too funny (scary true, but too funny!)

I like building these FG bikes almost as much as riding (but riding's WAY less expensive).

I just finished my second one. I took this:



and built this:



I shot these snaps after taking the bike off the bench for the first time. After a couple of rides the bars are slightly rotated more and the seat moved forward. I forgot this frame had a longer top tube than the last build.

jodphoto

That's gorgeous! I especially like the chain guard. What did you use on the bars?

North Coast Joe

Thanks, I appreciate the compliment.

I found some real patent leather scraps at a local saddler (I had no idea patent leather was anything other than that plastic stuff I've seen on cheap purses!). Enough to do the grips and tube protectors all 3X was less than a couple of rolls of bar tape. A hole punch, some black shoelaces (the checkerboard laces were big bucks...$1.49) and we were good.

The initial ride saw them slide around, so I slid them down and applied some rubber cement underneath. Immobile now.

I might be tempted to use these type grips on my other rides. One could even pad it with some adhesive foam craft sheets underneath.

Doohickie

Most of my miles are fixed. I'll be 52 this fall. I have several other bikes that freewheel and I ride them as well, but my go-bike is a fixie.

jodphoto

Nice bike collection. Which of those is your fixie? Pictures!

This is a general question for everyone.

I'm assuming we all like classic road bikes and lugged steel frames. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I stop at every bike place I see. I RARELY see a new bike that I think is beautiful. I acknowledge the technology but find them strange looking. I am using the form+function definition of a beautiful design. Aerodynamics alone is not intrinsically beautiful. Neither is shiny, sleek, colorful, fast or any of the many other quantifiable attributes.

Anyone know of a new bike they feel is intrinsically beautiful?

Doohickie

The collection?

You asked for it....

1966 Raleigh DL-1 3-speed

DL-1 by doohickie@ymail.com, on Flickr

The 1973 Schwinn I sold

1983 Raleigh Super Course 12-speed


1983 Raleigh Marathon (I had a derailleur incident and now it has a 2-speed kickback hub)


1994 Nishiki Sport XRS (my commuter)

Commuter Bike by doohickie@ymail.com, on Flickr

2009 Schwinn Cutter (the fixie)

White tires by doohickie@ymail.com, on Flickr

jodphoto

Man, these are beauties!!! Black bikes look so frickin' good when they are clean like these.

Do you do the restorations or are these in original condition?

Road Fan

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm concerned about my knees. I use shifting to keep the cadence where my knees will be comfortable, namely don't let my legs mash for very long. That's one thing I can't do on a fixed or a single.

North Coast Joe

I was worried about the same thing, so geared my builds around 64 gear inches, which spins me out at around 18-19 mph, which seems to make the small hills here easily climbable. It also makes trackstanding and hop skidding (I don't do much of that!) easier to learn.

When big miles over varied terrain is in order, I take a geared bike!

trackhub

There are many bikes posted at the fixed gear gallery, but this one... This is actually beautiful! A conversion, done with an early 70s
Raleigh Super Course. Check it out.

Doohickie

Complicated question. It depends on the bike. The Raleigh 3-speed is all original or original replacements, except for the modern Schalbe tires. The Raleigh Super Course has a lot of mods but hopefully retains its original spirit. The Raleigh Marathon was a 12-speed drop bar bike but has frame damage that precludes a derailleur. I should have thrown it out actually, but after languishing for years in my garage I put a 2-speed kickback hub on it and took it in a whole different direction. The Nishiki was a flat bar hybrid when I got it but I kept tailoring it for commuting and how it's more of a touring bike. The Schwinn has several upgrades but not too different from the original configuration.

I'm not sure I'd call what I do "restoration". I think of my bikes almost like a baseball card collection. When I find something I like I get it. Once it's mine, I tailor to to make it truly mine.

Doohickie

Honestly, I was having knee trouble when I first got my single speed (it wasn't fixed gear yet). I found that having to vary my cadence and be more active in (and out of) the saddle actually helped my knee.

jodphoto

+1 Very nice Raleigh. Fixed Gear gallery is like bicycle Playboy for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doohickie

I'm not sure I'd call what I do "restoration". I think of my bikes almost like a baseball card collection. When I find something I like I get it. Once it's mine, I tailor to to make it truly mine.

I get it. You visualize the bike for its potential. Me too. I don't even have to like it when I get it. Once I'm in a dumpster though, I don't like leaving empty handed.

