# Is a "fixie" the new mountain bike?



## bobcat (11 Apr 2012)

I'm sorry I just don't get it. They just seem to be like the emperor's new clothes! Gears can make a really tough ride a pleasure, ease strain on the knees, why are people paying top dollar for a lesser bike?


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## gaz (11 Apr 2012)

There is a difference between a fixed gear bike, and a fixie..
The fixie is for the hipster.










The fixed gear bike is for the purest, someone that wants to connect with the bike, a track cyclist, someone looking for simplicity.






The whole 'fixie' stuff is hipsters jumping on the bandwagon of messengers looking 'cool'. and they just had to give it their own 'word'


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## Salad Dodger (11 Apr 2012)

So, basically, it's a fashion statement.....


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## cyberknight (11 Apr 2012)

Fixed gear bikes can aid in getting your pedaling technique right ,assuming you get your gear choice right you learn how to power hills and spin for speed.


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## srw (11 Apr 2012)

cyberknight said:


> Fixed gear bikes can aid in getting your pedaling technique right ,assuming you get your gear choice right you learn how to power hills and spin for speed.


Pedalling technique: turn the legs around. Really, how difficult can it be?


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## Boris Bajic (11 Apr 2012)

They are enormous fun. That cannot be a bad thing.

They are also helpful with pedalling technique. 

I built mine for fun, but my riding improved at the grand old age of 40+.

A year or so after putting it together, I found I was regularly riding at 110 rpm, something I'd never done before.

Mine is made of an old 531 steel frame and odd bits and bobs. I do not understand the desire to buy a new one, but it takes all sorts. 

Up to a point, I think they are surfing on a fashion wave, as early MTBs did in 1990-ish.

That need not be a bad thing.

The only reason to get one is because you want one. If my garage were on fire, the fixed-wheel fixie fixopholous might be the first thing I'd rescue.

It might also be my Pace HT MTB or my lovely Italian alloy road bike.... Blimey... I might end up getting quite hot.


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## Sheffield_Tiger (12 Apr 2012)

They are a fashion thing but so what?

I had one years back that I made when I had a totally seized up single speed freewheel in my spares bin so decided to use it and an old frame and parts. My commute was flat, it was okay.

My commute now is NOT flat and I often carry fairly heavy loads so a single speed with or without freewheel is wholly unsuitable, so I have no desire to have one again.


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## Ashtrayhead (12 Apr 2012)

They can also be lighter than geared bikes and don't have so many cables and bits to go wrong.


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## betty swollocks (12 Apr 2012)

Fixed wheel is huge fun to ride. I've been riding one for years, long before the current fad.
People will tell you that you feel more 'connected' to the bike ....and you do, but you have to ride fixed for yourself to find out what this really means.
Riding fixed is simplicity itself: simply get on and pedal. I've yet to find a hill I cannot surmount and descending, your legs whirl like a dervish. You can get to the bottom of a hill feeling puffed, especially when trying to keep up with freewheelers. This doesn't bother me.
And when you've cycled fifty miles, you really have cycled fifty miles.
Dead easy to maintain too.
I have geared bikes also.


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## srw (12 Apr 2012)

betty swollocks said:


> [...]
> Riding fixed is simplicity itself: simply get on and pedal
> [...]
> You can get to the bottom of a hill feeling puffed, especially when trying to keep up with freewheelers. [...]
> Dead easy to maintain too.


 
So it's like a geared bike - you just get on and pedal.
It tires you out more - you can't relax on a downhill.
And it's like a geared bike - it's dead easy to maintain.

Remind me. Why bother?


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## betty swollocks (12 Apr 2012)

srw said:


> So it's like a geared bike - you just get on and pedal.
> It tires you out more - you can't relax on a downhill.
> And it's like a geared bike - it's dead easy to maintain.
> 
> Remind me. Why bother?


 
Read my first seven words: ie one of the bits you didn't quote


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## srw (12 Apr 2012)

betty swollocks said:


> Read my first seven words: ie one of the bits you didn't quote


 Yup - just like a geared bike!


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## betty swollocks (12 Apr 2012)

I said My first seven words, not yours.

I'll help:- 'Fixed wheel is huge fun to ride.'


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## Boris Bajic (12 Apr 2012)

srw said:


> So it's like a geared bike - you just get on and pedal.
> It tires you out more - you can't relax on a downhill.
> And it's like a geared bike - it's dead easy to maintain.
> 
> Remind me. Why bother?


 
The wonderful thing about all this is that you really don't have to bother.

We who like to ride fixed (always or occasionally) know why we do it. It really is jolly good fun.

I have a (wonderful) brother who occasionally makes a big thing of criticising my taste in music, which I rarely play when he's present. I'm not sure what drives him to do this. 

In some quarters there's also a fascination with questioning other people's taste in cars. I'm not sure why people bother.

Ride what you like. Very many people think fixed is barmy. My wife and children (cyclists all) think it is daft.

