# Are fixies comfortable to cycle on?



## Anonymous1502 (3 Jul 2020)

I see quite a lot of them when cycling about, therefore I wondered how comfortable they are to ride as I can't imagine going up hill without changing gears.


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## Sharky (3 Jul 2020)

Some good stories in here

http://www.fixedwheel.co.uk/


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## Ian H (3 Jul 2020)

...or downhill without being able to freewheel.


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## boydj (3 Jul 2020)

Fixies are great to ride, once you've got used to the fact that they'll try to unseat you if you forget to pedal. Good for a flat commute. That assumes it fits you properly. The track is a great place to learn how to ride fixed.

Hills are a problem, though. Anything steep will be tough going up and you'll have to be on the brakes going down, unless your legs can do >200 rpm. I finally put a freewheel on the other side of the wheel on my fixie - with a couple of extra teeth on the cog - it was just getting too tough for my old legs.


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## rogerzilla (3 Jul 2020)

More comfortable, like going for a long walk. Having your legs pulled around for you as you come to a junction or corner is quite pleasant. You can feel your own momentum.


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## Old jon (3 Jul 2020)

I ride mine happily . . .


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## Ian H (3 Jul 2020)

rogerzilla said:


> ...You can feel your own momentum.


Oo-er!


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## Milkfloat (3 Jul 2020)

The hardest thing I find is farting. Seriously, you don’t have the ability to pause and ’let one go’.


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## raleighnut (4 Jul 2020)

I tried a mates one in about 1974  never again.


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## taximan (4 Jul 2020)

First (and last) time I ever tried a fixie I landed in a hawthorn hedge with the bike on the other side of the road. My mates of course were very sympathetic.


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## dave r (4 Jul 2020)

Milkfloat said:


> The hardest thing I find is farting. Seriously, you don’t have the ability to pause and ’let one go’.



I usually hold on to the next junction.


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## dave r (4 Jul 2020)

A fixed is a lovely way to get around, they make a great commuter. Before I retired I commuted by fixed for years, these days I only ride fixed in winter. Great for flat and rolling countryside, if the hill gets too steep for your gearing just walk the rest of the hill.


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## raleighnut (4 Jul 2020)

dave r said:


> if the hill gets too steep for your gearing just walk the rest of the hill.


I'd sooner freewheel down them


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## dave r (4 Jul 2020)

raleighnut said:


> I'd sooner freewheel down them



Its also great fun pedaling down them and seeing how fast you can spin the pedals.


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## Ian H (4 Jul 2020)

Milkfloat said:


> The hardest thing I find is farting. Seriously, you don’t have the ability to pause and ’let one go’.


Just get out of the saddle and let loose. With practice you can fart in time with your cadence.


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## ChrisEyles (4 Jul 2020)

Comfortable isn't the first word I'd use to describe riding fixed. 

For me the gearing wasn't so much the issue as I love riding single speed. It was more the odd time you're negotiating a steep bendy gravelly, muddy back road and a land rover barrels up towards you - unless you're very used to riding fixed bike control in these sorts of situations is (for me at least) much less intuitive than with a freewheel. 

Since most of my road riding is on these sorts of back roads, that's the main reason I sold my fixed gear bike. On good, rolling roads I enjoyed it a lot more. But I'm currently much preferring quiet back roads to A or larger B roads.


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## Milkfloat (4 Jul 2020)

Ian H said:


> Just get out of the saddle and let loose. With practice you can fart in time with your cadence.


I would sound like a motorbike.


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## Juan Kog (4 Jul 2020)

Number 1 ,it's not a fixie.its a fixed wheel, fixed gear , or just a fixed . Fixie is only appropriate if you have a huge beard armfull of tattoos and wear tight black jeans, and cycle around trying to look like a cycle courier. As to the question are they comfortable.yes if you choose the appropriate bike ,l used to commute on a bike based on a steel track frame( with front brake) brilliant for 17 mile round trip in traffic. Not my first choice for 100 miles out in the countryside.


