beardzilla

Yo BFSSFG

I just recently got into fixed riding after about 3 months of road riding. I just picked up a 2007 Fuji track from my LBS for 399 with tiagra front brake and tektro cross lever installed, along with a 18t freewheel on the other end of the flip flop hub. Its got a 16t on the other end, and the bike otherwise is completely stock. Im riding it on the 16 now, and with the 48t chainring up front, its a little steep for the hills I ride daily (I go to UCLA and my way to class and back to my room is a giant U shape).

The 18t seems perfect and I think puts it right at that 70 gear inches that most people seem to swear by. I feel like if I put a 18t fixed cog on the bike, and have the 18t freewheel, im loosing some of the point of the freewheel. So I guess I wanted to ask what you guys thought would be the best thing to do would be. get a 17t cog for the fixed side, or will the difference be pretty negligible from the 16t? Smaller chainring? If so, how small?

I wanted to ride fixed during my day to day to train my legs to help my road riding, as well as the simplicity for riding to class and back or to grab some food or something. I feel ok locking up the track outside for a little bit, something I was pretty paranoid about with my road bike.

Ive already got plans to replace the saddle with a serfas acuna, its what I ride on my road bike, and its comfy as hell and what my ass is used to. Anything else I should look into replacing sooner rather than later, more out of concern for safety than weight or anything. I dont want some random no name part exploding to **** one day, all the pictures you guys post have sort of got me scared haha.

Now that i've written you guys an essay I'll leave you with one last question or three. What kinds of position are you using for climbs on pista bars? just the drops?
Any tips for chain tension? Im never quite sure how much play is ok on the chain. I read somewhere anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 on an inch of play is ok, just wanted to verify before I ride it that way.

other than that, im debating putting clipless pedals on the bike. I have clipless for my road bike, but I feel like daily riding is easier with the stock pedals and straps. ugh, so many choices. what an effin money pit haha.

Ill post pictures soon for those of you who are visual learners. my forum searches didn't yield too many 07 fuji track pictures even know I know they are out there.

thanks in advance though, cant wait to do my sunday ride with it tomorrow.

peace

Daijoubu

If you do skidding, 48x18 is a bad combinaison as it gives you only 3 patches
48x19 (19 patches) or 48x17 (17 patches) should are better in that aspect as your tire will wear evenly

modernfuturist

Sup, I go to UCLA as well. Just got my bike about a month ago and I'm getting used to riding as well. Definitely not the friendliest place to get started riding fixed due to the hills but it's been a good challenge

Where'd you buy your 07 Fuji Track? I ended up buying a used 06 Raleigh Rush Hour from CL for around $450 and I'm loving it.

Do you usually ride alone or do you do any of the group rides like Critical Mass or Midnight Ridazz? There's supposed to be a group at UCLA called Steel Horse that is just specifically fixed gear riders as well.

justinfolco

Can you please explain that skidding comment? couldn't figure out how you only get three patches?

macka_fat

Sheldon Brown can explain it better than anyone on here:

Skid Patch

Fixed-gear riders who make a habit of doing "skip stops" you will wear the rear tire out considerably faster than those who use a brake. This problem is exacerbated by certain gear ratios, because they may tend to repeatedly skid on the same section of the tire.
Riders who plan to do a lot of skip stops should consider the ratio when selecting their chainring and rear sprocket. The mathematics of this is actually fairly simple:

• Simplify the gear ratio to the smallest equivalent whole number ratio.
• The denominator of the resulting fraction is the number of skid patches you will have on your rear tire.

Examples:This is based on the assumption that you always skid with the same foot forward.
If you are an ambidextrous skidder, and the calculation gives an even result, your number of skid patches will be the same. If you are an ambidextrous skidder, and have an odd denominator, the number of possible skid patches will be doubled.

justinfolco

Thanks!! i get it now!

beardzilla

modernfuturist -

i bought the fuji at veloworx in santa monica on lincoln blvd. they sponser the ucla cycling team so I headed down their and low and behold they had the track in my size. The guys there were super helpful too, im definitely gonna give em more business, their prices were dope.
haha yeah UCLA is definitely not the easiest fixed ride, but over the past week or so riding it every day its gotten easier for sure. I still feel like I should go for a bigger rear cog, maybe a 17 or 18 rather than mess with the chainring, so we will see how that goes.

I ride with the ucla cycling team on my road bike, but definitely want to ride with fixed riders too, I think a few of the guys on the team know a few rides like what you mentioned.

are you on campus or off?

modernfuturist

Yeah I've been getting used to riding around UCLA's hills more and more lately. Been looking for more rides but most of the rides around LA are social rides. I live on campus btw.

ericlikewhoa

hello guys. im a fellow bruin too and just joined the forum. im getting interested in the fixed gear bikes, and want to tr and pick up a older/used fixed bike and fix it up. what do you guys recommend i start looking at. ive been reading up, but its getting a bit overwhelming, all and gearing issues, skidding, and riding style in general. any pointers would be great. and yup, im still using the search button

modernfuturist

Awesome, what year and major are you?

