The Octopus 

I'm two weeks new to the fixed thing and am coming into it from a lifetime of urban riding and commuting and a half a decade of road cycling, mostly doing ultra-distance (stuff longer than 100 miles -- as long as 750 miles in one shot, under time and without support) riding and racing.

This past weekend, I took a whack at a 2-day, 210-mile ride (TOSRV) on the fixie and it was a total blast. Among the 2,500 riders, I saw one guy on a SS and heard that there was another fixie rider out there, but I never net him/her. I loved the experience, and I loved that I had to turn the pedals over every inch of the route. And people were blown away by the bike and all the comments were super positive and supportive. It's clear most roadies would never think of riding fixed over any distance (if they'd think about it at all). The number of people who do distance fixed is a true handful.

If all goes well as I continue to ride the bike and gain confidence on it, I'm going to attempt a 400K event (256 miles) at the end of the month fixed and then possibly a 1200K this fall.

I've talked the the distance gurus about riding fixed, but I haven't sought the counsel from the Fixie Federation about riding distance. They're pretty disparate cultures, and I'd love to have the perspective and wisdom of both as I set about some new cycling challenges. So, do any of you guys and gals take the bike out for more than a few hours at a time? Any thoughts, advice, comments, or words of wisdom or warning for a newbie fixed rider who wants to see just how far (and fast) he can go on one gear with no coasting?

Oh, almost forgot, the bike is an IRO Jamie Roy with FSA Vigorelli cranks (yes, I know they have issues and will likely need to be replaced soon) and an EAI cog (1/8"). Standard (Easton, aluminium) road bars with f/r Cane Creek caliper brakes. The gearing is 49x18 (73.5"). Phil Woods laced to Deep Vs with Wheelsmith spokes and brass nipples (they're totally sweet). Stock giant carbon seatpost; Origin 8 carbon fork with very little rake; CK headset; Selle Italia Flite saddle and Time Impact pedals.

Mods: Pretty please don't move this thread to the LD forum; would like the perspective of the folks here, many of whom probably don't visit LD. Gracias.

Cy Trivialities

I did 50 miles the other day on 50x16. Thinking about doing a Century in about a month. I'd probably lower the gearing down to 50x18 for that.

PedallingATX

I was wondering this myself. I came to fixed from a road bike background and was used to doing really long rides. I was thinking about getting a light, aluminum/CF fixie to take on long rides instead of the road bike, but ultimately decided against it.

I still think I am going to try and do 100 mile rides on the fixed, but road bikes will always be better for that purpose. You can go up steeper hills, go faster on the flats, coast, and have more control over how much energy you expend. I think it's REALLY cool that you are looking into this, and I admire your ambition. I think I am giong to try and do some 80-120 mile rides on the fixed, but will probably stick with the road bike on those kind of rides for the most part.

Good luck!

P.S.---you must be in really good shape if you're doing those rides.

Erzulis Boat

Granted, I am not doing Centuries on my fixed, but I do put some miles down.

My biggest "Eureka" with the bike was getting the bars just right for position. A fixie will never give you a break, and not being able to get a decent bar position for upper body support is a killer for me. I currently run relatively wide moustache bars with a stem 10mm shorter than normal (road bike). I can stretch out comfortably on rides in excess of 2 hours.

Even standing, you gotta crank it over. Just my observation.

CliftonGK1

Octo, I thought I was in the LD forum when I saw your post here.

I'm all set for a century on my fixed gear this Saturday. The course has about 6000' of climbing, IIRC from last year, and there are a couple 2 mile climbs with long 9% grade sections in there... just for fun.

I ride a 1988 Trek 400 with 42/18 gearing on 105sc (c. 1991) cranks mated to an IRO high flange rear hub. I built my wheels myself around some old Wolber 32h Alpine rims, threw a B-17 and a pair of cloth wrapped Salsa M/A Bell Lap bars on it, and set everything as close as I could to the measurements from my brevet bike fit session.