But... I just love it.


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## subaqua (12 Apr 2012)

i suppose the best bit is being abke to ride them with the back wheel leading and you sitting on the handlebars. but i stopped doing that at 15, many years ago now! youngests bike has fixed wheel and he seems happier riding like i described above.


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## tyred (12 Apr 2012)

I have two. but they do not fall into the "trendy" category. Sensible handlebar width, mudguards, dynamo, lights, rack, brakes back and front, gearing in the low to mid 60s, they are practical, low maintenance and great fun to ride.

Last October, I put together my "winter" fixed, a skip rescue gas pipe special 1970s 10 speed low end road bike, cottered cranks, steel wheels, a touch on the heavy side and running a 62" gear ratio. It cost peanuts to build (I doubled the price by fitting a Lidl pannier rack!), in the great scheme of things , it is a heap of shoot, yet in many ways, it's become my favourite bike. I took the advice of an old club cyclist I know in going for such a low gear ratio and I really have learned how to spin, it's quite easy on all but the steepest hills, insane but great fun on the way back down and I have reached a stage where I can comfortably maintain 19-20 mph (22.5 on a really good day) on the flat which I think is just over 100rpm cadence. I never use the high gears on my geared road bikes anymore, it's really is easier and more efficient to spin (this coming from a former grinder).

As it's worthless, I never need to worry about it getting nicked or damaged or don't feel the need to clean it. I just get on it and ride and "Mickle method" the chain when it looks dirty. To me it is the ultimate in practical, low cost, low maintenance human powered transportation. The trendy fixed gear brigade would laugh at it but that's their problem, not mine.


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## tyred (12 Apr 2012)

Furthermore, on the subject of MTBs, I honestly think that an early steel MTB with slick tyres and mudguards makes a very practical and usable bike, perfectly suited to commuting/utility riding or even touring.

But to anyone who rides 100% on tarmac with knobbly tyres/and or full suspension, WHY????


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## zexel (12 Apr 2012)

Fixed - for the track, yes, for the real world totally pointless.


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## Pennine-Paul (12 Apr 2012)

If you go back to riding a bike with a freewheel after riding fixed,
it feels like your riding through treacle 

The incessant clicking and skipping and crunching and continually adjusting
gears used to drive me mad 

Just get on and go


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## Jezston (12 Apr 2012)

gaz said:


> The whole 'fixie' stuff is hipsters jumping on the bandwagon of messengers looking 'cool'. and they just had to give it their own 'word'


 
Was. 'Fixie' is what teenagers call their argos/wal-mart or parents-bought overpriced 'custom' singlespeed these days. The hipsters who still ride them wouldn't be caught dead referring to their bike with that word!

The whole hipster fixie thing could well be what has been responsible for kickstarting cycling becoming fashionable again, and that's good for all of us.


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## Boris Bajic (12 Apr 2012)

My daughter is a keen cyclist (not a lover of my fixie).

Currently on her _gep yah_ in the sub-continent, she expects to be moving to London to study in September.

In her last weeks of 6th form she'd arrive home on her bike just fizzing with teenage outrage that lots of her peers were raving about moving to London, Cambridge and elsewhere and whizzing around on fixies...

"But Dad... They, like, don't even* like* bicycles! They, like, don't even* ride* a bike!!" 

It was very sweet and very funny, but for her it was a serious matter.

In secret and in my workshop, I am putting together a plan to build her a flip-flop Fixie/SS out of a small, old road frame.

I don't buy the notion that the word 'fixie' is a recent arrival. One heard it years and years ago, but only in a very limited group.

Just as people mistakenly believe that the word Soccer is only used by Americans and people who 'don't really love the game'. Soccer is both very British and very old. Fixie is also an old and revered term.

I think there may just be a bit of a reaction against the type of cyclist or aspiring cyclist who has been using it in recent years.


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## srw (12 Apr 2012)

betty swollocks said:


> I said My first seven words, not yours.
> 
> I'll help:- 'Fixed wheel is huge fun to ride.'


 That's what I meant - just like a geared bike.


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## Pennine-Paul (12 Apr 2012)

> just like a geared bike.


 
Except they're _NOTHING_ like geared bikes


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## srw (12 Apr 2012)

Pennine-Paul said:


> Except they're _NOTHING_ like geared bikes


 Apart from having two wheels, a frame and some pedals. And transmission via a chain. And being used to transport you from A to B. No, nothing like geared bikes at all.


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## Jezston (12 Apr 2012)

Uncle Mort said:


> What do hipsters call them now, Jez?
> 
> (I've never actually talked to one).


 
Fixed gear.

Or ... err ... so I've been told.


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## tyred (12 Apr 2012)

Freewheels make annoying clicking noises, what I like about a fixed gear bike most is the complete silence on a traffic free road.


