walt_jabsco

...It just feels...weird. And kind of bums me out.

I test drove a couple of bikes that were set up as SS and it spooked me(and I've been cycling for a good 25 years, just fixed for the last 5).

I felt...discombobulated.

Can anyone relate? Am I tainted? Is there no going back?

I guess I'm gonna have to flop the flip-flop on the Redline - if you know what I mean - and force myself to coast once and a while.

Cheers,

WJ

xkillemallx16

itll take you just as long to adjust to freewheel as it took you to adjust to fixed, and it varies person to person.

same thing happened to me with my friend's trek 1.1 he wasnt using, so i borrowed it and we went on a ride and on a descent he told me "dude, you dont have to keep pedalling". oh well, it happens.

nashcommguy

Having been riding fixed almost excusively over the past year or more so I can relate. Just started using my cx/utilitarian/commuter bike for some loaded errands and find that I pedal through decends I would've freewheeled through before. I think it's made me a stronger cyclist, overall but yeah there was a small adjustment period. When I stop pedaling I'd wait for the upstroke to remind me I wasn't on a freewheel, but it never comes...

guitarmankyle

isn't this the reason people train on fixed? so they can be more efficient when it comes time for competitions?

Squirrelli

The reason that some people train on fixed is because they want to work on their cadence; higher it and smooth it out.

d8168055

I switch between the two on a weekly basis, fixed as i commute to work, road bike for long rides on the weekends.. i apply some backward pressure on the pedals when i get on my road bike hoping to slow it down but it doesnt!! then I frantically reach for the brakes hoping i can stop in time!

Then, comes monday, i get on my fixed and start "freewheeling" but the upstroke pedal kicks me in the butt almost knocking out of my seat!!

Long story short, you adjust quickly as you switch bikes after a few pedals strokes, but you will get there eventually...

Leukybear 

+1

Sometimes I completely forget the luxury of having the ability to idle my feet on my roadie.... until stop mentally for a moment and realize all the roadie stuff in the cockpit....

Grahamcracker

just act like the ss are fixed except you have to use handbrakes. Problem solved

91MF

fixed does help you[read: force you] to learn to build higher cadence but does not produce a better pedal stroke. if you float through the weakest part of your stroke[which is easy to do on fixed] you aren't improving.

Xgecko

I switch back and forth between a BMX Cruiser and my Fixed gear....freewheel feels weird until I hit my first manual on a roller, then I don't notice it at all

UCF Eric

I think the hardest thing for me to get used to when I get back on a road bike is the lack of pedal strike. I'm so used to timing my turns to avoid strike but I forget I can just move my feet when you don't have to constantly pedal.

enim

I had the same problem when I was test riding a new build for my now ex girlfriend. I kept trying to slow by backpedalling - almost feel once because my feet went back so hard.

avner

This.

And I was playing around on my old roadbike, I freaked out, nearly wanted to just get off when I tried to slow down with my legs and couldn't. I'm used to the control of my fixie now. It's hard to swap back.