# How are you fixed for touring?



## Roadrunner78 (13 Mar 2012)

See what i did there?  Do any of you guys do a bit of touring on fixed? I have done some good 60 mile runs on an MTB before  and plenty with a geared road bike, BUT i did a 30 mile trip on fixed and although i felt ok(ish) i felt like i would like to coast towards the end. Although i ride fixed daily for work i'm not sure if i need to build up to longer rides in general after winter OR build up to longer rides with fixed? Thanks for any input. 

If i conquer this i could go fixed full time.


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## snorri (13 Mar 2012)

I've only ever met one guy touring on fixed, and he was touring ultra-lightweight on fairly level terrain. Must say I like to have the four panniers and some home comforts when I'm on tour for a few weeks, but, whatever turns you on.


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## biggs682 (13 Mar 2012)

stop reasing me , i am awaiting completion of my fixed project so i can try this fixed riding


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## Ian H (13 Mar 2012)

Fixed is fine, just gear appropriately. With fairly heavy panniers and 64" gear I can manage 200km a day without struggling. Very hilly terrain might be different, of course.


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## TheDoctor (13 Mar 2012)

Not fixed, but I'm aiming for a long weekend singlespeed tour in May, probably in northern France.
I'm not sure it's a terribly sensible idea, but it should be a laugh if nothing else.


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## Roadrunner78 (14 Mar 2012)

By tour i mean Saturday blast of maybe 50 miles. Any better? I am geared at 69" and travel light eating on my travels.


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## vernon (14 Mar 2012)

Roadrunner78 said:


> By tour i mean Saturday blast of maybe 50 miles. Any better? I am geared at 69" and travel light eating on my travels.


 
That's not a tour it's a training ride


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## dave r (14 Mar 2012)

vernon said:


> That's not a tour it's a training ride


+1 on that.
In the winter I use my fixed, 65 inch gear, on the club rides, somewhere between 50 and 70 miles on a Sunday morning.


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## tyred (14 Mar 2012)

Back in the 30s - 50s, many people toured without gears. I've recently read a book about cycle touring written in (I guess) the late 1940s and a gear of low 60s is recommended for normal terrain, dropping to mid 50s for hilly terrain. AW hubs should be geared to have a top gear of about 68" for touring. The author didn't recommend derailleur gears, as they are an unnecessary expense and complication....

I've done quite a few 50-60 mile rides on a 63" fixed gear bike in hilly terrain (with some luggage but definitely not a full touring load) at 14 or 15 mph average and I would say it's do-able if you accept that occasionally you will have to walk. I would probably go with SS freewheel for carrying heavy loads in a very hilly area as going down a steep hill on a heavily loaded bike with a low fixed gear could get interesting.


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## Smurfy (14 Mar 2012)

Fixed is just fine for touring!


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## Roadrunner78 (14 Mar 2012)

Ok Saturday training ride it is.  



tyred said:


> Back in the 30s - 50s, many people toured without gears. I've recently read a book about cycle touring written in (I guess) the late 1940s and a gear of low 60s is recommended for normal terrain, dropping to mid 50s for hilly terrain. AW hubs should be geared to have a top gear of about 68" for touring. The author didn't recommend derailleur gears, as they are an unnecessary expense and complication....
> 
> I've done quite a few 50-60 mile rides on a 63" fixed gear bike in hilly terrain (with some luggage but definitely not a full touring load) at 14 or 15 mph average and I would say it's do-able if you accept that occasionally you will have to walk. I would probably go with SS freewheel for carrying heavy loads in a very hilly area as going down a steep hill on a heavily loaded bike with a low fixed gear could get interesting.


 
Like this. I would like a look of that book!


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## Roadrunner78 (14 Mar 2012)

YellowTim said:


> Fixed is just fine for touring!


 
Bookmarked for later reading. Where is the envy emote? I have to ride a penny farthing and a recumbent just to add to my 'done that' list. I could imagine the looks as i cycled around in my town.


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## TheDoctor (14 Mar 2012)

Roadrunner78 said:


> Bookmarked for later reading. Where is the envy emote? I have to ride a penny farthing and a recumbent just to add to my 'done that' list. I could imagine the looks as i cycled around in my town.


