ddeadserious

Since your cranks don't stop spinning, running foot retention(BMX style straps, or toe clips and straps) is recommended because slipping off the pedals(especially if brakeless) could result in a serious accident, and you're not likely going to be able to safely reattach yourself to your pedals. You should pick up some clips and straps, it will improve the amount of power you can put to the cranks because you can pull up with the opposite foot of the one pushing down. Plus, slipping off your pedals(under any circumstance) is scary, and having toe clips nearly eliminates that potential issue. It's really not difficult to remove your feet from clips/straps, BMX straps, or clipless pedals and shoes when you want to. The important part is keeping your feet in place the rest of the time. Again, it's one of those things you adjust to and it becomes easier the more you do it.

LessonLearned

Sounds good. I'll definitely pick some up. Thanks again.

Jaytron

I'd recommend clipless. It's a night and day difference. All my bikes are clipless.

ddeadserious

I would too, but I wouldn't suggest going from SS with no foot retention to fixed and clipless at once. That'd be a bit of a transition.

Bat56

It is very likely that you destroyed the hub. But you probably didn't. Look at it, is it mangled? If not, clean it up and try to thread the cog and lock ring back on. SLOWLY. You do not want to make a small problem worse. If you mangled the threads a little you might be able to clean them up with some very small files and get to where you can thread the cog and ring back on.

The cog and lock ring should be able to withstand the forces of your skid if you have the hardware installed correctly and are skidding properly. There is a better way to brake - use the brake. You have a front brake, lean back and grab it.

There are hubs that are not threaded. White industries. Proprietary spline so things get expensive. and seriously, threaded is fine.

JohnDThompson 

If your feet come off the pedals on a fixed gear bike, it can be difficult to get them back on again until the bike has slowed down considerably. If you were counting on using your feet to slow you down (i.e. "brakeless"), this can be a real problem. If you have a caliper brake installed, it's more an inconvenience than a safety issue.

The front brake does the lion's share of the braking in any case, but I've found there are times when it is nice to have two functional caliper brakes. That, and having both brake levers to hang onto is often helpful in climbing.

LessonLearned

Thanks JohnDThompson - good to know. That makes sense. Maybe I don't need clips. I think the warning I read was referring to those who run no brakes at all.

LessonLearned

Went and had my LBS put a cog and lockring on for me today. I ordered a lockring tool but it won't be here for a few days.
Took the bike out around the neighborhood to get my feet wet. Wow, definitely different than SS that's for sure. I thought I was good about not coasting when riding my SS, but you don't realize how much you use/rely on that freewheel to get the pedals where you want them to be for you to take a sharp turn or avoid something or hop over something.
So I'm out there just taking it easy for the most part and rewiring my brain not to want to coast ever. Kind of a funny feeling when you get lifted off the saddle.
I dig it though (FG). It's a new way to ride (new to me) and it takes focus. Lots of new things to learn. First thing I'm learning is that straps and/or clips are a must. Even with a brake I can see the benefit now. It doesn't make me any less nervous to wear them in busy city traffic though. I'll have to think long and hard about the best setup for my situation.
Thanks again to everyone here for the help.

LessonLearned

Got some cheap wellgo bmx platforms and some sweet Hold Fast straps. NOW we're talkin'. I'm definitely starting to understand why people love to ride this way. I drive a late 90's Civic with a manual trans and it seems to be one of those kind of things. You're more in touch with the road and the bike. I have lots to learn obviously but I already enjoy it. At the end of my first ride with straps I just instinctively did a little side whip thingy to slow/stop the bike. It just seems like the natural thing to do with a FG when your strapped in.

*Question though- what's the most effective way to get your foot back in the strap if you hit a red light and have to put a foot down?
I had some trouble the first couple times I did it (just practicing though, not in traffic), but then I found that it might be best to purposely spin the pedal kind of fast and then strategically put your toe in the path of the strap. Make sense? Or is there a better way? (cuz they hang upside down due to the added weight, and since you can't coast... it's not the easiest thing to get your foot back in there, I'd hate to be holding people up at an intersection when the light turns green)
Thanks.

