What's so amazing about fixies?

infinity&beyond

I'm a 30k-a-day commuter (along N11 to Loughlinstown) and ride a road bike. I've read some of the posts people have written on fixies. Everyone is raving about them and to be honest I have felt like I'm missing out. "Zen" and all that.

So much so that the other evening I had the brain wave of trying to remain in the same gear all the way home. You know, to kind of simulate what a fixie would be like to ride.

Ridiculous! Why would anyone limit themselves like that? The slightest of hills and I had to heave my way up like a sumo wrestler doing step aerobics, then down the hill....legs spinning like Michael Flatley.

So I don't get it. Either my experiment misses something major or fixies are designed for postmen and couriers.

Please explain what I'm missing.

Raam

For me, simplicity.

The sensation of no free wheel is very nice. You are very much at one with the bike as you get a lot of feedback from it, and you have much more control over it.

DirkVoodoo

You sound like my mate, he laughed when i got a single/fixed gear and said why not just stay in one gear.

Its hard to explain, but its a much smoother, more complete feeling, really is the whole "being at one with the bike" nonsense you hear about. It shouldnt make sense, but it does.

Plus there is the whole zero maintenance thing I liked, I have only time to look after one bike.

blorg

Note that fixed is fundamentally different from "single speed" -the pedals are directly linked to the rotation of the back wheel, so there is no freewheeling. I don't have either but I can imagine the benefits of fixed (looking around myself, one of the things I would be particularly interested in would be working on an "all-around" pedalling style.)

dogmatix

I checked out this Sheldon Brown website about Fixed gears and single speeds. One of the points he made was although you are in just the one gear most of the energy from your legs goes right to the back wheel and not through a whole complicated set of twists and turns of a normal gearing system. So it is easier to cycle then you would think.

The thing is I don't think simply cycling in one gear is a real replication of a true single speed/fixed gear system.

But thats just what I read - could be complete tosh. And you can't coast in a fixie but can in a single speed?

rp

infinity&beyond wrote: »

I'm a 30k-a-day commuter (along N11 to Loughlinstown) and ride a road bike. ... I had the brain wave of trying to remain in the same gear all the way home. ... The slightest of hills and I had to heave my way up like a sumo wrestler doing step aerobics, then down the hill..

I commute on a fixie, from Maynooth to Grand Canal basin (30km each way), with a gear of 39/14 (94.5") and make an average of 32kph for the trip. Advantages for me include:

• Simplicity: very little to adjust/oil/break
• No goofing off: it's pedaling all the way (keeps the pace up)
• Good work out, mashing & spinning are both important exercises
• Better road holding, direct feedback from wheel plus the fact you've always got a bit of power on helps keep you upright in the wet
• If I see the word Z*n again in connection with fixies I'll barf, but there is a certain juhnuhsehkwa, that you don't get with gears/freewheels
• Try it. Try it. You will see.

unionman

OK, the 'Zen' thing is said very much with tongue in cheek these days isn't it?

Before I got a fixed gear bike, I used to try the same thing with my old Hybrid, staying in the same gear, constant pedalling, but it doesn't replicate the sensation. In fact it doesn't even come close.

rp, hats off, that is a monster commute. How do you find those roads?

I like fixed on my commute because the effort translates into real speed, and it feels like a proper workout, great for clearing the head before and after work (even on days like today...seriously, it's like 2007 all over again).

I don't pretend to be superfit or an accomplished cyclist (far far from it), but in any group at traffic lights, me and my fixie clear the field (with the exception of the occasional superfit accomplished roadie making an appearance:rolleyes:).

Try and borrow a fixie OP, you'll see what we are all raving about. No more Zen references, I promise.

niceonetom

rp wrote: »

I commute on a fixie, from Maynooth to Grand Canal basin (30km each way), with a gear of 39/14 (94.5") and make an average of 32kph for the trip. Advantages for me include:

• Simplicity: very little to adjust/oil/break
• No goofing off: it's pedaling all the way (keeps the pace up)
• Good work out, mashing & spinning are both important exercises
• Better road holding, direct feedback from wheel plus the fact you've always got a bit of power on helps keep you upright in the wet
• If I see the word Z*n again in connection with fixies I'll barf, but there is a certain juhnuhsehkwa, that you don't get with gears/freewheels
• Try it. Try it. You will see.

you sure that's your ratio? 39-14 should be about 75 GI (still big but nowhere near 95 which would be HUGE anywhere but a track, not something i'd relish with a strong headwind and a slight hangover). then again 32kph is pretty bloody fast so... thought about giving the track a go?

OP i too have to emphasise the difference between fixed and single. fixed is all about the feedback you get from the bike and the control you have over the back wheel, it really is a great feeling, and one i don't think that can be replicated. you just have to try it for real. there are definite traction/slowing advantages in the rain too, i think. i love it.

staying in one gear gives you a very good idea of what single-speeding is about, but in my view if you're going to be able coast you might as well have gears.


zen.

