Originally Posted by
keggerkeg
Been lurking for while and appreciate all your guys knowledge. I am just starting to want to get more into long distance riding. Currently the bike I have been riding the most (almost exclusively since bought it) is my redline 925 fixed that i bought early last summer...longest ride on it has been 72miles...but typically been doing a 50 mile ride at least weekly with total of 125-150 miles.(disclaimer: thats when in shape! havent been out much yet this year so only up to 35 mile rides). Was wondering how many people ride fixed for centuries / 200km etc? Also am thinking of getting a geared comfortable bike to ride for distance / commuting/ light touring was wondering since i do most of riding on fixed...how much "easier" is mileage on a geared bike? What about speed? What benefit do you think you see the most going from fixed to geared...increase in distance, speed, or both? Lastly...kind of tossed up between getting a cross style bike (surly crosscheck or redline conquest pro look interesting to me) or more of a classic touring bike (surly LHT or Trek 520)....any pearls of wisdom on those choices? I am kind of looking for a jack of all trades bike...mostly would use for commuting / exercise...throw in some long training rides (although honestly i do love my 925 for raw exercise!)...and am interested at some point in future in getting into some light touring. thanks alot for the input and all the great information you guys provide on here!
i'm no fixed expert, but my first century was on a track bike (not on a track, thank gawd!). we were training for the two-day STP (seattle to portland), 100 mile days back to back. my bud and i were riding fixed, i was riding 14x40 i think.
we kept up fine, could paceline, etc, but the thing that got to me was skidding to stop. i had a (front) brake, but never ever wanted to use it, so after 100 miles of lots of slowing, and on the second day my knees were killin me. maybe i had my gearing too high, but i think it was from all the back pedaling.
anyway there's a rando or two that does
single-speed brevets, usually the shorter/flatter ones i think. if i were to do any non-geared riding, i think single-speed would be the way to go. i missed coasting too much!
if you're in good shape, i don't think you'll see huge speed changes (ok, some) switching to a geared bike. when i made the switch, i really enjoyed three things: 1) small gears 2) big gears 3) coasting
if you decide to get a geared bike as well, i'd look into something like the salsa caseroll, surly pacer, etc. (i ride a pacer these days)
hope this helps!