Hi everyone. I recently purchased a fixedGEAR bike. It's a Dawes SST AL from bike direct.

This is my first proper road bike ever. Needless to say I am experiencing a lot of issues.

First of all, I can't turn past the pedals as my shoe sticks out. It wouldn't be an issue if I was in a velodrome but I'm riding on roads. With a freewheel I could position the pedals to make hard turns but what do I do with a fixed GEAR?

Secondly, bumps aren't that much of an issue. But having had a freewheel on other bikes I've ridden it's very tempting to coast over them. I'll probably get used to it eventually.

Lastly, starting position of pedal, I had to click in the right foot, then hold the bike up so the rear tire was off the ground and then position the pedal. Is this the proper way? Stopping with pedaling is something I probably need to get used to also. Perhaps there's a way to use front brakes in conjunction to speed up the process.

Any tips, pointers, warnings etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.