Nagrom_

Just practice, it's all muscle memory.

LessonLearned

PS- I know I need to change the tire/tread around if I plan to keep it FG. Today was the first day so I didn't want to bother with it in case I decided to go back to SS.

LessonLearned

Thanks, I will but is there any particular technique to it or just whatever works best?
I think I like the idea of giving the pedal a tap so that it spins towards me a couple full rotations and while it's doing those rotations- I just slip my toe up/in as it comes around. Spinning it and anticipating where it will be seems faster than trying to work my foot into a strap that's hanging dead underneath a pedal.

ddeadserious

Most times, I can kind of put the middle of my foot on the edge, and it's a rolling motion to slide my foot into the strap/cage as I flip the pedal around(all with my foot contacting the pedal. I have tried the flip and spin thing, but it's not reliable and can be frustrating after it spins a couple times and you don't make it in. It really is just muscle memory, you'll get used to it. One fortunate thing about BMX style straps like you have is that you don't have to get in the strap right away; they not going to be damaged if they scrape the ground, so if you're stressed to get through an intersection and don't want to fumble with getting your other foot in the strap, just pedals across the intersection however your feet end up on the pedals, and get properly strapped in once you get through it.

Scrodzilla

Just so you know, "directional" road tires aren't actually directional at all.

See here:

https://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#hydroplaning

LessonLearned

Thanks man, good to know.

Heh, I was half expecting someone to point it out though, so I thought I'd save them the trouble.

LessonLearned

I'm beginning to think you're right about the "manipulate" being better than the "spin" technique. You can get lucky with the spin, but you can just do it right the other way you described (once you practice a bit).
And yeah, good call on leaving the foot out of the strap if need be. If it's a crazy intersection and I don't get my foot in right away, I just ride through and figure it out once it's safe.
Really diggin those straps though. It allows me to unweight and lift the rear wheel so much easier. It's such a handicap to ride FG without some kind of foot retention. Like riding a snowboard without being strapped in - not much you can do with it (by comparison).

dunny

Evans is pretty good - as is Wiggle. if you want to choose all your own parts someone like Tokyo Fixed or 14 will help you....will be abit pricier but nice to ride something that no-one else has got

would also check [TABLE="width: 53"]
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[TD="width: 53"]Single Speed Bikes[/TD]
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review sites

LessonLearned

It seems like climbing is easier with FG than with SS. Also easier to deal with headwinds. Am I imagining that, or is that right? Seems like the momentum is held significantly better with a cog vs freewheel since the pedals just want/have to keep on truckin'.
I can't believe I was scared of trying fixed for so long. It's an adjustment for sure, but it's definitely more fun. Nice to be learning and to be challeneged instead of just doing what I've always done. Thanks once again for all the guidance and info.

Jaytron

Fixed descents is where it starts to get hairy.

LessonLearned

I've been thinking more about getting my foot into the strap from a stop/redlight. Do a lot of folks here use Hold Fast straps or similar? Because with those, the pedal hangs exactly upside down by default (making it tricky to get into once you start moving). Or do most folks use clips? Because I feel like clips would cause the pedal to hang with the toe of the clip pointed at the ground, therefor the pedal is "on edge" and easier to roll your foot into.
This is just a guess though, haven't used clips before. But yeah with these Hold Fast straps, they make the pedal hang exactly upside down. If there was even just a little bit of an angle to the hang, it would be ten times easier to get into the strap.
Not a deal breaker, I'm getting better with every ride. Just thinking out loud. Maybe my pedal would be better suited to this if it had a slight bit of extra weight on the toe edge...

ddeadserious

Standard toe clips & straps do make the pedal hang a little more forward, and are thus a little easier to flip the rest of the way to slide in. Look through the "Post your FG/SS Photos" thread to see how the pedals usually hang.