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## dave r (4 Jul 2020)

Juan Kog said:


> Number 1 ,it's not a fixie.its a fixed wheel, fixed gear , or just a fixed . Fixie is only appropriate if you have a huge beard armfull of tattoos and wear tight black jeans, and cycle around trying to look like a cycle courier. As to the question are they comfortable.yes if you choose the appropriate bike ,l used to commute on a bike based on a steel track frame( with front brake) brilliant for 17 mile round trip in traffic. Not my first choice for 100 miles out in the countryside.



My longest fixed ride was a forum ride in 2014, 108 miles, my winter fixed rides are usually 50 - 60 miles.


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## Juan Kog (4 Jul 2020)

Oh hills,non fixed riders ( are they riding gearies ) seem obsessed with them . My view and I'm certain a lot of other fixed cyclists is there is always the 24 inch gear. That's two feet and pushing.


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## Sharky (4 Jul 2020)

My Dad was from the era before gears, so it was natural that for my 10th birthday he got me a road/fixed Hill Special. So I learned how to ride a fixed at a very young age. But I was keen to migrate to gears, so when my Hill Special was nicked, the next bike was a EG Bates with benelux gears. Then came along the Mercian track frame (on the left), which I rode with both gears and occasionally fixed. But then for years, I stuck with gears until about '94 when I renovated the track frame and started riding it for time trials. Never quite as fast as my gears days, but very consistent. Now I always ride fixed for TT's. I also have a training bike with a flip flop. Sometimes ridden as fixed and sometimes SS. Have ridden the Castle 100 ride on fixed, but now I keep to a SS freewheel on this bikes, as there are just too many descents in Kent.


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## fossyant (4 Jul 2020)

Fixed gear is great. Commuted on one for 7 years until I got splatted.


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## Ian H (4 Jul 2020)

Juan Kog said:


> Oh hills,non fixed riders ( are they riding gearies )...


The opposite of fixed-wheel is freewheel. The opposite of single-speed is multispeed.


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## smokeysmoo (4 Jul 2020)

As mentioned they're fine until you forget and try to freewheel, DAHIKT 

Also you might have lived in your area all your life, but riding fixed means you'll discover hills you never even knew existed


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## roley poley (4 Jul 2020)

I like the ability on cornering to lift the inner pedal clear of the tarmac to stop it grounding a scary thing even on a freewheel


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## Phaeton (4 Jul 2020)

Anonymous1502 said:


> I see quite a lot of them when cycling about, therefore I wondered how comfortable they are to ride as I can't imagine going up hill without changing gears.


No


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## Juan Kog (4 Jul 2020)

Hi Ian H ,just my irrational dislike of the term fixie and an attempt at humour. When I have been at a cyclists watering hole and approached by another cyclist “ I see you’re on a Fixie “ me “ I see you’re on a gearie. I know I have turned into that grumpy old club cyclist that I used to do my best to avoid.


Ian H said:


> The opposite of fixed-wheel is freewheel. The opposite of single-speed is multispeed.


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## Ian H (4 Jul 2020)

Juan Kog said:


> Hi Ian H ,just my irrational dislike of the term fixie and an attempt at humour. When I have been at a cyclists watering hole and approached by another cyclist “ I see you’re on a Fixie “ me “ I see you’re on a gearie. I know I have turned into that grumpy old club cyclist that I used to do my best to avoid.


It's not irrational at all. But, on the other hand, everyone has to start somewhere. I'm sure there was a time when I didn't know what a fixed-wheel was, though that was long before trendy 'fixies' existed.


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## ColinJ (4 Jul 2020)

Juan Kog said:


> Hi Ian H ,just my irrational dislike of the term fixie and an attempt at humour. When I have been at a cyclists watering hole and approached by another cyclist “ I see you’re on a Fixie “ me “ I see you’re on a gearie. I know I have turned into that grumpy old club cyclist that I used to do my best to avoid.


