# Stop it.



## Coco (20 May 2010)

I've got a birthday coming up and am trying hard not to get an SS/Fixed bike for my commute.

Comments like these are particularly unwelcome.



> yes it's harder, but it builds up the important hamstrings and tendons more, and it's good training....(certainly fixed/strengthened a weak hamstring in my left left leg that 'free wheeled' bikes couldn't).





> Fixed wheels teach you to pedal properly.





> For me it is definitely the hill climbing that gets better with riding fixed


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## iAmiAdam (20 May 2010)

Fixed makes you look cool and interesting.


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## Zoiders (20 May 2010)

Or weird and eccentric.

Depends on where you live.


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## fossyant (21 May 2010)

Just Do It ! Fixed ONLY mind !


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## mickle (21 May 2010)

Single speed freewheels are pointless in my opinion, all the limitations of a fixed wheel bike but with none of the benefits. Who not stick a cluster and a mech on it and be done.

Everyone who considers themselves a cyclist should go through a fixed wheel phase.


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## TheDoctor (21 May 2010)

Siglespeeders are still a peice of p1$$ to maintain, and are very nearly as light as fixies.
Not that I've got one or anything...


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## dave r (21 May 2010)

Coco said:


> I've got a birthday coming up and am trying hard not to get an SS/Fixed bike for my commute.
> 
> Comments like these are particularly unwelcome.



Coco have a look at this.

http://www.pearsoncycles.co.uk/index.html?action=97

It would make a lovely birthday present  , I've got one and its my favourite bike.


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## MacB (21 May 2010)

I like the Pearson but still have my heart set on one of these:-

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/cross/day-one/day-one-cross/specifications/

I like the idea of being able to run bigger tyres etc


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## PrettyboyTim (21 May 2010)

mickle said:


> Everyone who considers themselves a cyclist should go through a fixed wheel phase.



Been there, done that. It was my first bike and I was three years old, bought by my parents using Green Shield Stamps. I think it may have been called a 'Pony Express'.


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## dave r (21 May 2010)

MacB said:


> I like the Pearson but still have my heart set on one of these:-
> 
> http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/cross/day-one/day-one-cross/specifications/
> 
> I like the idea of being able to run bigger tyres etc



Yes I like the Genesis as well.


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## ColinJ (21 May 2010)

mickle said:


> Single speed freewheels are pointless in my opinion, all the limitations of a fixed wheel bike but with none of the benefits. Who not stick a cluster and a mech on it and be done.


I can see your point, but I don't completely agree with it. I do have a singlespeed bike which I keep at my sister's house in Coventry. It has the following benefits in common with a fixed gear bike:

It is light
It is mechanically simple/efficient/reliable
It has a perfect chainline
It was cheaper than buying a bike with an expensive groupset on (in fact it only cost me £25 because I borrowed the frame/forks/wheels off a mate who has emigrated and had most of the other bits in my junk box)
It makes a nice change from a geared bike

It wouldn't be suitable for a hilly area like here in West Yorkshire because I'd be very overgeared on the climbs and wouldn't have the 'flywheel' effect of a fixed gear to help get the cranks through the dead spots in the pedal stroke.


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## Vikeonabike (23 May 2010)

Think I'm hankering after one of these if C2W starts again this year...


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## Telemark (23 May 2010)

Coco said:


> I've got a birthday coming up and am trying hard not to get an SS/Fixed bike for my commute.
> 
> Comments like these are particularly unwelcome.



How long have you had your Bianchi now? I am sure the time has come for the "n+1" equation to be re-evaluated 

T


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## brodie (23 May 2010)

> I've got a birthday coming up and am trying hard not to get an SS/Fixed bike for my commute.
> 
> Comments like these are particularly unwelcome.
> 
> ...



Sorry, these fixed myths get repeated over and over again that some people actually believe them. If riding fixed is good training, it's only because you're putting more effort in and riding harder, nothing to do with that there's no freewheeel.

