dolphin62

Like the headline said 50 soon and I would like to learn to ride fixed gear as part of my bucket list. The real question is...is this a resonable request or should I just act my age and just be happy to ride my single speed?

I have a single speed with a flip/flop hub, but if I'm going to give this a try I'm going all out. I'm going to buy a new bike all set up with a fixed gear. Hey it's better than a rolex and cheaper than a Porch....probley moore fun.

I'm thinking about buying a Surly Steamroller. With it's larger tires and heavy frame I thought this would be a good bike to learn on. Any comments on this good or bad let me know.

One moore thing were to learn? I have 2 large empty parking lots by my house. there from supermarkets that went out of buisness. both are moslty flat and get very little if any traffic. would these make good places learn to ride?

any help would be great.

vainglorious

nothing wrong with wanting to learn to ride fixed at any age!

i don't think you have to 'learn' how to ride fixed.. it only takes your brain a little while to get adjusted to not being able to coast, and soon enough you will get the hang of it.

if you are planning on learning tricks, that's another story altogether

ddeadserious

Learning to ride a fixed gear bike is not particularly difficult, it's just different. Just make sure you run brakes(at least a front) until you're very comfortable being able to stop without using the brakes. Unless you have really bad knees, there's no reason you couldn't ride a fixed gear.

If you already have a single speed with a flip-flop hub, I don't really see any reason not to install a cog/lockring on the other side if it's threaded properly. It would be much cheaper for you to find out if you really enjoy it before you drop a couple hundred on a whole new bike.

andrizzle

Go for it! why not?

IMO it would probably be more economical to simply make a $40 investment in (lockring / cog) for your flip-flop, try it out in the parking lots and if you like it, go for the Steamroller (i'm a fan of mine and i'm not a weight weeeeeeenie)

Cheerio my friend. good luck!

carleton

Dolphin62, you'll be fine.

Also, have a look in the 40+ thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ed-Gear-Thread

phsycle

There are plenty of 50+ dudes that ride fixed. Do you know who Sam "Seal" Beal is? He did the Furnace Creek 508 on a fixed gear at 50+ years of age. I don't think there are many of the younger 20-30 year olds here that can do that.

Nuggetross

most definitely cheaper than a porch.

max5480

although it would raise the value of your house and in these tough times that might not be a bad idea.

LapinAgile

It's somewhat of a discipline actually; I flipped the hub on my Langster to try it, but felt it left little time for drift and ponder, my two favorite states. Anyone can do it, I say so because I've got nearly twenty years on you and always felt that good health habits were something my aunt did.

Sixty Fiver

Don't understand the "unless you have bad knees" comment...

Run a gear you are comfortable with, rock a brake, and if you haven't done so already... learn how to spin.

After that, do you have a sister you can borrow some jeans from ?

thelastleroy

LOL, SIG'd

ddeadserious

If you have bad knees, wouldn't you think riding a fixie would be a bit taxing on them?

GMJ

Depending on your leg strength and your goals on speed, I'd say go for a lower gearing as well.

It will be easier to slow down the pedals and easier to accelerate.

Sixty Fiver

If your knees can't handle cranking a reasonable gearing and brakes you probably should not be riding.

On the other hand... if you want to run 80 plus gear inches and go brakeless... you will pay a price for that even if you have great knees.

commonlaw

Use current bike to see if you like it. Hell, it has a brake on it already. If you find that you need to spend some money, there are always women of ill repute about.

gmen0101

I too will be turning 50 in a couple of years and just started riding fixed a couple of months ago. The impulse to coast will only get you a couple of times before you learn to keep the legs moving. I find that when I switch back to my road bike for longer weekend rides that I 'forget' that I can coast!

RGNY

go for it.

i just got my first at 41. i use a front brake and have yet to skid. i came from single speed (cruisers) as well.

i love the simplicity and silence.

i had one guy tell me that i'd get thrown off the first time i rode it, but all i had to remember to do was relax, unweight my legs and spin.

jlind

I've got about nine years on you and there's no reason for having any apprehension about riding a fixie. It's not that difficult and isn't much to it, especially if you've been riding a single speed with freewheel. Pretty much everything else has already been covered. I suggest first practicing mounting and dismounting a fixie a half-dozen times in the large level parking lots near you . . . including how to get moving and get the other foot locked in, and how to come from slow speed to a complete stop . . . before doing other riding out on the streets, and I completely concur with keeping at least a front brake on the bike.

caloso

Here's everything you need to know:

Don't stop pedaling.

(That's it. Other than that, it's just riding a bike. Have fun!)

thelastleroy

@ Dolphin62:

The thing that almost caused me to wreck the first time I rode a fixed gear bike is the almost instinctual practice of coasting over an obstacle or rough patch of road, especially at speed. There is a mindfulness required in the beginning until your muscle memory knows you can not stop pedaling if you are moving forward. Other than that, use the empty lots to practice and enjoy. I feel weird when I ride my other bike (not fixed) now. Coasting to me now feels like I'm forgetting to do something.

Good luck and good on ya for trying something new

chas58

I did it, you can.

It does take a long time for legs and a brain that have been coasting for decades to unlearn that. You will get to the point where the bike will try to throw you over the handlebars because you unconciously stopped pedaling, or worse, backpedaled. The worst times for me were jumping curbs or anything that resembles mountain biking.

My most embarassing flop - I jumped down a curb and into a street, unconciously backpedaling after I lifted the front wheel over the curb. Its a move I have done without thinking for many decades. Needless to say, backpedaling while launching a FG is not a good move. I felt like I was a 7 year old laying in the street.

It even took me a while to figure out why I had fallen, as this is a move I had made thousands and thousands of times before riding FG. Smaking a pedal on a turn is not hard to do - depending on your bikes geometry (BB height).

In a way it was like learning how to snowboard. At first it was wierd being on the bunny hill all over again, but now I have new skills to play with, and a choice.

sagamore

I’m in the post half-century group, and am now a fixed gear rider. I’ve found it to be a much more involved ride, as well as a more intense workout. Like others have said, you do relearn a few things — such as how you unweight the bike to go over things. I also think that foot retention (on the pedals) is an important consideration. I ride spd clip-less on my bike.

Most importantly, it’s a lot of fun.

JiveTurkey

You don't need this forum to learn how to ride a fixed gear. Now if you want to immerse yourself into the culture of it....

cbresciani

I recently just started riding a fixed gear bike again and I really enjoy it! One bike has a 52x18 gearing and the other a 48x18 and here in Phoenix I can ride it about anywhere. Like others have said, remembering you can't coast was the only thing that took getting used to.

I turned 50 in April!