Clipless .... click click and you are on.

Once you are confident enough, and providing there are no intersections, you can try unclipping while bombing downhill and clipping again.

Is not that hard ... and it is good training for control in case of an accidental uncliping.

The stock Redline bars are much narrower through the bend, which is limiting how comfy I feel.

I'm looking for the Nittos (I assume these are Nittos) online.


Edit: In Boston Saturday, so I'm going to drop in at Harris Cyclery, see if they have em in stock.

OK. That does it. This setup looks fantastic. It looks much safer for city riding, with the brakes much closer to a natural hand position. Just bought some myself. So thanks for the inspiration, Fixer. Would you, uh, come over and install them sometime??

I'm thrilled with the MBars. Going to swap the stock for the Nittos (upon inspection when and if I get to Harris Cyclery) - as from all photos the bend seems not so sharp on the Nittos, and will allow more room for my mitts in the curve.

Love em for around town, and working up the hill from my place into town. Thinking about MBars my tourer as well.... but thats another debate.

OK, everybody's commuter fixies are just WAY too nice...
Here is my beauty queen, the sexiest bike in Durham:



I built her up simply out of necessity for a drunken beater, but for some reason, I keep riding it daily...
(Late 1960s Triumph roadster, BTW - 40x16)

hey jack... that's cool.
I see your cottered cranks. Did you dremel off other chainrings? Or actually replace the cotter pins?

Neither. I just removed the big ring and moved the 40t ring inboard w/50 cents worth of nuts, bolts, and spacers from Home Depot. Those are the original cotter pins.

ah ... I have a 60s bottechia, but the big ring is solid down around the crank axle ... the little ring is unboltable, but I'd have to disassemble the crank to get it off -- or cut it off. I run this one SS and have the little ring bolted tight against the large ring .. jus' cuz.

thanks and enjoy the ride!

OK...heres mine. Jon Grinder built this up for me in early Jan. I added the fenders, changed the gearing (currently 42/15 with 170s and 27 inch wheels) and a few other minor modifications. Its a great beater..currently my favorite bike. I just rolled over 1200 miles on the odometer without any significant technical difficulties...money well spent. Lucky me, I can store my bike in my lab during the day.

O.K.

I have aquired a schwinn world sport........

WHY DOES EVERYONE here go fixed**********?

I will have a 15 mile comute (one way) .......why fixed ??

^I did it to get more of a workout on the hills.


Here's my new rig, replacing the green Apollo on page 7 of this thread.

Its an early 80's Bianchi, straight guage tubing, 58cm.


I've put about 60km on it so far, making some minor adjustments.
A 41/15 gear ratio has me spinning at a decent pace.
Needless to say, I'm stoked to ride it to work tomorrow=D

seriously !!!!

Im fat, lazy and havent been on a bike since I was 7........I get winded going to the fridge to grab a beer........maybe I ought to ride it the way it is first then maybe go to fixed ???

No one is asking you to try to get stronger and more fit in less miles .... that is what fixed - or singlespeed - does for you.

Is there where the brake levers always are on the 925 or just the way this one was assembled? I have yet to find one around town to look at but am very interested in one.

We all started someplace. Start riding that Schwin geared and after you know bike commuting (or just riding it) is for you (you will!), you can decide if you want to try fixed gear. That's what I did. I was already commuting on a hardtail MTB. I tried my commute for a week experimenting with different gearing and trying to NOT coast on the downhills. In the meanwhile, started hunting for a bike to convert. Located an old Fuji 12-speed with 27" wheels. Rode it geared a little and settled on 42x16 fixed/42x18 free gearing with 170 cranks. LBS helped with a fixed/flop hub and a 700c front wheel. I have rarely used the free side. Currently alternating between commuting on the fixie and my road bike (with a backpack; yuck !). Here's a pic; I've since replaced the stem with one a little shorter, replaced the brake pads with koolstops (they work great), added a Fizik pave saddle when I upgraded the one of the road bike, and installed 2-sided SPD pedals shortly after the photo session. I had to extend the brake pad slots with a dremel tool to reach the slightly smaller 700c wheels vs the original 27" ones.

I love commuting fixed - it's quiet, I feel better connected to the road, don't obssess on gearing, and don't worry if I get caught in rain. And it's REALLY improved my peadling. Now if this old frame was a bit lighter - oh well, can't have everything!

As shown shortly after conversion (42x15). Now running 52x19, and am re-lacing the rear rim. Started out as fun, becoming a daily habit.

Just the way it was assembled.
I've swapped out the original bars and went to the Nitto Moustache bars, as they are wider through the bend.

I've moved the levers to be perpendicular to the road, and they are much more comfortable.
I'll post a pic when I can...

Resurrecting this thread to show off my new winter commuter: An '89 Trek 660, fixed at 42x16. I installed the SKS full fenders and blue Cinelli tape this weekend and my new JetLite should be arriving in today's FedEx. It's also for winter training so I tried to set up the geometry to mimic that of my '01 Trek 5200 race bike. The ride is solid and responsive, as you'd expect from the classic lugged steel frame.

Here's mine.
It is for sale, as my commute is now my 20 steps from my bedroom to my office.

Hmm...don't know about that. I think I'd steal it.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE.
absolutely gorgeous.

I Ride a Giant Allegra frame (bought it years ago at a thrift shop for $60). I wore out most of the components, so I fixed it out. I broke the drive side chainstay one day while just accelerating. But I liked the ride so much that I had a local shop weld on some track dropouts. I repainted, and put some stuff back on it. Recently I moved to baltimore, there are a couple of spots where the hills are so steep (18%+ pitch), that I NEED the brake because the bottom of the hill is a T-intersection that ends in the river. So it's a flatbar fixed roadbike. Cork grips.

Here's mine. I have a 10-speed I ride as well and I'm in the process of building up a Karate monkey, but this is by far my favorite ride. I just changed the bars/stem/brake config to what you see here and it's been a lot of fun. This bike has been through hell with me on my daily 16.6 mile (each way) commute and she just keeps on kicking ass. I stripped the original hub pretty bad friday night and got a replacement Saturday, so far so good.