Originally Posted by Rowan

And to put this back on proper fundamental cycling, I had the huge joy yesterday of riding my fixed gear, which was a Shogun 400 rescued from the rubbish dump over a decade ago and which I rebuilt as a fixie.

It has done touring, and travelled to France for PBP plus touring in 2007, all as a fixie.

I had an absolute ball yesterday on a relatively flat route, but which also included a couple of rising bits. Even pedaling up just over 27km/h down a little hill was wonderful (and seeing I have had it along at twice that speed on occasions in the past, pedaling to achieve it can be an interesting exercise). It also rides as well as any other bike I have despite the 80psi tyre pressures.

Today will be a slightly different story -- my Merlin C110 Works I also have had for over a decade as a CF and lightest bike I own. Not that I will be fast, but it is a while since I have ridden that as well, so despite the narrow Brooks leather saddle on it, I am looking forward to it.