Oh semantics.

The post I responded to was raving about the value of not having multiple gears. My response applies equally as well to either a fixed gear or single speed set up in that context.

No, simply not touching the shifters doesn't make a bike a fixie since it still has coasting capabilities. You're correct. It makes it a defacto single speed.

But when the purpose of the post was to shine light on the fact that fixed gear loved tend to be a little holier than thou about how fixed gear riders are better than everyone else because they don't need gearing for hills...I think I made my point. Your post helps illustrate that point too.

You're getting rather personal, don't you think??? :D

If you have to ask...

:)

Methinks you're falling prey to the larger subject of this thread: taking lighthearted comments way the hell too seriously. :lol:

I edited out my initial transcription... for the benefit of family audiences and fixed-gear riders everywhere.

Keister stashing is the new new. No saddle bags or humps on your back.

I was wondering about this, so I watched a couple of videos of pro cyclists sprinting out of the saddle, to see what the effect might be.


As I see it, swinging the bike to the right, as your left foot powers down on the pedal, should be more effective with the additional weight of a saddle bag opposing the force of the driving leg. Sort of as a counterbalance, and, as long as the weight doesn't exceed what can be moved at the required pace, it should help to maintain the rhythm of the sprinting motion. I'm only analyzing sprinting, since I don't see the saddle bag being a factor in regular, seated riding.


I'm sure my standing sprints aren't powerful enough to take advantage of the weight of my under seat bags, but the pros probably push a little harder than I do, under most circumstances.

Anyone who thinks a single speed = fixed gear has never ridden a fixed gear down a hill.

Next step: relocating the rider - an immesurably larger "upside-down pendulum" - to just above the bottom bracket.

To quote my hero, Homer J. Simpson....DOH!!!!

:innocent:

Is there a picture thread for bagged bikes? I couldn't find one but some times I don't find them and have to be shown.

Tell me more. How do you lock out the pawls in your hub? The curse of "normal" bikes isn't the ability to change gears, it is that the pedals aren't locked to the rear wheel for that wonderful connection with the road.

Pedaling all the time, even downhill, on a geared and freewheeled bike IS NOT RIDING FIXED! It is not even close. (And when I say "freewheel" in this context, I am talking about the freewheeling mechanism that allows power transmission in one direction but not the other. In that context, cassette hubs have freewheels. All mechanical engineers get this. The bicycle industry has taken "freewheel" to mean this mechanism as incorporated in a steel housing that screws onto the hub.

Ben

You gave me an idea. How about a handlebar operated FLD (freewheel locking device)? Could be some magnetic gizmo - after all, it would require only one more battery.
There might be money in that.

SRAM has that Torpedo hub, but you have to get off the bike and turn a screw to switch modes. Their lawyers probably won't let them sell a device that could go into fixed-gear mode instantly while riding. :lol:

Re: the pendulum effect of weight high, yes it is there and it is nice, but hardly required for effective out-of-the-saddle climbing. I've done it all. Climbed VT's Smuggler's Notch on a 42-23 with an aluminum railed saddle and sewups. Hard out-of-the-saddle on a 9for it's time) light bike. Much lesser hills on a fix gear with heavily loaded low rider panniers. The western hills of Massachusetts carrying everything including camping gear on a rear rack and saddlebag. And many bikes and hills in between.

A little high weight is nice. (Take the seat and post off for a pure uphill TT and the bike feels weird.) But you can also put the weight very low and barely notice it uphill. (And you can take advantage of the "placebo effect". Weight you cannot see or sense doesn't slow you down.) A lot of high weight, especially far back on the bike, is miserable if you like to climb out-of-the-saddle and rock the bike. Good thing I was young and stupid when I did my two long tours with the rack and saddlebag.

Ben

To avoid danger it could include some sort of clutch or progressive engagement mechanism. More complicated, new, more expensive - it should sell well.

One issue is that you cannot have a rear derailleur (or idler cage to use a front derailleur) if you ever run fixed. One momentary "back-pedal" will instantly fold up that cage. More bad things will subsequently happen, I promise. So this would have to be an IGH or single speed in freewheel mode or the shifting happening in the BB. (BB shifting makes a lot of sense here. BB loads from the crank are high so any unit in there is going to be robust from the beginning. Haven't thought this through, but maybe that is where fix gear shifting belongs.)

Ben

I use the bag because I don't want grimy tools and supplies in my shirt. If I change a tire, or adjust a chain or derailleur or pedal, things are going to get dirty. I even carry nitrile (surgical) gloves in my bag, and once used, they go back in the bag to be disposed of properly, later.
I can't imagine throwing nasty chain links or a used tube in my shirt.
First aid supplies, route sheets, food and other neat items can stay separate, in ziplocs, in my shirt.

Sturmey Archer made fixed IGHs IIRC. Pinion makes BB gearboxes I think.

use the same ziplock to carry your tools and tube. Simple. :foo:

You know if you just came out and said you think you are better than the rest of the world, it would get your point across much faster.

Good idea! It could take a second or two of pushing on the lever to latch, while the pedals spin up. And the switch back to freewheeling mode could be pretty quick.

I consider Ziploc bags an inefficient and unreliable barrier between dirty tools and my 40 dollar white shirt.
Ziplocs break at the corners: Just enough to not see, but enough to let grime and oil escape.
I use the Ziplocs so that the bandages and maps do not get saturated with sweat.

This is not a problem at all, considering how many cyclists use ziplocks. And if you are really concerned, then get a lezyne road caddy, there are many solutions.

It's not about being better than anyone. It is the love of riding fixed that I have known for 41 years now. I fell in love my first ride and had have a fix gear ever since. If I had to trim down to one bike, it would be fixed. My Peter Mooney was built with horizontal dropouts just so it could be a fix gear.

Its fun now to get kudos for riding fixed. But either way, it doesn't bother me what others think. I was riding fixed in my dark ages when no one was watching me or knew. More than occasionally I will now think this ride should be on my geared bike, get out to the street, think "nah", and go back and get the fix gear.

If my posts here get one forumite hooked on fix gear riding, cool. If not, it doesn't matter.

Ben