They're really popular around here and I'm thinking about either picking one up soon or converting this old Raleigh 10 speed I got from the dump, but I fear the frame is too big.
Thanks
-Mac
Thanks
-Mac
School me on Fixed Gear Bikes
- Thread starter macneill
- Start date
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I picked up a used Schwinn Madison (circa 1985) a while back. It has a track drop out on the rear. I put a newer fork on it with a front brake. I purchased some inexpensive flip-flop Suzue hubs from Harris Cyclery in MA. I built wheels using some left over rims I had. The flip flop hub is nice because you can put two gears on it, one on each side and flip the wheel around to change gears. I orignally purchased a BMX single cog free wheel, plus a regular fixed gear cog, but I never really used the free wheel. When I ride my fixed gear its usually on short flat rides, so I don't really need the free wheel.
If you've never ridden a fixed gear it gets some getting used to--no coasting, right? I don't think it's a good idea to ride one off the track without at least a front brake, and I wish mine had a rear brake too.
If you've never ridden a fixed gear it gets some getting used to--no coasting, right? I don't think it's a good idea to ride one off the track without at least a front brake, and I wish mine had a rear brake too.
Fixed gear will kill you unless you really know how to ride a bike well. My recommendation would be to get a standard geared bike and retrofit it to a single gear front and rear chain ring. Maintain the freewheel hub and traditional handbrakes. Sure, direct drive is cool, but can you learn to brake effectively through backpedaling? It takes a while to get used to, but the freewheeling single gear with brakes makes it more fun, safer, and less likely to kill you. Seriously.
I was going to convert my Klein Attitude over to a single speed, but it's such a cool mountain bike that I just went out and picked up a Redline Monocog Cruiser. It's a BMX style cruiser on 26" wheels. As far as a roadbike goes, it would be easy to go with a nice road frame and a single speed front / rear end.
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I was going to convert my Klein Attitude over to a single speed, but it's such a cool mountain bike that I just went out and picked up a Redline Monocog Cruiser. It's a BMX style cruiser on 26" wheels. As far as a roadbike goes, it would be easy to go with a nice road frame and a single speed front / rear end.
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Cruiserdrew
On the way there
We've talked about this before! I commute all the time on a fixed gear and have for the last 10+ years. There is a zen to it that you have to ride for awhile to appreciate. I do think a fixed gear on the street, and in traffic, without brakes is stupid, and I ride with front and rear brakes. I was only nearly killed on it once, when I was just learning to ride it when I went around a corner way to fast, with a bus right behind me, and on a fixed gear, the pedal keeps coming around....
You do learn to focus more on the terrain and anticipate turns much better. I also think it makes you a better rider.
Now for Macneil-If you have not ridden a lot, and in traffic, I wouldn't do it in NYC. If you have, than you will love the fixed gear after the first couple of weeks. You really cannot stop pedalling no matter what!
I've ridden track bikes on quite a few occasions and they do have a zen like simplicity, but Andrew is right, you have to stay in tune with what's going on around you. It's pretty important to develop a 6th sense regarding what's around the next corner as reaction time is short and reflexes are paramount to survival.
I've seen lots of bike messengers ride them in San Francisco (on the hills no less!), and the guys are nuts. It's a badge of honor for them, but they are professional riders. I used to ride an average of 30 miles a day for over a decade, and even I had enough sense to ride a freewheel when riding a single speed. Track bikes are cool, but more in the same way that unicycles could be called cool. They have a cool factor that has little to do with practicality and more to do with mastering an art form...
By the way, unicycles are ghey...
..
I've seen lots of bike messengers ride them in San Francisco (on the hills no less!), and the guys are nuts. It's a badge of honor for them, but they are professional riders. I used to ride an average of 30 miles a day for over a decade, and even I had enough sense to ride a freewheel when riding a single speed. Track bikes are cool, but more in the same way that unicycles could be called cool. They have a cool factor that has little to do with practicality and more to do with mastering an art form...
By the way, unicycles are ghey...
..
I rode one and raced one for years and still like to pull it out once in a while and go for a ride around the neighbourhood but would never ride it in traffic and I consider myself a better than average cyclist. I've seen some nasty wipeouts on them at the track when a roadie showed up for his first race/ride at the track. They seem to forget a bike throw at the line is a little different on a fixed gear bike and it really hurts when you need to have your skinsuit peeled out of the road rash on your back. 
