Q: Fixie's... Explain???

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I rode down from Blackstone Edge to Littleborough with Shaun last week. I bombed on ahead and expected him to be a few minutes behind me so I stopped at the bottom of the hill to check my GPS to see what maximum speed I'd done (50 mph). I suddenly heard a thwacking noise and I looked up to see Shaun shooting past with his feet off the pedals and his toestraps slapping the road as his pedals shot round!

I think it is dodgy to ride like that. Instead of 5 points of contact with the bike, there are only 3, and cornering fast without being able to put weight down through the pedals can't be as safe.

Emergency braking without feet on pedals would scare me.

just flats now, no straps, i was experimenting that day. why do you think it's more dangerous at +40 mph than a geared bike? have a look on youtube for penny farthing freewheeling. i'm quite capable of holding my feet out for a few mins, far far less dangerous than spinning out of control at 140 rpm (bin there done that on dan_bo's bike).

 

[ColinJ]

why do you think it's more dangerous at +40 mph than a geared bike?

Because when I go round fast, tight bends, I lean the bike right over and force the outside pedal down and the bike feels like it is glued to the road. If I took my feet off the pedals and tried it, I don't think I'd get round some of those bends at all!

have a look on youtube for penny farthing freewheeling. i'm quite capable of holding my feet out for a few mins, far far less dangerous than spinning out of control at 140 rpm (bin there done that on dan_bo's bike).

I think all three activities are potentially more dangerous than riding a geared bike downhill!

I think if you have to brake suddenly or swerve to avoid a pothole or a cat (whatever) with your feet off the pedals, you could be in trouble.

I'm sure that many people would have been killed endoing off penny farthings at speed.

I bet you that lots of people have also crashed when their feet suddenly unclipped on fixed wheel bikes on fast descents!

 

[YahudaMoon]

Track bike fixed here. I don't use my track bike much as its uncomfortable and was used for track only. I put a brake on it for my commute to save money on spare bike parts. I reckon I was saving about £200 a year using fixed over a geared bike.

Went out tonight after a long spell off the bike. Verdict is, track bikes are a hard ride on the road and maybe a real road fixed bike would be best.
Basically they can be dam scary

 

[YahudaMoon]

I rode down from Blackstone Edge to Littleborough with Shaun last week. I bombed on ahead and expected him to be a few minutes behind me so I stopped at the bottom of the hill to check my GPS to see what maximum speed I'd done (50 mph). I suddenly heard a thwacking noise and I looked up to see Shaun shooting past with his feet off the pedals and his toestraps slapping the road as his pedals shot round!

I think it is dodgy to ride like that. Instead of 5 points of contact with the bike, there are only 3, and cornering fast without being able to put weight down through the pedals can't be as safe.

Emergency braking without feet on pedals would scare me.

Blackstone edge lol. Thats scary on a geared bike. Is Shaun alive then ? Hows his bike ?

 

[Bicycle]

One aspect on which I have to agree with the 'not-so-keen-on-fixed' camp is stopping from speed.

On fast descents I'm spinning at 'knees invisible' speeds and although I'm better now at slowing from high cadence on fixed, I'm not quite there yet.

I love riding fixed-gear, but I'd prefer to meet a hazard on a fast descent on a geared bicycle.

As to the feet-off-when-descending thing, I guess that's something you're either happy with or not. I couldn't do it.

I've only ever ridden fixed-gear on Looks or Egg-Beaters and I don't think I could do it unless my feet were attached to the pedals.

People say you can safely lock the rear from speed.... I can't when I'm hammering downhill on the A417 at stupid cadences and a scary thing happens with an artic at my shoulder.

Riding fixed is a huge hoot and I do it whenever I can, but unless you're very good, they do not stop (or change speed) as quickly as a 'proper' bicycle.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I think all three activities are potentially more dangerous than riding a geared bike downhill!

I think if you have to brake suddenly or swerve to avoid a pothole or a cat (whatever) with your feet off the pedals, you could be in trouble.