I've done a few 100k rides on it, but this will be my first shot at a full century. In riding around on the hills, I've learned a few things. I like to scrub speed with my brakes on downhills I spin out, rather than backpressure. It keeps my energy stores high for the next climb when I'm not resisting the pedals. Change your climbing style during long climbs. If you vary between sitting and standing, you're less likely to wear out on prolonged ascents. I've got a couple of 3 mile doozies that I've been riding, and I figured out that a smooth slow cadence isn't necessarily a bad thing. If your knees don't hurt, then you're not destroying them. Sometimes, I'm rolling up hills at a seated cadence under 40rpm, just powering my way up the hill.

Truthfully, knowing the kind of mileage you do on you geared brevet bike, try and set the fixed gear bike as close to that setup as you can, and you will be fine.

kevinsaari

I've only been riding for about two months, but I've already done a handful of 50+ mile rides. Once I am done with school, I plan on doing several 100+ mile rides this summer. I don't have much to add, except that it's something that I love doing.

I'd love to ride some road rides/races on my fixed gear this summer, though I'm not sure what the reaction would be.

Sixty Fiver

I seem to have been doing all my century rides on my fixed gear bikes and it was not unusual for me to rack up as many as 100 urban km a day on my fixed bikes as well.

I plan on riding across Canada on a fixed gear...I think that is a fair distance.

For that kind of epic ride I will need to carry extra cogs to handle the mountain passes or set up a 2 by 2 and carry different length chain... or both.

gottliver

great thread!
i've been doing 25 to 40 mile rides 3 -4 times a week for the last 2 months. Doing 65 miles on sunday. Its the Mauntauck century. don't think i can handle a century yet so im sticking with the 65'er. im riding a fairly stock steamroller with a b17 and panaracer tserv (front) and ribmo (back) both 28c and spds. very much looking forward to the ride!
Mark

CliftonGK1

Forgot to mention my tires: 28mm Vittoria Randonneur Cross

They're comfortable and reasonably flat proof, although on my rims they're a wicked tight fit. So much that it's actually easier for me to swap my cog and freewheel than turn the tire around (it's a directional tread).

Sixty Fiver

Treads on road tyres are pretty much useless and I often set them up so the proper tread direction is aligned with the higher cog and the reverse coincides with the lower gearing...on the semi slick tyres I have on my winter bike it actually makes for a slightly more aggressive tyre but on road tyres...there is really no difference.

lemurhouse

Long distance on fixed gear is good fun and really not that tough once you are used to it. Or I should say that 100 miles is no biggie. I do that pretty regularly, but do not have experience doing longer brevets or ultra distance rides of the type you are thinking about. There is a subset of ultra riders & racers who ride fixed, and if you google the PBP or LEL and fixed gear you'll find a couple of guys who have written about their experiences including bike setups, gearing, tire sizes and the like. Furnace Creek 508 has a fixed gear division and there are some write-ups of that as well.

Bike setup is important, IMO. I can't imagine riding a true track bike over roads for that distance. Or a bike with with the kind of aggressive or urban setup that one sees here and on the street. I have a track bike, but all of my long distance fixed gear riding is on an old steel frame w/classic road geometry and corresponding setup.

Syscrush

I like this thread.

The OP has more distance experience than probably anyone I've seen posting in the SSFG forum, so I have real doubts about anyone here being able to give you helpful advice. But good on ya for what you've done so far and what you have planned.

I'm ~40 lbs overweight right now, so I'm slow everywhere and wheeze a lot up hills - last year I did my first century on a hybrid set up for touring. I'm confident that I could do an easy century without too much climbing on my fixie if it was just about the legs, but it's also set up with much more aggressive ergos and the rest of my bod couldn't handle it. I would like to do a 100km ride before too long, though - even if it would take a few days for my wrists, shoulders, and ass to recover.

Carlovahnsexron

I'm very impressed at those distances, OP. I went straight from not biking for years to fixed, then switched to SS a few months ago because it reminded me of the fun, simple bikes I rode as a kid. I regularly do 20 mile rides, and my furthest is a little over 30. I'm training for the west georgia 100 that a friend and I signed up for, but 100 miles is too much for me, so I'm set for the 65 mile distance. I'm not too worried about it, since even on my longer rides i'm not very tired by the end, and that's with little or no water and in jeans and a t-shirt

LoRoK

I have no problem with riding distance fixed, but I have a problem riding distance on track geometry after about 80 miles or so. I'm going to buy a new riser stem and some ¿moustache? bars for riding distance. Maybe just some nice, ergo road drops with dummy hoods or something. If your bike is comfortable you can pedal forever.