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## Jezston (12 Apr 2012)

tyred said:


> Freewheels make annoying clicking noises, what I like about a fixed gear bike most is the complete silence on a traffic free road.


 
To be fair, poorly aligned dirty chained fixed wheel bikes with massive deep rims make a far more horrible sound than a freewheel!

Rattlegurglerattlegurglerattlegurgle


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## GrumpyGregry (12 Apr 2012)

I think you either 'get' riding fixed or you don't. But folk don't need to get all evangelical about it, it is just a(nother) bike.

Rode 100 miles on a fixed on Good Friday. London - Felpham - Horsham. Deeply satisfying. Very 'Zen', very 'mentally calming', no decisions to make, no option but to keep pedalling. Up. Down. Up again. (Down Bury Hill was a bit 'OMG!' but otherwise.....) Never ridden one more than 50km in a day before.

Will do it again. It was fun.


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## GrumpyGregry (12 Apr 2012)

tyred said:


> Freewheels make annoying clicking noises, what I like about a fixed gear bike most is the complete silence on a traffic free road.


I like the noise my freewheel makes.


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## Pennine-Paul (12 Apr 2012)

> Apart from having two wheels, a frame and some pedals. And transmission via a chain. And being used to transport you from A to B. No, nothing like geared bikes at all.


No dead spots
No thinking about which gear to pick
No adjusting your derailleurs cos the chains in between cogs
No continually changing up and down gear in traffic
No gear cables to replace
No derailleurs to replace
No freehub to replace
No brifters to replace
price that lot up you wont see much change out of £250 

a new sprocket for my fixed......................................£15


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## Davidc (12 Apr 2012)

The word fixie has been around since at least the 1960s, and there was a fashion for them around 1967/68. Loads of them at school.

I tried one but never liked it. What I did have as an n+1 was a singlespeed. Its freewheel was as silent as a fixed wheel, the only cables were for brakes, and being built from a 30 year old 1930s frame, front wheel off a wreck, rear wheel bought for a tanner (6d) from a mate who upgraded to 5 speed gears, and other second hand parts for the rest, it had zero value and meant I could leave the Holdsworth at home when appropriate.

If the current move to fixies, most of which seem to be mis-named singlespeeds or have flip-flops, is a fashion then *great.* If it gets people onto bikes and keeps them away from things with engines it's good for the rest of us (more bikes around), it's good for the riders (health, their wallets), and the only down side I can think of is more difficulty finding bike parking.

Douglas adams was right that a visitor from another planet would assume the motor car was the dominant life form - roll on the day when instead they'd think humans had 2 wheels and a chain instead of legs!

Edit: When I was young, mad, and endowed with immortality (as are all 16 to 21 year old males) my friends and I always found fixies and singles much easier to deal with than geared bikes when going home from the pub - sober of course - we'd never have ridden under the influence - my nose seems to be getting longer ....


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## 400bhp (12 Apr 2012)

The "fixie", "fixed wheel" things sound great - insamuch as they seem to annoy some people. Might have to buy one.


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## junglegusset (12 Apr 2012)

I'm not to sure what you mean by 'the new mountain bike'. I presume you are referring to the mountain bikes huge uptake by the masses, making cycling popular again and saving the industry? If so then no, I don't think the industry needs saving like it did in the seventies an I don't think fixed wheels have enough appeal to do what the MTB did anyway. MTBs make a lot of sense to a lot of people, even if it's easy to argue that they would be better off with something else. That's not to mention that proper mountain biking is about as much fun as you can have on a bike. Fixies make less sense, I would compare them with something more niche and less useful, BMX for example.


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## tyred (12 Apr 2012)

Reasons for riding a derailleur geared bike:

1. Your fixed gear/single speed/hub geared bike is broken and you have nothing else available.
2. You want to ride in seriously hilly terrain and/or carry a very heavy load (and remember that people went loaded touring on fixed/3 speed bikes). 
3. Err, cant think of any.


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## Boris Bajic (12 Apr 2012)

400bhp said:


> The "fixie", "fixed wheel" things sound great - insamuch as they seem to annoy some people. Might have to buy one.


 
Buying one is *against the law*. You *cannot* and* must not* do that.

It goes *against nature* and it contravenes up to and including fifteen separate elements of *nearly* twenty different laws.

You must buy an old frame and *lie* about what you paid for it.

You must then get your LBS to stick the cycleparts on it and claim that you did so yourself.

I must ask you in all seriousness never *EVER* to speak again of buying a fixie.

I do not think you are a bad person for thinking it was OK to do that... I just think you've been misled by those who haven't seen the light.


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## GrumpyGregry (12 Apr 2012)

I bought mine OTS. Charge Plug.


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## Dave Davenport (12 Apr 2012)

zexel said:


> Fixed - for the track, yes, for the real world totally pointless.


 
And your experience of riding fixed on the road is?


