hahaha 'zen up in this *****'

just because you can mash up a tough hill and spin down fine does not mean it is good for your knees.

i think fixies are fun but these days i'm on the roadie much more often, even for commuting.

also, aside from hills, gears are also useful for battling headwinds (the invisible killer).

We are the knights who say "knee"!

Problem is hills don't get EASY until your gear-inches get pretty low. Low a in 60 gear-inches low.

You can't just start riding a fixed gear at 60 gear-inches. You'll hate it. Most people get on a fixed gear bike geared around 80 gear-inches (~48x16). And hate the hills. You'll have to train your legs/body to run 60 gear-inches comfortably. This takes time.

Add in to all of this that EVERYBODY assumes that 'training' means working up in gear-inches, making it harder to pedal. Wrong, wrong, wrong. You're riding a fixed gear to spin. Training means learning how to spin FASTER; this means going down in gear-inches.

Learning how to spin takes time. Being comfortable on big hills (both up and down) with a fixed gear takes time. At 60 gear-inches (47/21) I'll end up spinning out at 160-190 at the bottom of the big hills on my commute.

Get bigger a cog! And learn how to spin your legs faster. Works wonders for headwinds too.

Communte to the university is 16 miles for me. And the univerisity is on top of a mountain. 16 miles flat land 45 minutes 16 miles up a side of a mountain? 2 hours.

Gets easy everyday. Well not really been doing it for a year now.

This week it was raining. Oh joy.

That was my strategy. Mine is 48/19. I like to spin, and it makes cycling through hilly areas possible without damaging my knees.

I think it's kinda difficult without intense music to help you up...


I'll just leave this here

seems a little nuts, on both ends. Going down that brakeless is
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFi...351/769774.jpg

I find fixed gear bikes VERY practical on hills, and especially on rolling hills where I don't have a long, prolonged (20 miles) climb.

Please note that the Surly Steamroller comes correctly geared with a 44 tooth chain ring, a 19 tooth cog, and 32 mm tires; which gives a gear ration of 62.5 gear inches.

Go to the following site in to understand gear inches:

http://software.bareknucklebrigade.c...it.applet.html

Ride at 61 to 63 (45 X 19 with 23 mm tires) gear inches and you'll have a great time learning to spin.

I average 15 mph loafing around town, and I can average up to 19 mph across town (15 miles) with only a little extra effort, and that includes stop lights and stop signs.

Just give up your emotional attachment to coasting and going super fast down hill.

Learn to spin.

Great fun, including super control, precision and safety.

I worried about the same thing, but got a fg anyway. Now I ride it on my commute every day, about 20 miles all told.

68 gear inches feels about right, and it turns out that going up the hills is easier than I thought, but that going down them is annoying.

Yeah, I have read the lower the gear the better.

I ride with 67.2 in kinda a hilly area. Only been riding fixed gear for a couple of months, but always noticing that I can ride down a hill without bouncing when I have bounced on that hill before.

But I would say fixed gear for hilly commutes is very practical and a great workout. They aren't practical to ride around the world with, but for a 10 mile commute twice a day, they are.

:thumb: Spinning is fun!