Fixed gear off roadin'
 

Okay, the conversions continue...

I'm debating going fixed rather than SS on my Brodie Electro. Anyone here have experience on fixie's offroad? I'm kind of concerned about catching a crank or completely losing my meagre bunny hop ability.

Been to 63xc.xom for anyone who might offer it up. I'd like some personal experiences with offroad fixin')

how offroad are you talking?

..definitely get some pegs for the rear for big downhills :)

I love fixies, but wouldn't want one doing technical singletrack. There'd just be too much unwanted pedal-bashing involved.

Wazis dat? Pegs?

..gotta get back on the pegs so you can bomb big downhills w/o worrying about the pedals ;)

http://www.63xc.com/

That would freak me out - standing on the pegs and watching the pedals spin like mad, waiting to eat my shins the moment I hit a rought spot and my fot slips.

Offroad as in technical shrubbery action, little to no grooming on the trails, occasional 70 degree descents, roots, tombstones, stumps galore. Not technical downhill or freeriding.

Cheers

Cam

i think it might be managable if you're doing more cross country stuff and you take your time. i have heard of at least one guy who races a fixed mtb professionally. i guess he's exceptionally phenominal though. i think pedal position/clearance would be your biggest conflict. i've also seen bike videos of guys doing northshore stunts, technical downhill, trials, etc. on unicycles. those are fixed... hahaha but they are pro as well. perhaps you could setup a fixed/free setup and give it a whirl. i've never ridden a fixed mtb, but i've ridden my fixies on stuff rougher than i probably should be going over with road slicks and no brakes, but it has just been on rough dirt trails or roads, nothing single track oriented. my mtb is a ss, and i find that challenging enough; but i do more freeriding and technical downhill than cross country riding. i would think it would be hard to have a ratio that is capable of climbing, but not too low that you spin like mad with any sort of speed. a 29" mtb might be a better canidate than a 26" for clearance issues. i say go for it if you think you can manage. you're the best judge of your abilities.

I've seen some MTB unicyclers around on the trails I ride (mainly technical singletrack and XC). I didn't notice if they had something like pegs or not but that would definately be scary.

What I think I'll do is go SS for a bit and see how it feels., and do the simulated fixed thing by not coasting and see how much brush I eat....

Cheers

Cam

I've done fire roads and such on a fixed, but I'm not sure how well I'd do on the more technical stuff. I'd build up a fixed wheel for the bike, regardless - you can always throw a freewheel on it if not being able to coast doesn't work out.

i dont think its possible to ride a unicycle without having your feet on the pedals (or on pegs). you need to have control of your positioning in order to stay upright. correct me if im wrong though... i only ride my unicycle occasionally. i cant imagine riding one on mtb trails... :eek:

I've done fire roads and single track that wasn't too rooty on my Van Dessel with a 44 x 16t (74".)
One of our nearby rail trails has many miles of natural sections that I use for part of a 30 mile loop.
I can jump the small stuff, and carry it over the rest. When this (American Tobacco) trail is completed
it will make for a 52 mile down and back...with over a half being on natural surface or fine packed gravel.

I'd love to do the Virginia Creeper Trail someday this year.

Van Dessel sells a fixed/ss hubbed 700c wheel set that handles cyclo-cross width tires.

Dirt Rag had some half-assed article on this an issue or two ago. Didn't look like much fun to me. I guess I am an Asphalt snob or something...or maybe my knees took over my brain and made me glance at the article and then move on.

i think that article was more eighth-assed...

Do I hear tenth-assed?

hahaha

no kidding. i felt embarassed for them that they even bothered printing it. even more embarassed for myself for buying the issue without looking at the quality (or lack there of) of the article that made me buy it in the first place.

it was 3 pics I think and some lame-o words. Embarassing, but maybe not their thing (you know, writing effectively about fixed gear). Dunno, that mag is a little too little at times. I thought about doing a "street Rag" version, or parody, of Dirt Rag for a while.

it ain't too shabby.. my very first ride i said 'this sucks', then after the second
ride i got a better 'zen feel' for where the cranks are at all times and haven't
really had any probs since. the hardest are log crossings--many of those i have
to walk, i do it with flat pedals and a thin back tire--makes skids easy. the strangest
thing is literally riding the brakes for minutes at a time to regulate the crank rpm for
control on downhills. Sound too involved, nah--it's much like riding a bike. My 'sweet'
bike was down for repair so i HAD to ride fixed offroad. Overall, a person can do more
on a regular bike--duh! But there's nothing like motoring through the trees--no coasting--just flow..... Sh*t, now i wanna go ride and it's midnight! :-)

I ride fixed off-road quite a bit, everything from buff singletrack to rock gardens and log piles. Bunny hopping is a little tricky, jumping is a blast (keep pedaling in the air) and big logs are a crap shoot. You'll clip your cranks in the rock gardens a lot more but it usually isn't a problem. It really helps you sharpen your skills. Go for it and have fun.

hey riderx, a little off topic, but do you know when the ONE GEAR GOOD BEER singlespeed rally is this year? i cant wait!