Indeed very useful!!!!! I've been reading the post since yesterday, I feel like studying for a very important test! a lot of info and good pieces of advice!

I was reading this thread and had to check which forum I was in. Thought I was in the 41 for a moment.

Good luck. Keep in mind that the dropping the ankle technique has a learning curve.

But no matter what you do, just climbing hills will help as much or more than anything else.

Pedal forward uphill till you have finished your climb.

As George Carlin's Grandfather said "I'm going upstairs to f uc k your grandma" because he wasn't going to B.S. a 6 year old!

pls dont try to bypass the censor.

There was no try.

I didn't want to bother the poor censor, they have enough to deal with. I was creatively typing ; )

I think that a "****" would have gotten the point across just fine ;)

Related question. I ride on mostly flat terrain in Chicago. With my current gear (66”) I can hold a pace in the high teens on the flat, but I spin out at about 30 mph going down a gentle slope. By the end of the season I work my way up to around 74”, but I have found that my legs like a smaller gear better in the spring since I don't ride nearly as much over the winter.


Our randonneuring season starts next weekend and I’m considering running the 200 fixed. The rides are in southern Wisconsin where it is much hillier, and it is easy to hit speeds in the high 40’s on descents. If I take my fixed gear should I move up to a taller gear or just be prepared to use the brake downhill?

Consider that you have an alternative for descents but none for climbs other than walking. So set your gear based on the climbs expected, and use the brake if necessary for descents.

Yeab but you try doing that to sweet old George.

Hoo-boy, I've done some riding in SW Wisconsin, and I was really happy to have a 45" low gear on the bike I took. :lol: I think if I were going to do it FG/SS this early in the season, I might consider a freewheel that drops the gearing a few inches.

I wonder if you'll bump into Spencer Klaasen -- he rides brevets fixed, and unclips for the downhills. ;)

Maybe I'll just stick with my touring bike. It has a 27" gear that I have been happy to have.

I have one of those in a 16/18 sitting at the bottom of a parts bin; couldn't figure out what it was good for. It's not like I'm going to stop at the top of every hill and "shift" from the 18 to the 16.

I agree with the "just do it" philosophy many of the replies seem to offer. However, it's important to be honest with your fitness and bike when targeting a starting point. My bike weight is 30 lbs. and I'm very fit for a 56 year old. However, as much as I like 42x16 it just doesn't make sense compared to 42x17 for my hill situation. Before choosing though I had done enough homework to know this was my range.

Agreed with everyone -- just do it, and keep doing it, without getting discouraged when you face a hill you can't climb yet. It took me three failed tries before I could climb my favorite local hill fixed without stopping or walking the steepest bits. Rather than give up, or go to a lower ratio, I just kept trying until I could climb it without stopping. Now, a couple years later, it's (relatively) easy to climb in the same gear, and I'm trying to tackle even steeper and longer pitches. Just keep pushing yourself, and don't worry too much about gearing or technique. Experience is more important than everything else combined, and the technique will come naturally.

The solution is simple: have two bikes; when you want to do a hill ride, take the bike with gears.

Simple, but no fun. I love climbing fixed.

Make a harness and carry a geared folding bike for general riding, then switch for steep hills.

Many decades ago I came up with a good idea for riding fixed in hill country. I used a double crankset with a 2 sided hub. The difference in the rings was 8 teeth (50/42), which I could combine with an SS freewheel 6 teeth larger than the fixed sprocket. That way I could reverse the wheel for a much lower climbing gear (free) while not having the wheel move as far in the frame as otherwise.

I was a decent climber riding fixed, but this arrangement gave me a bailout option for climbing walls.

As a former San Francisco resident myself, let me state that the "climbs" around there are not real climbs. If you ever find yourself riding up a real mountain, you'll ditch that fixed gear faster than a race car driver ditches an automatic transmission.

The boy ain't lyin'. There's a tool for every job. And there's urban climbs, and long-distance mountain climbs.

I agree with you guys for that one. If your climb takes 20 or more minutes, get a dedicated climbing bike (low gear) or a multi speed geared bike. The importance of cadence optimization is proportional to the duration of your climbs for a variety of reasons.

Still, that doesn't stop nutzos like ex-user @Vireo from doing pychotic things like riding the Furnace Creek 508 fixed. Granted, he did comment after the fact about how awful it was and how he would never do it again, and he is a seasoned ultra-distance rider.

46/16, 700x25c (76.2 gi), climbed this bridge without leaving the seat. Didn't even make a run at it either.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=518681

Edit: No toe clip pedals too.

Riding across a bridge isn't really much of a climb.