Fixie noob question.
11-27-11, 01:14 PM
#26
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Even at "only" 15mph, riding brakeless and foot retentionless can be risky for an inexperienced FG rider, especially on busy streets. I've done all that at some time or other, but then I've been riding / racing FG bikes for 35 years. All things considered, I'd recommend at least starting out with both a front brake and some sort of foot retention when riding on the street. By choice, I do both anyway.
11-27-11, 02:41 PM
#27
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Advantages to me are 1) it smooths out my pedaling. 2) It breaks me of the insidious habit of coasting. 3) It's a better workout. 4) It's made me a stronger rider. 5) I just plain enjoy it.
11-27-11, 03:13 PM
#28
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This past summer I was unlocking my Earl from a bike rack. A kid no older than 11 or 12 walks up to me and asks "where are your gears?" I replied with "my cog is right here," and I pointed to the rear wheel. He was confused. He then asked again; I told him that I ride a single speed. "There's only 1 gear; it's actually quite fun. Also, you can't coast." That confused him even more. He then said that my bike was stupid so I rode off.
Sigh.
Sigh.
11-27-11, 03:23 PM
#29
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https://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html
Nobody has mentioned that fixed gears prevent allow greater control on slippery surfaces in the winter, which is why I started it. Also, some people like to ride their bikes backwards etc.
Nobody has mentioned that fixed gears prevent allow greater control on slippery surfaces in the winter, which is why I started it. Also, some people like to ride their bikes backwards etc.
11-27-11, 05:10 PM
#30
Senior Member
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html
Nobody has mentioned that fixed gears prevent allow greater control on slippery surfaces in the winter...
Nobody has mentioned that fixed gears prevent allow greater control on slippery surfaces in the winter...
11-27-11, 05:27 PM
#31
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Calling sheldon horse ****? Them's fighten words. I don't even remember what it feels like to ride on ice with a freewheel to argue. It seemed pretty legitimate when I moved to a place where there is a lot of snow but could just be gas.
11-27-11, 06:00 PM
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I'll say that Sheldon's right about _nearly_ everything. When it comes to fixed and slippery conditions though, I feel much safer being able to coast through a patch of ice than I would by having an oh-**** moment and resisting at the wrong time. I think his thoughts regarding fixed gear in adverse weather could just as easily apply to a freewheel; gear low and stay off the brakes if you can.
11-27-11, 06:45 PM
#33
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Great. Now let me tell you whats going on in NYC if you don't already know. The streets are crawling with people riding fg and they are of two types. West Village/Williamsburg hipsters who go all kinda blank faced when you ask them why and bike messengers who either can't be bothered or just laugh at you for being such a noob. Nice to know that there are some good solid reasons for riding one. Even if not everyone agrees what those reasons are. Thanx fellas.
11-27-11, 07:15 PM
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Great. Now let me tell you whats going on in NYC if you don't already know. The streets are crawling with people riding fg and they are of two types. West Village/Williamsburg hipsters who go all kinda blank faced when you ask them why and bike messengers who either can't be bothered or just laugh at you for being such a noob. Nice to know that there are some good solid reasons for riding one. Even if not everyone agrees what those reasons are. Thanx fellas.
11-28-11, 05:17 PM
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I also feel like it's kinda nice for climbing since I have the momentum of each pedal stroke carrying with me as I go uphill where that momentum in pedaling can easily be lost by a SS
11-28-11, 05:36 PM
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[Puts on flame suit] Everyone needs to relax about foot retention. I've been riding fairly regularly without foot retention since August and have slipped off of my pedals twice, only when wearing my boat shoes(I don't typically). I haven't had any other issues. Obviously, foot retention is a good thing for fixed riding, but it's not ridiculous or dangerous to not use it.
/guywhoisgoingtobuystrapssoon
/guywhoisgoingtobuystrapssoon
11-28-11, 05:42 PM
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One advantage I've found is that it can help you widen your power band. On downhills or with a tailwind, your gear will be too low and you'll be forced to spin a higher cadence than you're used to, thus building supplesse. On uphills or with a headwind, your gear will be too high and you'll be forced to muscle up, thus building strength. Translating to a geared bike: when the group surges, you'll be able to spin up to match the surge and then drop a cog. It's much smoother. Or digging hard out of a corner or powering up a short steep hill without needing to drop onto the small ring.