Keep an eye open for a Cyclemagic try-out event and you could probably tick them both off!!
Other cycling organisations are available


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## Roadrunner78 (14 Mar 2012)

TheDoctor said:


> Keep an eye open for a Cyclemagic try-out event and you could probably tick them both off!!
> Other cycling organisations are available


 
Thanks i will.


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## Smurfy (14 Mar 2012)

Roadrunner78 said:


> Bookmarked for later reading. Where is the envy emote? I have to ride a penny farthing and a recumbent just to add to my 'done that' list. I could imagine the looks as i cycled around in my town.


 
The Monthly Update part of his website with all the pictures is probably the most interesting bit to look at.


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## moonsafari (29 Mar 2012)

yep, i tour on a fixed wheel Salsa Casseroll and commute 32 miles a day, 3 times a week fixed. i also have a geared tourer but on the Salsa, i do pack pretty light with an Ortlieb bar bag and a dry bag lashed to a Salsa Minimilist Rack. i just did a tour of the East side of the Dales and stayed at the Dales Bike Centre. 48x19 if anyones bothered.


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## TheDoctor (22 Apr 2012)

TheDoctor said:


> Not fixed, but I'm aiming for a long weekend singlespeed tour in May, probably in northern France.
> I'm not sure it's a terribly sensible idea, but it should be a laugh if nothing else.


 
I've now got a fixed rear wheel on order, so I'll be doing a fixed tour of Northern France!!!
Flip-flob hub, with a 15T fixed and 17T freewheel on a 39T chainring, giving 70" and 61" as a bail-out.
And I'm doing a local randonee while I'm over there.
What could possibly go wrong?


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## snorri (23 Apr 2012)

YellowTim said:


> Fixed is just fine for touring!


 That's incredible, some people just don't listen to that little voice inside their head saying NO!


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## TheDoctor (16 May 2012)

snorri said:


> That's incredible, some people just don't listen to that little voice inside their head saying NO!


 
I'm busily ignoring it myself.
I mean, I've got a touring bike (in bits in the living room), a carbon road bike, a Brommie, a slicked up MTB - why would I use a fixed?
Because I can!!!!


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## clarion (18 May 2012)

I've done day rides up to 130km on my fixed (well, night rides actually, in the main). And I've been cycle camping, but only somewhere not too lumpy. I do have an S3X hub, so use gears of (approx) 53", 63" & 85". Same bike I use for commuting. If I get the bottom gear slippage problem sorted, I may well tour on it more often, though I'd put on a sprocket 1t larger. It's just not nice going from standing on a fixed gear to neutral suddenly. Prefer not to.

For those purists, I have also done longer day rides on my singlespeed fixed 1981 Carlton. But no touring.


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## alans (18 May 2012)

I know of a guy on another foum who has toured extensively on fixed,including a long journey in America.He has carried full camping kit using panniers or a trailer.
At the opposite end of the spectrum I limit my luggage to a bar bag & small saddle pak when riding fixed:longest ride being 103km


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## Alex11 (1 Aug 2012)

tyred said:


> Back in the 30s - 50s, many people toured without gears. I've recently read a book about cycle touring written in (I guess) the late 1940s and a gear of low 60s is recommended for normal terrain, dropping to mid 50s for hilly terrain. AW hubs should be geared to have a top gear of about 68" for touring. The author didn't recommend derailleur gears, as they are an unnecessary expense and complication....
> 
> I've done quite a few 50-60 mile rides on a 63" fixed gear bike in hilly terrain (with some luggage but definitely not a full touring load) at 14 or 15 mph average and I would say it's do-able if you accept that occasionally you will have to walk. I would probably go with SS freewheel for carrying heavy loads in a very hilly area as going down a steep hill on a heavily loaded bike with a low fixed gear could get interesting.


 
Whats the name of that book? I'm very interested in giving that a read


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## lukesdad (2 Aug 2012)

750 miles last week touring on a single,not sure id fancy that fixed.


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## Alex11 (2 Aug 2012)

SS I definitely think you can tour on... Fixed is much harder going


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## tyred (2 Aug 2012)

Alex11 said:


> Whats the name of that book? I'm very interested in giving that a read


 
I had only borrowed it from a friend in the VCC. I think it was called something like "The Cyclists Handbook"


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## tyred (2 Aug 2012)

Alex11 said:


> SS I definitely think you can tour on... Fixed is much harder going


 
My concern wouldn't be so much climbing hills but coming back down the other side with a touring load to push you on to silly cadences. It's do-able but I think a freewheel would make it better.