And as for teaching you to pedal properly, in fact a lot of the times, it makes you lazy, you just let the bike's momentum bring your feet round. This is why you get people saying that riding a freewheel bike feels weird, that the cranks feel ""stuck".





> ...and wouldn't have the 'flywheel' effect of a fixed gear to help get the cranks through the dead spots in the pedal stroke.



If you are letting the so-called 'flywheel effect' pushing your pedals round then you actually slowing down the bike.


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## Coco (23 May 2010)

Telemark said:


> How long have you had your Bianchi now? I am sure the time has come for the "n+1" equation to be re-evaluated
> 
> T



Yeh, I rather foolishly got the Bianchi to replace my commuter. Little did I know that it won't take a rack 

Looks like I'll need to get another bike more suitable for commuting


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## ufkacbln (23 May 2010)

Zoiders said:


> Or weird and eccentric.
> 
> Depends on where you live.




Fixed is a perversion..... only a recumbent will truly make you weird and eccentric cool


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## Telemark (23 May 2010)

Coco said:


> Yeh, I rather foolishly got the Bianchi to replace my commuter. Little did I know that it won't take a rack
> 
> Looks like I'll need to get another bike more suitable for commuting



Oh dear .

I hadn't realised you had done a "N+1-1" or "N-1+1" 

You can't NOT have a bike with a rack ... if it was me, I'd probably go for a geared bike which can be used for commuting, winter cycling, light touring, rough tracks etc., i.e. a bit more of an all-rounder (cyclo-cross?), rather than a single-speed or fixie. I had somehow assumed you were looking for a 3rd bike . 

But then again your requirements and reasonings may be different from mine  (i.e. you may be preparing for another "N+1" in the near future instead, to fill the "gaps" between Sunday bike and SS/Fixie 

T


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## vernon (23 May 2010)

mickle said:


> Everyone who considers themselves a cyclist should go through a fixed wheel phase.



I do. I did. I got rid.


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## Landslide (23 May 2010)

Don't forget that it's totally zen, you're really connected to the bike maaaaaaaaaaaan...


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## Coco (24 May 2010)

Telemark said:


> Oh dear .
> 
> I hadn't realised you had done a "N+1-1" or "N-1+1"



Sorry didn't make it clear. While the SS/Fixed will replace the hybrid for commuting duties, the hybrid will make a miraculous recovery and become suitable for general cycling duties and rougher tracks. And I'll still have my good bike for CC Ecosse rides.

Wasn't aware you could have an N-1


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## ColinJ (24 May 2010)

brodie said:


> If you are letting the so-called 'flywheel effect' pushing your pedals round then you actually slowing down the bike.


That's me you are quoting and I don't actually ride fixed gear but I know that I struggle riding my singlespeed bike on steepish hills. 

What slows _me_ down is the fact that I am overgeared. I can ride up an 8% climb without any problems at all on my multi-geared bikes but struggle to do more than about 100 metres on my 39/15 s/s bike. I'm not fit enough to ride with a high enough cadence in 39/15. My slow cadence means that I struggle to get the cranks 'over the top'.

I've watched longers ride up hills on fixed gear and can see that he has no problem with the dead spot in his pedal stroke. In truth, he is a very strong rider so he'd probably get up a long 8% climb okay in 39/15 with a freewheel too, but I'm sure that he'd find it easier on his fixed gear bike. (longers?)


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## Telemark (24 May 2010)

Coco said:


> Sorry didn't make it clear. While the SS/Fixed will replace the hybrid for commuting duties, the *hybrid will make a miraculous recovery* and become suitable for general cycling duties and rougher tracks. And I'll still have my good bike for CC Ecosse rides.
> 
> Wasn't aware you could have an N-1



 COCO!  


and yes you can have N-1, if a beloved bike goes to bike heaven  or gets nicked by a scumb**! (or gets sold or given away I suppose )

quickly followed or preceeded by the "+1" bit of course, depending on the circumstances 

T


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