I don't think it's be clarified for the gentleman yet but....a singlespeed lets you coast, so you will have brakes. A fixed gear means if the rear wheel turns your cranks turn. With a fixie, you can go w/o brakes if you choose.

Thank you, I wondered if anyone would enlighten the fella! ya gotta say that when an onlooker asks after SS bikes, which are far far more commonly ridden than fixies. Gramma rides the SS cause it reminds her of the bike she had as a little girl. I ride that same bike and for the same reason!

hehe, j/k although my gf does have a big ol 1950s SS I got her. sweet fenders and such on it too

It's so QUIET!

Aha - I am starting to understand now. So on a Fixed Gear bike, If you get to a big downhill, do you have enough power in your legs to effectively stop pedaling to make the bike stop or skid, or will you be slave to the pedal, only being able to slow it down slightly?

I must admit, after hearing all about Fixed gears, it sounds pretty interesting.
Thanks

My legs yes, your legs......not sure I need to know.

Enjoy

Your legs will hate you at first but when u are acclimated, you'll be in great shape and the difference on the roadie will be amazing. You'll find that you won't need to switch gears as often if at all and your average speeds increase quite a bit.

Depending on the pitch and the length of the descent I use one of three techniques: (1) riding extremely slowly exerting back pressure on every revolution and using no brakes (this freaks people out), (2) riding moderately fast with neutral pedal pressure and feathering the front brake if needed or (3) riding very fast and spinning hard. I have not tried to slow down by locking the rear wheel. The concept seems pretty scary. I manage my typical ride, about 20 miles with flats and rolling hills, using the brake very rarely. I am geared at 49 x 18.

Regarding riding a geared bike after riding fixed, some say you won't need the big chainring (53? teeth) anymore because your spin is so good. I find I don't need the small chainring (39? teeth) anymore because my legs are much stronger. I also find that being in a gear without a straight chailine drives me nuts giving my geared bike very few gears.

Try it.

when i get cranky
i envision rhubarb pie
fix'd to my palate

how come i knew someone was going to eventually post a stupid haiku about pie... Rixtory .. ignnore the pie-haiku posters.. they would bore you to tears.. aside from that.. the bikes are really fun.. its usually the ones who think it sounds interesting that get hooked.. so get ready to sell the road bike..

to hear my friends say "Oh my god, you can't stop pedaling? You're going to die on that thing."

In the olden days of yore, before fixies garnered the hep-cat status they now enjoy, many roadies in colder climes would take of the derailleurs and shifters, remove the rear free wheel, and screw on a track cog in it's place, with a BB lockring holding it on. You'd remove some links from your chain to get proper tension, and ride this way thru the winter. You needed to ride this kind of setup with both brakes still on the bike (the cog might unscrew, and you'd have to check it now and again), but by doing this you could do a couple key things:

1) You could work on your cadence. One thing fixies do is they force you to move your legs all the time. Pedal, pedal, pedal. If the bike is going, your legs are going. When you would return the bike to gearing after the winter (with a new chain), you would notice that your cadence is smoother and more constant; you stop coasting and spin instead. I almost never coast on a geared bike now, unless I'm going down a fast descent.

2) It kept the derailleurs from getting clogged with hideous winter grime. You would then have one less thing to clean come warmer weather.

A couple of manufacturers even sold bikes back in the seventies with a flip-flop hub as standard equipment, so you could clear off the mechs and freewheel, strap a track cog and lockring on the bike and ride about in more proper fashion than the above macGuyver set-up.

If he is to truly embrace the fixed/singlespeed-ness he must know about pie.

piekus rock

Enjoy

I like pie. I'm not all that into haiku. I like bikes.

This is not a pie or haiku forum.

one gear with twelve teeth
one pie divided by twelve
my friends eat and ride

Enjoy

When I would ride trails, I found I would only use one or two of the 27 combos I had 90% of the time, and would always slam it into my eastiest gear for the hills. Now I can focus more on riding rather than chain-suck or my derailleur coming out of adjustment. Sure, some hills are going to have to be walked, but thats part of the fun.

I make one reference to a movie with the word "pie" and this topic goes from "why ride a single speed" to everyone writing piekus....

*makes note: try not to derail thread topics in the future with pie references, maybe brownie next time :)

mental note to self
stop for pie on commute home
love is:fixed and pie

Enjoy

man i hate this forum.. where is the fixed gear info that isnt goofball central? and powers2b.. dont even respond with the words happy button.. youve used it to death.. i guess its back to haikuless music forums.. and that last haiku.. does that actually make you laugh? what time do you go on tonight, btw.. and i forget.. is it the improv? or laugh factory? id hate to miss your new material...

Thank you , thank you,
I'm here all week.
Don't forget to tip your waitresses and bartenders.

Enjoy

Did you have a question that warrented a serious reply? If you really wonder "why single speed" and are desperate for a serious answer here is the short list of reading for you.
Warning: Content of these 329 posts do contain some goofball elements and may cause excessive tears and whinning from those without a sense of humor. Do not attempt to read without functional happy button!

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...eed+fixed+gear

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...eed+fixed+gear

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...eed+fixed+gear

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...eed+fixed+gear

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...eed+fixed+gear

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...eed+fixed+gear

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...eed+fixed+gear

1. i didnt post the original.. i thought itd be nice for thhe original poster to show back up after a long day of work and have some serious answers.
2. happy button, again.. so overused..not funny
3. im all for humor.. terrorr in pinks post about the bike some guy thought was hers was funny. Original, went the extra mile to take a picture, etc. Learn from her. She knows funny. Powers2b doesnt know funny. Its contrived, forced and unoriginal. Like thesbian humor. It just takes up space. I have yet to notice one inntellectual comment from him. Just forum fodder. Which has its place, ive wasted my share of space for sure(like right now).. but a little balance please.. and please dont reply with links to his intelligent posts.. im sure hes said some good stuff.. i just haven't noticed any. Does anyone really want to be remembered as someone whose reply to everything is a haiku about pie?

So here we are. What started out as an interesting and informative thread has been completely derailed by a couple of people who obviously consider their fragile little egos to be so much more important (and interesting, i guess, as this is a public forum) than the actual thread.

Sad, really!

OK, done venting.
What above posters said re the benefits of riding fixed is true. In addition to that, there is definitely a different feel to riding a fixed gear. If you enjoy the feel of riding geared, i think you will really enjoy riding fixed. Maybe not as your exclusive ride, but maybe just for certain bike paths,routes, or - novel thought - the local velodrome (provided there is one).
My main reason for using my fixie (as opposed to my geared bikes) to commute is that it is just plain fun!
All the strength and bike handling benefis listed above are nice benefits, though. Also, the fewer things that can go wrong on my bike, the better. My fixie is about as simple and trouble-free as can be without switching over to airless tires (no flats) - not ready for that - yet.

I guess i've babled on enough now, really just trying to get thread back on track and put my two cents in.
Really didn't mean to offend anybody with my opening section (venting) - hope i didn't. Just liked the way the thread began, and didn't want to see it degraded. Nothing having to do with cycling should become that bitter and combative imho. If it does, what is the point?
Have a great weekend - enjoy your ride!

Agreed and well said. I hope this thread has help the poster. These threads tend to remind me why I ride ss/fixed and the community supporting it.

ok so I saw some guys riding fixed gear bikes the other day and thought it looked way cool. I have an old schwinn letour (1985?) in my garage. Is this a good candidate for conversion? Not being mechanically inclinded, about how much should the above cost at the LBS?