So it was a humid 88 degrees here in St. Louis and I decided to take my new Moto Track out. I took the factory cages and straps off and replaced them with my Spds from my road bike. Put the front brake on and off I went. Wow! Fixed gear riding is not for the faint of heart. I forgot i couldn't coast a dozen times. I couldn't get my brake and feet to work in harmony. I felt a burning pain in my legs from going up hills that I haven't felt in years. No problems with the clipless pedals though. This is gonna take me more road time to get used to handling not being able to coast.

Good, now do it again, and again, and repeat

I actually want to go ride more despite being tired and hungry.

Eat, rest, go for a night ride. I for one enjoy riding at night with my fixed gear more than my road bike

There is something magical about a ride at night especially if it is very quite out. About coasting, you will learn not to want to coast very soon. When you ride your other bike you will miss the fact that you can't coast.

My first fixed ride was mentally kind of obnoxious thinking too much which is not why I ride. After probably 5 rides fixed I did not think about being fixed at all and I love riding fixed. My rides are more like road bike rides then commuter type rides. Today I did 40 miles on the road and I think coasting would have bothered me although you do learn to not pedal even though you are pedaling.

not only that, but you'll appreciate the effect of the backpedal. after months of not riding fixed (had my bikes stolen), i just bought a fg/ss three days ago but it's running the freewheel (haven't found my wrench to flip the wheel). i have never ridden ss before and braking on a ss is SCARY. i kept trying to backpedal to help me slow down cuz i feared going over my handlebars.

i'm flipping that ho soon

Ok Ive heard about "backpedal" on a fixed gear but I don't quite understand. I know brakeless fixed gear riders skid by locking their legs up but how do you backpedal as the common rider? Just resist the pedals?

Yessir.

yes, i kept trying to phrase it differently and couldn't find the set of words. "resisting the pedals" is the correct phrase.

Being new to fixed, I had my second around town ride today. Still feeling very weird. I got the pretend coasting thing now, but starting and stopipng is still an adventure. I have sore muscles in places I didn't even know I had muscles, all from the resist factor to slow down.

Haha, flip that ho asap, or get a rear brake. [don't go over the bars, please]

Make sure to budget for new pants. You'll develop massive quads that won't fit in your skinny jeans.

I love fixed gear. Ive had my bike for about a month and switched to single speed for a little while after being comfortable with fixed and it just seemed too bland.

The first time I rode fixed I was like "wtf this is awesome" and came back home with a biker's high that lasted like five hours.

i know! as i said... never ran singlespeed, i never understood the feeling of needing a rear brake till now. some of the hills in my daily commute to school are so steep but i can't go too fast cuz it's too neighborhood-y, with cars coming out of nowhere and others parked along the sidewalk.

i don't like ss anyways. and getting a rear brake is just extra cost when i already have a cog.

glad you're loving it man. The first few rides are a pain but just keep pushing it. You will feel right at home in no time. Riding SS felt so strange the last time I tried.

I thought I'd share my limited first experience. I just rode to the bank, about a five minute round trip at most, after flipping to the fixed hub on my new single speed bike.

Like everyone else has said, it is weird. It was such a short ride that I didn't get much of feel for it. The first thought I had was "oh ****! I can't stop!" Of course I have brakes, but I had a sense of momentum when I hopped down a curb or had to slow down to a stop and couldn't coast to a stop. Going down hill was the scariest, especially because I have no straps or clips on my pedals. I love going really slow on the fixed hub, especially on the sidewalk when there are a lot of people. There's so much more control.

I'm going to keep it a fixie for now, partly because it was such a pain to switch it over and get the chain tension right.