EricBikesFixed

I did 25 the other day, compared to the 5 mile rides i usually do, this one was a lot of fun, looking to do even longer soon.

bmw5nkj

coming from a mountain biking background in my childhood, i never rode more than 20 miles at once. last week, i took my fixed gear on a sacramento trip, about 30 miles total. it was pretty fun, going on the big flat roads with a 48x15 ratio. i could've went longer, but my roommate was dying 25 miles into the ride. i'm looking to ride 50 miles, and slowly increase to 100 someday.

Mazaev

It's fun. I did the NYC century on my old Pista last year and had no issues at all, riding about 130 miles that day. Just that my hands were quite sore. Think I'm gonna be a bit of a masochist and try doing the 145 mile Montauk century this weekend on the new TK2 but I'm a bit worried about the somewhat stupidly aggressive track geometry beating me up.

gottliver: What gearing are you planning to use? I normally have 48x17 for getting around town, and a 15 for hanging with the roadies in Prospect Park. Trying to decide between the 15 or a 16. It's a very flat ride, and I'm hoping to find a fast paceline off the bat, but think I'm gonna fatigue myself with the 15 a little too quick.

On the whole though, I really enjoy the extra challenge in doing longer rides fixed. My road bike is properly fitted and set up to be very comfortable, which somehow makes things a bit boring. I'd say most important is to have proper saddle position, as the repetitive and non-stop pedaling of long distance rides will really screw with your knees if you're not set up properly. Just ask slvoid. :-)

bbattle

My Raleigh is set up with a double chainring and a Surly Dingle cog. I can actually get three gears this way. If I flip the hub, I can get two freewheel gears. The Rivendell Quickbeam has really long dropouts and runs a double chainring with an 8tooth difference. Wider than my setup. Could be just the ticket for getting across Canada.

The Octopus 

Thanks for all the good insights and advice.

It seems like ensuring and maintaining comfort on the bike is going to be a big issue. I found in my first foray into distance on the fixie that I couldn't use all the usual tricks in my bag to keep the contact points (hands, butt, feet) comfortable. There's no coasting and standing to stretch out on the pedals. And I found myself seated a lot more than usual. Turns out there's a narrow range of cadences where I like to stand and on the FG I either had to slow down or use the terrain to slow down to achieve those cadences (as opposed to just throwing another few cogs on the fire and then standing up). I think in time I'll get more comfortable standing when turning a higher cadence. What other tricks do you folks use to maintain comfort on the bike?

I'm sure in time I'll figure out the track stand (turns out that, though I can track stand on a geared bike forever -- or at least for a light cycle at a major intersection -- I'd always initiated the track stand with a preceding coast and breaking that habit is a work in progress). Unclipping and clipping back in is a pain and saps energy. On the truly long stuff, I just don't want to spend the energy getting in and out of pedals. Sounds silly, but ride 750 miles sometime and you'll see!

Thanks for the comments about the bike set up and fit. I had the guy who built the bike (from stuff I'd been acquiring for years; after finally realizing that I had no time to build a bike, I turned the job over to a professional) fit it exactly to the bike I've successfully used for long rides. I mean, it's exact. I'm wondering, though, whether I might want to shorten the stem a touch so I'm less stretched out. That might be more comfortable given the inability to generate comfort in other ways.

The bars probably have to go. They're the 26mm aluminum Easton EA30, which is otherwise a fine bar, but aluminum can be pretty buzz-y over long distance. The AL IRO frame definitely needs as much dampening as possible, so there might be an upgrade in the near future to an oversized carbon bar to help dissipate some of the road buzz. I'll probably also add aerobars (now there's a look you probably don't see much of in the SS/FG community!) for the flat-ish 1200K, if that's a "go," to add more riding positions.

