Fixies

[ColinJ]

Hang on ... do you actually have many longish, steepish hills in London?

(I'm talking about (say)1,000 m at 10%, 500 m at 15% or 200 m at 20%.)

 

[Pottsy]

Lets not forget the silence. I love the silence.

When the chain and chainring and sprocket are all bedded in and your tyres are pumped nice and high and you're on a smooth bit of tarmac in the countryside it goes absolutely silent on the fixed wheel bike. Just the sound of the wind and the creaking of my knees - wonderful.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Lets not forget the silence. I love the silence.

When the chain and chainring and sprocket are all bedded in and your tyres are pumped nice and high and you're on a smooth bit of tarmac in the countryside it goes absolutely silent on the fixed wheel bike. Just the sound of the wind and the creaking of my knees - wonderful.

Thats one of the things I like about the fixed, the silence, my knees don't creak, if I can hear noises or feel roughness something needs maintenance.

 

[Ian H]

Hang on ... do you actually have many longish, steepish hills in London?

(I'm talking about (say)1,000 m at 10%, 500 m at 15% or 200 m at 20%.)

I'm in Devon at the mo. Not a million miles from here.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm in Devon at the mo. Not a million miles from here.

That's a 'yes' for Devon!

I know that it can be done. As I mentioned above, I've watched longers and also Bokonon and a couple of others tackle steep stuff on fixed. Very impressive. Mad, but impressive! The madness is obvious when you pay attention to the way they react to gradients - 1 km uphill at 10%, with 100 m at 20% = big grin; 3 km downhill at 10% = shake of the head and a big groan!

 

[Jezston]

Lets not forget the silence. I love the silence.

When the chain and chainring and sprocket are all bedded in and your tyres are pumped nice and high and you're on a smooth bit of tarmac in the countryside it goes absolutely silent on the fixed wheel bike. Just the sound of the wind and the creaking of my knees - wonderful.

Ha, I really need to have a going over on my bike after two weeks of gritty dirty roads and zero maintenance. Silent it most certainly is not!