Originally Posted by Tequila Joe
2. Brakes are a must for Fixie newbs. I wound it up and was descending at a high speed down from my neighborhood, eventually I realized that my legs were going to blow apart like piston rods in an over revved engine. I must’ve looked like the Road Runner when he drops Willie Coyote with a blurred circle of legs underneath me.
If you took the brakes off, put the damn things back on and don't take them off again.
3. Bunny hopping sewer grates and road debris is difficult on a Fixie. I need to practice doing it in various pedal positions.
If you get air under either of your wheels at speed, you will either skid or your pedals will become catapults.
4. The 48x16 ratio is a bit high. I could spin it forever at 90 rpm & ~21mph on flat ground but as soon as there was an upward grade, my cadence dropped. I could push it back up to ~90 rpm in most cases but I’d quickly surpass LT and couldn’t hold it for the entire hill. I suppose this is the training I was looking for…. since this is early season for me, I’ll keep the 16 fixed for now. I’ll try a 17 on the freewheel later.
DO NOT worry too much about cadence with a fixed gear. The whole idea is to get your legs used to a variety of cadences. I've found that when I ride fixed gear, the bike decides how fast it's going to go.
5. Skidding is difficult to do the first few tries. I need to ensure the shoes are on tighter next time.
Just keep your brakes and don't worry about skidding or stopping.
6. A Fixie is really quite. I couldn’t hear the drive train over the noise from the tires or traffic.
Thing to remember is that when they do make noise, something really bad is about to happen.
7. I started to look down upon folks riding geared bikes. Is this a normal reaction?
Yes, it's normal. After all, they are lesser beings. I feel cheap and dirty whenever I ride my 27 speed Crosscheck to work. Which is actually almost every day.
Feel free to add your experiences when you first started riding your Fixie.
I found the transition from geared to fixed to be almost seamless. Other than the occasional misstep when I forget that I'm on a fixed gear and try to coast, causing the bike to become a catapult, it's all been pretty easy.