singlespeed commuting and hills

[tombolaprize]

Just read an American women cyclist forum where they were all talking with glee about their big (bulky) thighs. Golly: is that what we want on this side of the ocean?

Guess I could just revive the fashion of the pioneer lady cyclists - baggy bloomers or knicker-bockers.

 

[Fab Foodie]

think victoria pendleton, not chris hoy.
you'll be fine.

Always works for me...

 

[Chuffy]

baggy bloomers

Always works for me...

 

[peejay78]

i see you posted in lgfss. i refrained from offering further advice, didn't want to confuse the issue. jacqui basically said on there what i said here. post in the trixie chicks thread on lfgss if you want the blokes to stay away a bit.

 

[gkerr4]

think victoria pendleton, not chris hoy.
you'll be fine.

or rather - think what blokes think when they think of victoria pendleton

which is usually - "Mmmm"

 

[Madcyclist]

Some good advice on this thread but i notice that no one has mentioned the flywheel effect of riding fixed. Essentially you can pull up on the back stroke which makes the overall pedalling action much smoother usually making it easier to keep the gear turning into headwinds and on the climbs. With experience you'll find that you will use the flywheel effect to your advantage to get a breather when needed.

 

[zimzum42]

Peejay, you big girl! That's a tiny gear for London! Get yourself a 49:16 and ride like a man!

 

[ColinJ]

Some good advice on this thread but i notice that no one has mentioned the flywheel effect of riding fixed. Essentially you can pull up on the back stroke which makes the overall pedalling action much smoother usually making it easier to keep the gear turning into headwinds and on the climbs. With experience you'll find that you will use the flywheel effect to your advantage to get a breather when needed.

I've never ridden a fixedwheel bike, but I realised that going uphill on one would be easier than on a freewheeled bike with the same gear ratio when I was struggling on a short steep hill on my s/s. It was the 'dead-spots' in the pedal stroke that killed my legs. Each time I got a crank round enough to get my weight down on the corresponding pedal I was okay. I don't have a problem on moderate hills on the s/s because I'm climbing faster and my cadence is high enough to carry the cranks through the dead-spots.

 

[zimzum42]

i can manage Highgate Hill on 48:16, and I'm not fit!

 

[Kurt]

My fear is getting to a point on a hill when I can't keep pedalling on a fixed and have to walk, as it will be nigh on impossible to restart.

Having said that I've managed to get up that steep hill in Richmond Park (albeit slowly at the end) a few times. Even been able to honk a bit!

There's nowt wrong with having to walk! I commute ~12 miles from the far side of Dartford to Woolwich on my 48x18 fixie and initially I couldn't get over Shooters Hill. Now I can, albeit with a bit of puffing and panting! It just gives you a goal to work to.

Peace

Kurt

 

[Carlito]

I'm thinking of getting a single speed bike (not fixed) for a 9 mile commute from Hampstead to London Bridge. I currently have a MTB and I have been testing the workout out on one gear for the whole commute. To be honest it is tough going up the hill from Camden to Hampstead but its getting easier the more I do it and I reckon I should be fine.
Cheers
C

 

[Greenbank]

Get out into the countryside and find some real hills. Once you've done this a few times you'll never whinge about anything inside London.

Try:

a) The road from Ewhurst to Shere in the Surrey Hills
Ranmore Common Road from Box Hill & Westhumle Station up to Ranmore Road.
c) The road from Holmbury St Mary to Ranmore Common (White Down). Although the prolonged 17% section was too much for me and my 71" gear. But I'll be back to defeat it when I flip the wheel to 46x18.
d) The B269 all the way from South Croydon to Limpsfield and back. That hurt too!

Further afield but doable by train:-

a) Aston Clinton near Aylesbury, South on B489, R onto B4009 and then left up and over to Chivery. Lather, rinse and repeat.
North out of Pangbourne on the B471, L onto B4256 through Goring and up Streatley Hill, L back to Pangbourne through Ashampstead.

This route: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Cheam-and-Morden-Hilly-50154877 (shamelessly stolen from the Cheam & Morden CTC group) is my new fixed training ride. My God it hurt first time but the difference on a sucsequent 600km ride was astonishing; previously notable hills seemed to disappear.

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

Or you could get a bike with gears...

 

[Greenbank]

Or you could get a bike with gears...

May as well get one with an engine.

(I have 3 geared bikes but I like the challenge of doing hilly stuff, and long distance stuff, on fixed.)

 

[peejay78]

Peejay, you big girl! That's a tiny gear for London! Get yourself a 49:16 and ride like a man!

i just moved to bristol. highgate hill is a total piece of cake. they have real hills here, humdingers, absolute savages. i rode one today from the bottom of ashton court to the suspension bridge, on a 74", it totally hurt. there is another one called constitution hill, it's practically undoable.