Ok this Sunday was my first real time out on my new fixed bike. I locked the back wheel up around 8 times playing around and getting the hang of things. I was out for a couple hours. Next day OMG, inside both legs from the knee up for about 8 inches hurt like hell. I figured oh well, different than road bike. Today is Thursday and noticed no pain. Went out but I cant lock up the rear wheel, not sure why. My back hurts when I try but it just seems like Im doing something wrong. After the first ride I moved the seat up and lowered it just a bit, could that have anything to do with it? How do you guys normaly stop anyhow? oh, and my bike's 48x16, dont know if that makes any difference.thanks......

are you leaning out over the bars?

Im not sure if I was doing that Sunday and maybe not doing that toady. Maybe that makes the rear wheel lighter, right? then it would be easier to skid? It was dark today too when I rode, maybe that is why I am messing up, it was light Sunday. Sorry Im brand new at this and know no one else that likes these bikes but myself around here.

First, run with a brake until you get used to it. The pain is the result of either you using your bars to help your legs stop the pedals, as in jamming your thighs against them, or the result of new stresses being placed on your legs. This will go away as you get used to it, just as it did with your first few rides on your other bike. Soon, you will be able to lock up the wheel without jamming your legs against the bars, if you were doing that to begin with.

The gear you are turning is having a nice vacation on the legs and body. Huge initial strain and only time will give it back.

thats a great way of saying no pain no gain, that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger...all that jazz...




your legs will get stronger as will the rest of your body and the pain will go away in time...

tough it out....or lose some of that front chainring...

whichever....just don't quit riding.......

Yes, a smaller gearing will make it easier to resist the pedal motion and lockup. You're running a nominal 81 gear inches, many people prefer something less than that.

Yeah that's what I've been seeing on here, that 81 is on the high side. Oh well I'm just gonna tough it out. With my road bike I tend to be in a high gear partly cause I know it's hard on me and makes a rider stronger than the guys that gear down to avoid the pain. The pain I had Sunday was in a leg area I never had pain in before, but thats ok cause I know why, but I just couldn't figure out why I wasn't able to lock it up Thursday, it seemed easy last weekend. Oh well, I have all weekend to beat myself up. Thank's guys......

Riding at a higher cadence will give your heart more of a workout... which can also make you "stronger." But if you insist on being a masher, you probably aren't interested? You are kidding yourself if you think it makes you "a rider stronger than the guys that gear down to avoid the pain."

Watch your knees. I won't tell you if 81" is too tall or short, you'll figure that out on your own. But be careful about your knees, mashing is hard on them and so is resisting a tall gear.

I just got a 19T cog for my Pista. I was running 48x15 on my Langster and was going like a freaking snail up hills and the Queensboro Bridge.

I was spinning pretty good with the 17T cog I had put on there, and will see how crazy going downhill will be with the 19T cog.

I always use the front brake, the only reason is because I don't want to mess up the cheap hubs or anything else... too much trouble to replace them. Spent $25 to put on these white brakes on the new Pista, they match the handlebar tape and general color of the bike.

Yeah you need to watch your knees. To -start out- with that many gear inches isn't too unusual on the street but it's not the time to be skidding or stopping suddenly at that gear. On the track it'd be no problem as you have no reason to try to skid at a moments notice or even to slow down quickly. The force your asking your knees to pull against when resisting to slow or attempting to skid is like nothing your legs have ever conditioned for before except maybe some machines in a gym that offer negative resistance. If you cause a prob with your knees it'll never go away, you'll never be as strong a rider again.

I damaged my right knee 2 ways, both from riding fixed. I was riding, had to stop short, popped some stuff in my knees loose, didn't even notice anything about my knee only that I'd stopped very hard at the time. I bent a pedal axle on that stop, but not enough to feel. My knee was a litle sore at night, progressively worse til about 2 weeks later it hurt bad enough to jerk me out of a sound sleep, bad enough that when it began all I could do was hold it tight and curl up and close my eyes to avoid screaming. It was strange, it didn't hurt while riding, but as soon as it cooled down, Bam! Bad enough to go to an orthopeadic centre. I avoided the surgeons knife, actually I turned it down and had them whip up a rehab program for me. The main strategy for that was no riding for 6 months, careful and slow on stairs, no carrying anything for 6 months. The rest was a nice brace, some therapy and such.
I had also done a small number on my left knee over compensating. Some of the damage on my right was from using the damaged knee with what was suddenly a screwed up elliptical due to the pedal, but mostly from a sudden and explosive application of negative resistance, which I was able to pinpoint to that paticularly hard stop after figuring it out with the docs.

Anyway I recovered, got back on the bike and back to work, geared first for a year then both, then back to the seasonal thing, fixed in winter geared or both whenever else. Got fast again, fast enough to win heats sprinting, always make the final, hell I mighta taken it in seattle but my chain broke on the startline of the final.(My holder mighta held too long) Years go by, and bang I'm laid up again, same injury and I'm giving it the same prescription. Suxor. I have strong (had..no they are still strong, just messed up now) legs, years of fixie road offroad CX and anything else everyday all day and I wasn't stupid about it, I thought about it all in advance.

I'm sure this is better than what might have been had I not done the quickstop(slow). Garbage truck running a residential stopsign at 40mph, my options were go and be hit by it, NO, Hit it at 27mph or so, NO they are tall and have huge wheelwells, jerk the front while stopping the rear and steer the skid around the back of it, ok but I'm going too fast, all in a second or so. I didn't have a stopsign but the direction he came from was blocked from my LOS by bushes, I shoulda slowed to 20 or something)

That was at 48x16 going fairly well as fast as 48x16 can go. Real fast spin.

So anyway now I'm damaged goods, and anyone that knows me will tell you I'm a safety and careful nut even though I like to go fast. If it can happen to me it can happen to anyone. Not to scare, just telling it how it is.

These guys speak the truth.

I haven't rode in almost a week because my knees are in ****ty shape.

Mind you I had pretty bad knees before I started riding fixed...(ACL reconstruction in right, tons of hyperextension in left)

I am riding brakeless on 48x16 and it's time to stop. I am 20 years old and I'd really like to be able to walk/ride bike when I am 60. I am planning on building up a new ride, and the gearing is coming down and the brake is going on. I have strong quads from my hockey days, but my knees are shot and riding a gear this tall is making life miserable.

Wanted to thank you and Sam for your advice here. I didnt know what to expect of myself with the gearing the bike came with. Ive always been told Im a real strong rider and just figured I could kick this fixed gear ridding all around, but maybe not. Im still going to work on the gear I have but take things a bit slower, because on the second ride when I couldnt lock em up but I kept trying in a different way, and now my thighs hurt badwhen I lift either leg up while seated. Nice out here finally and I think I should hold off on ridding for a few days. damnit anyhow, oh well; thanks just the same.