ive spun 150+ regularly downhill on 46/17 gearing... thats approaching 30mph i believe? no problem, though im definitely riding the brakes there.

on some major gnarly hills i take feet off the pedals for fun

after fighting the pedals to keep it under 30 coming down from some hills that killed me coming up, this is exactly what i did.

http://velospace.org/node/11121

i suggest you do the same.


you could just get brakes and run a low gear that gets you up hills... but then you'll be going super slowly everywhere, and that's not fun either.
fixed gear is awesome but if you are riding brakeless and have any sense you realize it's just a fad, i'm pretty much retiring my track bike to track and flat street duty.

for you

its the superior choice for commuting / city riding due to low speed control

rad? not sure how that makes sense...

its become trendy thats forsure. (won't lie, thats how i got into this ****).

I got into it from my current roommate. I moved in here about 2 years ago and the kid had 7 bikes at the time. I had one low-end GF mountain bike back then. I had never been on a road bike before that time. There are so many tires and and tools and bike parts laying around this apartment it's unreal (all my roommate's)

if by control you mean trackstanding, sure. otherwise, i think the fixed gear requires a certain amount of focus and participation that are entirely possible and easily attainable, but not required for a freewheeled bike.

My last long ride on the fixed took me down some pretty fast stretches, holding anything over 150rpm (31mph) for me was definitely uncomfortable after 20 seconds, and when my legs were tired, heading upto 25+mph @ 120rpm was just too much.

its probably impossible to NOT get into bikes living with that many around. thats ill, why so many though?

my love of biking was probably better off before i got into track bikes a few years ago. before this i just simply loved my **** road bike and s/s road bike... now i obsess about dream bikes..

hahahaha who does that!?



to original poster: braake! (until you get good)

i personally find it easier to maneuver through the walking people on campus on the fixed, because of the low-speed control thing, but that's just me.

i was that roommate for 5 years. during the winter it was pretty mild, i'd let the beater melt out in the hall before bringing it in. but every spring, the kitchen became a shop, the table was cluttered with frames, grease smears, little ziploc baggies of bearings, races and retainers... the kitchen couch (yes, kitchen couch) was full of bikes and wheels... i'd take in other peoples bikes to fix them and have a constant rotation of various bikes in and out all the time. eventually my roommate saw the lil '86ish mongoose m-1 bmx bike all original that i scored for something like $50 and was converted to a bike nerd himself. promptly came home with a box containing a new crankset for his trek mtb one day to my surprise, asked if he could borrow my tools... i was rather pleased.

He does road and mountain racing. He also had project bikes for fun.

conversion:
until you pedal strike and fall on some girl in an embarrassing clipped in forehead bomb.

track:
until you toe overlap and fall on some girl in an embarrassing clipped in forehead bomb.


fixed is not stable at low speeds because it requires motion, brakes and spinning legs can do all that and more.

it's like a human gyro!

i ride platforms because i hate toe clips. (usually not brakeless)

clipless on long rides.

but your point makes sense. just sayin its easier than my cruisers.

When I bought my first fixed gear bike, I rode it around my neighborhood (mildly hilly) and almost immediately put a front brake on until I learned to regulate speed by resisting, skip stops and skidding. Thats when I was running a 48x18 (2.7:1 ratio and 72 gear inches). 6 months later, running 49x16 (for a gear ratio of 3.1:1 and almost 83 gear inches) I decided to ride without a front brake on a hilly, city 7 mile ride. Downhill was fine at good speed since I wasnt spinning my legs off... but after climbing up and down 3 mild hills, my legs were jello. It's SO much easier on the thigh muscles using the front brake since you dont have to exert so much energy and strength to skid/skip and resist gravity LOL... but I tried for a long time to NOT use it and learn how to ride sans brakes. Around my city, Baltimore, we have hills. If I plan on riding more than 3 miles on my fixed gear bicycle, I will probably toss on the front brake.

I feel comfortable riding everywhere with no brakes now but if I want to ride fast, I prefer the front brake. If I'm just riding down to the local bar or inner harbor or will be riding on primarily flat surfaces (within a few miles), no brake is fine.

that is the dumbest thing ive read recently. im sorry you dont have basic motor functions

+1

If you are encountering toe overlap on a fixed gear bicycle, you are either riding too slow or have horrible slow speed control.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=giA_Ch_Kwgw

I finally took my fg out on my favourite 25 mile training loop this weekend. It was my first time taking it off the track, or just cruising along the dead flat MUP. There's a couple of long, steady climbs and 2 descents at 15%, each with a stop light and a busy intersection right at the base. :mad:
+1 to everyone who suggested throwing a brake on the bike to regulate downhill speed. I left both brakes on mine when I stripped the derailleurs and built a new back wheel, and I wouldn't feel comfortable without both of them there. I can't imagine trying to slow/stop myself coming down a 1/2 mile 15% grade without at least the front brake.

That's just called common sense.

On descents you do not want to remove your feet from the pedals as putting your feet back into a 300 rpm blender can be really dangerous... and stupid.

You want to soft pedal and maintain a little input so that you don't end up spinning uncontrollably and once you can do that descents will get easier and faster... I know guys on geared bikes that have trouble keeping up with me on descents since I can spin the 79 gear inches on my Pug at some good speeds and still maintain good control.

All my fixed gear bikes also have brakes as you can't spin at 160 plus rpm for long periods and if you have to stop / slow on the way down that brake will become your best friend.

For general riding I like gearings on the mid to high sixties as the wind never stops blowing here, nothing is really flat, and I do have some rather decent climbs that I can do pushing nearly 80 gear inches but I do try and be kind to my old knees which have not blown up yet.

use the brakes to slow down to 90 rpm and reclip

Well, I've seen plenty of people pull long, winding skids down steep hills; but I don't have that kind of skill, or the desire to shell out $35/week for a new tire.