To an extent. It's where we get the concept of gear inches from. My fixed wheel bike is running a 67 inch gear, ie the equivalent of a 67 inch direct drive diameter wheel. The radius of that would be 33.5 inches. Add say seven inches for crank length and you are looking at over 40 inch inside leg, before you consider the distance between saddle and wheel. There's not many people built like that. A swift bit of googling suggests the largest size is 60 inches, ie like running a 48 tooth chain ring and 21tooth sprocket, which is quite low. I'd need something smaller, say 52 inch (42 x 21).
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Thorn Sherpa
Über Member
- Location
- Doncaster
Never had a fixed wheel bike so can't comment but had a single speed Dmr a few years back. I only used it for the work commute so at maximum was doing a 23 mile round trip but it was fun to use! Not sure if I was any fitter for using it as I didn't cover great distances or inclines on it but a definite bonus was ease of maintenance. I think as a city bike they definitely have their use especially when your hitting red light after red light
bozmandb9
Insert witty title here
- Location
- South Oxfordshire
I only used fixed on the track (Velodrome), but I love it. I don't really see the attraction on the road, but that's probably just because I love my road bike. I only have the two bikes, and they are both wonderful in their different contexts. I do think that using the track bike, especially on rollers, can be beneficial for skills and pedalling technique, plus higher cadence cycling - my son had to do a 10 mile roller time trial with restricted gearing on his road bike - due to his track cycling he managed to average 138 rpm over the 10 miles (just over 17 minutes).
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
It does seem like a backwards step. I don't buy the 'ease of maintenance' angle either... i spend more time maintaining my chain and tyres than i do anything else so i can't imagine a fixie being any easier to maintain than something with plenty of gears (setting-up, maybe, ongoing maintenance, nah).
I've spent maybe 20 minutes in the last eight years maintaining my gears, and that was replacing the cable and re-indexing them. Not touched them since, apart from actually changing gear.
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mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
(Emphasis added). A fixed chain is shorter, thicker, not flexed sideways and not dangled so low down in the dirt, which all reduce maintenance... and when it is time to replace it, you don't have to thread it through the derailleur, plus there's no gear cable to maintain and replace/adjust, although that's minor.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Depends if you get it the right side of the tab first time and if not, if you figure it out before you have to post on a forum about how noisy your bike is since you replaced the chain
Like I said, that's minor. The bigger saving is maintenance.
That's 20 minutes more than a fixie then, no deraileurs and if your so inclined only one brake, so less to maintain.
Smokin Joe
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
It is worth noting that in 1993 Chris Boardman set a 25 mile competition record of 45:57 on a fixed wheel and it stood for 16 years.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
it's hardly here nor there though is it... 20 minutes in eight years.
Fixie riders probably spend more time grooming their hipster beards.
iandg
Legendary Member
- Location
- Dumfries and Galloway
I've won TT's on fixed. The majority of hill climb wins are probably on fixed too.
Ian H
Ancient randonneur
Possibly, but they're nothing much to do with riders of traditional fixed-wheel bikes (or trikes, I rode one of those for a year, back along).