I R building one now, 1967 Schwinn Supersport...
Cruiserdrew
On the way there
Not a bad choice. Mine is built on a 1988 Paramount 50th Edition. Very bling with the (real) gold plated forks. Otherwise it's got 20 years of cast off parts, and covered in commuter grime.
Yeah, this one is one of the last of the handbuilt Schwinns (tubes cut by machine, welded by hand). It has the OEM paint, stickers, Chicago tag on the front tube, and cool front fork. It doesnt have the bosses in the frame for the shifters, so it will work out nicely.
I am actually taking it apart currently and will order parts soon...
Macneill, a large frame is probably an asset to a beginner on a fixed gear. You want a soft ride and longer wheelbase as you adjust to the dynamics.
"Fix" the bike up, take it to the park with lower than normal pressure in the tires, ride it on the grass for half an hour. Go as slow as you can without falling over, then fall over. Before the end of the session you'll be doing a shaky track stand. Stay on the grass and 10 mph on the road from home to the park until you are really comfortable.
Learning to slow a bike down with your legs, when you are used to handbrakes, is like learning to use handbrakes when you are used to coaster brakes. We all did it. I know we were all warned not to hit the front brake too hard or you'd flip over the handlebars. But did anyone really do that? If so, you probably shouldn't be on a two-wheeler anyway. But keep at least one handbrake on in case you pull a foot off a pedal.
The short term dangers of the learning curve are massively outweighed by the long term benefit of bike handling and confidence.
Always a good idea to have top quality rubber on the front wheel, even on a beater winter fixed gear ride. This is always the case, but even more so on a fixed gear.
"Fix" the bike up, take it to the park with lower than normal pressure in the tires, ride it on the grass for half an hour. Go as slow as you can without falling over, then fall over. Before the end of the session you'll be doing a shaky track stand. Stay on the grass and 10 mph on the road from home to the park until you are really comfortable.
Learning to slow a bike down with your legs, when you are used to handbrakes, is like learning to use handbrakes when you are used to coaster brakes. We all did it. I know we were all warned not to hit the front brake too hard or you'd flip over the handlebars. But did anyone really do that? If so, you probably shouldn't be on a two-wheeler anyway. But keep at least one handbrake on in case you pull a foot off a pedal.
The short term dangers of the learning curve are massively outweighed by the long term benefit of bike handling and confidence.
Always a good idea to have top quality rubber on the front wheel, even on a beater winter fixed gear ride. This is always the case, but even more so on a fixed gear.
Just got done building my '87 (iirc) Schwinn Tempo. Commuter bike that gets me to campus and back. They're awesome, but I almost killed myself the first couple of times when I started riding it. There are no brakes, so you need to always be aware of your suroundings so you can slow down to come to a halt (even as a crit racer). The reason why I chose a fix gear was because it was dirt cheap and less moving parts = less maintainence. Since I'm in college and college = poor, this works out nicely.
- Thread starter
- #13
Hilarious. That's where I get all my project bikes. It's amazing what people throw away. Course, I've got way to many project bikes in the basement and shed.
Anything with less than 18 gears should be left at the dump
- Thread starter
- #14
Yeah, I'm not really keen on going out and getting run over. And I vividly recall tipping over more than once when I first got clipped on my MTB. I consider myself a decent rider, but I hear you on the learning curve. Now that I'm in Brooklyn, I'm two blocks from Prospect which would provide a fairly flat and car free learning area.
It's amazing how nuts the bike messengers in the city are with fixed gear and no brakes. Crazy.
I'm gonna poke around a bit more and see what I can come up with.
Thanks for all the ideas!
-Mac
It's amazing how nuts the bike messengers in the city are with fixed gear and no brakes. Crazy.
I'm gonna poke around a bit more and see what I can come up with.
Thanks for all the ideas!
-Mac
I just built up a single speed townie commuter, super cheap, out of a '97 S works hardtail 21" frame. Turned out killer, weighs just over 20lbs and is awesome... I thought about fixed but it is just too odd and honestly unsafe if you ask me. If I owned one (which I will never do, personally) I'd definetely at least have some brakes. Riding a regular bike in traffic alone is dangerous enough, not me but people who seem to not see bikes when they are driving. I had a week about two weeks ago where I was almost run over three times in a single week... The idea of pedals always moving doesn't interest me at all. I also like to pretend my bike is a little more 'urban' than it was built for, ride over a lot of curbs etc and it is nice. With fixie that is tough, again, pedals always spinning. Should be left to the professionals only (bike messengers)....