I personally think you shouldn't go the conversion/used bike route. It's honestly worth too much of a hassle and if you're going to stick with riding for awhile, you might as well get a brand new complete bike. Get the Windsor hour or Mercier Kilo TT from BikesDirect.com, ride the crap out of, and replace the items once you understand what you like and want. With that said, I couldn't wait for the Kilo TT to come in stock to start riding, so I just bought an '06 Raleigh Rush Hour from Craiglsist.

Don't worry about all the other subtleties or the techniques, they'll all make sense once you start riding. I'm still learning how to trackstand and haven't bothered skidding yet. Make sure you get brakes as well... Right now, just figure out your bike size and you can hunt Craigslist for some deals...

ericlikewhoa

hey! im a third year econ major. what about you.
i know it'll be crazy to do a complete build from scratch, but i just wanted to change out a few things off of a cheaper bike. as much i would love to, i dont have hundreds of dollars to dump into a new hobby right now, so i want to try to make something out of what i can get.

so what do you think my best options are. i dont even know what kind of bike i should be looking for (size or anything else that comes into consideration). i have been just looking on craigslist for any fixed gear bike for now. i went down today and looked at some bike at the bike shop in westwood but he just told me i have to do my research. lol.

im just want to find a bike soon! im excited to paint the frame and make everything look cool so i can get riding with some buddies!

beardzilla

Im a third year too, are you on campus or in the apartments?

you could go the conversion route, but just keep in mind that you might be better off like modernfuturist said and getting a good starter bike like the windsor hour or kilo tt. whatever you find on craigslist is probably gonna be 150~ and will likely need new tubes and tires, as well as maybe new bar tape, all said and done it can cost you about 100 dollars or more to get the bike into safe ridable condition. that puts you at probably 250ish, whereas for 299 you can have the windsor hour shipped, or kilo for 50 bucks more.

modernfuturist

I'm a second year geography student. Wondering why are you looking into getting a bike so close towards the end of the quarter (and finals, haha)... Do you live around here?

I guess a good starting point to figure out you're bike size is just to try and figure out your pant inseam (Bike Sizing). But the best thing is just to stand over a bike frame and figure if you have approx 2 inches between your crotch and the top tube. I'm about 5'7-5'8 and I ride a 53cm frame just for reference...

Yo beardzilla, what gear ratio are you currently runnning? I'm definitely changing that as soon as summer starts... I'm currently at 48x15 and it sucks going up hills. I just spent a ton of money upgrading the pedals/clips/straps and am probably looking to upgrade my handlebars. Talk about a money burn...

beardzilla

I am running 48x19 and its awesome for all the hills at UCLA. it puts me at ~68 gear inches, and i dont feel like my knees are going to explode anymore when im climbing charles e. young haha, and that was with a 16t! with a 15 your legs must have gotten huge!

cizzlak

just dont eat at socko's in westwood. you'll die.

ericlikewhoa

haha.. yea its its the end of the quarter, finals and what not, but im just looking for a new hobby to start up. i live off campus and my friend and i just want to get some bikes to have some fun riding on. so is 48x19 a good gearing for ucla. i know its hilly and i want to be able to ride the bike recreationally too, not just for going to classes. didnt know that was such an active biking community at ucla. awesome!

beardzilla

in my opinion 48x19 is pretty good for all around riding the hills here at ucla, and around westwood area. at around the 68 gear inches the 48x19 gives you, its really easy to start pedaling from a dead-stop in traffic, you get 19 skid patches on your tire which causes pretty even ware, and its not insanely spinny on the downhill descents from the hills. definitely better than the 48x16 that comes standard on a lot of bikes for beginners on fixed gears, thats way to steep to be practical off the track for a lot of people IMO.

modernfuturist

Yeah, I'm realizing that 48x15 is not fun anymore... I can make it up the hills but I don't think its making me better at spinning or anything. Going to change to 48x17 the week after finals, and we'll see how that goes. Hopefully I'll see you guys next year and hopefully we can organize a ride on campus, haha.

modernfuturist

I don't know if you live in the So Cal area or not, but some dude is selling some Fuji Track bikes for really cheap right now on Craigslist. $300 bucks a pop (https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/bik/714289000.html)

That'd probably be your best right now if you wanted a ridable bike for summer.

ericlikewhoa

hey thanks for the heads up. yea im from palos verdes, which is just a quick drive from ucla. but i will be staying in westwood for the summer. im either gonna buy a complete, or still try to figure out whether i can convert a geared road bike to a fixie (i know its more work, but i want a summer project)

so as of now, im trying to read up on diy conversions and hopefully i can find a bike and get to work soon!

beardzilla

haha whoa man, im from malaga cove area, I live just a street below the bridle path.

ericlikewhoa

whoa,...i live off via valmonte. up pv drive north from you. do i know you? lol