I bet you that lots of people have also crashed when their feet suddenly unclipped on fixed wheel bikes on fast descents!

i would gladly read any evidence you can find to support these claims. i have had to do emergency brake whilst descending going to uni at about 35 mph (dropping into bury down walmersley rd, came to a sliding stop perfectly safe and the artic lorry was undamaged. i felt in total control and having my feet off the pedals was handy, i was able to moto-cross stylee slide the back wheel out.

now i'm running 35mm kenda block tyres, i reckon i can stop quicker than when on my 23mm slicks (more rubber in contact with the road).

plus, as i'm running a rear brake i can lock the pedals at any time and put my feet on them, if needs be.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

One aspect on which I have to agree with the 'not-so-keen-on-fixed' camp is stopping from speed.

they do not stop (or change speed) as quickly as a 'proper' bicycle.

i have to disagree, my v brakes (front and rear) stopping power is far superior to my canti's on my cx bike. i can lock both wheels up whenever necessary at any speed.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Because when I go round fast, tight bends, I lean the bike right over and force the outside pedal down and the bike feels like it is glued to the road. If I took my feet off the pedals and tried it, I don't think I'd get round some of those bends at all!

ahh, this is a problem inherent to all fixies due to pedal strike (whether feet on or off), when i built the bike i put shorter cranks on to try to give me a bit more leaning room.

 

[cloggsy]

i can lock both wheels up whenever necessary at any speed.

Why would you want to lock your wheels up? Surely that is a skid? If you are skidding then you are not in full control of your machine!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I rode down from Blackstone Edge to Littleborough with Shaun last week. I bombed on ahead and expected him to be a few minutes behind me so I stopped at the bottom of the hill to check my GPS to see what maximum speed I'd done (50 mph). I suddenly heard a thwacking noise and I looked up to see Shaun shooting past with his feet off the pedals and his toestraps slapping the road as his pedals shot round!

I think it is dodgy to ride like that. Instead of 5 points of contact with the bike, there are only 3, and cornering fast without being able to put weight down through the pedals can't be as safe.

Emergency braking without feet on pedals would scare me.

not as dodgy as you riding with buggered bearings in your free hub at +50mph. the chain droop it causes put you at far far more risk (when the chain droops below the chainstays like yours was, locking the rear wheel is a real possibility) than i ever was (i agree that having not tied up the straps was lazy and could possibly have snagged something, but blackstone edge is a pretty smooth road)

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Why would you want to lock your wheels up? Surely that is a skid? If you are skidding then you are not in full control of your machine!

duuhhh!!!

, i was just making a point (in reply to the post i quoted) that a fixie can be stopped just as fast as any other road bike.

 

[ColinJ]

not as dodgy as you riding with buggered bearings in your free hub at +50mph. the chain droop it causes put you at far far more risk (when the chain droops below the chainstays like yours was, locking the rear wheel is a real possibility) than i ever was

A mate had a look at that a couple of days ago. He went to undo the rear skewer and was struggling with it. He asked me why it was so bastard-tight and I told him that I'd pulled my rear wheel out on a forum ride a few months back so I'd done it as tight as I could.

It seems that that was definitely part of the problem because my wheel turned much more freely once we loosened the skewer. Since then, I've replaced the Mavic skewer with a Shimano one. I've never had a problem with Shimano or Campagnolo skewers but I and others have done with less chunky ones from other manufacturers.

It hasn't completely sorted out the dragging free hub though so I may well have buggered the bearings by overtightening the QR.

Having said all of that - the fact that my bike seems to be ailing is a completely separate question to the safety of different styles of fixed-gear descending! Thanks for pointing it out though, because I was completely unaware of the problem. (That's just reminded me that I need to take another look at it!)

 

[samid]

A mate had a look at that a couple of days ago. He went to undo the rear skewer and was struggling with it. He asked me why it was so bastard-tight and I told him that I'd pulled my rear wheel out on a forum ride a few months back so I'd done it as tight as I could.

It seems that that was definitely part of the problem because my wheel turned much more freely once we loosened the skewer. Since then, I've replaced the Mavic skewer with a Shimano one. I've never had a problem with Shimano or Campagnolo skewers but I and others have done with less chunky ones from other manufacturers.

If your wheel has traditional cones/loose bearings construction, you should be able to fix the drag by adjusting (making looser) the cones. In my experience, when the wheel is out it should be adjusted slightly on the loose side, then when it is put in the dropouts and the quick release closed, some of the play is taken up by the compression. The trick in adjusting the cones is to hit the sweet spot so that the looseness is just compensated by the compression of the quick release.

