TMonk

Fair enough.

I don't put in huge miles with my FG, maybe <50mi/month, and rarely ride it for >2 hrs at a time. Can't say I'm "used" to descending on a FG the same way I'm used to doing anything on a geared bike.

I wonder what @Dannihilator thinks about ascending v descending fixed.

Bandera

We?

I'm well into my 4th decade of riding FG on the road, although for an elderly gentleman I'm indeed "fit and reasonably geared".
Descending on FG is a learned/conditioned behavior, more seat time = better technique. Give it 20 years or so.

That being said I live in the Texas Hill Country and will "feather" a brake to avoid "hamster-in-cage" syndrome as I feel necessary.

-Bandera

Dannihilator

I thoroughly enjoy both, was comfortable descending right from the get go, being that I rode mtb's.

TonyAldo

Went though hell with a foldable bike. Since then I swore off gears all together. Best biking decision I ever made.

europa

You went through hell with a folder and swore off gears? Wouldn't you be more more likely to swear off folders? I smell a story here. Please tell.

TonyAldo

Sure!. I purchased a Citizen Gotham 7 thinking it was going to be an awesome ride. So it shows up to my house I un-box it, set up the derailleur made sure everything was perfect. Went for a ride, everything was going fine until I hit a somewhat dangerous part of town and the chain decides to pop off while riding. So here I am at 11pm trying to fix a derailleur that refuses to line up correctly. Ended up walking the bike home. Next day I bring it to a bike shop he thinks a part of the derailleur is bent ( can't recall what part ). He gave me a price for the part and the service. I decided to go against it and try to fix it on my own, which I did but no luck the chain kept flying off. Now this was maybe a week after owning it. I have no patience which is my own fault, I'd have to ship it back to citizen which would've put me $60 in the hole just for shipping. So what I did was sell it for less then what I paid.

You win some you lose some, so for the bike I have now I went to maybe 8+ bike stores and tried out various bikes and finally fell in love with the one I have now ( Fuji feather ). Also the Gotham was my first bike after maybe 10+ years. But I'm happy now .

europa

Ahhh. Truth be known, it was probably the derailleur hanger that was bent and can be fixed for merely the cost of a five minutes work. Having said that, I can see where folders could be difficult with gears. I've often wondered about a fixed gear folder, I reckon it'd fix a lot of sins. Of course, bypassing the folder in the first place also works, which is why I spent so much getting a custom made tow bar fitted to my MG ZR160 ... for the bike rack.

TonyAldo

Lol "for the bike rack". But yea I should've just got a SS from the beginning, may I add that Gotham was about 32lbs too .

Wendell F

Honestly I got into fixed gear because it was trendy.
Then I stopped enjoying freewheel riding. It kinda got boring and I found myself tuning out.
Then I found that coasting in NYC while tipsy (look, it happens) generally led to me crashing. Fixed kept me engaged. No tuning out. No crashes.
Then I had to sell my roadie to pay the rent.
All fixed all the time now.

thedapperest

Well skateboarding is and has always been my main thing (or always as always can be for a guy who's 15) but I moved to a place where everything is really far apart and on top of that I still go to school pretty far from my house and I decided I needed a bike because skating everywhere 1) takes too long 2) takes too much energy and 3) you can't do it in the rain because it murders your bearings. I haven't really ridden bikes a lot for about 5 or 6 years and before that it was either this mountain bike I had or your run-of-the-mill children's single speed with the coaster break. Most of my friends who skate swear by fixed gears so I was able to get a bike for about $350 with some help from the grandparents. I haven't even been riding fixed for a month yet, but so far I love it and it's a total blast.

Hyperbole

Bought my first ss/fg in 2006 (Raleigh Rush Hour). I originally rode in on ss side for a few months and then decided to switch it up and really fell in love with riding fg. Unfortunately, after a few years the bike was stolen. I just recently got back into biking and back on the fg wagon.

I've been thinking about buying a geared bike for longer weekend rides but plan on keeping the fg bike on as my everyday around town and work commuter bike.

caloso

We are two years past Henri Desgrange's age limit.

Bandera

"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft... As for me, give me a fixed gear!"

-Henri Desgrange

~ Two decades past in my case, so far so good, but I do have softie derailleur bikes as well...

-Bandera

bbattle

My SS/FG bike is my commuter, knock-around, gravel road, ride with granddaughter's bike. I have a Bianchi San Jose which is labeled a singlespeed cyclocross bike. I often have 28's on it for riding on gravel roads. It has a rear rack so I can add my panniers to hold my work clothes and stuff for work. I can also haul a nice picnic lunch with it. It used to have platform pedals on it when I ran it singlespeed so it was perfect for impromptu bike rides with my granddaughters.

It's got front and rear brakes and a flip-flop hub so I can go fixed or freewheel at any time.


One gear means I'm not worried about anything. I'm just out riding. Like when I was a kid. Nobody knew or cared about gear inches or the weight of the tubing or do these streamers look ironic enough; we just rode our bikes.

It's a nice diversion from my road bike.

If you are curious about SS/FG, I suggest a bike with a flip-flop hub so you can try both.