You have to get out of the saddle and push. Just hope you don't shart.

Yes, this is a real phenomenon. But, work with it awhile and you'll do great. I now fixed foof with great regularity and comfort. On good days a little sinks into my Brooks and I swear I can smell it minutes later.

The OP said "track bike" but he might have meant fixed gear.

Track bikes typically have a more aerodynamic riding position that puts significantly more weight on the handlebars and front wheel.

In comparison, a street fixed gear bike could still have a track frame, with a track frame's handling (and which I like), but with a riding position that suits the rider's preferences.

I commute and do all my transportation on a fixed gear bike.

My main bike has track geometry, but I have put a setback seatpost on it and flipped the six degree stem up, which gives me a more balanced position on the bike and makes the bike much more agile and user friendly.

The typical street fixed gear bike has a gear ratio somewhere between 72 gear inches and 78 gear inches, which allows a physically fit rider to cruise at about 20 mph.

I have geared WAY down to 61 gear inches, which allows me to comfortably cruise at 15 mph, and, because of my low gearing I have developed a very fluid spin that allows me to cruise at 20 mph with a little effort.

The 61 gear inches, though, also gives me great acceleration at intersections, as well as allowing me to ride safely without a brake (it took me four years of concentrated practice to get to the no-brake skill level, so please ride with a front brake).

Having no front brake makes frosty, icy mornings safer, since I don't have any possibility of subconsciously hitting the front brake and going down.

For the OP, I recommend a cheap but good dual pivot front brake with the brake lever in a handy position for use.

A single-speed free-wheeling bike means the rider will never learn to brake with his pedals, and so he will remain forever dependent on his brakes, and thus he will remain liable to a front brake fall on frosty or icy pavement.

I also have a fixed gear mountain bike set up with mega-fat studded tires for snow and ice, and I get around town on this bike when nothing else can move on the roads except the sand/snow-plow trucks.

This bike has cantilever brakes fore and aft, and, although I never use the brakes, I can foresee needing them in some of the conditions in which I ride.

I commute 15 miles round trip, and each leg takes about 30 minutes (stoplights included).

The worst part about commuting fixed is showing up for work drenched in sweat.

I never thought about that, but you're right and it's hilarious. You should win humorous post of the day. Now I'm going to be thinking about this when I flip my rear wheel...

Trek 520, need's different bars. The only reason why I have flat bars is because I don't want to unravel bar tape on other bars, or buy a new quill stem that opens up.

That would be the way to go. I have my Trek 660 set up as a fixed gear and refer to it as my commuter, but it requires p-clips and zipties for fenders and even if I did something similar for a rack, the chainstays are so short it wouldn't be worth it.

Next Paycheck=TT bars or Bull Horns, and a freewheel for the flip flop

wat

Commute is probably the wrong word, but I ride around campus on the track bike to class, to Boston at night after class, and anywhere else i need to go, not a designated location, but it gets me there for sure.

+1

I commute about 50-60 miles a week through the summer and about 30 miles a week during the school year on my Fixie, I bought it specifically for commuting to work I have yet to throw fenders on it but I know those days are coming, I can bring my bike inside so although I have a cable, lock and Ulock I don't use them much. I dropped about 45lbs of post surgical cripple weight from my commute which is another big plus. As was said pick your gearing carefully I would suggest lower by a couple of inches than you think because you will be pushing in all kinds of conditions, for example this morning left at 4:50 as usual and because it was cold and I had both a tailwind and a hill helping me I maintained a average cadence of 120 rpms from my door to work, of course my trip home was into the wind and uphill which left me struggling to maintain 60 rpms for a bulk of the ride, I push 71 inches

+1

I just did a conversion to fixed gear from an old Schwinn Traveler. I found a Mavic wheel set and Sugino crank set really cheap in the local classifieds from a former messenger and some handlebars his friend had lying around. The chain line isn't perfect but other than that it's been great for my commute. The whole thing cost me a little over $200 and I got some experience putting together a bike. Hills were rough at first, but now I enjoy the challenge and the simplicity of the climb. I do something like 13 miles round trip with a 200 ft climb (the hill is 3 or 4 blocks long) and really enjoy it.