_I_ got it, and I agree with you! 

I like riding my singlespeed bike so in a perfect world I suspect that I would really like fixed wheel, but riding on busy roads with poor surfaces, I think not. As for 70-80 km/hr descents...!


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## Ian H (4 Jul 2020)

I was descending at speed on 63" fixed on Wednesday, clocked 56km/hr. An online calculator gives me something over 180rpm cadence. I'm quite pleased with that.


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## ColinJ (4 Jul 2020)

Ian H said:


> I was descending at speed on 63" fixed on Wednesday, clocked 56km/hr. An online calculator gives me something over 180rpm cadence. I'm quite pleased with that.




It is probably '_easier_' doing a high cadence on fixed? On my (72") singlespeed bike on the flat I find it starts to '_get away from me_' beyond about 100 rpm. If there is a slight uphill gradient, that provides enough resistance to pedal against but I'm not fit enough to do 34 km/hr up even a 1% slope for long!


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## dave r (4 Jul 2020)

Ian H said:


> It's not irrational at all. But, on the other hand, everyone has to start somewhere. I'm sure there was a time when I didn't know what a fixed-wheel was, though that was long before trendy 'fixies' existed.



You're like me, when I first rode fixed, sometime in the 1980's, the term fixie hadn't been thought of and people riding fixed were rare.


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## biggs682 (4 Jul 2020)

Milkfloat said:


> The hardest thing I find is farting. Seriously, you don’t have the ability to pause and ’let one go’.



I never "fart" I just let rip


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## CXRAndy (4 Jul 2020)

You can't really use a fixed drive around tight and twisty roads at full chat. There is a real risk to bottoming a pedal, you cant stop the rotation for steep lean angles

Best compromise is a freewheel. Same fixed gearing with benefits


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## rogerzilla (4 Jul 2020)

You need a frame with at least a 10 3/4" BB height and 165mm cranks for a happy fixed life.


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## Ian H (4 Jul 2020)

I tried 165s for a while, years ago, but didn't really get on with them. I've only once grounded a pedal, fortunately with room to straighten up a little, so no drama.
I wouldn't regard a freewheel as an acceptable 'compromise'—it's a completely different thing.


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## ColinJ (4 Jul 2020)

CXRAndy said:


> You can't really use a fixed drive around tight and twisty roads at full chat. There is a real risk to bottoming a pedal, you cant stop the rotation for steep lean angles


I was riding the Manchester 100 sportive one year and got chatting to a rider who was doing it on fixed. I was impressed by how quickly he could corner _without_ that problem! 



rogerzilla said:


> You need a frame with at least a 10 3/4" BB height and 165mm cranks for a happy fixed life.


Maybe that was what _he _had?



CXRAndy said:


> Best compromise is a freewheel. Same fixed gearing with benefits


I struggle to ride my 72" singlespeed up hills > 10% because it is so damn hard to get the cranks over the top of the pedal stroke. On fixed, the chain would be helping them through the dead spots.



Ian H said:


> I wouldn't regard a freewheel as an acceptable 'compromise'—it's a completely different thing.


I have seen riders conquer 20% climbs on fixed - very impressive! I bet they would struggle a lot more with the same gear and a freewheel/freehub.


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## Teamfixed (4 Jul 2020)

Riding fixed is brilliant. Plus you don't need to lock them because anyone trying to nick it will fall off almost immediately.
48x19 is where I've ended up.


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## Ian H (4 Jul 2020)

ColinJ said:


> I have seen riders conquer 20% climbs on fixed - very impressive! I bet they would struggle a lot more with the same gear and a freewheel/freehub.



I used to able to do that on 67". But now that my age matches that gearing...(which I still have on the other side).

The usual advice is to gear lower on a freewheel on the grounds that you don't have to pedal downhill.


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## ColinJ (5 Jul 2020)

Ian H said:


> The usual advice is to gear lower on a freewheel on the grounds that you don't have to pedal downhill.


