GeraldChan

I started 4 yrs ago to see what the fuss was and to get some strenght training since at 50 I noticed my quads were not as large as they have been. I love the extra awareness of my terrain now. All gradients are important now.

However, I find I still need to do leg extensions and squats to strenghten my quads and thus stabilize my knee alignment.

What about the rest of you?

Also, how many are still using tubulars. I just had my LBS build up a tubular wheelset for my modern CF bike. I do most of my mileage on tubualars as they corner so much better and feel sublime.

DiabloScott

One fixie, one bike with tubies. Not for any sublimeness or knee alignments... just for fun.

GeraldChan

Right you are Diablo Scott! I love charging a hill on my track bike in order to get up to the crest. The high rpm descent is fun too!

Mobile 155

Tried both. Fixie was way too much like work. Never got to relax even on a down hill. Couldn't coast through a corner. The tubulars were ok till one ride I got two flats because of road trash. Had to sit back and wait for a ride rather than fixing a tube. Wend back to Clinchers for normal training and pleasure rides. I thought of building a SS but have lost all interest in a Fixie, unless the open a velodrom close by.

JohnDThompson 

I have two fixed gear bikes. One is pretty standard:



The other has a Sturmey-Archer S3X 3-speed fixed gear hub:

Allegheny Jet

I have been riding a fixie for most road rides since Dec. My coach has prescribed the fixie for the winter training. I can already tell and see the results. My thighs are thicker and riding on the road over rollers is different in that I don't shift and keep the cadence the same. That kills my buddies on their road bikes.

I have tubulars on my vintage 73 Super Course and on my "Sunday go to meeting" 58 mm CF race wheels.

GeraldChan

Nice Viscount! So with that hub you can shift between 3 speeds and are still direct drive as in no freewheeling?

JohnDThompson 

Yes, exactly. Direct drive is the high gear, the other two are 75% and 62.5% reduction, but they're all fixed gear as in no freewheeling.

John E

I tried conventional fixed gear in 1973 and quickly decided it was just not my thing. If I ever do try it again, it will be w/ the 3-speed Sturmey Archer kit, which I am glad the company has resurrected after all these years.

Having dislocated my left kneecap completely twice and partially at least once or twice, I work to strengthen the vastus medialis by doing weighted leg lifts -- just the final 15 degrees to straight, which preferentially works the medialis over the other three members of the group. Yoga is helpful, as well -- the basic standing "mountain pose," in which one lifts the kneecaps, also works the medialis. The other helpful exercise is to stand on one leg while pulling the opposite heal to the buttocks. The combination provides well-toned musculature for enhanced patellar lateral stability.

In the 1970s I had two sets of wheels (tubulars and clinchers) for my Nishiki, and I did enjoy the tubulars, and I appreciated them on the longest rides I ever did (century, double metric, and double). However, when I moved to San Diego County and discovered goathead throns, I gave them up and never looked back, particularly since clinchers had continued to improve considerably over the years.

JanMM

Converted 3 bikes to singlespeed over the years but have never done the fixed thing.
I did, however, see $99 Thruster fixies (with flip-flops) for sale at WalMart yesterday.

12bar

I used to commute on my SS but now I only use it for quick errands.

Doohickie

Yep. I do. I have 5 bikes, one of which is a 2009 Schwinn Cutter. It came with only a freewheel SS in the back, but I built up a flip-flop hub wheel in October. Since then it's full-time FG.

sam83

Started riding fixed in 2008. What a hoot! Do about 1/3 of my riding fixed ~1500 miles per year.

icyclist 

I love riding fixed. The Zen/oneness concept is real for me. Riding fixed makes me feel as if I'm 25 again, although I do use brakes. I may feel younger on my fixie, but I don't believe I'm immortal.

Living in L.A. gives me just about any type of geography I want. I'm a fairly strong cyclist and I don't mind pedaling up reasonable hills; my limit of enjoyment is about 10%.

My bike is a polished aluminum, 2009 Specialized Langster, which I purchased in March of that year. It took a major hit when I shipped it back to NYC this past summer. There's a good-sized dent, compliments of Fed Ex Ground in the top tube.

I don't think, after consulting with the experts on BF, that the bike is in danger of a catastrophic collapse. Still, it's diluted some of the joy of riding the bike, and I'm thinking about buying a new frame.

Retro Grouch 

I have one but I haven't ridden it since I broke my elbows. It's a Raleigh Technium conversion with home laced wheels and an Ultegra crankset.

I'm in the process of painting the rims yellow. I'm planning to take it to the Gateway Bike Expo and Swap Meet to see if anybody's interested in buying it.

BluesDawg

I've had a couple over the years and will likely have another. I'd never be a committed fixie rider, but they do make a good addition to the stable for occasional use.