I should probably also go with some fatter, lower-pressure tires. The 23C Conti 4000s are a sweet (albeit expensive) ride and provide flawless handling, but even the most comfortable 23mm tire (which these are not) will pale in comparison to a 25 or 28.

gottliver

Mazaev - I'm riding the stock 48x19 that came w/the bike. I find it lets me spin around 80rpm comfortably, its a bit low for the downhills, but like life, everything is a trade off! Good luck with the 145! PM me your contact info, maybe we can ride a mile or 3 together? Wonder how many fixies their will be. This will be my longest ride yet, im going for 50 miles today, rest tomorrow then mauntauck in the rain!!

Syscrush

I don't have any bar recommendations, but I can tell you that buzz in bars results in a large number of fast, involuntary muscle contractions in your forearms. This is what causes arm pump and numbness, tingling, and fatigue. I don't know if arm pump is a concern in distance cycling, but it sure is in motocross racing (where you've got a single-cylinder engine turning the machine into a vibration factory). Different people have different sensitivity to it, but if you feel any buzz, it'll be worth tracking down given the amount of time you'll be spending on that bike.

gottliver

OP - i find that seated comfort and contact points to be the biggest factor in riding distance on a fixed. I've not done the mileage you have, but on the shorter rides that i have been doing over the last year, this has been what has held me back.

Some things that have helped me - tilting the road bar slightly higher than normal. Without hoods i found it hard to get a comfortable hand position that would mimic everyones favorite. By tilting the bar slightly higher it "flattened" the section where the bar curves and drops. Now its super comfy. I explore all the nooks and crannies of the bar. There are many positions available.

Butt - B17 I found seats w/cutouts tend to do more harm than good - the edges become pressure points as the padding is compressed over a long ride. As well, a slightly higher position will alleviate pressure from your twigs and berries and place it on the sit bones where you want it. Realized yesterday that a micro adjust seatpost will be my next upgrade so i can dial in the exact tilt I want. Now its either a bit high or a bit low.

As for not being able to stand to relieve pressure, that is a draw back to fixie riding. All i have found is sliding back on the saddle the change the pressure points. Taking a 2 minute rest to stretch hamstrings, groin, quads and calves makes all the difference. So far i have to do this after about 25 miles.

28mm tires definitely make the ride smoother, I'me sure you will love going to 25s.I remember the ride of my Michelin Supercomp HD 23mm, smooth, fast and never flatted, wish they still made 'em. Wore out quick though. Changing a flat on a bolt on hub during a LD ride is not an option for me, so im sticking with the panaracers. smooth enough and they seem to be bomb proof. No flats in NYC for over a year!!!

palu

This guy did a similar distance recently.

https://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...d.php?t=172502

You guys are nuts.

CliftonGK1

Octo, I'm not out there on the 1200k rides yet, but I've done a few double centuries and 300k rides so I know a bit about distance rides.

How much do you think the Al bars are really contributing to a chattery ride feel? I've got Salsa M/A Bell Laps on both my drop bar bikes, and on my fixed gear they're just a plain cloth wrap sealed with shellac. Maybe it's the overall difference in our bikes (mine = steel bike, 28mm mid-pressure tires; yours = Al frame and 23mm hi-pres. tires) that really contributes to the vibration.

If you can fit them, a 28mm tire running under max pressure will smooth out the ride quite a bit. Do you roll tires that narrow when you ride long brevets? I used to run 25mm tires, and switched to 28mm in the same model (Gatorskin) which gave me some extra cushion even at 115psi. Now I'm swapping both 700c bikes to the Vittoria Randonneur Cross 28mm. They only hold 85psi max, but they're such a smooth ride.
Of course, if you're looking to conserve energy and maximize speed on a grand randonee, you might want to go with a tire like the Gatorskin or a Gran Bois (I think they make a 27 or 28mm Cypres).

RunninWild

I've owned my dawes sst for 3 weeks now and last weekend me and some buds put on 40 miles out of town and then on tuesday we put on 30 miles in town. I would like to figure out a more comfortable setup for my bike and shoot for a century by the end of summer because as of now my bike is all original execpt a crank bros headset.


Great thread guys and will be very useful for info