Unexpected lessons?

[Bicycle]

I started to ride a fixed-wheel bitza a few months ago and am slowly getting more and more into it.

It's a tired 80s Claud Butler that I had no other use for.

It's been an absolute hoot to ride. I did the fashion-victim thing and inverted the bars, having hack-sawed them into bullhorns... Tragic, but true (although good for misers.. you can do both sides with half a roll of bar tape).

I've also learned some things I hadn't expected to...

1. On a bike with freewheel I always stop pedalling for a second or so at the top of a big climb. I must have done this for years but had never noticed.

Doing it on a fixed-wheel bike is funny in a slightly scary way... You're hoiked up out of the saddle and feel as if someone is trying to pop your kneecap off. I've stopped having that little 2-second rest now... Whether it was a bad habit or not, I do not know. But now it is an ex-habit.

2. With back/neck/shoulders stiff from years of falling and crashing, I'd fallen into the habit of stopping pedalling when having a look over my shoulder.

Again, a fixed-wheel bike quickly discourages this sort of behaviour... Another habit of years has bitten the dust.

All the stuff about difficulty slowing quickly from high speeds and getting into a pickle on steep, fast descents was alarmning but expected.

And... I seem (slowly) to be learning all the good habits you get from riding fixed-wheel: flexibility, smoother pedalling and all that stuff....

But I was wondering if anyone else had a list of things they 'didn't expect to learn from riding fixed-wheel'.

It continues to be a huge giggle, but those unexpected lessons keep popping up when I'm thinking of something else.

 

[tyred]

It is truly amazing how qucikly you get used to it. Within a few miles it's feels completely natural and if you ride it regularly for a few days, you will get on a freewheel bike and wonder what's wrong with it.

As you continue to get used to fixed, you will find your speed improves greatly and your flexibility also improves as you will be able to push higher gears on hills and also spin a higher cadence on the flat and when you ride a geared bike again, you'll end up changing gear a lot less than normal.

 

[Norry1]

I learned some similar lessons.

I found that when I approached a challenging situation, I did the man thing (unable to multi-task) and stopped pedalling whilst I worked out how to react. As you said, I soon stopped doing that.

I also found I used to stop pedalling if I went over a bump or pothole - no longer whilst on my fixed.

I have found that I ride faster without meaning to - even though my fixed is a naff old 1980's Raleigh cheapo bike.

Martin

 

[palinurus]

I've learned to rely on leg-braking when approaching a scary junction in the wet. Fine until you decide to ride a bike with a freewheel.

I'm not sure if it has changed my riding, I like it though. Mentally I feel better about climbing the local hills if I have done them on fixed (If I can get up in 42x16 I'll have no trouble with the 23)

 

[TechMech]

This is why I will never go Fixed! It would just be an accident waiting to happen.

Single speed all the way for me, as it took my brain long enough to get used to uncliping it's appendages rather than just lifting them off the pedals lol

 

[Supersonicscientist]

This is why I will never go Fixed! It would just be an accident waiting to happen.

Single speed all the way for me, as it took my brain long enough to get used to uncliping it's appendages rather than just lifting them off the pedals lol

Yeah i thought that as well but with a new bike i decided from the off to give it a bash ,tis easy, is it the bike ?probably, but with the amount i ride each week it makes sense to go fixed and it's true you do feel at one with the bike ,as for clipping in it's easy enough it's something you get used to and you'll do it without noticing ..

 

[palinurus]

I have found that I ride faster without meaning to

I find, quite naturally, I get into a nice sedate rhythm and ride everywhere at 15 mph!

 

[Fab Foodie]

The biggest benifit I found was improved anticipation of the situation ahead. On fixed you don't want to have to slow or stop too often, so I reckon you learn to look further up the road and modulate your pace accordingly - more smoothly than you do on frewheel bikes.

 

[palinurus]

Same as Foodie.

Plus I've learned to pedal around corners, that's useful (but not really unexpected).

 

[skudupnorth]

I find it weird when i'm riding a geared bike that you can free wheel without busting your knee caps ! Fixed is more fun though

 

[smokeysmoo]

+1 for all the above

I tried to coast whilst glancing back to check the traffic one time, definately won't be doing that again in a hurry. How I stayed on the seat for the rest of my ride with all the brown adrenaline dripping from it I simply don't know

I still actually find myself saying spin, spin, spin, spin, spin in my head sometimes to remind me not to stop, it's something I did when I first rode fixed, and it's proving hard to break the habit. Mind you, if it keeps my knees inside my legs then it might not be a bad thing to keep doing.

I went out on my carbon road bike a couple of weeks back, and it felt sooooooo weird. Really, really twitchy after the Langster Steel, and coasting felt completely alien. I found myself spining the pedals even if my cadence was slower than my speed, I just didn't want to stop peddling.