Am I a complete and utter wimp?

[jimboalee]

I rode the whole commute to work and back on a 73" gear ( 42 x 14 with ContiUltragatorskin 26 x 1.125 ). There's 3 10% hills going to work and 2 10% hills returning. 28 miles total. Average speed 15.2 mph. Total ascending 1336 ft.
The bike was my Land Rover Tahora slicked up MTB ( 32.5 lb ).

Yup, you are a wimp

 

[fossyant]

I'd say you ride a hill in a gear much bigger in fixed than you would do on a freewheel.....

Made the mistake on the CC Fixed ride and took all the fixed bikes up something I'd ride in a 39 x 21 in a 44 x 16.. (53 x 19 equivalent)........ we got up............ (my mistake)............

I and many fixed riders on here have done some hills on silly gears on a fixed - you'd never get up on SS or a freewheel....

I was always a bit...no way.......... even after getting a fixed.....

Went out for a flat (ish) spin (included some 1 in 10's) as is life near the Peaks... whizzed (ish) down a hill and saw another roadie ready to pull out..... thinking..he will overhaul me - top speed fixed is 30 ish on this hill, road bike is 40..... nope....... he was sat behind me...........

Turns out he was SS (single speed) on a 63", me a 74".......... both going the same route................ so when he said..up the wizzard........... OMG............. TBH I just hung on with 74" fixed and him on what I'd normally use up it on a geared bike...........

Fixed are great for commuting..only down side is the 'puncture issue' on the rear ........ more faffing...and deffo latex gloves (chain oil)

 

[RedBike]

It is easier to maul a single speed up a hill than a geared bike in the same ratio

why? purely psychological?

To be honest, a lot of it is psychological.

However, single speeds are more efficient and in theory should be lighter. This increase in efficiency and weight really does make a noticable and very real difference when climbing which should translate to you being able to climb in a higher gear.

If you ever run the bike fixed wheel then the bikes momentum starts helping you pull the pedals through the dead spot (Often called the flywheel effect). A fixed wheel bike climbs even better than a single speed bike.

 

[jimboalee]

To be honest, a lot of it is psychological.

However, single speeds are more efficient and in theory should be lighter. This increase in efficiency and weight really does make a noticable and very real difference when climbing which should translate to you being able to climb in a higher gear.

If you ever run the bike fixed wheel then the bikes momentum starts helping you pull the pedals through the dead spot (Often called the flywheel effect). A fixed wheel bike climbs even better than a single speed bike.

Myth.

As long as you apply force to the pedals through 360 degrees of their revolution, there is no difference. In other words, as long as you keep the top of the chain TIGHT, fixed, SS and multigeared bikes will react the same.
With this in mind, on a fixed, the lower half of the chain should ALWAYS have a bit of slop in it.
If the lower section of the chain goes tight, think about your pedaling technique, as this is an indication of wasted energy due to some force being applied in the contra direction.

 

[jay clock]

I don't get all this gear talk. 60" this or 72cm that or 42 x 9 or 10 x 58. I can never remember whether gears get 'bigger' or 'smaller' either.

I tend to agree. Easiet way is to think of a scale of "hardness to pedal on the gears". The lower the easier. So zero very easy and 100 very hard. Most of the time you wll be between 40 and 80 ish. I assume there is a non inches way to express gears, but in spate of being a metric lover, I use inches for gears

 

[ColinJ]

Myth.

As long as you apply force to the pedals through 360 degrees of their revolution, there is no difference. In other words, as long as you keep the top of the chain TIGHT, fixed, SS and multigeared bikes will react the same.
With this in mind, on a fixed, the lower half of the chain should ALWAYS have a bit of slop in it.
If the lower section of the chain goes tight, think about your pedaling technique, as this is an indication of wasted energy due to some force being applied in the contra direction.

Non myth!

If the gear is fairly high and the hill steep, then a rider's cadence will be agonisingly low unless (s)he is strong enough to cope easily at a high cadence in which case this doesn't apply. For the rest of us...

At that slow cadence the pedals get to the top of the stroke very slowly. You can't just stand up and use your weight on the pedals because almost all of your weight would actually be going straight down the crank and offering no propulsion. The component of your weight acting at right angles to the crank and driving it forwards is minimal. That only leaves brute strength and that is what makes overgeared singlespeed freewheel bikes so hard to pedal up steep hills. On a fixedwheel bike, the momentum effect gets the crank over the top of the stroke so you can then stand on the pedal and force the damn thing down again using your weight on it as well as the strength in your legs.

 

[jimboalee]

Non myth!

If the gear is fairly high and the hill steep, then a rider's cadence will be agonisingly low unless (s)he is strong enough to cope easily at a high cadence in which case this doesn't apply. For the rest of us...

At that slow cadence the pedals get to the top of the stroke very slowly. You can't just stand up and use your weight on the pedals because almost all of your weight would actually be going straight down the crank and offering no propulsion. The component of your weight acting at right angles to the crank and driving it forwards is minimal. That only leaves brute strength and that is what makes overgeared singlespeed freewheel bikes so hard to pedal up steep hills. On a fixedwheel bike, the momentum effect gets the crank over the top of the stroke so you can then stand on the pedal and force the damn thing down again using your weight on it as well as the strength in your legs.

I had a track bike once. A Mercian. It had a 48 x 14, that's 93 inches. It would go round the B'ham track at 25 mph in the mid 90s rpm.
Not far from where the track was, there was a back road called Minstead Road. It was on a 7% gradient. It was do-able at 30 rpm. That's one pedal press per second.

The sub-title on this thread is 'gearing for singlespeed'. Maybe that's where its all gone pear-shaped recently. No-one trains for BRUTE STRENGTH.

 

[ColinJ]

The sub-title on this thread is 'gearing for singlespeed'. Maybe that's where its all gone pear-shaped recently. No-one trains for BRUTE STRENGTH.

Even if my muscles were strong enough to cope with those high pedalling forces, my left foot wouldn't take them without cramping horribly (due to an old running injury) and neither would the varicose vein in the top of my right leg (a new cycling problem)...   

 

[jay clock]

OK, so this thread went off topic...... I thought I would come back and report how I got on.

The gearing is 39x16 so a 66" gear. I live in a hilly area (near Winchester) and this gearing has proved ideal. I certainly would struggle up some hills with tougher gearing and although I spin out at around 30kph that is fine as I just benefit from the freewheeling downhill.

At first I planned rides to avoid some of the bigger hills but I am now coping ok. On the steepest I am standing and labouring hard but just about coping.

Lovely bike for the winter!

 

[Ian H]

I recently put new chainring, cogs and chain on my fixed. Now it's smooth and silent again. I also turned the wheel back to 68, which seems fine, though I shall turn it round again for this week's laden slog north.

 

[youngoldbloke]

why? purely psychological?

No, just cyclological