I chose my 72" gear for riding along the valley bottoms round here; a nice gear for 25-30 km/hr. I found that I can get up moderate hills on it though anything more than a couple of hundred metres at 8-10% or any stretches at > 12-13% feels too hard for me. I just pedal to 35 km/hr downhill and then let gravity do its thing.


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## rogerzilla (5 Jul 2020)

Ian H said:


> The usual advice is to gear lower on a freewheel on the grounds that you don't have to pedal downhill.


Yes, I use 70" on fixed (67" in winter) and 60" on singlespeed.


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## Toshiba Boy (5 Jul 2020)

In my 44th year of commuting (school and work) I bought my first Fixed Wheel bike six years ago, and now, unless doing the full 48 mile hilly ride to work, always use this bike, absolutely love it. I'm sure my half a dozen geared road bikes moan at it in the bike shed at night.


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## CanucksTraveller (5 Jul 2020)

Anonymous1502 said:


> I see quite a lot of them when cycling about, therefore I wondered how comfortable they are to ride as I can't imagine going up hill without changing gears.



Are you settling on your most comfortable bike yet? 
Fixie or "Aero"? What are you going for? 😊


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## Anonymous1502 (6 Jul 2020)

CanucksTraveller said:


> Are you settling on your most comfortable bike yet?
> Fixie or "Aero"? What are you going for? 😊


I am not buying any bike and definitely not a fixie. I am just interested how the cycling experience differs on different types of bikes.


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## silva (6 Jul 2020)

The only uncomfortable moment is when a bee buzzes in your pants.


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## Marty-mart (23 Jul 2020)

Some of my local roads can cause a wee bit of discomfort due to their rather patched and broken nature and it being less easy to allow the bike to move under you due to it being a fixed wheel.


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## 12boy (3 Aug 2020)

As Jack Nicholson's character said in The Bucket List..."Never trust a fart". Riding with your shorts full of trouser chile ain't pretty. I gave up fixed because I'm a grinder and the descents here were too many rpm. However, they do climb better than anything else, geared or single speed with the same gear inches, and they are better on ice or snow because it is so easy to sense traction or the lack thereof. Until I learned to plan ahead, getting out of snug SPDs at a stop resulted in many slow sideways topples.


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## MrGrumpy (4 Aug 2020)

Loved mine commuted for 8yrs on it, got rid of it last year due to my knees  . I did like a stupidly big gear but years of abuse playing football took its toll. Its the best thing for teaching your legs to spin ! Great for technique IMO.


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## Profpointy (4 Aug 2020)

Juan Kog said:


> Number 1 ,it's not a fixie.its a fixed wheel, fixed gear , or just a fixed . Fixie is only appropriate if you have a huge beard armfull of tattoos and wear tight black jeans, and cycle around trying to look like a cycle courier. As to the question are they comfortable.yes if you choose the appropriate bike ,l used to commute on a bike based on a steel track frame( with front brake) brilliant for 17 mile round trip in traffic. Not my first choice for 100 miles out in the countryside.



Mine's a fixie but I don't have a beard, tattoos, nor am a cycle courier, nor is it a track frame. I have front and back brakes, pannier rack drop bars and mudguards


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## raleighnut (4 Aug 2020)

Profpointy said:


> Mine's a fixie but I don't have a beard, tattoos, nor am a cycle courier, nor is it a track frame. I have front and back brakes, pannier rack drop bars and mudguards


Ah but surely you're a bit of a 'hipster' I'm positive I've seen 'Latte' in one of your posts.


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## Profpointy (4 Aug 2020)

raleighnut said:


> Ah but surely you're a bit of a 'hipster' I'm positive I've seen 'Latte' in one of your posts.



Blegh ! None of that foreign muck - double espresso every time for me, Ob,
hang on ...