Nice bikes you've built. Very classy.

jodphoto

Thanks for weighing in. It's important we look out for each others health and don't use the rationalist "brakeless, urban, hipster" issues to evaluate FG riding. What's acceptable for a 20 year old may not work for 50+ year olds. So to be empirical:

Fixed gear riding has improved how my knees FEEL in the following narrow definition. After fixed gear riding a majority of the time, when I switch over to a geared bike, I go farther faster, pedal smoother and feel better in my legs (knees included), butt, back and shoulders. This is compared to riding geared bike only in the past, as recently as 2 years ago. When I ride the geared bike for a week straight, I begin to revert to previous pedaling habits. I coast a lot, shift frequently, mash rather than pedal in a circle, etc. While these are not pernicious of themselves, I think the slop they allow may be overall less efficient and less healthy. Both bikes are 85 League Fujis with stock wheels. The fixie has stock cranks and BB with bum bars. My fixed gearing is 52/20 thinking of going 19 or 18. The geared bike is 3 x 7, has 105 cranks and Deore ders with flat bars. While the bars are different, the same reach and height can be achieved. I don't have any knee problems I'm aware of. I don't do skid stops and I don't clip in. I use a front brake and only slow down using pedal back pressure. I ride in a more upright position than most other road riders I see but far from bolt upright.

Conclusion: Even though I am older and admittedly less athletic, I am a better rider since I've begun to ride a lot on my fixie. I think the fixie makes me a better pedaler, all other things being equal. And I feel better riding both fixed and geared as a result.These are observations and I can't prove any of this.


Here are some articles and threads about fixed gear riding and knee health. If there is a common conclusion, it seems to be that faster cadence and lower pedal pressure is better for the knees than high gear mashing (duh). This is true of geared bike riding too, isn't it. There is no definitive answer as to whether or not resistance pedaling is harmful.

Fixed Gear Bicycles and Knee Health

63xc.com--How To | Knee Pain

Why 'hip' fixed gear cycling is on its knees | Hackney Citizen

https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespee...our-knees.html

Doohickie

I mash, even on the fixie. I kinda suck that way I guess. If I concentrate I can do a better stroke, and maybe I have improved, but I still don't feel especially fluid. I'm a hack, but at least I realize it.

Getting back to the knee issue: Before getting the single speed, I was having a knee issue. I think two things contributed to it: First, my seat position was off a little. Given that, the second thing was that I tended to use the gears to ride in a narrow cadence range which, I think, exacerbated the effect of the bad seat position - At a certain point in my stroke I had bad alignment or something, and pushing on it again and again and again caused my knee pain. Getting on the single speed, I was in a different riding position, plus I had to shift around a lot (especially getting up out of the seat for hill climbs) and varied my cadence with the demands of terrain, so I was no longer setting the knee up in a bad position and then repeatedly tweaking it.

In short, it was just different, and the difference was beneficial.


One last thing about single speed/fixed gear: intuitively, it seems like more work, but when I ride fixed I actually feel like i have more energy, and yet do faster average times than with geared bikes. I think this is kind of related to what jodphoto says in his post above.

jodphoto

Here's a couple of pictures:





Still working out the bars:




Here's the build progress:

SLIVER | Rat Rod Bikes

Here's the finished bike and an update:

SLIVER finished.UPDATE | Rat Rod Bikes - post-925315

Hope ya like it. Peace

zandoval 

Fixed??? Think I would need 34T and 28T combination...

Come to think about it, around here better put the 28T in front...

bowzette

I've committed to doing more rides at lower HR to build a better aerobic base. Two Saturdays ago and this coming Saturday I'll ride 4 hours+ at my aerobic threshold-around 120-125 bpm. I'll build this up to a 5 hr ride and do a century the first weekend in October assuming it isn't real windy. If the wind is blowing over 15 mph it's time for gears. I did this ride two years ago on the fixed gear bike. If I'm not riding with a fast group (the older I get the slower the "fast" group is). I would rather ride the fixed gear bike if I don't have to fight the wind.

peterws

Tried one o those once. It was enough. How dya take a fast bend? Your pedal would bottom. . . .

chasm54

No, it doesn't. Typically, a purpose-built FG bike has a slightly higher bottom bracket to minimise that risk.

bowzette

I have a Wabi which is built to road bike geo, not track, except it has a higher bottom bracket than a road bike. Also I use 165 cranks with Speedplays. I've ridden in groups through turns going 22-25 mph. I position myself in the group where I can take a line that doesn't require leaning to bike over too far but not interfere with other riders. I don't do a ride like that often-one or twice a year. Got to be really careful with plenty of situational awareness. If in doubt back off, get dropped and try to catch back on. When I ride the fixed gear with the Usual Suspects on the Saturday group ride we are going 17-20 mph through the turns and it isn't a problem. You can't play "crit racer" and hammer a turn without risking disaster.

DiabloScott

Pedal scraping and toe-clip overlap can be problems, and lots of FG bikes don't have high BBs. My old Masi Commuter was based on a touring frame and used to scrape quite a bit - especially on high speed corners on roads with a lot of camber... I learned to deal with it by picking my line a little differently. My newer Trek FG doesn't even come close to scraping at the same corners.

That said though, pedal scraping is kind of startling, but I've never crashed because of it.

Here's a table I put together when I was shopping to replace the Masi (stolen)