Also, take note of the tread on the shoes you're wearing. My everyday shoes(Vans boat shoes) are almost smooth on the bottom, and I have a hell of a time getting any type of pedal flipped over. My classic Vans with good tread on the bottom are super easy to grip the pedal to flip it over.

LessonLearned

Right on, thanks.
I'm tempted to tape a couple nickels or something to the underside of the toe edge with electrical tape haha, just on the right pedal (the side I step out of if need be). I wonder if anyone has thought about making pedals for this purpose. Probably just a niche thing that most people wouldn't want/use/buy though.
Anyhow, thanks again. Today my 17t cog arrives from Ben's Cycle so I can maybe try to practice some skid stops. I've been using 44/16 all weekend which is a horrible gearing for skids. I ordered the 17t but didn't want to wait to start practicing FG, so I bought a 16t from my LBS so I could get down to business this weekend. Kind of a waste of $$$ I know, but now I have a 16t cog AND a 17t. Oh and two lockrings. I'm thinking I may remove my White Ind freewheel and just use 2 different size cogs on the hub instead.
The lockring and cog from Ben's are SOLID looking...

*Price increase from our local machinist.*
In order to ensure the highest quality control, there has been a slight price increase on the Milwaukee Cogs. This price increase allows us to keep the cogs made here in Milwaukee, WI and guarantees that the cogs are manufactured to the highest standards.

Milwaukee Bicycle Co.

Blue Collar Cog

• The highest quality track cogs turned from 4140HT steel
• Machined to ISO specifications
• Gas nitride treated to increase hardness and maximize wear resistance.

Made right here in the heart of Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

misskaz

People keep saying it, just practice. You'll get it with time. I have toe clips+ single strap, but my good friend has holdfasts on her FG and she can do the flip+slide in one smooth motion and it's kind of amazing to watch. Also on my commuter, for a while I had these combo platform/clipless pedals and they always hung upside down, but eventually I got the flip+click motion down pretty easily.

Just ask jimmytango though, when I'm drunk my ability to get my toes in my clips goes WAY downhill. It actually does become a muscle memory thing, and my problem when I'm drunk is I might miss once and then I start overthinking it and then it is just a mess and I end up riding with my right clip dragging with every pedal rotation.

LessonLearned

haha misskaz, funny pic you just painted there. intersection, drunk girl giggling and hiccups and *scrape* (giggle giggle) *scrape* (hiccup giggle) *scrape*... lol
I missed a couple times this weekend and had to go for blocks before I could bring myself to ease over to the right of the bike lane and come to a crawl so I could get my damn foot in there. Kind of embarrassing haha, like the jig is totally up - this kid has no idea how to ride a bike lol. But yeah my straps don't scrape so I have that going for me.

Sorry I'm kind of hijacking this thread lately but I feel it's the best place for me to ask dumb questions without mucking up the forum.
I used to not care so much about joyriding my bike around the city, and I just used it to get where I needed to be as quickly as possible. But that's because there wasn't much joy in my ride. With FG it's actually fun to go out riding around even if you have nowhere to be. A very pure natural kind of riding. Definitely has me smirking like a kid who just saw his first boobie. lol.

LessonLearned

Was able to get my foot in without looking today.
I think the bearings are breaking-in on those new pedals, definitely helps. The were a bit sticky/rigid out of the box but spin real easy now.

Also got my Milwaukee Bicycles 17t cog and lockring installed, went for a test ride, MUCH easier to skid stop, hop stop, etc. Much more maneuverability. Track stands are easier too. 44/17 is kinda wimpy though but that's what works for me. Might go 46/17 if start spinning out too much on the downhills on my commute. Nothing too steep/crazy but I do have a few long bridges. I'll give it a week or two and decide. Might be good to be limited in the mph dept while I'm learning wtf I'm doing...