Fixie beginner

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Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
I've never been so scared and it takes a lot!! It was the fact my head was saying slow down as I was going down hill and my legs were saying I'm trying to lol
You have to relax!

However, will admit that I switched to a SS freewheel for my training/leisure bike. I found on a low fixed gear, it is the descents that are the most demanding and puts a strain on the arms and shoulders as well. With a freewheel you can go as fast as gravity allows and you have time to recover on a descent. On the same loops. My SS is often faster than my geared bike.

I have another bike with a 50x14 or 15 fixed that I use for timetrials. The bigger gear doesn't run out of revs and is fine on the descents.
 
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bungyb69

bungyb69

Active Member
Location
North Wales
I can't wait to try it with the freewheel and see the difference tbf! I've never tried a fixed before, I wanted something I could fly to work on but as I've found with my road bike I was always staying in the same gear!
 

silva

Über Member
Location
Belgium
The difference between fixed and freewheel is dat with the latter you can't push back to slowdown or maintain balance and that it's a potential problem in a case water in it > sticky grease or frost > walk further. That's it. That's all.
 
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bungyb69

bungyb69

Active Member
Location
North Wales
The difference between fixed and freewheel is dat with the latter you can't push back to slowdown or maintain balance and that it's a potential problem in a case water in it > sticky grease or frost > walk further. That's it. That's all.
Walk?? I ride a road bike every day my balance is good because I'm always on the pedals at traffic lights balancing!!
 

Juan Kog

permanently grumpy
Keep at it , fixed does get less scary and you won't believe it now ,but you will actually enjoy it. Back brake, I know it's not cool, freewheel or fixed leave it on . May get shot down on this but l find freewheel can take a small difference on chain line . Above all don't forget when you're back on gears. I did once ,I was in traffic not in a hurry ,primary position, hands on top of bars following a bus .bus slows down l push back on pedals ,sudden heart stopping moment . No I didn't hit the bus ,but it was close.
 
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bungyb69

bungyb69

Active Member
Location
North Wales
And people think it's easy
It's a proper art! I could balance great it was the stopping and forgetting to constantly pedal
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I've never been so scared and it takes a lot!! It was the fact my head was saying slow down as I was going down hill and my legs were saying I'm trying to lol
I found on a low fixed gear, it is the descents that are the most demanding and puts a strain on the arms and shoulders as well.
I did a few forum rides with @Pennine-Paul. On all but one he rode fixed (he hated the time he rode a geared bike and swore that he wouldn't do it again...). He got up even quite steep Yorkshire/Lancashire hills on fixed without complaining but I remember him suddenly groaning when he spotted a sign on one ride. I said not to worry - it was 13% downhill; he pointed out that I had never descended a steep hill on fixed...! :laugh:

528375
 
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bungyb69

bungyb69

Active Member
Location
North Wales
I did a few forum rides with @Pennine-Paul. On all but one he rode fixed (he hated the time he rode a geared bike and swore that he wouldn't do it again...). He got up even quite steep Yorkshire/Lancashire hills on fixed without complaining but I remember him suddenly groaning when he spotted a sign on one ride. I said not to worry - it was 13% downhill; he pointed out that I had never descended a steep hill on fixed...! :laugh:

View attachment 528375
I rode up a hill a say rode I flow upit but then coming down it's scary because being silly I put my old spds on it thinking this is easy never ridden one because! Hence it's now got a freewheel and a back brake
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
I said not to worry - it was 13% downhill; he pointed out that I had never descended a steep hill on fixed...! :laugh:

Yes, it is the descents that are more scary than the climbs.
Once I clocked 44mph at the start of a 10 on the Tonbridge bypass. It has a "gift" ski slope start and I was bouncing all over the place and I was on a 95" fixed.
 
I did a few forum rides with @Pennine-Paul. On all but one he rode fixed (he hated the time he rode a geared bike and swore that he wouldn't do it again...).
Well after 20 years of riding mainly fixed gear {been riding single speed on my commute to work,as it's less than a mile it was taking me longer to change into my cycling gear than it was to ride home on flats!} I found a Tifosi cyclocross frame the same size as the Tifosi track frame I have been riding on Ebay,so it was a simple matter to change over forks,saddle and seatpost and add a singlespeed kit on to the freehub,just waiting on a cable hanger for the rear canti's and I'll be mobile again,next month I'll be fitting Gears!!
 
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