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## Pennine-Paul (12 Apr 2012)

110 years ago this argument started 


I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer?
We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!
--Henri Desgrange, L'Équipe article of 1902


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## Jezston (12 Apr 2012)

GregCollins said:


> I bought mine OTS. Charge Plug.


 
Not the burgundy one with luminous green wheels, right?


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## 400bhp (12 Apr 2012)

GregCollins said:


> I bought mine OTS. Charge Plug.


 
You philistine.  Nice looking bike


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## Dan B (12 Apr 2012)

Pennine-Paul said:


> The incessant clicking and skipping and crunching and continually adjusting
> gears used to drive me mad


I had this problem 20 years ago too, but the indexing technology has come on a bit since then. The incessant hissy-rattly noise from my fixie chain every time I stand up to put some powor down (1/8" chain on 3/32" sprocket probably isn't helping) makes it actually louder than my geared bike, although I have so far resisted letting it drive me any further mad than I already am

The key advantage of fixed gear, I think, is that you can slow down while riding no-handed in traffic without having to grab the handlebars


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## srw (12 Apr 2012)

Dan B said:


> The key advantage of fixed gear, I think, is that you can slow down while riding no-handed in traffic without having to grab the handlebars


 
A swerve into a car will let you do the same thing, but I still wouldn't recommend it.


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## tyred (12 Apr 2012)

A coaster brake will allow you to slow down without needing to use the hands.


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## srw (12 Apr 2012)

So. Is a fixie the new mountain bike? What have we learned?

Their riders think they're cool.
Their riders have a special terminology which is difficult for outsiders to understand.
Their riders believe their bikes are innately superior to everyone else's bikes.
Their riders think they're a a lot of fun to ride.
Their riders ignore the fact that an awful lot of their good points apply to every bike.
Their riders spend an awful lot of money to get the right look.

Yup, I'd say so. A fixie is _exactly_ like a mountain bike.


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## 400bhp (12 Apr 2012)

You not buying one then?


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## srw (12 Apr 2012)

I'm sure that someone can do exactly the same for any other pair of bike types you care to mention!

Here's a challenge: is a Brompton the new tandem?


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## Theseus (12 Apr 2012)

srw said:


> I'm sure that someone can do exactly the same for any other pair of bike types you care to mention!
> 
> Here's a challenge: is a Brompton the new tandem?


 
Only if you can give someone a 'backy


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## tyred (12 Apr 2012)

If I were to convert my MTB to fixed gear, is it a new fixie or a new mountain bike


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## 400bhp (12 Apr 2012)

Is chorizo the new sausage?


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## Theseus (12 Apr 2012)

srw said:


> So. Is a fixie the new mountain bike? What have we learned?
> 
> Their riders think they're cool.
> Their riders have a special terminology which is difficult for outsiders to understand.
> ...


 
... and a road bike ... and an ordinary ...


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## youngoldbloke (12 Apr 2012)

srw said:


> So. Is a fixie the new mountain bike? What have we learned?
> 
> Their riders think they're cool.
> Their riders have a special terminology which is difficult for outsiders to understand.
> ...


 Why don't you try one??????? - and find out for yourself?


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## Jezston (12 Apr 2012)

tyred said:


> A coaster brake will allow you to slow down without needing to use the hands.


 
Which is why I run one on my road bike!

Coaster brakes are deeply underrated.


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## srw (12 Apr 2012)

youngoldbloke said:


> Why don't you try one??????? - and find out for yourself?


 Because winding up the evangelical is quite fun. I think Touche has got my point.


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## Boris Bajic (12 Apr 2012)

srw said:


> Because winding up the *evangelical* is quite fun. I think Touche has got my point.


 
O ye of little faith! We are not evangelical. Nothing of the sort.

We simply recognise that although there are many paths, only one leads to true enlightenment and salvation.

We have all known the way of the gear and the Ergoshifter. We have all kept our feet still while descending. Those of us with many years of memories have also fumbled for a lever on the downtube while wobbling up a hill. All of these actions are those of a man who staggers blindly in the dark, seeking wisdom where none exists. These are the actions of the Damned!

The only True Saviour has no gears and no free will..... sorry, free wheel.

Ye who deny this shall be damned for all Eternity!!!

Also, I don't see why we fixed-gear riders are so often seen as evangelical. I think it's just a lazy piece of stereotyping....


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## benb (12 Apr 2012)

I don't care if fixies are a fad, or a flash in the pan.
I don't care that they are ridden by hipsters.

I don't care that there are a lot of BSOs ridden by POBs.

All I care about is that every single one is an extra cycle on the road, and no matter what the reason, that's a good thing.

If I lived and worked in London I'd probably go for a SS, as it's not very hilly.


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## VamP (12 Apr 2012)

400bhp said:


> Is chorizo the new sausage?


 
Most definitely! And superior in (almost) every way


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## Boris Bajic (12 Apr 2012)

benb said:


> I don't care if fixies are a fad, or a flash in the pan.
> I don't care that they are ridden by hipsters.
> 
> I don't care that there are a lot of BSOs ridden by POBs.
> ...