I've been called a lot of things over the years, but I don't think "hipster" is one of them


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## Teamfixed (4 Aug 2020)

Ye I would hazard that most riders of 'fixies' don't know what a fixed wheel is


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## Profpointy (4 Aug 2020)

Teamfixed said:


> Ye I would hazard that most riders of 'fixies' don't know what a fixed wheel is



What else could it be?


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## JPBoothy (4 Aug 2020)

Profpointy said:


> What else could it be?


I'm guessing @Teamfixed is referring to those awfully nice SS chaps (like me) that value their knees but still like the quiet simplicity of having none of those unnecessary bits and bobs.. I am always getting asked if I'm on a 'Fixie' though.


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## avecReynolds531 (6 Aug 2020)

I've tried fixed and single speed in years past. Single speed was preferable - to be able to freewheel is worthwhile for safety, banking on corners (I like outside foot down) and having a break. 

As for comfort, springy cromo frames with proven (to me) saddles and handlebar tape/ grips - so all good


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## Wrinkly Len (28 Aug 2020)

Anonymous1502 said:


> I see quite a lot of them when cycling about, therefore I wondered how comfortable they are to ride as I can't imagine going up hill without changing gears.


Used to love my Lugless Butler fixed wheel bike when I was young and could go anywhere on it. I had legs and lungs then, though. I envy anyone who has the fitness to ride one, I’ve now resorted to ‘granny gears’


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## 12boy (29 Aug 2020)

If the terrain is suited to the gearing you have set up they are very efficient, at least climbing and on fairly level ground. Coming down steep hills is another matter and since I don't enjoy 140+ RPM I've gone to single speed. However, the fixed aspect works much like a flywheel so that a climb in a given gear seems easier than singlespeed which in turn is easier than the same gear in IGH or with a detailleur, at least to me.
Riding fixed or single speed is different in you must get used to putting out effort at all pedaling speeds instead of having a "best" cadence that you maintain via gearing. With these bikes it is frequently necessary to stand on the pedals to get up hills or take off from a stop. I have singlespeed, derailleur, and IGH bikes and I love them all.....makes for a nice change.


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## silva (12 Sep 2020)

I see to train as to suffer and comfort as post item.


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## Rimmer (30 Sep 2020)

MrGrumpy said:


> Loved mine commuted for 8yrs on it, got rid of it last year due to my knees  . I did like a stupidly big gear but years of abuse playing football took its toll. Its the best thing for teaching your legs to spin ! Great for technique IMO.



Does a fixie bugger up your knees easily (sorry just reading through the posts because I've just got a fixie)?


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## Juan Kog (30 Sep 2020)

Rimmer said:


> Does a fixie bugger up your knees easily (sorry just reading through the posts because I've just got a fixie)?


No,your knees will be fine just don't push a big gear .I was a relatively late starter to riding fixed ,I was in my mid thirties. The advice I was given is to ride a mid sixties gear. So now my age and my gear size coincide .My knees are in great shape it's just the rest of me that is falling to pieces.


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## MrGrumpy (30 Sep 2020)

Rimmer said:


> Does a fixie bugger up your knees easily (sorry just reading through the posts because I've just got a fixie)?


Errr hmmm did I tell you about my OA in my right knee . Jokes aside I doubt it will knacker your knees. Get the gearing right though and enjoy. For me it really improved my spinning and improved my fitness as well hugely .


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## Sharky (30 Sep 2020)

More likely to damage your knees riding a high geared bike. With fixed or SS it may seem a high gear when ascending, but once over the hill, you cadence goes back to high very quickly. With gears, the chances are you would change up and keep the same low cadence for the whole duration of the ride.


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## silva (6 Oct 2020)

It could be seen alike power training, it's a matter of keeping doing it - training. Knee problems tend to begin when having ceased awhile and restart.
Also, if it's cold, try to avoid having to push hard before warmed up.
Pants that reach to beyond knees (three quarter pants or how do they call it?) are a good trade off between ventilation and knee temperature management. And on fixies they avoid pants getting caught between chain and chainring, a potential disastrous event.


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