First time fixie rider
 

Hello everybody,

Since catching the fixie bug from late Sheldon Brown's site (bless his soul) and lurching in this section of the forum from ages ago, I've decided to build myself a fixed bike.

Here it is:

http://sindarin.free.fr/bike/bicicleta.jpg

Now, let me tell you more things about it.

I'm living in Grenoble, France, which is a quite nice and bike-friendly town. There are a lot of bicycle enthusiasts and a lot of bike tracks in and out the city. There is also a local community bike club where members can repair their bikes and use any of the parts lying around. You can find almost anything except a fixed or a flip-flop hub. So, first task: get a hub.

After narrowly missing buying a Phil hub, I've ended buying a new "Quando High Performance (Flip-flop) Hub", two fixed cogs (15 and 16) and a lock ring on eBay. I know, you never find "Quando" and "quality" or "performance" in the same line in this forum, but I've decided to go ahead. In the end, the hub is OK, no obvious problems for now. I've built and redish the wheel by myself using a very nice and old Mavic 700c wheel. It's quite nice at the end, the wheel looks and works OK.

Here is the hub:

http://sindarin.free.fr/bike/hub.jpg

The frame is a 1981 Gitane (maybe a Gransport) 102 Aerotub by Vitus. It's a very nice frame, light and strong. I had to repaint the frame for protection against rust. The results are OK for a quick and (very) dirty paint job.

I've kept the original sidepull cantilever brakes (made by an old french company):

http://sindarin.free.fr/bike/frana.jpg

and crankset (an 170 cm Nervar):

http://sindarin.free.fr/bike/pedala.jpg

The gear ratio is around 73 gear inches (42/15), which is a bit higher than my regular MTB (68)

The chain is a SRAM PC-1, quite nice by the way.

The tires are red Michelin Orium 700x23C:

http://sindarin.free.fr/bike/tire.jpg

And now, the thing I cherish most is a beautiful Brooks B17 Champion saddle:

http://sindarin.free.fr/bike/sa.jpg

I've bought this one on eBay from a Belgium seller. The saddle was made in 1970 and was kept in the storage room of a bike shop. In the end I've payed around 70 US$ for a vintage, never used Brooks saddle.
Instead of the overpriced Proof Hide or whatever, I've used Shea Butter (that I trust to no end) to re-condition the saddle. It worked very nicely, the outer skin looks like new and is quite elastic.
During my first ride (today), I've quite liked the feeling of the saddle, no unsolicited pain in the ass. I hope that the saddle gets even better. I may buy another saddle for the MTB if I found a cheap one again.

Now, the first feeling of riding a fixed gear bike:
I've never rode one before and I was really looking forward to finally enter the heaven of oneness with the bike that you guys promised ;)

First, I've found very difficult to put both feet in the pedal straps without breaking major bones. The thing that works for me is to keep the right pedal with straps and let the left one strapless. Quick mount/dismount and no problems. I'm not very prone to let go the pedals in any case.

Now, the actual feeling is ... interesting. I really have to watch myself and to remind me not to stop pedaling. The need of pedaling all the time and the momentum of the pedals really makes you keep a very sustained rhythm always. (Bike tells: Go forward. And you better abide!) I've been able to routinely reach ~30 km/h (18m/h) without any problem (which is quite exhaustive on my main MTB). I have quite strong legs and the feeling of the effortless acceleration is very nice. I like 42/15 the gear ratio, it seems to be quite adequate for both city and roads. I can ride on small hills without problems.
However, I find that the absence of coast make you tired more rapidly. I had to stop twice for the 25 miles trip (one stop normally). But this is just a first impression.

Otherwise, I don't think I'll have the patience and skill to learn skid braking. I have two brakes in any case.
I cannot stop the bike very fast using only my legs. It takes some time, the momentum of the bike is just too big and the gear ratio is maybe a bit high. Also, I cannot keep the bike at rest on small slopes (10%) just using the pedals, it lifts me from the saddle.

In the end, I found it very promising and I'm waiting to learn this bike better. The start was quite good and I hope it gets better.

