Didn't change gear once today

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Decided that if I'm going to get a fixie, I'd better start riding like I'm on one. So I didn't change gear and tried not to freewheel at all today. I only changed gear once yesterday on the long downhill to Bromley South station.

It's tough, this single-speed pedalling, isn't it? It's not the pull-away, but the mad spinning on the downhills that tuckers me up. I was in a higher gear than I realised today, so I'll try not to change on the way home too, although it's a slightly different route and there's a short but nasty hill on it.

Fun.
 

Canrider

Guru
Well, I decided to go fixed when I realised that 95% of the time I only used two gearings defined by changing the chainring (it was an old 10-speed to boot).
What single-speed gearing did you do your experiment with?
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
I didn't change gear this morning either. I've got downtube levers and I was too lazy to reach for them this morning. 52 or 54 (whatever it is) x 23 felt perfect to me all the way in. Haven't got round to sorting the hack out with a little chainring and a front mech yet.

When I had a singlespeed I went 42x16, probably about 70". If I were to do it again I'd go mid 60s because I have to go uphill some.
 

Blonde

New Member
Location
Bury, Lancashire
Not changing gear isn't the same as riding fixed - you'll find you are able to pedal a higher gear on fixed than you'd have been comfortable with on a geared bike with a free hub.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Twenty Inch said:
Decided that if I'm going to get a fixie, I'd better start riding like I'm on one. So I didn't change gear and tried not to freewheel at all today.
I decided that I'd do the same as you on my last ride on my geared bike in West Yorkshire to see how I got on sticking to one gear, before commiting to a particular ratio on my new singlespeed bike. The chosen gear of 39/15 felt okay on small Yorkshire hills, but I really struggled on a 15% climb. I got up it but it didn't feel good. I wouldn't want to make a habit of riding s/s or fixed round there!

There aren't any really big hills where I'll be riding the s/s in the midlands, however, so I decided to stick to my chosen ratio and brought the bike down to Coventry yesterday by train. I then rode the bike up what had been my local 'killer hill' when I was a teenager. I used to have to get off halfway up that hill and walk the rest so I was pretty chuffed to whiz up it aged 51 in a 39/15 gear with a heavy rucksack on my back and into a headwind :biggrin:.

I was surprised how much fun it was riding a nice simple bike again. I imagine that riding fixed would feel great but I wouldn't trust myself not to stop pedalling in an emergency, and I wouldn't like going downhill either.
 

peejay78

Well-Known Member
hi colin.

in london i ride 48:16 fixed on my bob jackson. however, having ridden around hebden bridge and other places, i'd go for something like a 42:18. if i do move out of london i'd want to go somewhere flat so i can still push the big gear. otherwise i'd be spinning out on the hills. i guess in the hillier areas it makes more sense to go SS.
 
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