Senior Member
Or more to the point, what is a fixed gear bike--I assume it only has one gear. So, you have to pedal harder, right? Excuse my ignorance, I'm just trying to get some basic info.
I have two road bikes and like them very much: for training purposes, is it useful to get a fixed gear bike?? What are the benefits? What will take some getting used to? Do they cost more or less than a usual road bike?
Any answers would be helpful. Thanks!
I have two road bikes and like them very much: for training purposes, is it useful to get a fixed gear bike?? What are the benefits? What will take some getting used to? Do they cost more or less than a usual road bike?
Any answers would be helpful. Thanks!
Member
Cheap? Yeah. Fun to ride? Yeah. Great for fitness? Yeah.
One other benefit that my be less evident is the mechanical know-how you gain from putting one together. It makes the most sense to convert an older road bike to a fixed gear by putting on a rear wheel with a fixed or fixed/free flip flop hub. And in doing the conversion, adding, tuning, and removing unnceccesary parts, I learned a whole lot about bike mechanics. I don't know how much you know about them now, but this should be factored in.
One other benefit that my be less evident is the mechanical know-how you gain from putting one together. It makes the most sense to convert an older road bike to a fixed gear by putting on a rear wheel with a fixed or fixed/free flip flop hub. And in doing the conversion, adding, tuning, and removing unnceccesary parts, I learned a whole lot about bike mechanics. I don't know how much you know about them now, but this should be factored in.
biggest benefit for training is that you get stronger by muscling up hills (rathter than shifting down), and faster by spinning on the downhills (rather than shifting up).
Really not a lot of true training benefit over simply not-shifting your road bike, and always peddling. Most people dont have that discipline.
There are other advantages outside of 'training', though... most notably the simplicity of the machine (no maintenance) and the connection to the road (no coasting).
they typically cost less than a road bike because theres far fewer parts. you can even make one from one of your current bikes for under 200 bucks. or just set the deraileur limit screws and see what you think.
Really not a lot of true training benefit over simply not-shifting your road bike, and always peddling. Most people dont have that discipline.
There are other advantages outside of 'training', though... most notably the simplicity of the machine (no maintenance) and the connection to the road (no coasting).
they typically cost less than a road bike because theres far fewer parts. you can even make one from one of your current bikes for under 200 bucks. or just set the deraileur limit screws and see what you think.