We need to remember that touring in the 1930s or 1940s to most people probably meant the main roads before they became over-populated with cars and are usually the most level route through a given area and also a few odds and ends in a large Carradice saddle bag, probably staying at hostels for a weekend away rather than lugging 50 - 60lb of luggage for a few weeks camping.

I also know of one man (died before Christmas in his mid 90s) quite local to me who did a lot of touring at that time (on a 3 speed sports roadster!) and often planned everything in advance by posting extra luggage to be held at post-offices en-route for his collection and he would have posted his dirty clothes home again after collecting the fresh gear. Sometimes, he would have made arrangements to stay at a particular hotel somewhere during the trip, posted his luggage to the hotel to be held until he arrived, left his dirty clothes at the hotel to be washed, would have called back on his way home, collected the clean clothes and mailed the dirty stuff back home.


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## Alex11 (2 Aug 2012)

tyred said:


> I had only borrowed it from a friend in the VCC. I think it was called something like "The Cyclists Handbook"


 
This? http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Long-Di...9487/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343904535&sr=8-2


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## tyred (2 Aug 2012)

Alex11 said:


> This? http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Long-Di...9487/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343904535&sr=8-2


 
No, mine was a small blue hard backed book and probably many years out of print.


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## Alex11 (2 Aug 2012)

tyred said:


> No, mine was a small blue hard backed book and probably many years out of print.


 
This? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Every-Cycli...r_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343905332&sr=1-14

:-)


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## tyred (2 Aug 2012)

Alex11 said:


> This? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Every-Cycli...r_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343905332&sr=1-14
> 
> :-)


I think it might be


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## Alex11 (2 Aug 2012)

Looks good :-) Pricey on Amazon though!


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## Alex11 (2 Aug 2012)

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/B...ds=30&sortby=13&tn=Every+Cyclist%27s+Handbook.

£20 on here. 1936!!! That's when they knew how to do touring!!!


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## tyred (2 Aug 2012)

Old cycling books are hugely interesting. You will realise that there is very little that is actually new.


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## TechMech (28 Aug 2012)

I just received my copy of this book today from ebay (£2.99 + £2.20p&p!)

I've just read the first few pages, and it's excellent reading  I love the old style of writing, there's something very homely about it. The opening sentence sets the tone perfectly...

Chapter One, Measuring yourself for a cycle: "_Practically every man has had his leading measurements taken when obtaining a new suit, and it is every bit as important to adopt a similar procedure when obtaining a new machine_."


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## palinurus (28 Aug 2012)

tyred said:


> My concern wouldn't be so much climbing hills but coming back down the other side with a touring load to push you on to silly cadences. .


 
It's OK, it helps to have front and rear brakes.


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## HLaB (29 Aug 2012)

The longest ride I've took my SS on was just over 110miles and I've done a couple of other centuries on it; I don't know what it would be like day after day though, I think the most I've done is 40miles one day, 100miles the next but that was the weekend so it was followed by short commutes (3-4 miles round).


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## clarion (29 Aug 2012)

Last weekend






We rode from Cambridge to Mildenhall, did a couple of day rides, then rode back via the hills south of Newmarket. Total of about 200km for the weekend.

To improve touring, I've put a slightly larger sprocket on, moved the light from bars to fork crown and added a saddlebag up front. I can't use front panniers on the carbon forks.

It worked very well. Once I've recovered properly from shoulder surgery, I reckon I can get further afield.


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## Old Plodder (16 Sep 2012)

I had a spell of riding fixed, about 25 years ago, biggest mileage was 140 around Essex & Herts, 63" gear.
Normal riding was on the North Downs & the Weald, usually about 80 miles. Most riders of fixed only ever toured with a saddlebag.
I changed to riding a freewheel as my knee started to hurt going downhill, (shorter right leg), using about a 60" gear.
You do miss gears at times, obviously, but simplicity has its own benefits.
One thing I would advise is to have spare chain links & a rivetter in your touring kit.


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## clarion (16 Sep 2012)

Since the picture above, we've been camping at Northey Island in Essex, and ridden 100km out to camp in Sussex. Sadly, my rear rim died on the latest trip, so I borrowed a friend's wheel, and rode back to Horsham on an S2C, which is a unique experience for touring, but I prefer my fixed wheel!


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