As a side note, even if the French have a very good bike culture, they don't know what a fixed bike (pignon fixe) is. I was asked by a lot of bikers why I prefer to have just one speed on a bike that's obviously made for road. Even after a lot of explications, the concept remains a bit unclear.

So, what do you think? Are there any blatant problems in my set-up?
Do you know a guide on adjusting the drop handlebar on a road bike?

Cheers,
Dan

dont put a fixed cog on the freewheel side of that hub. triple check your chainline and loose the unused chainring. and expect to replace your tires as they will get beat quickly. i had 2 sets that lasted about 1000 miles each.

Of course not!

I will loose it but I need shorter screws or some other thing.

Yes, I'm expecting that. I go through much more heavy duty MTB tires like there is no tomorrow.

Thanks for the repply!

oh and cograts looks pretty nice. riding fixed is addicting that weird feeling will ware off soon and practice slowing down with your legs its an aquired skill. i find i pull up on the down stroke with my feet in the straps stops you fastest .

Hey DarkCloud you did a good job with your pics and writeup. I think it's great how all you guys are into building and tuning your bikes in addition to riding them. I'm just a guy who lifts weights and bikes for strength and fitness and am so mechanically challenged I don't work on my bikes at all. Anyway, on a whim I decided I 'needed' a fixed bike so I told my LBS guys to get me one and today I picked up a Felt Dispatch.

I rode it around a few blocks in single speed mode to ensure it felt good to me (it felt great!) and then I rode it back and told the bike guy to switch me over to fixed. I also had them put on 15 cog hub (it comes stock as 39/16 and I told them to order a 42 chainring since I usually ride 52/17 most of the time on my road bike on these flat Florida roads.)

Anyway, it did feel awkward (and even a little scary) at first but I started to catch on. I was reflexively trying to shift and coast and I took a corner a little too aggressively and scraped my right pedal, but, all in all, the maiden voyage went well and I'm really happy with the bike and the new fixed cycling challenge. I took it easy and only went 10 miles (on busy roads) averaging 18.5 mph. The funny thing was that I had to brake going down a hill since the pedals were spinning quicker than I was used to. I'm looking forward for going out tomorrow and am eagerly awaiting my 42 chainring which will arrive early next week. Good luck to you Dan.

Hey Jefs, I'm in weight/strength training myself. Cheers!

Don't worry about the mechanical aspects. If you are an extremist DIY-er like myself you end up spending a lot of money in tools and spending too much time.

42/15 seems a good, balanced ratio for people with good legs.

Yeah, I had almost the same feeling the first time.

Thanks for the reply,
Dan

nice! it looks almost like the one i recently made as well. first time fixie rider as well.

Sharp looking ride; you did a nice job with it. The only thing confusing me is the gearing.

"The gear ratio is around 73 gear inches (52/15)"
52/15 is more like 92", not 73". Is that inner ring a 42t? That would be closer to 73". I run just a little bit shorter than that, at 39/15.

Yes, you are right. Of course, it is a 42/15 (typo).

Thank you,
Dan

You should remove or file down the outer chainring if you don't intend to ever use it. File it down and use it as a bashguard maybe. You don't want that ring spinning like a chainsaw into your leg thanks to the direct drive if you ever have to bail out.

Thank you for the suggestion.
Yes, I'll do that as soon as I find some shorter screw pieces or washers. The original screws are a bit long.

get some BMX chainring bolts from your local bike shop, they're the right size for use with one chainring on the crank. You do have BMX in France, don't you?

nice bike DarkCloud.

i had a similar experience riding my first fixed gear recently (we're just cropping up all over arent we?). even though i knew i couldnt coast, i was so used to riding bikes with freewheels that when i got up some speed my mind shut off and my legs tried to coast.

i didnt fall, but it was pretty close.

its a lot of fun learning a new style of riding though, and of course putting together and working on a new bike is endlessly fascinating.

enjoy.

what an odd question. of course they do.

Well you asked. Your handlebar looks pretty severely slanted, so here's some handlebar setup info from RIvendell

Nice job on your bike, by the way, I've got 2 1970s Gitanes myself, one fixie and one work in progress.