thenomad

So maybe this will turn into a flame fest but...

I need to smooth out my pedal stroke and have been wondering about making a Fixed to see what its all about.

I have a good Road bike to ride, will be hitting trails soon to check out MTB action and so now I'm just missing a Fixie for the whole cycling trifecta.
(ok, still no folder, 'cross, 'bent or unicycle either)

Obviously I'd make sure I can put it back to gears but I see some C&V aficionados who like fixed for all the right reasons (ie: none of the fad or fashion reasons). So no need to get off topic.

Thinking that with 3 "versions" of bike I'll always have something new and exciting to motivate me to ride.

Opinions - pros cons?
Any truth to smoothing out pedal stroke or as a training aid?
Will I just kill my finicky knee even with good fit and flat roads?
Best to buy a new flip-flop wheel or just convert /redish my old freewheel rear?

muccapazza

Gear it lowish, 65 gear inches or less. Find a long shallow to moderate grade. point 'er downhill. you WILL smooth out that stroke quick, bouncing on the saddle while spinning over 120 rpms is not much fun. the low gear should be easy on the knees, at least it is in my experience. don't forget a well adjusted front brake! repeat as necessary. have fun! if you are mecahnically inclined and cheap the respace/redish is the fun way to go. but would be harder to restore to original.

Tigerprawn

Get ready for a work out!

It's fun. It's not for everyone, but I'm glad to see another person giving it a chance. Smart move on keeping things together since you're not sure if you'll love it or hate it.

The moment you get on you'll already notice such a huge difference in riding style and traction being able to slow yourself down using your legs. I truly believe I'm a strong rider on my road bike due to all the time spent on my fixed gear riding ~75-80 gear inches.

kbjack

I've ridden a fixed gear for a few years now and would say that there is some advantage in terms of high rpm cadence practice. But really, getting cadence right is a matter of lots of practice and lots of riding (fixed or not).

A fixed gear forces you to spin on flats and descents (if you gear it that way...and I'd suggest doing so if you have any kind of knee problems), so the more fixed riding you do, the better your ability to maintain a good high rpm cadence. But you could just as easily force yourself to do the same thing on a geared bike...it's all about who (or what) is compelling you to keep the rpms high.

As far as wheels go, I'd definitely recommend getting a cheap pair of track wheels (formula hubs to mavic cxp22s are what I have on my commuter, haven't needed truing in 3 years of year-round riding). To my mind there's just too much to worry about with the suicide hub option. Then again, I know plenty of people who've never had a problem.

Tigerprawn

I would never recommend a suicide hub to anyone. I've used one in the past and I agree with kbjack it's way too much worry.

ldmataya 

There are lots of good reasons to ride a fixed or a single speed. Mostly it is fun. I haven't found it particularly useful as a training aid. I find that it does indeed smooth out your *fixed* pedal stroke, but only when riding a fixed. I think this is because it forces your legs to use a different muscle dynamic vs a geared. A smooth pedal stroke on a geared bike appears to me to be a result of training on a geared bike. The first thing I do when introducing someone to more efficient riding on a geared bike is to get them to use lower gears and higher rpm.

miamijim

Riding a mountain bike uphill will smooth out a pedal stroke as well.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I'd recommend a flip-flop rear hub. That way you can ride fixed when you want to and single speed freewheel when you don't feel like being fixed. I'm one who thinks that single speed riding is fun in its simplicity and not simply a bike with less gears than it should have.

I have pretty bad knees and I find that riding fixed doesn't hurt me, but slowing down using only my legs does put a lot of pressure my knees. So I ride fixed with a front and rear brake.

custermustache

I have a fixed that I ride in the morning, and I feel like I get a better workout in a shorter time - I ride a 3.5 mile loop 4-5 times every morning, and since I don't coast I get more work in.

Plus, it is kind of fun. I'd recommend getting a second set of wheels - I found a pair with a flipflop hub that included rubber for $120 for the pair. I still have my original campy stuff that came on the bike if I want to convert back.

lotek 

Best way I know of for smoothing out pedal stroke is ride rollers. You would be amazed at how
much they can help.

Marty

TejanoTrackie 

I've been riding and racing bicycles for about 35 years; road, dirt, banked track. What I have found is that fixed gear riding serves to complement other types of riding, but it does not replace it. I ride a fixie on the road with lowish 60-65 gearing on training recovery days when I want to loosen up my legs by spinning steadily at a higher cadence. It also, as others have pointed out, smoothes out your pedal stroke as it trains your muscles to pedal throughout the stroke. On the track, we race lower gearing than on the road, because a higher cadence generates more power and also allows us to accelerate more quickly when sprinting. Many road riders have become better road sprinters after riding a fixed gear. I have always had a separate road fixed gear, which I have built myself from inexpensive parts, rather than trying to convert one bike back and forth between multi-speed and fixed gear. My current fixed gear as shown in the photo cost me less than $180, since I had most of the parts already lying around.

noglider 

Yes, I believe a fixie does offer these advantages to conditioning you. You will develop a smoother stroke and the ability to pedal faster. It also has the potential to make you stronger in a few ways, one of them climbing hills.

I agree with the advice to make a gear of 65 or less.

Do not redish your current wheel. Definitely get a hub or wheel make for fixed. Flip-flop is fine, too. You need a lockring, and it must be reverse-threaded, and don't mess around here.