 
I rode my fixed-gear fixie from Whitehall to Highgate for a cuppa after a 130-mile charity ride. I can assure you, sir, that London is by no means and not at all unhilly.


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## benb (12 Apr 2012)

Boris Bajic said:


> I rode my fixed-gear fixie from Whitehall to Highgate for a cuppa after a 130-mile charity ride. I can assure you, sir, that London is by no means and not at all unhilly.


 
Relatively speaking.


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## GrumpyGregry (12 Apr 2012)

400bhp said:


> You philistine.  Nice looking bike


I like the new colours but not the new style.


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## cyberknight (12 Apr 2012)

srw said:


> Pedalling technique: turn the legs around. Really, how difficult can it be?


More to good technique than just mashing the cranks...
http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/technique-be-a-better-pedaller-15956/
http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/technique-perfecting-your-pedalling-18944/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/107041-fixed-gear-bike-riding-tips/
http://cyclingfitness.hubpages.com/hub/Why-Ride-Fixed-How-Fixed-Gear-Cycling-Can-Improve-Performance


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## bobcat (12 Apr 2012)

I am pleased to have set off a conversation on this topic, but in reality it is not important what people ride just that MORE people ride, as this is the only way that roads will be safer for all of us. Thank-you though for the entertainment. Ride safe!


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## Peteaud (12 Apr 2012)

I cant get up the hills with 1 zillion gear ratios let alone one.


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## dave r (12 Apr 2012)

I first rode fixed in the 1980's, an old gaspipe frame converted, very few people rode fixed round here in those days, there weren't internet shops selling parts as is the case these days, after a few years I went back to gears, partially due to the difficulty getting the parts. In 2007 I was in the market for a new commuter and there were more fixed around and more places selling parts, so I took the plunge and spent a lot of money on a Pearson, the first time out I did a Sunday morning ride to the Railway carriage café at Long Marston, did 50 miles and scared myself s******s on the descents but was hooked again. Now it gets used on the commute, general running around and winter club rides, my commute is not flat http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=351516 click on the link and on the summery tab, and nor are the lanes around Coventry. the bike is practical, mudguards, carrier, lights and a 65 inch gear. No the fixed is not the new mountain bike, but it is practical transport, and more importantly great fun.


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## VamP (13 Apr 2012)

dave r said:


> ... in 1980's... ...in those days, there was not the amount of internet shops....


 


perfect


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## Smokin Joe (13 Apr 2012)

I have had fixed wheel bikes, but that was in the days when every club cyclist had one for use in the winter to save wear on their expensive race bikes, there not being as much disposable cash available then. I would not use one in prefererence to gears as there are too many disadvantages on the road.

As for pedalling technique, it's only we Brits worry about that. No pro trains on a fixed to improve his ankle movement or whatever it's supposed to do, they just concetrate on banging the cranks round as hard as they can. Go on You Tube and look at videos of Merckx and Kelly to name but two and you'll see what I mean. Smooth cadance technique is either something a top rider has (like Roche) or hasn't got, but none of them worry about it.

Ride one if you like, but please spare us the Zen like purity bollox.


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## Boris Bajic (13 Apr 2012)

Smokin Joe said:


> (edited)
> 
> Ride one if you like, but please spare us the *Zen like purity* bollox.


 
I felt the whole Universe spiralling out of its naturally harmonious state as I read that post...

Now I'm going to have to go and do twenty miles on my fixed-gear bicycle to restore its balance.

It's not very Zen to lay blame but frankly, I point the finger at those spiritual luddites who can't see the holistic benefits of riding fixed.

No angry responses to this post please.... I don't want to further compromise the delicate balance of natural Zenlike order.

(Very difficult to type in the Lotus Blossom Position)


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## HLaB (13 Apr 2012)

There are a few folk in my club that go fixed during winter; I think partly because of the lower maintenance and partly because its good training and some continue throughout the year in training and when they switch to gears they are flying.


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## dave r (13 Apr 2012)

VamP said:


> perfect


 
Are you taking the water? As you were the only one to spot the deliberate error I've corrected it.


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## GrumpyGregry (13 Apr 2012)

Smokin Joe said:


> No pro trains on a fixed to improve his ankle movement or whatever it's supposed to do, they just concetrate on banging the cranks round as hard as they can. Go on You Tube and look at videos of Merckx and Kelly to name but two and you'll see what I mean. Smooth cadance technique is either something a top rider has (like Roche) or hasn't got, but none of them worry about it.


 
The old pro's didn't train on fixed because they'd learnt to ride fixed, on the track, when they were growing up. Some of them were very very good at it. Hardly any road pro's these days ride on the track. Shame.


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## GrumpyGregry (13 Apr 2012)

Jezston said:


> Not the burgundy one with luminous green wheels, right?


