Originally Posted by
tashi
My first reaction is that a fixed mountain bike would be super irritating to ride and almost dangerous. After thinking about it more though, it seems like on the right trail like the ones in Edmonton like 65'er mentions or in FKMTB07's pic it could be a ton of fun. Learning another way to control the bike is never a bad thing in mountain biking so if you weren't bashing into stuff all the time than I bet it could turn out pretty well.
On tech trails though? F-that. Give me a freewheel. If I can't place my pedals just so I'll bash 'em cornering and anywhere remotely tech. No way I want to compromise that much.
Here are some pictures of my favorite trail system, FOMBA in the Manchester area of NH. Some really techy stuff that is a blast to ride fixed.
You learn to anticipate and even use pedal strike to your advantage (think pole vaulting) to get over some bigger rocks and obstacles. You also learn to time your pedal strokes to avoid striking when possible. My pedals are scratched to hell and my black cranks are silver on the ends, but it's really fun.
Just because you're on a fixed mtb, doesn't mean you can't ride techy trails.
A neat little stone bridge:
The Log Roll, very intimidating on a fixed, but fun once you commit. Involves skidding most of the log part and spinning like mad when you get back into the dirt. That long skid mark in the dirt is actually not mine, btw. People love to lock it up at the bottom of the log roll, as there's a tight turn right afterward
A challenging climb with a rock obstacle right at the top, very hard to get over on a fixed gear:
