Artmo 

It really is a beautiful ride - quiet, comfortable, so I'm really pleased by the way it turned out. I made one mistake in the renovation because of a miscommunication: I kept the cable stop on the chainstay on top, but should have had it put underneath. I had never previously realized why, on modern bikes, the stop is where it is, but I do now. With the rear dropout spread to 130cm and now using a 10-speed cassette instead of the original 6-speed freewheel, the chain touches the stop when on the smallest sprocket because of the different chain angle. Not a big deal, but a slight irritant.
It weighs 22lb without pedals, which is 2lb lighter than its previous incarnation. It won't break any acceleration records when compared with my Scott, but it's a lovely bike, which I'm very proud of.

North Coast Joe

Took my first FG ride just yesterday!! Finished the conversion and have been waiting for the icy roads to go away. I normally ride my studded tire MTB 8-12 miles daily.

Did just 4 miles yesterday and 6 today.....my legs are talking to me, for sure!! Mostly complaining, too.

The "first ride reaction": "MEH, I can take or leave this."

Today's post ride comment summary: "This is pretty cool, I can DO this!". Maybe I'll "do it" moderately for a while, though!

Bandera

Good for you!

Riding FG takes adaptation, ease into it and pay particular attention to a very precise fit.
Use your brake & don't bother to back-pedal to modulate speed, that may or may not come later.
Be firm & solid w/ foot retention. Don't want that pedals-got-away gone-crazy Cuisinart thing going on.

-Bandera

trackhub

Congratulations! You CAN indeed do this. The pain you feel in places where you've never felt it before will pass with continued riding. You will find yourself feeling
stronger. And, if you are looking to lose a few pounds, and who isn't after a winter, don't be too shocked at rapidly it happens.

Now, wait until you take a nice ride on a sultry summer night. It will feel like a light euphoria. That is the only way I can describe it.

jodphoto

Joe, Beautiful bike. I'm speculating here, but you may grab the FG as your primary ride after you get comfortable. The ride is serene and smooth and peaceful, even in traffic. That's what happened with me. I'm building another FG from what I learned from building he first. Maybe you'll get hooked like I did. Would you let us know?

North Coast Joe

Thanks so much for the compliment! Thanks as well to Bandera and trackhub for their welcome to this facet of cycling.

I'm making a point to reply to, perhaps, let other seniors who haven't tried a fixed gear know a newbie's initial reaction. Got out for 8 miles today on the third day of the new experience. Each day after the first seems easier. It seems my body knows what to expect from the bike from the moment I get on. There is a rhythm and (as you said) a serenity. That being said: I only find it if I'm not fighting against the bike, but directing the bike through quiet, but firm, movements.

Amusing ride incident, though. If you really bring up the spin RPMs to wild levels for speed's sake...uh...don't try to coast your way out of the acceleration burst. My legs were flung hither and yon until I picked up the cadence again! Somewhat concerning at the time, but laughable now.

Looks like I'm hooked already. It IS more of a sympatico thing with the machine than anything I've ridden in the past. Nice.

Damn, more snow in the forecast for the next week straight. Back to the carbide tipped MTB for a while. Thanks to all who've made me feel welcome with the new endeavor!

BluesDawg

Glad to see more people opening their minds and trying fixed gear riding. Fear and worrying can convince us that far too many things are beyond our ability. Try it, you may like it.

North Coast Joe

Beat the snow coming in this morning, so was able to get the fourth day in a row riding fixed for the first time.

Added two more miles today to get to 10. Doesn't seem like mileage will be much different, effort-wise, now. Legs are less sore than after the first two days. Normal riding is second nature at this point. Decelerating using the pedals is easier, I found it's best to start resisting the pedal motion early...before your foot gets to the bottom of the stroke. Even had the energy to try trackstanding at stop signs. Doesn't work yet, but I've found that thinking your way through a small, slow circle will get me almost stopped for most of the way around. If the way is clear, I continue around the circle to be on my way. I guess the learning curve isn't as steep as I originally thought, but still I'm a long way from being the rider I'd like.

It's snowing now, so this will be my last ride report on being an FG newb. Going back to the MTB until bad roads go away. I'm very sold on the FG experience. I'm really hoping someone in my age bracket who was reluctant to try an FG read this, and will take away a notion to give it a try.

DiabloScott

That is a totally cool bike - shallow seat tube, horizontal dropouts, rack and fender mounts - definitely not your common-as-heck mail-order pseudo track bike... very distinctive.

DiabloScott

A week ago I did a ride that involved about 3-miles of slight downhill. Not steep enough to use the brakes much so I just did the pedal resistance method of keeping my speed down. Then all week my leg muscles were aching - I didn't realize those fixed/resistance muscles don't normally get worked so much; usually it's just short little sections where I do that I guess. Seriously... a week of soreness for three miles!?!?!

Bandera

Yes indeed, works a whole other deal.

My 1st coach asserted that riding FG not only develops a smooth high cadence pedaling style but promotes a stronger more evenly developed muscle structure in the legs than just riding FW can. I'm sure that he was correct.

This winter & spring have been stupidly windy so my usual FG rides have been few & far between.
I went out last week for a rousing FG ride and the back of my legs were really sore for several days, in good way.
Gotta keep that in the mix.

-Bandera

bowzette

Glad to have found this thread. I'm 68 and decided two years ago to try fixed geared riding before I got "too old"-whatever that means I have two good geared road bikes but i ride the fixed gear Wabi often. I have done a number of the Saturday morning Fast Social Ride through rollers on the fixed gear. i keep up reasonably well. The guys that drop me drop me on my geared bikes often as well. My spin tops out around 140 rpm. I ride 70 gear inches or 75 most of the time. I will ride 80 gi at the flat Thursday Night Words with the race team and see if I can hang awhile. I've done three centuries. June 7th I did a flat century. It was a blast to ride with a pack of 125 geared riders going 22-26 mph until the first rest stop at mile 20. The big group broke up at that stop. I have two brakes and use them. I like the smoothness and efficiency of fixed. Feels like I can ride one tooth higher cog on fixed at same effort. Wind sucks. Hills are fine-no hard climbs around here. If wind is over 15 mph I don't ride the fixed gear.

jodphoto

You're strong, bro. I never rode a century on fixed.

I find 70 gear inches comfortable as well. I can't spin 140 though. I use descents to do a little work on those unused other leg muscles.

I agree with you that the geared drive train uses up a cog's worth of energy. I have a good front brake and I use it to finish stopping, never lifted a rear wheel yet.

I will dust off one of my geared bikes when only I am riding somewhere unfamiliar or if my son wants to ride with me.

Do you build your own bikes? That's part of the process for me. Find a bike, strip it, fix(ie) it, ride it, rinse, repeat.

Here's my latest:

Dirty White Boy | Rat Rod Bikes

bowzette

jodphoto my only fixed bike is the Wabi which is designed for the road not the track except it has a high bottom bracket. I will retire in a couple of months and may learn to do my own bike work. Over my cycling years I've either had time to ride the bikes or work on them. I've chose to do the riding. I have a 1986 Paramount that would make a great fixed bike. It has been in the attic for year along with my '89 Tesch 101 I use to race back when. The Tesch would be great and was made to track specs but set up with gears and brakes. Unfortunatley I bent the fork steering tube in a crash and haven't been able to remove the fork.

Hermes

Last week at the track, we were doing motor paced efforts and we had a rotation set up. Each group or individual would take their turn behind the motor. I did a couple of efforts but due to the number of people, the time between efforts was long. To speed things up, I talked with another racer about working together but it did not work. A team of juniors, who were going to junior track nationals said, hey, you can ride with us.

This would be the biggest age differential that I have ever done racing or training - 50 years. One of the juniors tells the motor pacer to start at 32 mph and take us to 37 mph over 10 laps. I was in 96.6 gear inches but could have used a 98.4 - average cadence 117 rpm. We did two practice pursuits. Fun times, great riders.

jodphoto

Wow, I think if I ever got going 37 mph on a bike I'd **** myself.