No. Bargain less than half-price blue one with 29-er mtb rims off Wiggle last year.


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## VamP (13 Apr 2012)

dave r said:


> Are you taking the water? As you were the only one to spot the deliberate error I've corrected it.


 

Don't worry I'm easily amused 

It still seems to be indicating that there was a certain amount of internet shops about though


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## smutchin (13 Apr 2012)

I got my fixed gear bike about two and a half years ago. I bought it new. It wasn't cheap but that's because it's a good quality frame - the same bike with gears would have been several hundred quid more expensive.

Huge fun to ride. It rekindled my love of cycling at a time when I was very much in the doldrums. So what if it's fashionable? If that means more people on bikes, that's got to be a good thing.

d.


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## smutchin (13 Apr 2012)

Peteaud said:


> I cant get up the hills with 1 zillion gear ratios let alone one.


 
There you go. It's not bikes that have a problem with hills - all bikes (including fixies) are equally good at going up (or down) hills...

d.


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## GrumpyGregry (13 Apr 2012)

some days I ride fixed, some days I ride 8 speed brompton, some days I ride 27 gear mtb, some days I ride singlespeed mtb, some days I ride Strida, some days I ride 30 speed audax bike, some days I ride two speed hub gear with coaster brake, some days I ride 27 speed tourer, et cetera, et cetera.

It ain't _what_ you ride that matters, it's _that_ you ride that counts.


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## VamP (13 Apr 2012)

GregCollins said:


> some days I ride fixed, some days I ride 8 speed brompton, some days I ride 27 gear mtb, some days I ride singlespeed mtb, some days I ride Strida, some days I ride 30 speed audax bike, some days I ride two speed hub gear with coaster brake, some days I ride 27 speed tourer, et cetera, et cetera.
> 
> It ain't _what_ you ride that matters, it's _that_ you ride that counts how many bikes you got.


 
FTFY


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## dave r (13 Apr 2012)

VamP said:


> Don't worry I'm easily amused
> 
> It still seems to be indicating that there was a certain amount of internet shops about though


 
Fixed that for you


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## ColinJ (13 Apr 2012)

Smokin Joe said:


> As for pedalling technique, it's only we Brits worry about that.


Not true! The French actually have a word for it - _Souplesse_ - and they give special prizes for it in some big races.


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## Smokin Joe (13 Apr 2012)

ColinJ said:


> Not true! The French actually have a word for it - _Souplesse_ - and they give special prizes for it in some big races.


But they don't claim it lets you ride faster.


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## steveindenmark (13 Apr 2012)

I don`t have one and wouldn`t want one to ride, but I think the clean looks look great.

I wouldn`t knock them, even though they are not my choice. As long as someone else is paying for it, they can ride next to me anytime.

I would like a really well designed fixie just to hang on my living room wall.

Steve


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## dave r (13 Apr 2012)

steveindenmark said:


> I would like a really well designed fixie just to hang on my living room wall.
> 
> Steve


 
What a waste of a bike, a bikes for riding not hanging on walls.


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## steveindenmark (13 Apr 2012)

Not if you have as much money as me. I also have a motorbike in my living room.

Some of the fixies I have seen have been like works of art. They are nice to look at.

Steve


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## dave r (13 Apr 2012)

steveindenmark said:


> Not if you have as much money as me. I also have a motorbike in my living room.
> 
> Some of the fixies I have seen have been like works of art. They are nice to look at.
> 
> Steve


 
It doesn't matter how nice the bike is, or how much money you've got, a bikes for riding, if you want an ornament go buy an ornament.


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## Ian H (13 Apr 2012)

In strictly practical terms there are plusses and minusses with fixed wheel. In terms of riding, it is a very different experience not having all the paraphernalia of gears and freewheels, and difficult to explain to those who haven't tried it. I've probably ridden further on fixed than most of those here and it still gives me a buzz.


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## Boris Bajic (13 Apr 2012)

dave r said:


> It doesn't matter how nice the bike is, or how much money you've got, a bikes for riding, if you want an ornament go buy an ornament.


 
For a number of years I used a 44mm socket as a paperweight in my study. It was lovely to look at.

I believe it was bought to change the rear wheel bearings on a 2CV, but its real value was as a paperweight.

I would happily have a 125cc GP bike from the 90s as an ornament, or an AJS 7R or similar.

I think I know where SteveinDenmark is coming from, although I fear the wall-mounted fixie would be ridden more than looked at.

I've seen pictures of clay (GS) and wooden (Nuova 500) models used by the Citroen and FIAT designers. Either of those would get its own shrine and posh lighting.


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## dave r (13 Apr 2012)

Boris Bajic said:


> For a number of years I used a 44mm socket as a paperweight in my study. It was lovely to look at.
> 
> I believe it was bought to change the rear wheel bearings on a 2CV, but its real value was as a paperweight.
> 
> ...


