thebristolkid

I moved to Philly from Pittsburgh a little more than a year ago, and long story short - some doors close, other doors open - there's a better than average chance I'll be moving back soon...within a month.

The problem is, I never rode fixie in Pittsburgh...I started in Philly about 7 months ago. For all of you who are unaware, Philly is dead flat, and Pittsburgh, as you know, is, um, not. The extent of my PGH cycling is the occasional spin around the neighborhood on my old BMX. About 8 years ago, I rode Critical Mass a few times on it, and it made me want to kill myself.

Should I dial down my chainring? Start popping glucosamine like an addict? What am I in for?

Jserse

move to philly from pgh 3 years ago for school, rode fixed in both. really depends on how hard you wish to push yourself, there are tons of places that are relatively flat in pgh, but not the same smooth sailing as we have in philly. on a higher ratio you can not worry about spinning out on hills, but you will be standing up and staggering hills in quite a few places. negley ave, greenfield ave, climbing around in the southside slopes, it's a ***** but doable.

if i were you i would switch to a smaller ratio whenever you back and see how the hills are treating you and see if you want to take it easy on your fixed or gear up and make the rides harder (more fun in my opinion)

enjoy all of the amazing pgh food, i have been weirdly blessed by getting smacked by a car in philly totally my bike and breaking my collar bone, but at the same time i have had as much mineos, lulus, dave and andys, uncle sams, antoons, too many to name.

cheers to returning to pgh!

veggiemafia

If your black and yellow Rush Hour is any indication, you'll fit right in. Aren't you also the guy who has pets of some kind named Ellsworth and Negley? Or is that somebody else on here?

Anyway, I also see via your Velospace page you're running 48/18. I say leave it. I do 49/17 around here on one bike, 44/16 on the other. 49/17 is a little tough sometimes (Negley up to Wilkins, 18th St. up into Mt. Oliver) but it's never THAT bad. And just remember, every uphill has a downhill, and with a low gear for climbing, you can spin out real quick. So give it a try at 48/18 and if you don't like it, you can always get a new chainring.

Shoot me a PM when you get into town, you should come ride.

thebristolkid

Yeah, that's me. I'll be leaving those cats behind (losing them in the girlfriend divorce). I can barely walk Negley to Wilkins...i can't imagine riding up it.

entukay

daaa burgh, i just sold my fixie, but it was a 46-16, you should be good with 48-18.

Devolution

I run 48-18 or 49-18 around here and can climb Negley.

Just ride in town enough and it'll work out.

And the rest of you should come down to the ghettodrome on Washington Blvd this Friday around 6pm for track racing. Its fast, its fun, its only $10, and last time we did motorpaced keirins. You're missing out if you don't at least check it out.

thebristolkid

I miss Thai Cuisine, La Fiesta, and Dave & Andy's like a mofo.

dydst

To the OP:

Maybe OT, but why are you moving back? Spent 3 years in PGH for school, and really enjoyed it, but prefer Philly (not from either city, though).

My wife's born and raised in the 'burgh, and she likes Philly, but I can sense her nostalgia for the Pittsburgh.

EDIT: just saw you post re: GF divorce. Also, saw previous post re: mineo's and Uncle Sam's, mmmm . . . maybe I do see why you want to go back.

veggiemafia

So, we should plan some get-togethers with food/drinks/mother****ing ice cream/bikes.

Also, does anyone have some track drops I could borrow for riding on the ghettodrome? I recently got a new job, and I'm actually not working on Friday at 6pm for the first time in about 2 months.

thebristolkid

Yeah man, it's the girlfriend thing (5+ years, ouch) plus a graphic design job offer back in the 412. Without both happening simultaneously, I wouldn't even consider moving back. I'm not from PGH or PHL either - I'm originally from New England - but I moved around a lot as a kid, and never had a "home" until I moved to Pittsburgh for college. I ended up staying there until I was 27.

Re: Veggiemafia's food/drinks/ice cream/bikes comment, I'm totally on board. I have a pretty extensive friend network back in the Burgh, but none of them (OK, one of them) ride fixies. I could always use some new friends.

entukay

who are you going to be working for? im a designer as well working for an agency downtown. you can PM me if you want so you don't have to post here.

SingleSpeeDemon

what's a fixie?

SingleSpeeDemon

GD here too. And I plan to get a fixed gear again...I have my first road bike, a 20 year old Nishiki that's dying to roll again.

thebristolkid

entukay, I'm a little paranoid about jumping the gun. I'll PM you when it's a done deal, which, if it works out, should be in about 2 weeks.

So, where are all the good bike shops in PGH? Is there a shop that specializes in fixed gear/single speed? I'm gonna be pretty distraught about leaving Bicycle Revolutions in PHL.