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My first fixed-gear. Please help!

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My first fixed-gear. Please help!

Old 04-17-13, 07:57 AM
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My first fixed-gear. Please help!

With the weather getting nicer in WI and with a substantial tax return in my pocket, I’ve decided to finally purchase a fixed-gear bike. I have been intrigued by fixed-gear bikes for a few years now and have decided that I would like to partake in the enjoyment.
I am a pretty avid road bike enthusiast and have been riding for years. Outside of doing a little freestyle biking when I was a kid, I really have zero experience to draw on for customizing my fixed-gear bike. So I thought I would throw out this thread to get some tips and feedback from those of you who are far more experienced than I.
So here is the type of riding I plan on doing on my fixed-gear….

It will mostly be used as a commuter bike for tooling around town when I have errands to run. I will still be doing all of my event training on my roadies so the reason for getting the fixed-gear is for pure fun and enjoyment. I do not need a full-on freestyle type of fixed-gear bike seeing as I don’t plan on doing a ton of freestyle riding. That being said, I would still like to have the capability of doing some of the more common tricks ie. Riding a wheely, jumping a curb, riding backwards…etc. So in a nutshell, I’m looking to create a bike that is great for commutes up to 10-20 miles, but also has some durability and versatility for a small amount of free style riding.

So my questions are as follows:

What type of gear ratio would you recommend?
What type of handlebar set up?
What type of wheelset and tires?
Brake or no brake?
…and any other tips or advice you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

-Hubble
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Old 04-17-13, 05:47 PM
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Gear ratio is up to you, Id go 40's- 16-20's. You gota experiment though, no one can tell you, especially not the interwebs. Although if u ride road bikes, Find a combo you can stick with all day. Use that as a base.

Again handlebars are up to you, Id say bullhorns sound about right

wheelset- what can you afford

brakes, most on this forum will say no, but definitely front if not both.

These forums are a wealth of knowledge for the cycling enthusiast. Pay special attention the road and the mechanics forum as well as this one.
Others can give you brands to check out, I aint got that kinda time.

Good luck
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Old 04-21-13, 02:02 PM
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I would say you need something along the lines of a Bianchi Pista. Something steel so it wont break if you pogo it. Id go with some 31.8 risers cut pretty narrow, 80mm stem, velocity b43 in the rear, and an aerospoke/650 in the front. You want your front end to be light for spinning those keo's ya know? Also for tires run nothing but Thickslick. Seriously best tire on the market for fgfs. You can skid with it all day and it wears like a champ. Saddle and seatpost are up to you. Id go brooks tho, they are super cumphy after a few hard rides.

Hope this helps!
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Old 04-21-13, 02:03 PM
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oh and dont be a *****. run brakeless
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Old 05-12-13, 09:58 PM
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Originally Posted by bimmerboys
I would say you need something along the lines of a Bianchi Pista. Something steel so it wont break if you pogo it. Id go with some 31.8 risers cut pretty narrow, 80mm stem, velocity b43 in the rear, and an aerospoke/650 in the front. You want your front end to be light for spinning those keo's ya know? Also for tires run nothing but Thickslick. Seriously best tire on the market for fgfs. You can skid with it all day and it wears like a champ. Saddle and seatpost are up to you. Id go brooks tho, they are super cumphy after a few hard rides.

Hope this helps!
Originally Posted by bimmerboys
oh and dont be a *****. run brakeless
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