*runs away

blorg

dogmatix wrote: »

One of the points he made was although you are in just the one gear most of the energy from your legs goes right to the back wheel and not through a whole complicated set of twists and turns of a normal gearing system.

A properly adjusted, cleaned and lubricated derailleur gearing system is around 98% efficient, so there isn't much of a loss there, although I will grant many people do not keep their drivetrains immaculate (and indeed that it's easier to maintain a fixed drivetrain.)

TinyExplosions

niceonetom wrote: »

staying in one gear gives you a very good idea of what single-speeding is about, but in my view if you're going to be able coast you might as well have gears.

I'm possibly one of the few single speeders on here, and I have to say there's a couple of advantages to me.. I rode fixed until I started goin to the mountains training for the W200 -I quickly moved over to single speed after the first day trying to spin down the scalp!

The main thing is the lack of maintenence -a singlespeed is pretty much bombproof, and very little to go wrong on it. The other major one is that there's hardly any hills in the City, so gears are superflous to me -if you have to huff and puff over a hill, think of the workout you're getting

BUACHAILL

hey Infinity and Beyond what Bike do you cycle? i pass that way everyday and see the same cyclists !!

rp

niceonetom wrote: »

you sure that's your ratio? 39-14 should be about 75 GI

You're right, it's 49/14, and I used Sheldon Brown's calculator to do the sums. It's ok for my relatively flat commute (500m total climb per day), but sometimes with a headwind and a bit of a climb, I'm glad of the 175mm cranks.
Count the teeth:

seamus

On my commute I would tend to stay in the one gear anyway unless I'm going downhill, but that's because most days I'll spin it instead of trying to kill myself for the whole route.

I can definitely see the benefit of a fixie - particularly for couriers and such. It means that you basically cruise around in a relaxed pace everywhere, and of course there's far less maintenance than derailleur and even single-speed systems. I imagine you can do away with the rear brake too - the bikes are probably stupidly light

With my commuting habit I'm definitely considering a fixie for my next bike. Every time we have a week like this one, I have to strip down most of the drivetrain and clean out the crud, otherwise there are all sorts of weird sounds emanating on the next dry day. On a fixie, all I'd have to do is look after punctures, clean the chain and make sure my front brake works

Gavin

unionman wrote: »

I don't pretend to be superfit or an accomplished cyclist (far far from it), but in any group at traffic lights, me and my fixie clear the field (with the exception of the occasional superfit accomplished roadie making an appearance:rolleyes:).

Well, I wouldn't call myself a roadie. Ho ho ho !

Anyway, I singlespeed, like Tiny. I've tried fixed and it's interesting, but I found it rather bizarre getting back onto a freewheel afterwards. I'd be somewhat concerned that if I was on a fixie all week, then on the mountain bike at the weekend, trouble could arise from confused legs !

Mind you, at the moment it's mostly budget holding me back from fixed. Costs next to nothing to convert to singlespeed, have to fork out for a fixed hub to go fixed.

Dublin is quite flat, there really is no need for gears. Low maintenance, knowledge that the bike is performing as well as it possibly could, no niggling feeling that the derailler is messy, shifting is wrong etc. are all good. I'm probably a bit anal about that stuff but a poorly calibrated derailler gets my goat.

edit - it seems my gear ratio is 73.1. Does this make me tough, or only average ?

unionman

Verb wrote: »

Well, I wouldn't call myself a roadie. Ho ho ho !

Ha ha! Well, as I remember it, I took O'Connell Street while you took the hill at Nth Gt Georges St...we're probably due a rematch*!

*Spot encroaching middle aged man trying to be all macho:D

Harpz

Singlespeeds have the honour of similtaneously possessing all the disadvantages of both a fixie and geared bike.

I can't see the point in fixies myself, perhaps its the lazyness in me. I feel at one with my bike freewheeling.


PREDICTED NEXT FAD: Bikes with no Saddle

1. Theres less to go wrong,
2. It's less likely to be stolen,
3. Think of the weight savings,
4. it gives the bike a much cleaner look,
5. its impossible to wuss out when riding,
6. its a Zen thing

unionman

Harpz wrote: »

6. its a Zen thing

I doubt it...just grimacing at the thought:eek:

Chips Lovell

Having seen a guy flying round town a few times now on a unicycle, I predict that this will be the next big thing. Simplicity in itself.

dogmatix

TinyExplosions wrote: »

The other major one is that there's hardly any hills in the City, so gears are superflous to me -if you have to huff and puff over a hill, think of the workout you're getting

Not if you had been living in Ballinteer - coming from town there are three hills to climb with the last being the worst!

I'd still like to try it in a singlespeed though.

seamus

el tonto wrote: »

Having seen a guy flying round town a few times now on a unicycle, I predict that this will be the next big thing. Simplicity in itself.