If you can afford it the money and space, I recommend getting a different bike rather than converting your one bike. A cheap bike makes a nice fixie, and you might be able to pick one up at a garage sale, the dump, or a police auction. Get any bike, and put a fixie hub on it.

A fixie needs a front caliper brake. Don't listen to any hipster who says you don't. A freewheel bike needs two caliper brakes, so if you get a flip-flop hub and outfit one side with a freewheel, keep both brakes on. My flip-flop has two brakes, and I always ride the fixed side, but I'm not going to bother taking the rear brake off.

palladio

I can't really say it's helped improve my spinning or pedal stroke, but I can most assuredly say that my foray into fixed gear riding has provided a lot of fun. It's just a different feel and I now prefer it for shorter rides in the city (say under 15 miles) or commuting over my geared bikes.

So if you're curious, by all means give it a try! I'd recommend you buy a set of track wheels and be done with it, if you can afford to do so. There are plenty of good inexpensive wheels available, and even more if you don't mind trying tubulars. I ended up buying a few sets of really nice vintage track wheels with Campy hubs for $100-150 per set. Lots of people are looking for extra cash in this recession, and cleaning vintage stuff out of their garages. Then you can always quickly switch back to gears with your old wheelset if you decide you want to.

Brakes are a must, end of story. Front brake only is fine if you are going SS, and your knees shouldn't have a problem so long as you are running a brake.

Have fun and report back when you've tried it.

thenomad

Nice to hear the fun aspect of it. I know sometimes i go out on a ride and I feel like "ugh, I'm training" even if after the ride I feel like it was fun.

I'll def be doing both brakes, no need to prove bravado to anyone. I see where you all are coming from regarding a dedicated rear wheel. Good advice.

I have cheap platforms with toeclips but am thinking of using regular clipless I have. Good/bad?

noglider 

Either way is fine, as long as you have toe clips, clipless, or powergrips. Don't even think of riding without some form of foot retention.

The advantage to clipless is that it's easier to get into. It's pretty tricky to get into the second pedal when it's going around and around, especially in the beginning.

I rarely go far on my fixie. I just do errands around town. I recently took a fun (I hate to say "training") weekend ride on it once. I was sore all over for two days afterward, and I mean that in a good way. Plus, I was sore in new places, from the resistance method of braking. My pectoral muscles got a workout, my arms, and my hamstrings.

palladio

Obviously foot retention is required at all times. I rode with toe clips for a year and finally built up another nicer fixed bike and went clipless. For any sort of training or extended rides at speed the clipless are so much better I wonder why I waited so long to switch. Just a night and day difference and so much easier to deal with as it is kind of a pain to try to tighten straps when you can't coast. I've kep the clips on my beater SS bike that I used for errands, because it's nice to be able to wear street shoes. So I guess it depends on how you'll be using the bike. Of course you can always swap out pedals in a minute or two before a ride if you want to use the bike for a variety of purposes.

I also second the recomendations for going with a fairly low gear ratio. It's easier on the knees and more fun to be able to spin and get up hills without difficulty. I'm running 69 gear inches on my beater/commuter and 72 on my nicer SS that I use for training and exercise rides. Anything in the 65 to 70 range would be a good place to start.

gr23932

+1

noglider 

I recommend against frequent pedal swaps. You take a risk when you screw pedals in. It might not be tight enough, which, with use, will ruin the crank threads. Or you might cross-thread. The more often you do it, the more likely you are to do it absent-mindedly.

TejanoTrackie 

Yes, but riding rollers is like riding a trainer, boring. I'd rather be riding outdoors. Actually, my main use for rollers is warming up at the track during races.

lotek 

I know nothing that smoothed out my pedal stroke more than my track bike on rollers.
boring? yes but it doesn't take too long to gain effect.

SirMike1983 

You'll find a single speed fun. One of the simplest and best rides, I think, is on a single speed coaster brake.

thenomad

I remember seeing industrial rollers in a dumpster once: (length of a ladder) they use to push boxes around on assembly lines. Wish I would have picked them up, could have been easy homemade bike rollers.

I'm not sure I have enough $ right now for rollers but I know that may be a good future investment.

maybe I can find a deal on ebay for a rear wheel.

mkeller234

I read somewhere that it may help to imagine your feet making circles while you are spinning. It sounds stupid, but whenever I find myself bouncing in the saddle that is what I imagine and it has helped a whole lot.

Still, why not ride a fixed gear? When you start to get too many road bikes you need something to break up the duplication right? Have fun

knoregs

I found a set of rollers at a garage sale for $10.

This wheelset seems to be reasonable. $99 shipped. I think I'm going to give 'em a try if they're still around next month.

~kn

Sixty Fiver

I have 5 fixed gear bikes and one on hooks awaiting a new fork... that old bike was my first fixed gear and carried me nearly 10,000 miles on a suicide hub with no problems at all.

My bikes range from a fixed folder, two converted mtb's, a vintage Raleigh club bike, and a vintage Raleigh Gran Sports conversion.

They really do round out my riding experience and believe they have made me a stronger rider... I have ridden numerous centuries on my fixed gear bikes.

My mtb's have gearing in the mid sixty gear inch range while my Gran Sports is a go fast bike and runs 75 gear inches while my 1940 CCM path/road bike is an ss and runs 78 gear inches.

I run brakes on all my bikes.