I just switched from clips and straps to clipless and skidding is MUCH easier clipless. The front leg helps tremendously when standing and pulling up to skid.

I've never tried skidding with only clips. Some else will have to answer that one.

works entirely different for skidding.

the front foot pulling up is a huge part of it, especially when first learning.

you need foot retention if you're riding fixed

I personally felt better skidding with tight straps versus spd. But I'm still getting used to clipless

That may have been part of my problem. I kept my right strap looser since I'm often coming to a stop at lights and getting back into tight straps was a pain.

so I guess metal toeclips would work better than plastic toeclips, if the idea is for the foot to pull. the plastic bends too easily. I just don't want straps, because they're a big pain in the ass, and they drag on the concrete if you pedal on the wrong side.

Toe clips provide virtually no foot retention, nor is that their intended purpose. That is precisely what straps do, and if you have clip w/o straps, then you might as well not even bother to have clips.

by foot retention, do you mean specifically for skidding? because I pedal normally, and toeclips help me hold my feet pretty good

No, I mean for anything. I don't even skid, but whenever I need to pull up on the pedals to climb out of the saddle, backpedal to slow down, or even keep my feet planted on the pedals when spinning over 100 rpm, I need good foot retention. I have no foot retention on my SS bikes, and need much lower gearing on them to handle hills and cannot pedal as fast.

I don't have that problem with toeclips when spinning at 100 rpm. but then again, I kick a lot more ass when I'm in clipless, so yes, foot retention helps, but I don't think it cripples you not to have it.

I was just thinking a pair of metal toeclips should hook onto my foot and let me pull. even if it's harder than with straps, it'll be better than nothing.

do you think it's impossible or extremely difficult to skid brake with toe clips, or is this something that I can transition to from using toe straps?

Why don't you just try it both ways, and figure it out for yourself, instead of asking me after I've given you my opinion ?

because I like to ask questions and be obnoxious on the Internet.

Well, you have definitely succeeded.

succeeded at asking questions or being obnoxious, or both?

Ten items or less!

Ok, so what's the advantage of 3/32 chain over a 1/8? And if I have a 1/8 chain, can I still use 3/32 chainring and cogs?

No significant advantage other than a slight weight reduction, and yes you can use a 1/8" chain with 3/32" chainrings and cogs.

3/32 chains are skinnier than 1/8ths as perceived from the smaller width. That makes them significantly more flexible (as far as chains go) in order to mesh between the cassette cogs on a geared bicycle. A fixed gear/ singlespeed bicycle might not have gears but a perfect chainline is quite hard to come by so the flexibility of a 3/32nd chain would come in handy to keep the noise and wear down on a bike with less than perfect chainline.
Ease of availability is another advantage with 3/32nd chains. All bike shops carry them, that is not true for 1/8ths which tends to be carried by specialty/ track oriented stores. You can also share road oriented drivetrain hardware with your SS/FG.

Okay, I don't really want to start a thread with a question like this, so
First, I'm a noob. I recently got a KHS bike, put on a 16t freewheel cog, as it had none whatsoever, but the chain was obviously too long, even with moving the rear wheel as far as possible. So I went to google, took the chain tool and removed a link, and then put it together. So, pin almost out, then back in, checked that it's protruding equally on both sides. What worries me is:
- that was a chain with a master link (KMC), and I just couldn't figure out how to undo it.
- that my friend, who's been riding SS/FG bike for much longer than I did, told me I cannot temper with a chain like this, and I'd better replace it, as now it'snot safe to ride it (especially, say, climbing hills)
- that it seems really tight to me (and now it's almost all the way in the dropout), leaving less than 1/4 (more like 1/8) inch space between the tire and frame (I'm sorry, I don't know how it's called).
Help, advice? )

You are fine taking a link out of the chain as you did if the chain runs smoothly (you would notice if the pin you replaced was binding). Single speed-intended chains in general tolerate this very well, multi-speed chains particularly 9spd and up are the ones you can't replace the pins on as they are "mushroom-shaped" - you will deform the pin by pushing it through the link. Cylindrical pins can be replaced with care and work fine. Having the wheel close to the frame is a non-issue as well so long as there is no tire rub on the frame (may begin to occur if the wheel goes out of true). Your tire has fine clearance from the chainstay bridge, it is the tire contacting the chainstays themselves that you will have to worry about and it seems unlikely you will have issues.

To ensure the pin you reconnected is usable, bend the adjacent two links around in a z-shape and flex the chain perpendicularly to the plates, this should allow free movement of the pin.

Thanks for your reply! I'll definitely check the chain, I probably should have done it before putting it back on, because now I might have a problem figuring out which pin exactly was that. But well, I'll check the whole chain, wouldn't hurt.
Can you also tell me about the chain tension, should it be tight? Because now, say, if I spin the pedals backwards, they won't really go on spinning (should they?). So, how to determine how tight is too tight?

If you took out one full link, the axle should have moved forward in the drop-outs about 1/2". What sort of drop-outs do you have that you went from hanging loose to way too tight with one link removed?

would anyone mind filling out this 3 min survey for a class? it'd be super helpful. it's about bikes:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TnG...?usp=send_form

This might be the dumbest question ever, but..

Pretty 80's Clean Tuned Lightweight Miyata Road/City Bike-5'3"-5'6"

In the 17th and 18th pictures, I can see him greasing the inner ball bearings of his road bike. Is this normal? Are you supposed to such heavily grease the ball bearings like that?

Thanks

can you do pote quost pyramid on here?

saweet

Bearings are fine to be caked in grease, atleast proper grease like he appears to be using. Helps prevent rust and keeps things running smooth over the thousands of rotations the bearings will endure. Plus caking the bearings when dealing with loose ball bearing stuff generally makes it easier to properly seat the bearings so they don't want to move about when putting stuff back together.