Toe nearly dipped in the fixed pool

[davidad]

Purist!

I suspect RedBike meant 1mm - 2mm not 0.5mm. I've got an unbranded (possibly Formula) hub that came off a Langster and the chainline on the fixed side is a good 2mm further in than the freewheel side.

 

[Aperitif]

I suspect RedBike meant 1mm - 2mm not 0.5mm. I've got an unbranded (possibly Formula) hub that came off a Langster and the chainline on the fixed side is a good 2mm further in than the freewheel side.

Lesser purist!

 

[redjedi]

Yes - quickly mounts up Luke! Pannier rack, seatpost, next - a saddle...panniers (Ortlieb - of course) swap out the front wheel for a dynahub and mega blaster light, change poxy brake blocks for Koolstops, M+ for a bulletproof ride, fall off again...LET ALONE the brake levers are set up with the front brake on the right! Bloody 'English' bikes - cack-handed ne'erdowells...
Sheesh - it's never ending!

Tell me about it. Carbon seatpost fitted - bargain at £19 , rack and panniers ordered - £50 (obviously not Ortlieb).
Next up, track cog (or 2) £15 each and lock ring. Then I need a tool for the lockring and a new spanner I can take with me. I'll probably get the Pedros's Trixie.

and I haven't even started to think about the brakes and/or levers.

Luke, welcome to the world of velo solo http://www.velosolo.co.uk/intro.html

I have been spending a lot of time on there, lot's of bling to catch the eye. I was thinking about some cheapie cogs, but I read that you risk stripping the hubs.

Shame they haven't got the coloured cogs in 3/32 (I think that is what I need). Maybe a bit of gold could work

 

[fossyant]

Get a Fixed Fixed Formula hub then..perfik..

I went fixed from day one...was scarey, as the route I picked had a blooming long incline to go down (and it's not a road I've used before) just to keep the route short.... after that, spinning upto 160 soon became OK..... can't do much more than that, but I can slow it easily now....but not on the steep stuff...

One year in, and I prefer commuting fixed..yes it's harder, but it builds up the important hamstrings and tendons more, and it's good training....(certainly fixed/strengthened a weak hamstring in my left left leg that 'free wheeled' bikes couldn't)..

 

[RedBike]

Ooops, That is 1mm- 2mm.

If you haven't got a spacer then don't worry everything will work fine without it.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

One year in, and I prefer commuting fixed..yes it's harder, but it builds up the important hamstrings and tendons more, and it's good training....(certainly fixed/strengthened a weak hamstring in my left left leg that 'free wheeled' bikes couldn't)..

Only got a fixie to get the muscle bulk/tone back in my legs after weeks on crutches. My God it don't half work well, and the scenery is so much better than a spinning class. Which is what the registrar suggested.

 

[4F]

Maybe a bit of gold could work

That's what I went with

 

[Aperitif]

Are you toughening up on the fixed falling over skills Greg, or are you freewheeling it - like sensible recuperators? 48 x16 is a comfy gear. (On the flat, with no wind and twitchy thighs, no past or current damage to other body parts and...)

 

[stevevw]

Does anyone know where I can get cheap track cogs from, so I can experiment a bit without spending a small fortune?

Yes

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=101328

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Are you toughening up on the fixed falling over skills Greg, or are you freewheeling it - like sensible recuperators? 48 x16 is a comfy gear. (On the flat, with no wind and twitchy thighs, no past or current damage to other body parts and...)

Well I managed 35 miles with the local club the other weekend on 48 x 16 free by storming every hill like a nutter. I was wrecked when I got home. Did 20 fixed with them on the same gearing t'other day before the lure of a shiny surly sprocket with 18t got the better of me as it made more of my route home from work options enjoyable rather than just do-able.

So riding fixed now 48 x 18, and touch wood, no further offage or backwardsage, just the occasional "whoa... why are my legs doing that?" moments like when I tried to freewheel to get my mobile out of my jersey pocket last evening.

In a quandary. My new, but hopefully not shiny, cycle-to-work bike should arrive before FNRttC Whitstable and it's got oudles of gears from some bunch of italian guiseppies whose equipment I've always shunned before. Think fixed to Whitstable will be too far for my little legs, if he takes us up Greenwich and Shooters Hill a la my first run to Whitstable I'd be jellified before we leave London.

 

[Aperitif]

Ah good - fixed! I think fixed to Whitstable would be ok. Coming back up the nasty slopey bits is not so good - unless you're a benborp type (which neither you nor I are ) of this parish. A return trip entitles one to two goes of Andy's Café though!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

My return trip is jeopardy. It's Eurovision night, iirc, and a party has been arranged a very long way from Whitstable.

 

[skudupnorth]

Fixed should not be a problem me thinks as i once built a fixed in the 80's with standard issue "cowhorn" handle bars ! Oh the joy as they snapped after too many wheelies !!!!
Of course i will have to take into account more traffic and older limbs than my younger foolish days but i cannot think of any other problems i encountered with the old style fixed on 26" rims.
Cannot wait for my voucher from work and i'm off to join the clan !