No, I meant track bike. I'm gladly not an ignoramus.

To everyone else: I found a pretty decent deal on an '09 Fuji Track Comp and that's why I'm asking. I know it has a hole for a brake in the fork (at least it looks like that in this picture) which makes me think that it wasn't made entirely for the track and makes me wonder if it'd be decent for riding on the street/commuting. I live in NYC so the roads are pretty decent and I'm just wondering how I would fare. Not to sound like a trend follower, but obviously other ride around NYC and other big cities on track bikes, so it couldn't be that bad. Also, my commute isn't very long, but I'd ride it elsewhere to varying distances. Would I be better off with a Mark V? For some reason, I'm especially attracted to the Fuji over the IRO...

I have a Motobecane team track, which is quite similar to that Fuji. It is a fun bike that I ride to class/around town. It definitely makes my short rides feel more fun/more challenging. Anything longer than 20 miles at a go would probably start to get obnoxious.

+666

FL summers r hott

I ride the Windsor Timeline, added some fenders. The frame can rattle your teeth, but if you have smooth rodes its a sweet quick ride.

I think youll be perfectly fine commuting with the fuji track comp. Get whatever bike you want and make it work for your needs. My commuter varies between a pos mountain bike (snow), my visp tarck (rain, less snow), and my fuji tarck pro (nice weather).

Commuting on track bikes makes commuting fun

Edit: just realized this thread is from 09 :x

I commuted fixed gear for years, a new job provents that, for now. Bike was set up fixed, 42x16, front brake, 700x23 Specialized Armadillos, front light and rear blinky, no fenders, one water bottle. I rode it in that setup year round(Northeast) with never an issue.

Pretty much this.

I'll add my 2 cents. I have been using my Bianchi Pista as a commuter bike for the past 7 years. Having a fixed-gear bike as a commuter is not per se bad, but a track-specific bike like the orginal Bianchi Pista has a bot of limitations. With no braze ons for water bottles, no eyelets for racks, and tire clearance up to 28c max (32 if you file your fork a tad), you end of making a lot of compromises. My bike is now somewhat of a Frankenbike in that I have a seatpost clip on rear fender, a seat-post clamp rear rack and a water bottle secured to the downtube with hose clamps and old inner tubes. With the tire clearance the way it is, I can only use my Pista once the ice/snow melts or else risk major wipe outs.

I love the bike and love commuting on it....But I really wish they were selling the San Jose when I was in the market for a bike....Being able to fit larger tires, water bottles, fenders, and canti-brakes would make life soooo much easier.

Also, as much as I love riding fixed, there are times in the early morning when having a freewheel would be very nice.

I wish I was within reasonable fixed-gear commuting distance of my job. I'm sure I'll get adventurous someday and give it a go, but considering I have a 29 mile commute each way my TT bike is what I reach for on bike commute mornings.

My "commuter" is a Surly Long Haul Trucker, but I only use it about once a week, when I bring a load of laundry back and forth from work, and anything else that I need to haul. Otherwise I ride a track bike or road bike, weather permitting, and carry nothing, except for lunch in my jersey pockets, and do extra miles.

Funny Ken mentions training for 4 years to ride Brakeless. I was talking to a hipster type by the Bike kitchen who was a super nice guy who bar spun a 700 with bullhorns on his 722TS despite it lacking clearance "yeah, you just have to hit it through with a bit of force, watch." haha.

But he said something similar to that, claiming he rode for about 5 years with a brake before he ditched it.

That being said. You've pretty much received all the advice you need. I'd only suggest checking out this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...dly-drops-bars regarding the discussion to seat to bar drop because on my new build I'm dealing with the craziest drop I've ever had and I'm finding it harsh on my shoulders, arms and hands for longer rides. It's worth considering especially if you're like me and consider anything under 30 miles to be short

P.S. Also be warned, fat aero tubes and deep section wheels = riding hands free in a cross can throw you.