OP
OP
DRHysted
Guru
- Location
- New Forest
Talking of gearing, is it easy to adjust them. I presume it's just a case of change the rear cog & they're easy to purchase.
Think I've just done something very stupid
- Thread starter DRHysted
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LewisLondon
Well-Known Member
- Location
- SW London
With the whole Fixed gear vs SS thing, what are peoples thoughts on the rear wheels with a rear cog either side (i'm assuming one side is fixed one is SS?)
I've said it 100 times, fixed gear is great if you want to be limited by your bike and you want to build up your 'slowing down' muscles!
The only advantage fixed has is a slight flywheel effect on short climbs, which is the opposite of what you need to gain fitness.
High intensity sprint and glide on a freewheel singlespeed is all the fitness training you'll ever need.
The mystique and kudos of fixed riding is lost on me, but then I'm the least spiritual person I know.
Profpointy
Legendary Member
I think you've missed the point, or simply it wasn't for you. The "magic" of fixed wheel is that smooth feel of the thing - if you don't value or appreciate that aspect , that's perfectly fair enough, but it's nothing to do with the points you outline above.
rideswithmoobs
Guest
- Location
- North West
Yip that's one simple way to change gear inches. Wait till you have ridden a fair few miles on all gradients before changing up or down
Smurfy
Naturist Smurf
- Location
- Smurfette's Kitchen
I started on SS then swapped to fixed. Since then I've only swapped from fixed to SS while out on a ride once, and only because I had originally planned to turn back part way round, but later decided to do the whole 80 mile ride (everyone else was on multi gears, and it was a hilly ride so I needed a bit of relief). Now I have a SS for commuting, and fixed for leisure, so the fixed will probably never get used for SS again unless I got very tired while out on a ride. If you know your routes and your capability/fitness, and don't decide to change your plans mid-ride, you shouldn’t need to swap from fixed to SS part way round like I did once.
OP
OP
DRHysted
Guru
- Location
- New Forest
Yeah thought I'd leave it for a while to get used to it (see if I like it). I think the gearing may be a bit low for the flat, but might be what I need for hills, a case of wait and see.
Got a text from the suppliers, they hope to have it with me Friday. If it arrives early enough I might have time to build it before work (I move to night shifts Friday).
I can have that smooth feeling of pedalling in circles as well; I just pedal all the time! There's nothing you can get from fixed that you can't get from SS, except limited by your bike...
totallyfixed
Veteran
- Location
- The only county without a McDonalds
You may well find after a relatively short time that the gearing is indeed too low because riding a single geared bike improves your hill climbing ability and technique.
Profpointy
Legendary Member
Sorry but that's simply not true - I don't get that (magic?) feeling from a freewheeling bike. That feeling might not be of value to you - fair enough. Bit it's silly to say that I can get it simply by pedalling smoothly
al-fresco
Growing older but not up...
- Location
- Shropshire
I rode my Langster fixed for about 4,000 miles - loved it - then, because the fixed cog was looking a bit worse for wear, I turned the rear wheel around to use the SS cog as a temporary measure and I've never got around to changing it back. Don't think I ever will. Fixed is fun but Single Speed is fun too, and much less scary coming down a steep hill.
Like you say, fair enough. I can agree to differ if your preference is something fluffy like a 'magic' feeling.
For me the appeal of freewheel singlespeed is from sudden, aggressive and prolonged acceleration, something that simply isn't possible with fixed, because the bike will hold you back and impose sudden and aggressive deceleration on you!
Profpointy
Legendary Member
apart from reliability and maybe silence does a singlespeed differ from normal gears?
It only has one gear, so you become the engine and gearbox, instead of just the engine.
I just wanted to point out to whoever asked that this mythical, intangible quality that fixed supposedly possesses doesn't actually exist; it's done largely for reasons of fashion (yourself and other evangelists not included, obviously).
Riding with a fixed gear was what folk used to do when nobody knew any better. Like washing towelling nappies.
Profpointy
Legendary Member
I'm not claiming fixed is better overall and wouldn't want to just have a fixie, though my proper geared bike has languish in pieces for the 4 years since I got the fixie, but that's just procrastination.
Just because I struggle to describe in words the niceness of riding a fixie, doesn't mean it isn't tangible. I fully acknowledge this might not be valued by others - who naturally enough would prefer a freewheel and gears. Personally if I was to sacrifice the fixie benefit I'd want gears rather than have the worst of both worlds of single speed as it were. Fixieness clealry has a considerable disbenefit of having to pedal like buggery down hill for a start, as well as the lack of gears shared with a ss.
Not sure what a good analogy might be in another field. Maybe a musical instrument - my professional standard "new" french horn (40 years old 2nd hand) is objectively easier to play and gives a better sound - but it's also "nicer" to play - which I'd be hard pushed to describe properly