 
I understand where SteveinDenmark is coming from as well, but it is still a waste of good machinery to use it as an ornament, the socket was valuable to you as a paperweight but its real value is as a tool doing the job it was intended to do. I have worked in an engineering firm where they made the models for the car industry, and other places, the amount of work that went into them was amazing. A lot of them would end up scrapped once the project was finished, most were shipped out to the company that they were built for, I always thought it was a shame to scrap them after the hours of work that went into them.


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## Boris Bajic (13 Apr 2012)

dave r said:


> I understand where SteveinDenmark is coming from as well, but it is still a waste of good machinery to use it as an ornament, the socket was valuable to you as a paperweight but its real value is as a tool doing the job it was intended to do. I have worked in an engineering firm where they made the models for the car industry, and other places, the amount of work that went into them was amazing. A lot of them would end up scrapped once the project was finished, most were shipped out to the company that they were built for, I always thought it was a shame to scrap them after the hours of work that went into them.


 
I think we are singing from the same sheet, but I am doing so out of key.

The reason the socket was used as a paperweight is that 2CVs do very little damage to their rear-wheel bearings.

I am convinced that many post-war French cars only had rear wheels to stop the fuel tank dragging on the ground.

Do I need to add that I am not an engineer and never worked in the motor industry?


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## Peteaud (13 Apr 2012)

GregCollins said:


> some days I ride fixed, some days I ride 8 speed brompton, some days I ride 27 gear mtb, some days I ride singlespeed mtb, some days I ride Strida, some days I ride 30 speed audax bike, some days I ride two speed hub gear with coaster brake, some days I ride 27 speed tourer, et cetera, et cetera.
> 
> It ain't _what_ you ride that matters, it's _that_ you ride that counts.


 
I nominate that for post of the month


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## steveindenmark (13 Apr 2012)

Dave if I want a bike to hang on a wall I will hang it on a wall. You buy what you want and do what you want with it. I may like it for the artistic value and I have plenty of other bikes to ride. You may like one to ride and that is fine by me. 

Steve


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## BalkanExpress (13 Apr 2012)

GregCollins said:


> The old pro's didn't train on fixed because they'd learnt to ride fixed, on the track, when they were growing up. Some of them were very very good at it. Hardly any road pro's these days ride on the track. Shame.


 

I saw this bike just the other day, it sits in a glass box between the platforms of a metro station in Brussels, it is so simple and stripped back that it is almost the "essence" of a bike.


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (13 Apr 2012)

Dan B said:


> I had this problem 20 years ago too, but the indexing technology has come on a bit since then. The incessant hissy-rattly noise from my fixie chain every time I stand up to put some powor down (1/8" chain on 3/32" sprocket probably isn't helping) makes it actually louder than my geared bike, although I have so far resisted letting it drive me any further mad than I already am
> 
> The key advantage of fixed gear, I think, is that you can slow down while riding no-handed in traffic without having to grab the handlebars


 

Either you don't ride enough for your bike to require maintenance or your in denial. As for your fixed rattling when you stand up....learn how to maintain a bike and tension your chain, before it comes off and you chip some teeth.

For those of us that commute regularly regardless of the weather and just don't have enough time in life to tweek and clean gears systems....fixed gears make sense.


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## cyberknight (13 Apr 2012)

bromptonfb said:


> Either you don't ride enough for your bike to require maintenance or your in denial. As for your fixed rattling when you stand up....learn how to maintain a bike and tension your chain, before it comes off and you chip some teeth.
> 
> For those of us that commute regularly regardless of the weather and just don't have enough time in life to tweek and clean gears systems....fixed gears make sense.


depends on commute terrain and loads carried of course.


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## ColinJ (13 Apr 2012)

cyberknight said:


> depends on commute terrain and loads carried of course.


Well, bfb lives at the top of a big hill and is surrounded by them. Even if he wasn't carrying anything on the bike, he would still be carrying a big load - himself! (In fact, he always carries loads of stuff, prepared for anything.)


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (13 Apr 2012)

cyberknight said:


> depends on commute terrain and loads carried of course.


 

of course, but this being the uk rain/sleet/snow and grit do not make for an unmaintained gear system either external or internal the maintenance free choice. i've set off with a brand new drive train and freshly serviced hub to manchester and back and been caught in a summer's storm, the drive system to be needed a total clean down and service and that's after 50 miles. on my fixed gear, no such drama's or wasted time servicing.


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## cyberknight (14 Apr 2012)

bromptonfb said:


> of course, but this being the uk rain/sleet/snow and grit do not make for an unmaintained gear system either external or internal the maintenance free choice. i've set off with a brand new drive train and freshly serviced hub to manchester and back and been caught in a summer's storm, the drive system to be needed a total clean down and service and that's after 50 miles. on my fixed gear, no such drama's or wasted time servicing.


 
Cheers , i just wanted to point out that its horses for courses and both systems have there merits before colin jumped down my throat .Being a commuting bike you clean it ?


