Fixed gear bikes and riders have an advantage on SOME hills, but in most situations a road bike and rider will easily leave a fixed gear bike and rider behind.

That said, I think fixed gear bikes and riders have an advantage in traffic and in tight situations because of the greater control and acceleration available to a regular fixed gear rider, and not so much in terms of absolute speed but rather in terms of safety and fun.

I don't see myself ever riding a geared bike again, except if I did a bike tour or something like that involving lots of equipment and prolonged hills/mountains.

I can, depending on how much snow is on the ground and if they have 4WD/AWD.

I ride a low-gear -- 62 gear inches. I'm probably in the top 10th percentile of riders around here speed-wise, but the low gear definitely puts a ceiling upon my top speed. I get dropped by decent cyclists on a road bike on downhills and on the flats, but I can often pass them going uphill.

what's your top speed?

I have never worn a speedometer, but a friend who passed me in his car on a moderate-speed thoroughfare said that i was going about 25 mph. It was flat, and since I remember him passing me, I can also remember that that is about as fast as I can go. I'm not sure how fast committed roadies can ride on the flats -- I haven't researched it.

I sometimes do group rides with the singlespeed. It is more challenging than when I ride my road bike. I ride 52x15 for the fast group (24-34mph) or 52x17 (commuting gear) when I'm riding with the triathletes. (20-25mph) The singlespeed is tenable down here since it's so flat. Our routes are either 45miles or 65 miles and I ride 10 miles to the ride start/finish for warmup/cooldown. Quite a workout but I enjoy the extra challenge as it pays off on raceday. I've actually only managed to hang with that fast group the entire time once on the fixed gear. Still my use of the singlespeed has earned me a bit of respect with the roadies and triathletes. They think I'm a fool, but they do acknowledge that I can ride alright.

Fabian Cancellera did a short time trial last year and averaged 35mph for a couple miles. :twitchy: Leadouts for sprints will often be 35+ and sprints can break 50mph. 25mph is good for only 62 GI. You ever done any roller racing/goldsprints? What's your 500m time?

The time trials done as part of the Tour de France are 15-30 miles and the fast cyclists are averaging ~35 for the short ones and ~30 for the longer ones. It's mental. Those guys really know how to ride a bike. :)

25 mph @ 62 gi = ~135 RPM. Definitely fast, but his story checks out. ;)

I was actually referencing Cancellera's performance during the Tour of California Prologue last month. He rode 3.8km/2.36miles in 4min 32.9 seconds for an average of 31.15mph. 2.36miles is a short distance that most fixed gear riders are familiar with and get an idea of how impressive pro racing can be!

I haven't done anything competitive, so I have no idea. I ride 46/20 (62 GI) mainly because my city is moderately hilly, because I like to remain planted in the saddle for the entire trip, and because I was having a problem with one of my knees. Getting a bike fit and dropping down from 69 GI was the only solution to the knee pain. I do Muay Thai too, so I have to be careful with knees when doing both activities.

It really is astonishing. Cyclists doing mountain stages are putting out 35-450 watts for hours on end at a bodyweight of 140-160 lbs. How is a 150 lbs man putting out over 1/2 the power of a horse for more than a few seconds? It's shocking.

The time trial rides we're both talking about have guys going for up to a bit over an hour at speeds that most of us can attain for at best a few seconds. It's like they're not human.

what's your average?

The whole purpose of road training is to leave the city/land of traffic lights and get into the country where you don't have to deal with stopping for traffic (at least, not often). Leaving and entering back into the city is basically your time for warming up and cooling down (read: spinning low gears in fast cadences to either get the blood flowing, or dissipate lactic acid buildup). I've done a few long road rides where I sprinted for traffic lights multiple times in the first 5 miles, only to find myself losing way too much steam by mile 40. It's kind of idiotic to start or end your road rides with a "race" against some fixed gear kid doing his 2 mile commute, which is why roadies aren't really caring about someone passing them. The real speed starts happening once you hit the open road and sprint your teammates for that stop-ahead sign or drop people on the 2000ft. climb.

I think the main difference here is that some "roadies" ride centuries for fun, and train for 30+ hours a week.

If you're willing to drop several grand on a bike, shave your legs, and wear ridiculous looking spandex (even if it is a sexy team kit) you've got better odds of being hardcore than if you're some kid in jeans on a <$1000 bike.

Also, even if the FG rider is as serious of a rider as me (or moreso) he'll have a hell of a time keeping up with me on some of my training rides since I do hill climbs when I'm not doing tempo rides. 5-15% grade does not bode well for a fixed gear whether they're going up or down.

That being said, people that race track are immensely strong and there's no way in hell I'd ever win a track race. And along with that, there are a ton of Freds on expensive road bikes.

Sounds to me like you're predominantly a climber then? I'm the other way around, I dust some fools in the sprints but all the little guys blow past me when the grade hits over 5% and goes on for more than 30 seconds...

Definitely true. Unfortunately for me almost all of the races I know of are criteriums so my best (realistic) hope is for a pack finish.