Riding fixed on medium-length (20-30 mile) rides with rolling hills has significantly improved both my road and mountain bike riding. I've learned how to more efficiently pedal while out of the saddle and my pedal stroke is more even.

At least where I'm mountain biking, knowing when/where to coast is just as important as pedalling like a crazed weasel.

With the fixed gear, there is no coast, only pedal.

Riding around town or messing about campus is perfect for a fixed gear bike because you can control your speed so well it's possible to ride next to someone walking and have a conversation. Then, when she rejects your advances, you can sprint away lickety split. Head over to the liquor store, pick up a couple of 40's, then head over to the all-night pizza shack and score some grub. All the while, you're stylin' the schizzle on your fixed gear bi-sizzle.

Or something like that.

Relaxed is shallower angles, aggressive is steeper angles. Cruiser is to relaxed as Track is to aggressive.

This concerns the angles of the seat tube and head tube. Aggressive, in track bikes, would be angles of 75/74. Relaxed, as in road bikes, would be like 73/72.

Most bike descriptions include a geometry chart showing the various lengths and angles for the bike frame. Study these and you'll see differences between track bikes, road bikes, touring bikes, cruisers, cafe bikes, time trial bikes, criterium bikes, etc.

A degree change here, centimeter there, can make a big difference in how a bike handles.

The bike looks fine. The secret to riding fixed is "don't fight the bike." You and the bike are a team, more so than with a freewheel bike. When I built my first fixed gear bike, I used a flip/flop hub with a fixed cog on one side and a single freewheel on the other. I decided I'd start out using fixed exclusively and if I still had problems after a couple weeks I'd try it with the single freewheel.

Years later, the single freewheel is still on the wheel, but the chain has still never touched it.

ride in some tight spots that require some controlled tight turns (around tables in an outdoor eating area, between some tight spaced cones, between cars). my GF's first time on a fixed gear, she rode around a picnic area between tables and chairs, and she was hooked. on a regular bike, its sketchier navigating tight spots with tight turns. riding fixed in this type of situation, your legs control everything, and it really gives you that "connection" feeling people talk about.

As Sheldon Brown said, "coasting is a pernicious habit." It definitely takes a while to get over that urge to stand up and coast over bumps.

I didn't love it at first. It took me a couple hundred miles over a couple weeks before I felt at all comfortable. I now switch back and forth quite regularly between bikes with freewheels and fixed. So, you can definitely get comfortable with both.

I learned t ride on the snow last month. Daley cut back on plowing streets, it was tough, but now I'm really good at it. I remember almost getting tossed when I relaxed my legs..Scary...Love it now, ride it everyday.

It took me about two weeks, to get used to riding fixed.

Since this thread is still I alive I figure I share with yall what happened today. I decided to clean out the bottom bracket and put some fresh grease in. Well some how while I was taking of the chain, I got lucky and my finger got caught. It wasn't as bad as the pics on Sheldon browns website put it there was plenty of blood. It was at my schools bike shop so one of the guys helped me wrap it up. Sorry no pics but I will try to get video tomorrow when I go see the doc.

But being the manly man I am, I decided to finish. And this song played in my head while I was working.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oECIKVaz5rc

(sorry took awhile to formulate post)

i built my first fixie a few months ago and just jumped right in and i haven't been able to stop riding it, i did plenty of research and found a gear that was comperable to the gear i most found myself in while riding my multigeared commuter, since i didn't much coast anyway, the only thing i've had to get used to was not being able to...

in my first week of riding, i was nearly tossed off while pulling into work (forgetting not to instintively coast into the drive at work) and nearly crushed the family jewels another time

now i'm trying to add a 20+ mile ride (on my days off) to my daily commute, its rather flat here so i could run nearly any gear, but i started with a 42x17, went to 42x16 (20mph@100rpm) and now running 44x16 (21.5mph@100rpm)... the few ups and downs here can be, as was said above "fun and scarey all at once"

but oh how zen

if you look at the above pic you'll notice that the seat and head tubes are in a more layed back angle falling behind the bike, this is likely a tourer and places the rider in a relaxed riding position,
if you were to look at a track frame, you'll notice a more vertical angle in the seat and head tubes which places the rider in a more forward aggressive position.

Look away if you don't like blood
 

Look away if you don't like blood







http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3467/...756ec2d4_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3395/...d16b6380_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3403/...eab27ee8_b.jpg

Note to self: Do not touch the fixed gear bike when drinking and wrenching. :eek:

naw... there is no better time to do so, just keep appendages outta da way

I don't know about the OP, but that was my only option. I don't know anyone near my size with a fixed to try.

Hows about your lbs?

If you use your LBS for a (free) service, you should purchase items from them out of decency. If you don't plan on buying a $500-600 bike new from a bike shop, it would be indecent to use them to figure out if you're going to like fixed gear riding.

That's pretty much how I feel. I wouldn't want to test something I knew I wasn't going to buy.
I figure if I don't like my fixed I can try the other side and ride single. If I don't like that I can craigslist it. I don't think I'll lose in the process.