 

[Bicycle]

i have to disagree, my v brakes (front and rear) stopping power is far superior to my canti's on my cx bike. i can lock both wheels up whenever necessary at any speed.

I'm interested to hear that. I am by no means a skilled cyclist, but I cannot pull up my fixie from speed nearly as quickly or safely as I can my geared road bike. There is also the question of stability under braking with the fixed-gear.

Both have caliper brakes and very similar geometry. Tyres are similar.

Descending at 35+ mph and having to stop in a hurry, I am in all sorts of trouble on the fix and in good (ish) control on a standard road bike.

It may be that I have insufficient control of my lower limbs at 150+ cadences. I simply have the geatest difficulty stopping quickly and in an orderly fashion from 30+ mph. The gearing on my fixie makes anything over 34-35 a fantasy, but the road bike pulls up smartly from 40+ speeds with no more than the expected slight terror.

I frequently stand the fixie on its front wheel when stopping in a hurry and have no worries about doing that, so I'm OK with the feel and efficacy of the brakes. My problem is with controlling the driveline (my legs). They are simply unwilling to slow in a quick and controllable way from 150+ cadence to zero.... At those speeds I am unwilling (and not brave enough) to lock the rear. On a geared bike, I just flatten the pedals, 'grip the tank' and drop my backside down somewhere behind the saddle. On a fixie I have to stay planted and keep pedalling....

I do take your theoretical point about locking either wheel whenever you want. I see it's not meant to suggest you'd choose to do that in every situation. I think I can do that on all my bikes, but locking up and stopping safely are two different things.

In hands as unskilled as mine, a fixie is much harder to stop from high speed than a bike with freewheel. Because of that, it is slower to stop; ergo not quite as safe.

I believe that almost anyone on this forum would rather be on a geared bike than a fixie (ceteris paribus) when executing an emergency stop from 35+ mph while descending in the Malvern Hills in traffic. I think that was my point.

If anyone thinks otherwise, I suspect them of having either a death wish or a big letter S on the skin-tight top under their cape.

However, it may be that I simply lack the skill or courage of which others possess a superfluity.

 

[Dave Davenport]

I'm interested to hear that. I am by no means a skilled cyclist, but I cannot pull up my fixie from speed nearly as quickly or safely as I can my geared road bike. There is also the question of stability under braking with the fixed-gear.

Both have caliper brakes and very similar geometry. Tyres are similar.

Descending at 35+ mph and having to stop in a hurry, I am in all sorts of trouble on the fix and in good (ish) control on a standard road bike.

It may be that I have insufficient control of my lower limbs at 150+ cadences. I simply have the geatest difficulty stopping quickly and in an orderly fashion from 30+ mph. The gearing on my fixie makes anything over 34-35 a fantasy, but the road bike pulls up smartly from 40+ speeds with no more than the expected slight terror.

I frequently stand the fixie on its front wheel when stopping in a hurry and have no worries about doing that, so I'm OK with the feel and efficacy of the brakes. My problem is with controlling the driveline (my legs). They are simply unwilling to slow in a quick and controllable way from 150+ cadence to zero.... At those speeds I am unwilling (and not brave enough) to lock the rear. On a geared bike, I just flatten the pedals, 'grip the tank' and drop my backside down somewhere behind the saddle. On a fixie I have to stay planted and keep pedalling....

I do take your theoretical point about locking either wheel whenever you want. I see it's not meant to suggest you'd choose to do that in every situation. I think I can do that on all my bikes, but locking up and stopping safely are two different things.

In hands as unskilled as mine, a fixie is much harder to stop from high speed than a bike with freewheel. Because of that, it is slower to stop; ergo not quite as safe.

I believe that almost anyone on this forum would rather be on a geared bike than a fixie (ceteris paribus) when executing an emergency stop from 35+ mph while descending in the Malvern Hills in traffic. I think that was my point.

If anyone thinks otherwise, I suspect them of having either a death wish or a big letter S on the skin-tight top under their cape.

However, it may be that I simply lack the skill or courage of which others possess a superfluity.

Same here.