Here is the s-works:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=343035
And here is a thread about fixies on MTBR that I 100% agree with the first post... http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=347832
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"Fixies" - A Rant
I know this is a mountain bike forum and yes, I am a long time mountain biker. But I live in Boston and I work in a bike shop so I can't really ignore the cycling culture in Boston (which is a grea bike town). The idea of a fixed gear bicycle is simple, its a bike that is built the way it is to be used on an indoor track, a very small niche of cycling. Now this niche of cycling spilled over into the world of bike messangers, at first. And these guys can do whatever they want, because that is a job that requires serious comitment.
But lately I have noticed that every Joe and their uncle is riding a fixed gear around town. Why? I ask. Some with no or just one brake, fumbling at stop lights to push that high gear. Or some yuppie MIT kid in his rolled up jeans feverishly grabbing his front brake while his pedals spin out of control toward a red light. To make a long story short, fixed gear bikes used to be bikes that only very serious riders used with specific purpose. Now in many urban areas they are trendy to own and ride.
I'm not knocking fixed gear bikes, I'm just sick of this trend in many cities. Does anyone agree or am I just a bitter mountain biker?
BTW single bikes make soooooo much more sense, fixed gears just don't..............
Here is the s-works:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=343035
And here is a thread about fixies on MTBR that I 100% agree with the first post... http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=347832
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Fixies" - A Rant
I know this is a mountain bike forum and yes, I am a long time mountain biker. But I live in Boston and I work in a bike shop so I can't really ignore the cycling culture in Boston (which is a grea bike town). The idea of a fixed gear bicycle is simple, its a bike that is built the way it is to be used on an indoor track, a very small niche of cycling. Now this niche of cycling spilled over into the world of bike messangers, at first. And these guys can do whatever they want, because that is a job that requires serious comitment.
But lately I have noticed that every Joe and their uncle is riding a fixed gear around town. Why? I ask. Some with no or just one brake, fumbling at stop lights to push that high gear. Or some yuppie MIT kid in his rolled up jeans feverishly grabbing his front brake while his pedals spin out of control toward a red light. To make a long story short, fixed gear bikes used to be bikes that only very serious riders used with specific purpose. Now in many urban areas they are trendy to own and ride.
I'm not knocking fixed gear bikes, I'm just sick of this trend in many cities. Does anyone agree or am I just a bitter mountain biker?
BTW single bikes make soooooo much more sense, fixed gears just don't..............
The advantage of fixed gears, to the thoughtful cyclist, is not reduced by the trend you complain of.
They were a craze here some time back 
so the boys could do wheelies [riding on the back wheel with the front wheel in the air]. 
Young show offs, grumble grumble
so the boys could do wheelies [riding on the back wheel with the front wheel in the air]. Young show offs, grumble grumble
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2004
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I can't say I agree with this - I have two I built up. I only ride one of them - as a town/errand/commuter bike. It is an old POS fuji. It is some of the most fun riding I have. It seems to be the bike of choice (still) after 7 years since I built it up.
Put on a front brake. X2 on the harris cyclery - read that sheldon Brown pages about fixies.
The other one I built up I do not ride- it is a flip-flop hub on a Basso frame I got a deal on. SUPER LIGHT. But looong rides on the fixed gear are not for me - I use a road bike for those.
I have had a few close calls (not sure if that is the term) where I almost got launched off the bike because I stopped pedaling for some brain fart reason.
Another time I forgot I was on a fixies and tried to bunny hop a big hole without continuing to pedal. that was exciting. Never crashed with it.
Try it out - you'll never know how great it is unless you try it. It will take a little getting used to but it is like discovering cycling all over again.
I use clipless pedals - some folks don't advocate that, but I find them wonderful on the fixie. Let us know how you like it.
I have always wanted a fixe since my dad used to take my sister and I to the velodrome races as children. One of these days, I'm going to get one, but probably ride it as a single speed with brakes. Just my random driveling.
- Thread starter
- #20
Dag, I think I've been outed...
And here is a thread about fixies on MTBR that I 100% agree with the first post... http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=347832
And here is a thread about fixies on MTBR that I 100% agree with the first post... http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=347832