highpants = really stupid. should i fix my 1x1?
 

i sincerely was going to ask this question before the debate about the brakeless fixed mtb began, so i guess please save your piss and vinegar for that thread.

i just got a surly 1x

Everything should be fixed - do it!

Yes. It's fun.

fixed trail riding scares the crap out of me, tried it... i stick to SS myself but that doesn't mean i discourage you from doing it...

i have a fix-free hub, so it was easy for me to try it, and if i didn't like it was easy to switch back

aye. here's some inspiration.

Since you dojn;t have any experience mtbing NO. Mountain biking envolves a completely different skillset that needs to be developed. If after you are a talented mtber you feel the need for more challenge then feel free to. If you just want riding logging roads however there is no need to wait.

The key word is 'float'. No as in pedal float but the need to float over the trail and not just hammer thru rocks, roots, and such. Pick your line, guide your stead, and float.

Flippity-flop it. Fixed is a frickin blast on single-track if it's not too technical.
Ohhh, the control...

I agree with the flip flop. Then you have different options for different trail difficulty levels, or different levels of drunkenness.

wow, my computer froze during the original post, i guess i didn't expect it to show up.

what i was going to say is that i have a 1x1, currently at the very spinny 32x16. i thought that maybe if i did fix it, i might add some teeth up front so that i could also ride it on the road a bit if needed.

i do agree, though, that maybe i should get used to riding singletrack before i fix it. on the other hand, what better way to learn?

learning to manual, bunnyhop and just control your bike will probably be close to impossible on a fixie. I would assume that there aren;t many prolonged hills in minnesota but still you probably don;t want to go to far above 1:2 so any change in the ring should probably be accompanied by a change in the freewheel too. You'll figure out what works pretty fast anyway.

Either flip flop it, or use a disc rear hub so you can use a bolt-on cog. And keep the brakes on, at least the front one!

Speaking of getting out and used to singletrack... want to do a MTB ride this week?

my mtn bike is newly fixed and i just got back from riding wirth and holy crap is it fun.
i'm going back tomorrow at 3 if anyone wants to join me, i'll be there.
otherwise i'm open to wednesday same time, night rides thursday or friday, or all day saturday.
or, ya know, all of the above?

Singletrack in the cities?!

Worked for me

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2005/feb/dobber10.htm

Dobber, your FGG bikes have the best descriptions.

Minneapolitans: I have class Tue-Thurs till about nine, but a night ride on thursday or friday sounds great. my headset is a bit loose, but i don't think it's a big deal. yet.

i rode at wirth last week and it was, in fact, super fun. except that i kept throwing my chain because it was too loose and i'm a dummy.

ok, MTB ride thursday night? Theo is good - Seward to Minnehaha would be sweeet, Lebanon Hills would be the BOMB but we'd need cars (ugh, i know) to get there. what's the word?

I too want to try fixed MTBing...none of the single track I have encountered on Long Island is of the extremely technical sort. Its mostly winding single track with some tight corners with small hills and an occasional big rock or log to balance on. There is no need to bunnyhop or do big acid drops (I think thats a skate term...what is the equivalent MTB term for acid drop?) or anything on most of it. Basically, after a childhood of jumping BMX bikes and doing wall-rides, it bores me...so I thought fixed would make it more exciting than SS.

i can get me plus one to lebanon hills as i have a bike rack that carries two bikes on the prius.

otherwise, give me a couple of hours to ride my 32x16 to theo wirth or minnehaha.

Wheelie-drop, or if you have more speed, a huck. At least in my area...

bah! Get yourself to a light rail stop and ride all the way down to near the Sprawl and you theoretically have two bike routes that are both under 10 miles to the park. The disadvantage is that you'd be trying to get your big spinny MTB down there, but I would consider that exercise. And I live like a few miles from Lebanon. If you do this, I would have to get my cheapo crappy mtb put back together and join you.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=129653
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=129686

exactly.
i'm in for thursday.
i work at the t-rock til 9, though. good meeting place? not too far of a spinny ride to wirth. and, like he said, exercise. otherwise i could meet everyone somewhere else. you mpls people tend to spend a long time figuring out where to meet though.

but hey, somebody's gotta take a stand.
so it shall be declared: t-rock 9pm thursday.
don't forget your lights!

Lebanon Hills is pretty sweet. It's less like singletrack, and more like a skate park for bikes that extends through the woods "like" singletrack. it's the closest bike-related thing i've found to snowboarding - going way too fast and only having about a second or two from the time you come around the corner until you're either sailing over something, or picking yourself up out of the dirt. (*come to think about it, it's kinda like running an alleycat through the city's rush hour, but without the cars ;) )

I could be in for a night ride... I may have a sweet route already. bring beer and fire-starters.