12-05-11, 03:08 PM
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Just don't be like me and assume that standing on the pedals during a climb is some sort of personal failing. Keep a close watch on how your knees feel. Also, +1 vote here for the primacy of foot retention. If you don't need it, you probably aren't riding very vigorously, which is fine, but where's the fun in that?
12-05-11, 03:25 PM
#41
Fresh Garbage
There's lots of fun in not riding vigorously. Cycling isn't all about going fast and suffering
12-05-11, 04:27 PM
#42
You gonna eat that?
Thats an unrealistically broad and exagerated statement. I do some fixed riding without foot retention and its perfectly fine. Naturally, you should not bomb hills @ 180 rpms brakeless without retention, but basic cruising around with platform pedals is completely reasonable.
[Puts on flame suit] Everyone needs to relax about foot retention. I've been riding fairly regularly without foot retention since August and have slipped off of my pedals twice, only when wearing my boat shoes(I don't typically). I haven't had any other issues. Obviously, foot retention is a good thing for fixed riding, but it's not ridiculous or dangerous to not use it.
/guywhoisgoingtobuystrapssoon
/guywhoisgoingtobuystrapssoon
I kinda did like the OP.... I built a new wheel with a FG cog and wanted to try it out right away. I had brakes on the bike already, but foot retention consisted of strapless toe clips. I've been riding that way for a while now, and no problems yet. Just take it easy when you first start.
I have a couple of friends that ride strapless with platform pedals only, and they do fine.
Kind of amusing to see folks defending riding without brakes while claiming that riding without foot retention is extraordinarily dangerous.
To the OP: there are almost no practical advantages to fixed over free. There's a reason fixed was abandoned by road racers more than fifty years ago: freewheels and multiple gears are better - in practical terms - in almost every situation. The reasons that some people still choose fixed are these:
1) Riding a very small (<65 inches) fixed gear can improve your pedal stroke. (Larger gears can actually make it worse, as they allow you to let the bike propel your legs through the dead parts of the stroke.)
2) A fixed gear bike can be among the simplest bikes available. Some people appreciate that and are willing to compromise in other areas to get it.
3) A fixed gear is historically correct. If you want to know what it was like in the Tour de France before 1936, for instance, get a comfortable FG bike WITH BRAKES and go ride it on your local dirt roads.
4) Some people simply like the way a fixed gear bike feels. That doesn't have to be rationalized and probably shouldn't be.
And of course, the single most popular reason these days:
5) A fixed gear is necessary if you want to be one of the identical individualists currently perpetuating the fixed gear fad.
HTH!
To the OP: there are almost no practical advantages to fixed over free. There's a reason fixed was abandoned by road racers more than fifty years ago: freewheels and multiple gears are better - in practical terms - in almost every situation. The reasons that some people still choose fixed are these:
1) Riding a very small (<65 inches) fixed gear can improve your pedal stroke. (Larger gears can actually make it worse, as they allow you to let the bike propel your legs through the dead parts of the stroke.)
2) A fixed gear bike can be among the simplest bikes available. Some people appreciate that and are willing to compromise in other areas to get it.
3) A fixed gear is historically correct. If you want to know what it was like in the Tour de France before 1936, for instance, get a comfortable FG bike WITH BRAKES and go ride it on your local dirt roads.
4) Some people simply like the way a fixed gear bike feels. That doesn't have to be rationalized and probably shouldn't be.
And of course, the single most popular reason these days:
5) A fixed gear is necessary if you want to be one of the identical individualists currently perpetuating the fixed gear fad.
HTH!
This past summer I was unlocking my Earl from a bike rack. A kid no older than 11 or 12 walks up to me and asks "where are your gears?" I replied with "my cog is right here," and I pointed to the rear wheel. He was confused. He then asked again; I told him that I ride a single speed. "There's only 1 gear; it's actually quite fun. Also, you can't coast." That confused him even more. He then said that my bike was stupid so I rode off.
Sigh.
Sigh.
My two cents: When you ride with a freewheel, your only connection to the bike through the crank is from the forward foot. The rear foot is simply "there" until it becomes the forward foot. You only use one leg at a time for both speed control and balance.
With a FG, you are using both legs through all portions of the stroke. That's where the zen, the control, all the rest of that comes from- you are more completely connected to the bike physically and dynamically. Then you go back and try riding with a freewheel and you feel like the bike is busted, loose, just plain not right.