In my neighborhood there are great bike paths, lots of avid cyclists and lots of very impressive bikes. That so many show up and ride is a good thing. Ironically, this technological step backward is progress. I ride as often as work allows. 24 miles is the norm.

However, the gearhead lobe of my brain makes me build and ride in that order. All my fixies are converted lugged steel road bikes, generally low on pedigree. I use stock wheels and hubs nurtured back to viability. The rear wheels are squished (120mm) and dished with suicide hubs (freewheel hub, track cog, BB lock ring, threadlocker). I don't do skid stops, they don't unscrew. I use mostly flipped road (bum) bars and an inverse brake lever for the front brake. The tires are either 27x1-1/4 or 700x28. The cranks are stock with 1 ring (all specs subject to change). I subscribe to the esthetic of the original American hot rodders who built what they scrounged, run what they brung, and embraced the resulting "style".

Here are some of my "things" (as in, "Can you take that thing off the front porch?") the blue Raleigh is for cold and wet. The Fuji is done, different bars and my daily rider. The Cannondale was finished, ridden a little and returned to the drawing board (garage).

The last is a current project which represents a few firsts for me...steel rims, cottered cranks, wheel building, leather saddle, bare steel, hand made handlebars. I'm exploring "rat" on this build.

Peace. Ride happy.

trackhub

Well, this has been quite a thread. Somewhere, the late, great, Sheldon Brown is smiling!

Gerryattrick

Great bikes jodphoto. There's great satisfaction to be had from riding a bike that you put together from bits.

I've made a fixie for a friend out of an old Puch road bike, but it's too hilly where I live to have one myself. I'm a wimp and it would never get used.

jodphoto

I wish I had met Sheldon Brown. He is nonetheless a mentor for me. Not just a wellspring of information, but a bellwether of relevance, as well. If there are bicycles in heaven (of course there are), he's got a shop up there.

I have some hills in my neighborhood. Not the heartbreakers you may encounter, but still requiring afterburners. In fact, I had to re-adopt pedaling standing up. Did it all the time as a kid, but abandoned it in adulthood. The fixie brought that back for me.

One more reason why riding my fixie = going out to play!

dalameda

58 years old here, and just bought a fixie (kilo tt) last month. Up until today I've just been riding around the block, but today took a 12 mile ride. I have both front and back brakes to start out with. I figure I'll modify stuff as I go. I'm using platform pedals, not comfortable enough to go clip in yet, and I have to keep reminding myself not to try coasting!

jodphoto

I've found this type of toe clip a perfect compromise for fixed gear riding:

Nashbar Mini Toe Clip

They offer a high efficiency pedaling but allow for a quick exit. There are many different brands and they are very inexpensive.

postprimepedal 

[QUOTE=dalameda;16893210]58 years old here, and just bought a fixie (kilo tt) last month. QUOTE]

Same age I started riding a fixie. Been loving it for 9 years since. I switched almost immediately to Speedplay Zeros which I use on my road bike. I found a double sided pedal easier to get into than toe clips, but you can't beat the price of the Nashbar clips. I spent the first six years of my fixie career finding that I could do successively more challenging climbs. My only regret is that I haven't managed to transmit the disease to any of my cycling buds. Enjoy the ride.

Cyril 

Get some form of foot retention as soon as possible.
Not only is it much, much safer than without, but the ability to accelerate and decelerate with legs alone is the heart and soul of fixed gear riding...that is the source of the magic.

autoteacher

Having read this thread with great interest,.............I would have to see a video of another old guy riding a fixie, first!

BTW: The no brakes thing, WTH?

OldTryGuy

When riders who are younger and stronger than me show up on their fixies and have a hard time staying with the group or simply get dropped, it becomes crystal clear that a FG bike has no chance of finding its way under my butt in the near or distant future.

For you-all who have them, ride on and enjoy.