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## totallyfixed (14 Apr 2012)

For those of you that don't ride fixed, well done, stay way from it, no benefit whatsoever to anyone. The pros that ride them through the winter are just being lazy so they won't have as much cleaning to do. How can whirring your legs around at 200rpm teach you to pedal smoothly? Riding hills without gears, what will they come up with next. Dangerous deadly things, bad for your health. If you have one sell it now, if it does happen to be in a 60cm size I will take it off your hands and make sure it is environmentally disposed of.


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## Theseus (14 Apr 2012)

steveindenmark said:


> Not if you have as much money as me. I also have a motorbike in my living room.
> 
> Some of the fixies I have seen have been like works of art. They are nice to look at.
> 
> Steve


 

If you want an expensive fixed wheel to look at but not ride, there is one fixed that I would not want to ride for fear of any wear on the components ... the gold crystal bike from Aurumania. Only costing 80,000 euros you can also add in 5,000 for a special rack to hang it from the living room wall.


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## Andrew_P (14 Apr 2012)

GregCollins said:


> some days I ride fixed, some days I ride 8 speed brompton, some days I ride 27 gear mtb, some days I ride singlespeed mtb, some days I ride Strida, some days I ride 30 speed audax bike, some days I ride two speed hub gear with coaster brake, some days I ride 27 speed tourer, et cetera, et cetera.
> 
> It ain't _what_ you ride that matters, it's _that_ you ride that counts.


So when are you going to invest in a good bike?


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## smutchin (14 Apr 2012)

BalkanExpress said:


> this bike ... sits in a glass box between the platforms of a metro station in Brussels



Don't let dave r read that!

d.


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## Boris Bajic (14 Apr 2012)

The above looks not unlike the fashion-victim tragicycle that Eddy Merckx rode to the hour record in Mexico wearing skinny jeans and espadrilles.

No brakes, rat cages.... My God, it's just sooo depressing. I'm surprised he didn't go for coloured spokes as well.

Merckx and his like were just hipster losers who 'trained' for their sport by annoying traffic while pedalling between coffee bars.

It's much better now. It's a proper sport.


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## dave r (14 Apr 2012)

smutchin said:


> Don't let dave r read that!
> 
> d.


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## Smokin Joe (14 Apr 2012)

A fixie is the new BMX, not the new mountain bike.


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## youngoldbloke (14 Apr 2012)

dave r said:


> It doesn't matter how nice the bike is, or how much money you've got, a bikes for riding, if you want an ornament go buy an ornament.


- but what is Art or ornament after all? See R.Mutt. I keep my (spare!) Campag Veloce 10 speed cassette on the desk. It is a thing of beauty. A work of Art, if not on the wheel.


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## dave r (14 Apr 2012)

youngoldbloke said:


> - but what is Art or ornament after all? See R.Mutt.


 
That question deserves a thread all of its own.


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## steveindenmark (14 Apr 2012)

I think gold on a bike looks garish. Even if I was the big lottery winner I would not pay that for any bike. I would rather give the money away to those who needed it.

That excludes you lot 

Steve


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## the_mikey (14 Apr 2012)

Instead of buying a fixie, I'll just buy an 11-21 cassette...


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## GrumpyGregry (14 Apr 2012)

LOCO said:


> So when are you going to invest in a good bike?


I already own several thanks.


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## bobcat (15 Apr 2012)

steveindenmark said:


> I think gold on a bike looks garish. Even if I was the big lottery winner I would not pay that for any bike. I would rather give the money away to those who needed it.
> 
> That excludes you lot
> 
> Steve


Charming!


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## junglegusset (15 Apr 2012)

Smokin Joe said:


> A fixie is the new BMX, not the new mountain bike.



Yeah, that's what I say as well.


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## Dan B (15 Apr 2012)

bromptonfb said:


> Either you don't ride enough for your bike to require maintenance or your in denial. As for your fixed rattling when you stand up....learn how to maintain a bike and tension your chain, before it comes off and you chip some teeth.


I tension my chain regularly. That doesn't stop it going out of tension after too many standing starts from traffic lights, and chain tugs which can cope with forward-facing dropouts are apparently somewhat thin on the ground

My in denial what?


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (15 Apr 2012)

Dan B said:


> I tension my chain regularly. That doesn't stop it going out of tension after too many standing starts from traffic lights, and *chain tugs which can cope with forward-facing dropouts* are apparently somewhat thin on the ground
> 
> My in denial what?


 
normal chaintugs work fine on forward facing dropouts...well mine do....just file the pip off.


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## simon.r (20 Apr 2012)

I have a bicycle frame hanging from my living room ceiling. I should probably build it up and ride it, but I really quite like it where it is.


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## BalkanExpress (26 Apr 2012)

Uncle Mort said:


> This one?


 
Yes, never occured to me before but is that a part of the actual velodrome? I'll check next time I'm going to Decathlon


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