Shaku

Maybe I'll hang around in here rather than out there in the general SS/FG forum, it all seems so much more civil and logical in here :S

Stealthammer

Man I agree with both of you! Although I seldom use my front brake on my FG most days, since I ride in traffic my bike has one. I also never rode track, but the "trackies" that got me into FG back in the early-'90s would probably not even have allowed "brakeless" FG to ride with them on the road at speed, and I know that I certainly ride faster and safer with a front brake, because I know it is there if I need it.

Six jours

I get the impression that it wasn't much of a spectator sport. The stages were often in excess of 200 miles, and few spectators had any way to get to the dirt roads in the high mountains where these dramas played out.

But it does seem to me that the sport lost something in the transition to derailleurs and carbon fiber and endless parades of sponsors. I read stories and see pictures of "professional" racers so poor they had to hold down regular jobs outside the racing season, riding 30 pound gas-pipe fixed gear bikes around 250 miles of goat track in the Pyrenees during a blizzard - and then I see a news clip of rich, Lycra-clad Euros riding $10,000 bikes and *****ing because it rained during their 100 mile fully-supported TdF stage on perfect roads. Hmm...

Six jours

Back when I was a national-class junior I often rode my track bike to the track. I rigged up a "quick release" front brake, so I could take it off for the races and put it back on for the ride home. And just like you said, riding the track bike around on the road with no brakes would have struck everyone involved as moronic.

Sprayman

Agreed, although one positive aspect of the fixie craze is that it got a lot of young people back into cycling. It's great to see so many teens and 20-somethings cruising around town on their fixies, brakes or no brakes. So I'm glad it's a fad. It's kind of like the whole Harry Potter craze--it got a lot of kids reading who otherwise wouldn't.

Scrodzilla

I love how this thread turned into a brakes/no brakes debate.

Nagrom_

Mind if I asked how you did that? I'm in the same situation.

Six jours

I just used a wingnut on the brake caliper (back in the days of "nutted" calipers rather than recessed ones) and found a brake lever with a hinged clamp, which then also used a wingnut. Fugly, but simple and functional.

Nagrom_

sweet. thanks for the ideas.

Sixty Fiver

At 46 I am still loving my fixed gear and SS bicycles and have a 1975 Bridgestone Kabuki track bike in the works... as soon as I get the new wheels built it should come together pretty quickly and will rig it as an SS/ FG with dual brakes as the frame was drilled for both.

It is a slightly heavier frame and should lend itself to some hard sprinting so should be a good urban assault bike... it will join the ranks of my 1951 CCM fg, 1955 Raleigh fg, and 1975 Peugeot coaster bike.

If I like the ride will refinish the frame as it is a tad scruffy looking but structurally fine.

Sixty Fiver

Can someone tell me how to flip this stem ?





A few other comments I have received on this bike is that I should get rid of the cottered crank and put on some proper levers but we won't be doing that anytime soon as I'd like to keep things original.

For all of the newer bikes I have and have ridden, this old Lenton sure can put a smile on one's face.

chasm54

That Lenton is a beautiful bike, alright. And I sympathise with your wish to keep things original. But it can't have started out as a fixed gear, can it?

EDIT. My mistake, I see the SA hub wasn't fitted as stock on the earlier models.

Sixty Fiver

The three speed was an option in '55... this added a few pounds to the cost which was already about a week's pay for the average guy.

chasm54

Maybe more than a week's pay. £14.16s in 1948 for the first Lenton. But the Clubman was half as much again.

Having said that, a bike of similar quality would cost an average earner in Britain more than a week's pay today. Much more, if we're talking taxed income

Sprayman

Glad to hear you're enjoying them so much. My move into SS and FG is part of my personal cycling evolution, I guess. I expect to enjoy it a lot but am unsure, which is why I'm putting my time and money into salvaging frames instead of investing in new bikes. Either way it's fun to build the bikes up. I really enjoy the lightweight minimalism of the FG; I'm looking forward to getting the brakes on it so I can stop.

Sprayman

That's a real beauty.

tastewar

Actually, it's a Rorschach test -- the interesting thing is what the viewer sees...

NedClive

I made my first fixed gear aged 59 from a venerable Murray ( actually it wasn't so much venerable as weighty ) and loved riding it so much I converted my Bob Jackson Audax this winter. Last weekend, aged 60, I rode a century on it and loved it. Next year I'm planning on riding the 24 hour event at Goodwood UK. Any training tips? Counselling? Therapeutic communities? etc? which may be useful?

NedClive

everyone's knees were probably dead by the time they hit 30 and they'd quit riding.

I'm 60 and had a meniscus removed at 16 and just finished FG century ( not flat). So fear not!!

puppypilgrim

I turn 46 later this year and just tuned up my bikes and went for a ride today. It was my first real ride of 2012. Its windy where I live and there is usually a coastal wind that blows in the mid day through the afternoon. I found 78 gear inches too much for the start of my riding season. Switched to 69 gear inches and voila - a lot better to warm those knees up.

Doohickie

And now for something completely different. And ugly.





It runs pretty good though... I was able to hang with the A group last night.

NedClive

69" sounds about right for the beginning, those hills gradually get easier.
Does anyone know the oldest fixed century rider? and 24 hour endurance? I know cycling is supposed to keep you young but I reckon riding fixed makes you regress!
Nearly finished the bike, just experimenting with wooden mudguards made from recycled blind slats, and leather music cases as panniers. I'll post pictures in a week or two.

Nagrom_

that sounds awesome. looking forward to the pics.

Stealthammer

My FG reminded me again this past weekend of one of my favorite parts about still riding a FG into my later-50s? Riding the FG erases boundries and builds bridges to new friendships that you may never have seen coming.....

Apache and I did a leisurely 15 mile Sunday evening ride on the FG and we encountered a group of stylishly kitted out 50-60+yr old M/F riders on high-end geared DFs and recumbents at our coffee stop, and after the initial discussions over "how come the bird doesn't just fly away....", the big question was "why do you ride a one speed?" and "where is your rear brake?". After I explained that the bike is a FG and that you have to pedal it constantly and that it doesn't coast, the comments changed to "why?", "that doesn't seem too efficent?, and "aren't you a little old for that?", but one guy smiled and nodded and told me that one of this season's new TV series' has a regular cast member riding a FG as part of the show. We ended up talking for nearly an hour and when we parted, we exchanged "nice to have met you..."s and "look forward to seeing you again sometime..."s, and several of us swapped phone numbers.

Once Apache and I were back on the road again we were joined for a couple of miles by two 20-something mtn bikers returning from doing loops on the White River trail, and when they noticed I was riding a FG, they wanted to stop and check it out. While they were checking out the FG I asked them how their ride went and when they found out I rode both geared and SS mtn bikes as well, they asked how long I had been riding (since before either was even born it turns out), how I liked my SS 29er, and we all lamented the lack of real mountains in our area. We also swapped phone numbers and made tenative plans to do some off-road rides together in the future.

If we had been on my Salsa or Serotta we probably wouldn't have met or spoken to any of these people, but now I have made a few new friends and may have some new riding partners as well. I may even have a chance to convert a couple new riders to FG and road cycling. There definitely is something special about riding a FG, and not all of it is about the bike itself at all.

dannoh

Nice! What TV show is that?