Riding Fixed
- Thread starter Tel
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Tel said:
I always start with my left foot in the 10 o clock position. When stopping I either stop in the above position or if not with 1 foot still clipped in apply front brake, lean forward and move clipped in foot to the desired start position.
Do not try and start with your foot behind you as it is bloody difficult and you end up doing a version of the funky chicken.
Practice for a bit on quiet roads before heading out and watch out the first time you go down a steep hill
It's a shock to the system and you will probably wonder what the hell you have done.But saying all that, it's chuffing great
Will1985
Über Member
- Location
- South Norfolk
Don't stop pedalling. If you do it un-clipped to start with, get going and just try slowing down to almost nothing then accelerating (with your hands away from the brakes the whole time).
Joe24
More serious cyclist than Bonj
- Location
- Nottingham
Heres some tips from me:
Relax, keep everything flowing. Dont rush up to things when you first start out. Ride along relaxed taking everything in.
Dont just leg brake at the start. Slowly start leg braking more as you go along. You might find if you just try leg braking to slow you down alot your knees might ache abit. Slowly bring it in.
When its sunny and your bored, go have some fun on your fixed, cruise around on it, go to an empty car park and have some fun. Have a go at trackstanding (very usful skill and look pretty cool), backwards pedling and riding around slowly. Do some skids aswell if you dont mind, that will get you used to how it feels when you stop peddling and should make you less scared of it. Also pretty cool i think
Do some riding around slowly and relax your legs so you can feel the pedals pushing your legs around. This will help with going downhill.
Go down some hills and get used to pedaling fast, dont go too steep too soon. Find a nice hill, and when you get used to spinning down it try and spin faster down it
This should help you abit and get you used to fixed.
Oh, and when you start off, just push down, get onto saddle and relax that leg so it moves around. You shouldnt be going too fast and you should be able to clip in with the other foot when it comes up, if not then keep relaxed and try again.
Relax, keep everything flowing. Dont rush up to things when you first start out. Ride along relaxed taking everything in.
Dont just leg brake at the start. Slowly start leg braking more as you go along. You might find if you just try leg braking to slow you down alot your knees might ache abit. Slowly bring it in.
When its sunny and your bored, go have some fun on your fixed, cruise around on it, go to an empty car park and have some fun. Have a go at trackstanding (very usful skill and look pretty cool), backwards pedling and riding around slowly. Do some skids aswell if you dont mind, that will get you used to how it feels when you stop peddling and should make you less scared of it. Also pretty cool i think
Do some riding around slowly and relax your legs so you can feel the pedals pushing your legs around. This will help with going downhill.
Go down some hills and get used to pedaling fast, dont go too steep too soon. Find a nice hill, and when you get used to spinning down it try and spin faster down it
This should help you abit and get you used to fixed.
Oh, and when you start off, just push down, get onto saddle and relax that leg so it moves around. You shouldnt be going too fast and you should be able to clip in with the other foot when it comes up, if not then keep relaxed and try again.
I moved to fixed a few weeks ago and love it now. Don't see my self going back to geared at least for the foreseeable future.
Main thing is, when you start it feels really unnatural, and after your first ride you will be very tempted to go back to geared. If you can fight that urge you'll find you get used to it very quickly.
Main thing is, when you start it feels really unnatural, and after your first ride you will be very tempted to go back to geared. If you can fight that urge you'll find you get used to it very quickly.
MacB
Lover of things that come in 3's
- Location
- Farnborough, Hampshire
Oddjob62 said:But there's that metaphysical zen state that only fixed gear riding..... j/k
that's the bit that impresses the hell out of me, cycling tough enough, being able to do it, whilst your head is inside your anus, amounts to outstanding skills
Thanks for the tips. After my second commute things are getting more familiar, I reckon I'll be pretty confident with it in a couple of weeks.
When starting of I find that being in the saddle is essential where as when I'm on a freewheel I'll generally start standing....I think
When starting of I find that being in the saddle is essential where as when I'm on a freewheel I'll generally start standing....I think
phil120867
Über Member
- Location
- edenbridge
You'll soon be able to get out and push a fixie up to speed an once its up there then you're away. I've been riding fixed from Edenbridge to Crawley for years and its just as fast as my road bike. What took me a couple of rides to master is to keep pedaling but after a few occasions where the bike reminded me I got the message. Its not a zen thing, its a bike
Joe24
More serious cyclist than Bonj
- Location
- Nottingham
phil120867 said:
Exactly.
The main thing that scares people with standing up and peddling(i think) is that when you do stand up and go to sit down after standing up, you actually freewheel for a small amount of time, and the fixed wheel pushes you around, so you feel it abit.
Its also a nervs thing about standing up and the what ifs.