You can also bring it anywhere with you. One of the regulars in the Foggy Dew brings it into the pub with him. Maximum security.

Gavin

dogmatix wrote: »

Not if you had been living in Ballinteer - coming from town there are three hills to climb with the last being the worst!

I'd still like to try it in a singlespeed though.

Please. Those ain't climbs.

flickerx

I sold my last hybrid about six or seven months ago, and now ride solely fixed. I guess about a year and a half ago I got curious about it, having seen loads of them in San Fran and wondering what the attraction was (esp. in a city full of bleedin 'ardcore hills!!). Took the plunge and after a few wobbles (coming down off kerbs, bunny hopping potholes, etc - normal places you just stop pedalling for a second - I was very quickly reminded that your legs have to be in permanent motion) got fully into it.

Bike is very responsive, zen connectedness, blah blah blah.
But seriously. I love it. Going back on a 'normal' bike feels... crap!
If you're interested (cough) then you could check out eBay, there's a Dawes and a Peugeot, both converted to fixies, up for auction at the moment, ending on Saturday...
I hear the guy who built them is amazing...

Alright, jesus, forgive the self-promotion...

Civilian_Target

el tonto wrote: »

Having seen a guy flying round town a few times now on a unicycle, I predict that this will be the next big thing. Simplicity in itself.

Yeah, my cousin also rides a commuter unicycle (oxymoron, no?) to work in London. Apparently you can be guaranteed you'll arrive in work awake, you can get up quite a good speed too, except the stopping distance is rubbish!

cantalach

The hills in Cork ensure that fixies and single-speeds are a very rare sight down here!

(Cue posts from Cork fixie riders who commute up and down 15-20% gradients and even go home for lunch sometimes too just for the craic)

infinity&beyond

BUACHAILL wrote: »

hey Infinity and Beyond what Bike do you cycle? i pass that way everyday and see the same cyclists !!

Hey Buachaill, I'm on a Lapierre road bike, light blue in colour. Some electrical tape on the rear of frame (don't ask). I wear a backpack, mostly with a hi-viz bag cover. So what do you ride? Please don't tell the world that you pass me all the time

Anyhow, read all your replies, thanks for 'em. I tried sticking in same gear again, but I gave up after 5 or 10 minutes 'cause I spotted another cyclist ahead that I wanted to catch and pass (why does a commute always have to be a race??).

I see the low maintenance benefit, but don't mind giving my gear system the once over every so often. And I agree that your average Dublin commute isn't that hilly (Ballinteer on a windy night excluded!), but a couple of gears can make all the difference -- for comfort if nothing else.

I had one more thought. I've heard that excessive mashing can warp your bike slightly out of shape (or at a minimum wear out bottom bracket quicker). If that's true (is it?) then does a fixed / single speed wear out quicker?

Harpz, I love your prediction of the saddle-less future. Genius.

DirkVoodoo

I suppose that the cycling with no saddle would further the idea of "Uniting yourself with the bike"...removing yourself from it might be tricky.

For me its pretty much the lack of maintenance and I wanted to work my legs a bit more on my 8km-each way commute, no wussing out as mentioned.

Having said that, i ride a 39/16 and freewheel into college alot, for that reason alone i am not gonna switch the hub around to fixie mode.

flickerx

Blorg had his first ever go on a fixie last night AFAIK when he came around to my gaf to have a look at the Peugeot (plug, plug).

What did you think of it blorg? Did you "feel totally connected to the bike" and/or did some sort of Buddha like zen trance descend over you?

First time I tried it, it felt like I had to re-learn how to cycle a bike.

blorg

It was very strange, I felt sort of like the bike was cycling me

Would take some getting used to certainly but I liked it. I was surprised with how much force the rear wheel throws into the pedals, I thought it would be easier to stop using legs alone.

Raam

blorg wrote: »

It was very strange, I felt sort of like the bike was cycling me

That's a good description, and it captures how I first felt.

All of a sudden I had to actually think about what I was going to do in order to stop the bike, starting was no picnic either. That only lasts about 3 rides though

cmyk

For me it's the efficiency of the pedalling, I got back on my old bike for the first time in ages and felt v.strange coming back up from the downstroke? If that makes sense?

The silence is also quite nice...first thing I noticed when I got mine.

souter

Well a couple months into the fixie business and happy with it. Not life-changingly happy, but enjoying it.
But a large part of the changeover for me was I changed the frame for a much lighter and way better fit for me , so can't tell how much of the improved responsiveness is due to this. tbh I found the gear -> single speed freewheel the most immediately liberating.
But fixing definitely more responsive, and for a short commute it's teh biz.

Going back to freewheel feels just weird - once I've convinced myself it's safe, when I stop pedalling and the bike keeps going I get this horrible "oh no, it's broke" feeling.

Switched to cleats this morning for even more bike/rider communion.

Next step is to find some way to nail my hands to the bar, then I might finally achieve nirvana.