Me, I switch back and forth between my FG bike and several geared bikes. I see advantages to both. My FG bike has a flip-flop hub so I could easily make it freewheel again, but I doubt I ever will. I like FG. But if I don't want to ride it, I just take one of my other bikes that has a freewheel.
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Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
12-05-11, 08:13 PM
#43
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I have nothing against fixed and enjoy it myself. But I still think most of the justifications for fixed are silly. It should be enough just to say "I like it because I like it. No other justifications are necessary."
12-06-11, 01:34 AM
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As Sheldon Brown convinced me....
Fixies allow for:
(1) greater efficiency, teaching proper technique
-&-
(2) greater control (xen with road & surroundings)
Fixies allow for:
(1) greater efficiency, teaching proper technique
-&-
(2) greater control (xen with road & surroundings)
12-06-11, 01:55 AM
#45
Senior Member
The main reason is it really develops your spin.
Spinning is not just trying to spin as fast as you can- I can do that on my road bike in 39x23.
Fixed helps develop your spin: putting power down all the around your pedal stroke at 100+rpms.
Riding at 120-150rpms, smoothly, just that feeling of laying power all the around your pedal stroke- feels like what I imagine surfers feel catching the perfect wave.
It peels away all the excuses (gears, freewheeling, stuff) and just lets you to focus.
12-06-11, 08:45 AM
#46
Steel80's
Learning to ride Fixed gear is just like riding a bicycle. 
What the advantages are, or whether it's "better" depends on your environment and goals. If it's hilly where you ride, fixed is not better, unless you want to get stronger climbing, and develop a good spin while descending. If it's flat, 1 gear- the right one- is all you need. If you're not in shape, or don't want to have to work so hard, stick with a single speed, at least.
Fixed is potentially more dangerous, but a brake and foot retention, plus experience, minimize the risk. I know roadies who are intrigued by fixed gears, but apprehensive about riding one. Certainly they're simpler, and I enjoy the smooth, quiet ride. But if a geared bike to too complicated, you probably shouldn't be using a computer, a phone, or driving a car either.
What the advantages are, or whether it's "better" depends on your environment and goals. If it's hilly where you ride, fixed is not better, unless you want to get stronger climbing, and develop a good spin while descending. If it's flat, 1 gear- the right one- is all you need. If you're not in shape, or don't want to have to work so hard, stick with a single speed, at least.
Fixed is potentially more dangerous, but a brake and foot retention, plus experience, minimize the risk. I know roadies who are intrigued by fixed gears, but apprehensive about riding one. Certainly they're simpler, and I enjoy the smooth, quiet ride. But if a geared bike to too complicated, you probably shouldn't be using a computer, a phone, or driving a car either.
12-06-11, 06:21 PM
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The idea that fixed gear automatically improves your pedal stroke is a myth. A fixed gear actually encourages a lazy pedal stroke, as the gear carries your legs through the dead parts of the stroke. The only way a fixed gear improves a rider's pedaling action is by forcing him to pedal quickly. That's why "back in the day" road racers would spend the winter in a 65" gear. The folks riding around on a 49x15 are kidding themselves if they think it's improving their pedaling - a few months of riding around on a fixed gear at 80 RPM is often enough to throw a serious dead spot into the bottom of each pedal stroke, when the rider switches back to free.
12-06-11, 06:23 PM
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The idea that fixed gear automatically improves your pedal stroke is a myth. A fixed gear actually encourages a lazy pedal stroke, as the gear carries your legs through the dead parts of the stroke. The only way a fixed gear improves a rider's pedaling action is by forcing him to pedal quickly. That's why "back in the day" road racers would spend the winter in a 65" gear. The folks riding around on a 49x15 are kidding themselves if they think it's improving their pedaling - a few months of riding around in a fixed gear at 80 RPM is often enough to throw a serious dead spot into the bottom of each pedal stroke once the rider switches back to free.
12-06-11, 06:26 PM
#50
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The idea that fixed gear automatically improves your pedal stroke is a myth. A fixed gear actually encourages a lazy pedal stroke, as the gear carries your legs through the dead parts of the stroke. The only way a fixed gear improves a rider's pedaling action is by forcing him to pedal quickly. That's why "back in the day" road racers would spend the winter in a 65" gear. The folks riding around on a 49x15 are kidding themselves if they think it's improving their pedaling - a few months of riding around on a fixed gear at 80 RPM is often enough to throw a serious dead spot into the bottom of each pedal stroke, when the rider switches back to free.
Gotta keep those rpm's in the triple digits.
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