Any Fixed Gear riders in ED?

[Davros]

Just wondering if anyone rides Fixed Gear here?

My flatmate and I are both Fixed Riders and my flatmate works as a bicycle mechanic in Spitalfields.

Might be nice to get to know other riders in the area and perhaps organise a few rides one day.

But yeah, please introduce yourselves, even if you don't ride Fixed...

I'm Dave and I ride a Fuji Track Pro 2009.

[Loz]

My first bike was fixed wheel, so I got in the habit of stop pedalling = braking. I borrowed a friend's bike, which was the old pedal-quarter-turn-backwards to brake variety. I was cycling down a hill towards our house, stopped pedalling and... nothing happened. Well, except me cycling rapidly into our fence, that is.

[Davros]

Jeez. That doesn't sound too much fun.

I ride with a front brake, but my flatmate is a no braker. Brave man.

I commute to South Ken everyday from here.

[womanofdulwich]

try the velodrome?

[Horsebox]

Hi Davros,

Not fixed, but I ride a single speed Charge Plug 2010 - have *tried* riding it fixed but with no foot retention and with winter approaching it's not the best combo - I'll probably wait until Spring is sprung before trying it again. A friend has been riding fixed now for the past 3 months and has already gone through 2 tyres as a result of skidding too much B)

Am up for a ride some time - a few of my mates do regular rides around England and have just come back from a ride to Amsterdam. I think they've got a facebook group. PM me if you're interested in details.

[oilworker]

Dave - your "no-brakes" flat mate isn't brave - he just hasn't had the horrific accident that's inevitably coming his way yet - and he won't have a leg to stand on (quite possibly literally) when it comes time to sue the errant driver of the lorry/bus/mini cab etc. etc.

ps do you also roll up your right jeans leg to the knee and wear a campagnolo cap?? (If so ask yourself why)

pps (and this goes for you too Horsebox) wait until you've got something worth bragging about until you talk about your bike (which isn't really the done thing anyway) - something like a Ciocc track special with Columbus SLX tubing - no one's impressed by an of-the -shelf stocker!!.

[Jeremy]

What's the point of fixed wheel bikes - other than membership of the clique?

[ayresc]

fixed gear up Denmark Hill, really? Impressive.

[zeban]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> What's the point of fixed wheel bikes - other than

> membership of the clique?

Have wondered this myself Jeremy, as that seems all there is to them.

Davros, no offence but Spitalfields is definitely a good place for your flatmate to work- there, Dalston, Hackney Wick, Bethnal Green, Shoreditch etc (please see Being a Dickhead's Cool on Youtube).

[mlteenie]

Some cheery folks on this thread, eh?

I am a geared type, but about to build a singlespeed: Ciocc SLX.;-), prob before eventually trying the fixed thing - with at least one brake.

I had the lightbulb t'other day the made me realise I am trashing ?50 cassettes because I mostly ride in one gear around town. There is less maintenance, cheap, light, simple, get your cadence up. That's enough of a reason to try it, surely? Oh, and no I don't go to the city/Hoxton, nor do I commit and of the othe crimes.

[Jeremy]

Single-speed I can understand, from the point of view of simplicity/maintenance, if you ride a lot.

But fixed wheel... it just sounds like you're deliberately making your bike harder to ride.

[mlteenie]

Far be it for me to defend it - I haven't done it. It's good on the track, but most of the crimes are form over function. A lot of it is conforming to being a non-conformist. But hey, we are all cyclists and that is the main thing.

And don't get me started on 100mm wide handlebars, or running red lights....

[Horsebox]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> Single-speed I can understand, from the point of

> view of simplicity/maintenance, if you ride a

> lot.

>

> But fixed wheel... it just sounds like you're

> deliberately making your bike harder to ride.

Some riders claim it gives you a better 'connection' with the bike and forces you to anticipate what's happening on the road more.

I can't really comment, not being part of the clique, but I tend to pay a lot of attention to what's going on ahead of me anyway.

I can fully understand the benefits when riding on track, MLTeenie

[taper]

I need most of my 18 gears when going up Denmark Hill. I really hate that stretch.

I can see the attraction of single speeds in London. But fixies off track is too bold for me.

But then my old Dad worked for Sturmey Archer, so we're pro gear in our family

[AcedOut]

It's a bit of a fad I think. A few cycle shops around Brick lane capitalized on the 'fashion' and now it's supposed to be cool to look like a push-bike courier. I'll stick to spin bikes in the gym when I want to get my cadence up!

[Totoro]

I had a fixie BMX when I was a kid, could pull some ace skids down the quarry.

[Unkle_Paulie]

I sold my Bob Jackson a few months ago, like losing a limb! Have been considering a new build since, possibly a beater for pub/shop runs..

