Originally Posted by
striknein
Also, riding fixed without foot retention is incredibly dangerous, no matter what your skill level. I think it would be wrong if you weren't totally stressed out riding like that.
Originally Posted by
mihlbach
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.
+1
Originally Posted by
ddeadserious
[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
+1
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.
Originally Posted by
Six jours
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!
Depends on what you mean by practical. Epicschwinn listed several advantages I think are pretty practical.
Originally Posted by
homebrewk
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.? I think it was a pretty awesome response. Not everyone is going to be awed by the awesome awesomeness of FG, you know.
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.