I converted a 1980 Fuji S-12S by building a rear wheel with a flip/flop hub, but I later rebuilt it geared to give to my son.
My Salsa Casseroll was originally a single speed with a flip/flop hub and I ran it fixed for a little while before converting it to geared. I still have the wheels and crank that I hope to find a frame for one of these days.

urban rider

I purchased a fixed gear bike, after years of begging from friend to try it a fixed gear. My friend told me I would build up my quads if I ride in during the spring. Unfortunately becuasue my regular commuter bike was stolen I have been riding this fixed gear bike for the past several weeks. It is lighter. Some days I wish I had some gears but it appears to be working out for me.

GeraldChan

I like knowing that whatever the pitch of the hill I encounter I have to grind up there. Once I almost came to a standstill and was in danger of falling over. The biggest challenge for me is the downhill run. I refuse to use the brakes to slow the rpms on principle and just spin down the hill. If I relax and calm myself and not consciously think about pedalling circles I can get quite a high rpm. (36.5mph in a 74" gear 44X17 was my max).
I prefer riding my Veloflex Criterium tubulars over clincher on my Waterford. I have both clincher and tubular wheels for each of my bikes.

Cleave

Hi Mobile 155,

There are three velodromes in SoCal: San Diego (Balboa Park), Carson (Home Depot Center), and Encino. More velodromes in our area than any other part of the US. I am fortunate to live about 20 minutes from the Home Depot Center Velodrome.

Cleave

Hi JohnDThompson,

That looks like an original Viscount frame. I recognize the crank. I had one of those back in the mid 1970s. Cracked the head tube on it and had it re-welded before I sold it. I also bought a gross of bolts that fit the bottom bracket since the crank would loosen unless the fixing bolts were inordinately tight.

It doesn't look like you have the original, cast aluminum "death fork" on it.

Despite everything that I just wrote, I do have a soft spot (probably in my skull ) for that bike.

Cleave

Hi GeraldChan,

I have just over 5,000 miles on this bike:



All of those miles are on a 250 meter track. That's a lot of laps.

I am in the process of building a fixed, disc wheel for this bike:



It's primarily my rain bike but I also train on it during the summer on occasion for a change of pace and some of that change of pace will be road fixie riding.

I don't know if riding a fixie provides muscular benefits over riding a freewheeling bike. Having a single gear definitely uses your muscles differently on climbs and descents.

As for tubulars, I spent over 10 years only riding tubulars since there were no high performance clinchers when I started racing in the 1970s. I love how they ride and corner and that's why I only race on tubulars on these bikes:




However, for everything but racing, I ride clinchers because they are so much more practical.

lhbernhardt

I've been riding fixies since the early 70's, first as winter training, then full time for the past several years after I stopped racing. This is the bike I use for everything - commuting to work, rides, brevets - except for actual track riding, and I could even set it up for that in about five minutes. I don't even worry about strength training, I just ride. However, riding fixed gear will dramatically improve your cycling technique. You will be much, much smoother and more efficient. The one thing you have to watch for is that you tend to get lazy when the crank goes over top-dead-center. On a fixie, the cranks are pushed over this point for you. On a freewheel, your pedal stroke could get a bit jerky here if you're riding fixed all the time.

I only use tubulars on the track. You need the extra flexibility of the tire on a 45-degree banking. When I raced, I used tubulars in criteriums for their lower weight and better cornering. But I actually think clinchers are better for time trials as they fit the rim more accurately. Tubulars tend to have some imperfections in alignment when they're glued on.

The photo is my Rodriguez fixie the day after I finished the 2011 Paris-Brest-Paris:


- L.

GeraldChan

Cleave: That is a fantastic collection of bike! My sister had a Lambert in the early 70's. She really wanted a Varsity but big brother convinced/cajoled her into getting a bike with sew-ups. She never liked that bike even after ditching the fork and tubulars. Boy was that bike ever light.

I don't race but riding a FG bike on the rolling hills of metro DC Maryland is still fun. I have tried track ridig at Hellyer Park in San Jose CA and that was a blast but the closest velodrome to me is over 4 1/2 hrs away at Trexlertown.

I still prefer tubulars and find them very practical since they usually only flat at the end of their useful life. For the very occaisional flats I send them to TireAlert in Clearwater FL for the repair and an all new tube, stitching & basetape for only $23.

GeraldChan

Nice bike Ihbernhardt! I find that the modern higher quality tires like the Veloflex Criteriums and Cont Comps are fairly easy to glue true. I true my tire while the glue is still fresh on a truing stand. It takes me 20-30 mins but they are dead straight and good for about 1-2 seasons.

Rick@OCRR

I ride fixed gear and my bike is a '75 Masi Gran Criterium that used to be my main road bike, back in the 80's and half of the 90's. I converted it to fixed several years ago and it's always great fun to ride. It's geared 42tx15t which is 75.5 gear inches . . . I think.

This photo is my dual purpose, i.e. showing off my 50+ jersey and shorts, plus showing my fixed gear Masi. Photo by my wife.

I used to run sew ups back in the late 60's up to the late 70's, but by that time clinchers had improved so much that I switched and have never gone back. Yes, sew-ups ride well, better than clinchers for sure, but big picture, i.e. cost plus hassle factor, I don't see myself ever going back to sew-ups.

Rick / OCRR