Riding brakeless is an art and as long as you're alert and not travelling uber speeds its a nice change from conventional riding.

[Davros]

Wow! And I thought I'd just moved to a nice, friendly part of town?

Horsebox - the long distance rides sound ace. I will PM you about those one day.

oilworker - I started this thread purely to have a conversation about fixed gear riders and bikes. Defintely not to brag or preach about being in some sort of "clique" as you put it.

We both ride fixed gear very much NOT as part of the whole east-london scene and take it seriously. I've ridden fixed for about a year now, and my mate even longer. I personally wouldn't think of going back to geared now because as someone else put it, I feel much more a part of the bike and have amazing control of what I'm doing. the other benefits are that you gain much better momentum and speed with fixed, you get fitter and there is much less to maintain when things go wrong. It does have it's danger and risks but if you know what you're doing then it's surely part of the fun and excitement.

I ride up and down Dog Kennel Hill every day and there is nothing better to start and end my day to be honest. You get pumping for the ride ahead in the morning and it wakes you up and you definitely feel like you have achieved something every time you tackle it. Believe it or not, it's almost as hard coming down hill than it is going up. My legs are slowly becoming stronger, and that's partly why I ride fixed. I do like the idea of being part of a cycling community too, but I do get annoyed when people think I do it because it's a craze etc. I've spent hardly any money on my bike (yet) and I st ill ride the frig out of it everyday.

I also have absolutely nothing against geared riders either...

Anyway, it's cool I got such a varied response. I've never been part of a forum before.

[njc97]

Riding fixed does give you a better sense of feeling with the road. And being to slow down just by pedalling slower is a lot more natural once you get used to it. That said I would never take the brakes off my bike.

Other advantages are improving your cadence, getting a better pedalling technique. And I don't see why you need to be bold to ride one....

Mlteenie - go straight to fixed. Provided you've got clipped pedals you'll get used to it in no time (but I don't get 100mm handlebars either - they look awfully uncomfortable and my shoulders are much wider than that!)

Acedout - shurely the brick lane places were a way behind the curve. Brixton cycles (for example) has had fixies in for years and years.

(fuji track 2006ish)

[Davros]

I think riding brakeless is brave. But not stupid. You can stop quite quickly if you have strong legs and some sort of foothold. I'm not going to be at Brakeless level for quite some time though.

Also, about the Velodrome. Can anyone go and have an induction? I'd love to do that one day.

[mlteenie]

Hi Davros - welcome to the often sarcasm and smartarse-ridden EDF;-)

Anyone can have an induction. Saturday morning, about ?4 or something silly (I think). You can do a road session on the track from about 4-6 on Tues, I think.

It's all very well riding without brakes (altho illegal and IMO stupid). When you brake to stop for that truck that just pulled out and your chain snaps - well, you know what I am saying. Save it for the track.

njc97 - you are probably right, straight in. I was wondering where would be a good place to practice. Dulwich Park on a weekday, perhaps?

[oilworker]

Induction sessions at the veledrome are 9am Saturday mornings but it's probably shut for the winter now - the sun is not strong enough to dry out the dampness on the track and the surface is consequently v. slippy. Should open agin at easter (poss earlier cos Easter is late next year). Look on VCL website. No one will ever convince me that you can stop anything like as quick on a fixed wheel bike as you can with decent brakes - also on braking really hard on fixed theer is the danger of un-screwing the cog unless it has a lock ring (most fixed riders don't) - this results in having zero braking!!!

It's a load of bollocks about riding fixed improving your pedalling style. We used to ride fixed (in the 1980's) all winter in the belief that this was true but we had to re-learn to pedal a geared bike each spring when the racing season came round cos a fixed wheel actually gives you a lazy pedalling style (it takes you over what we call the pedalling dead-spot"") anyway how much fixed riding did Armstrong, Contador and the King of pedallers Miguel Indurain do?? - That's right -none!! Stick to riding fixed on the track where it belongs!!

[Pearson]

Any LFGSS members on here?

[Dspu]

this debate seems to have echoes of Creationism about it...surely bikes have evolved beyond just the single gear? if there's not an Onion article about it, there should be B-)

[Pearson]

Dspu Wrote:

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> this debate seems to have echoes of Creationism

> about it...surely bikes have evolved beyond just

> the single gear? if there's not an Onion article

> about it, there should be B-)

_______________________________________________________

Bikes may have 'evolved' beyond just a single gear.

But that doesn't mean we can't make a sensible decision not

to choose multiple gears when the are unnecessary for certain

terrain and riding styles.

Sometimes things can evolve greater complexity than is actually required?

Is that progress?