# something to prove....



## EITC (19 Aug 2008)

i sincearly hope i dont offend anybody with this post, but just lately i seem to keep coming across guys on fixed speed bikes with something to prove..... I've been commuting from Romford to Islington for a couple of years now...first on my mountain bike and then on my genesis hybrid... i have no interest in racing other cyclists....i do the same ride every day...same speed (wind/traffic depending). over the last few months i keep coming across guys on fixed speeds determined to race me and prove a point, the storm off from the lights, keep looking back to see if im chasing (invariably not) and yesterday i even had a guy peddle his nuts off, then look round and wave me to catch up?!!! seriously... whats with this attitude? a good mate of mine rides a fixed wheel bike, with no such attitude.... i really dont get it????


----------



## zimzum42 (19 Aug 2008)

No offence taken!

Some people just do this, fixed or not!


----------



## Joe24 (19 Aug 2008)

Yes, they do it wrong, your ment to look like your not trying
I do have joy with passing geared bikes on my fixed, especially up hills when they have said"Oh, i'll tell you what its like to change gear when you go up a hill"


----------



## Greenbank (19 Aug 2008)

I often do a kind of interval training on my commute (on fixed):-

Sprint away from lights at 90% effort for 60 seconds.
Cruise at 60% effort for 2 minutes or until next lights.
Sprint at 90% effort for 60 seconds.

This averages out being slower than my normal commute speed and so I often get sarky comments from other riders overtaking, i.e. "Heh, you blew up pretty quickly.", "Can't hold it for long eh?", etc.

But I never try and race anyone. The closest I get is wheelsucking RLJers and then refusing to take a turn on the front.


----------



## EITC (19 Aug 2008)

i appreciate the benefits of interval training, but these guys are looking back at me!!! as soon as you get out of central london the fixed wheel 'racers' slowly disapear and you only get the odd tit trying to race you.... i take over many people on my bike, some idiots mistake that for racing...if someone goes past me while im riding at a fair lick i think 'fair play, you must be half decent on that thing'


----------



## zimzum42 (19 Aug 2008)

Joe 24 has got the right point

you're supposed to fly past looking effortless!

It can be hard not to look back sometimes, but it's got to be done!


----------



## EITC (19 Aug 2008)

ha ha...thing is, most of these guys go 200 yards then disapear down a side turning...!!
look, my theory is, if you can peddle better than me, you will be faster than me, fixed or not... surely the other guy has to race you back to get any satisfaction out of it.....?!!


----------



## numbnuts (19 Aug 2008)

I’m so slow these days everyone passes me  in fact the only thing that I pass are parked cars


----------



## dudi (20 Aug 2008)

I'm forever overtaking people on my fixie, particularly up hills.

I look back sometimes, but only to make sure the other person hasn't tried to keep up with me and check the road is clear for me to move back in to the side again. 

I never race anyone, i just go a lot faster than them.


----------



## GrahamG (20 Aug 2008)

I lack any kind of competitive streak, regardless of what bike I'm on.


----------



## RedBike (20 Aug 2008)

> i have no interest in racing other cyclists....i do the same ride every day...same speed (wind/traffic depending).



I wish I had the same attitude. I hate allowing another cyclist to come flying past.


----------



## John the Monkey (20 Aug 2008)

I overtake people if I want to go faster than them, generally - I don't really think about what they're riding. I do look over my shoulder before I move back in because I don't want my back wheel to hit their front...


----------



## Joe24 (20 Aug 2008)

Well i got great pleasure today on the club ride beating all the carbon bikes up hills, on the flat while racing to the cafe and accelerating off.
Downhill they all got pleasure from saying "ooo i think i'll just change gear, oh hand on, whats this a free wheel" as i was spinning fast.
Always look before i move in, and i look behind to see where they have gone. I dont want to end up coming in and taking out someones front wheel.


----------



## EITC (20 Aug 2008)

question.....
irrelevent of how good you are at peddling....what is the quicker to ride a fair distance?...say 10mile+......if the answer is a geared road bike, then is the attitude just to say, look, im quicker than you with only one gear???
i used to pass loads of guys on race bikes on my mountain bike (shod with road tyres) never once thinking ha, im only on a mountain bike....??


----------



## Joe24 (20 Aug 2008)

I dunno which is faster, would say that it depens. Sometimes a fixed would be faster, sometimes a geared would be faster.
But i have been told that the 25mile TT record was done on a fixed.
I think it is the fact you are going past someone with gears, and you only have one. Even better when you are spinning and the person on geared is grinding a big gear.


----------



## BADGER.BRAD (20 Aug 2008)

Hello all,

I tend to pass a lot of people on my fixie but this is mainly as keeping the thing spinning at speed is a lot easier than slogging away at slow speed , I do feel a bit embarrassed as I go passed and always think that they think I am racing them, This is of course not the case. I do look behind often but this is
just me observing my surrounding traffic . I quite often think of saying morning or whatever but think this would make me sound even more smug ,what do you think


----------



## domtyler (20 Aug 2008)

Riding my fixie to work and back gives me the advantage that I tend to fly past just about every other cyclist and most powered vehicles too. I don't see it as racing as the speed differential is generally enough that that doesn't really come in to it. And before anyone thinks that I am just blowing my trumpet, here is the gps output from my phone that I did on the way home tonight:

Username domtyler
Activity Cycling
Route 
Start time 20/08/08 16:37
Duration 19min 47s
Distance 10.2 km
Speed (average) 30.8 km/h
Speed (max) 67 km/h
Pace (average) 1min 56s per km
Pace (max) 39s per km
Altitude (min) 51 m
Altitude (max) 176 m
Step count 0
Heart Rate (manual)

In old money that is an average speed of 19.1 mph over 6.3 miles in London.


----------



## BentMikey (27 Aug 2008)

EITC said:


> i used to pass loads of guys on race bikes on my mountain bike (shod with road tyres) never once thinking ha, im only on a mountain bike....??



Yeah right, now you are just taking the Mickey!!!


----------



## hichakhok (31 Aug 2008)

I am always being overtaken by fixed gear riders...10 years ago I went from 3 gears to 1 gear and recently to no gears. No gears = running, I run my commutes, often racking up over 35 miles per week, and i run semi barefoot, the fixed version of running with zero cushion shoes (vibrams.) I have the small satisfaction of knowing I'm probably far fitter than the brakeless hoxtonites gingerly wobbling past me...:?: 
the brakeless thing is hilarious, kind of impressed that people put fashion over personal safety. must mean a lot to them...and what's with the colour coding? matching shoes and rims...who has the time???


----------



## EITC (2 Sep 2008)

BentMikey said:


> Yeah right, now you are just taking the Mickey!!!




taking the micky? there are many very slow commuters out there!!


----------



## rootes (5 Sep 2008)

silly races (with cars, buses, bikes etc) + going as fast as possible are often the only highlight of a dull working day....


----------

