As somebody who rides a fixed-gear as a work commuter everyday for the last three years, I find fixed gears have distinct advantages, and disadvantages.
The truth is, I’m considering changing to a FREEWHEEL :-o :-o :-o,
Don’t get me wrong, I love fixed-gears, but when you’re tired, the constant leg rotation and lack of freewheel can get on your nerves. This is my personal opinion of course, but I thought it might be interesting to gauge peoples thoughts.
Advantages:
Great in the city where there is lots of stop/starts
-Great ability to be in control of your bike at all times
-Low maintenance
-Good on flat surfaces
Disadvantages:
-Decents are annoying (once the novelty of the SPIINNNN wears off)
-High-end bike speed is limited (damned roadies keep overtaking me bahh!!)
-Constant leg rotation means to you get saddle-sores more quickly
-Standing starts can be tiring when you have a high-ish gear ratio
-Hills
-Fixed gear specific components can be a pain when you’re not using them on a velodrome. Ie hub spacings on road frames.
I’ve been riding to work on my various fixed’s for the last 8 or so months (a conversion and three different track bikes). I love it and can’t see myself changing to a freewheel or geared bike any time soon. It’s approximately 10km’s each way, one straight road (pretty much), no real hills. Some days I get overtaken by roadies, other times I overtake them. Which is always fun. I reckon I can easily sit on about 25-30kmh with 49x17 or 42x15 with out really trying. In saying that I’ve never actually figured out my speed and I’m probably going about 4kmh’s.
But yeah, I’ve never really been upset riding fixed. Maybe because you’ve got 2+ years on me, it’s different.
Really? bear in mind that I’m not somebody that can completely overhaul a geared bike. Fixed gear I can handle. Or do you just mean SS?
haha true I was running out of points there.
Okay I see your point. But you make fixed gear sound like a novelty- something you might ride on Sunday for ‘fun’ and then put in the cupboard for the rest of the week.
Commuting is not necessarily ‘fun’.
Really? bear in mind that I’m not somebody that can completely overhaul a geared bike. Fixed gear I can handle. Or do you just mean SS?
SS
Okay I see your point. But you make fixed gear sound like a novelty
fixed is fun, but there are easier ways to ride a bike. thats all, i have been really enjoying SS, but i still ride fixed because its something different.
it really not a big deal, its not like your thinking of buying a recumbent.
SS/Fixed, it doesnt matter, they are both, versatile, quick and have very little maintenence.
I’ve commuted riding fixed for about 2 yrs - about a 40min 10k ride in. I changed to fixed after 2 weeks of ss because it was more challenging (terrifying for the first couple of rides actually) and therefore rewarding and I couldn’t really see the point of singlespeed (still can’t frankly unless its for mtb or longer rides with lots of hills - just my opinion).
Yes there are some disadvantages but imho the pros outweight the cons.
Pros also include (in no particular order):
big man thighs;
souplesse;
skids;
easy trackstands;
the whole zen thing with the traffic;
strength training for other cycling disciplines;
peeps yelling ‘pop it up’.
I think icecream makes a very reasonable point. Maybe if you used your flip-flop, you could use the freewheel when you commute to work, and then when you feel like going fixed again for a bit, just switch the wheel over. That way you could have the best of both worlds. =D
After commuting various routes to my jobs over the years on my roadie, then discovering fixed. There’s no comparison fixies win allllllll the way…
Gotta agree with the past posts though a lil man the f**k up never hurt anyone. and learn to spin till you have thigh’s like pop eye’s for arms, that’ll keep the roadies at bay.
I think it’s a great idea to have a flip-flop, then you can try free without too much worry & when you do get sick of the dark side flip it right back over
