 Poster: A snowHead
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I am toying with the dark side and wondering about a road bike to supplement my MTBing, I have a hard tail I am going to sell to help the funds...
Then I started thinking about getting a fixie....
It'd mainly be used for to/from the gym, hockey club, maybe odd lunchtime and evening rides...
But this May day bank holiday my friends all did a huge 3 day road ride with some massive hills (likely to do similiar next year), so I guess there is no way I'd cope on a fixie, which then takes me back to a 'real' road bike with gears etc...
Interested in snowheads thoughts...
Cheers,
Greg
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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kitenski, You cannot afford a new bike  you have BASI courses to pay for...once you start you will not be able to stop.......
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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kevindonkleywood, Need to get the summer bike fix before BASI 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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What's a fixie?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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hybrid compromise?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Unless you're actually competing or riding track I don't see the attraction of a fixie. Get a decent road bike to supplement the mountian biking. Don't get a hybrid compromise, they're utterly pointless.
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Fixies are for the track or for having horrendous accidents when cornering. Don't be daft.
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do you mean fixie or single speed? i used to commute on a Genesis Flyer which was pretty cool. you could turn it into a fixie by flipping round the back wheel but i never saw the point. my commute was fairly flat so lack of gears wasn't an issue but there were one or two places where i would hit a speed limit. for me, the simplicity of no gears appealed, and i felt that the money you weren't spending on gears etc was going elsewhere on better spec on the bike. i'm not a cycling nerd so probably had the wool pulled over my eyes on that one...
anyway, one thing i would say is that riding a single speed up lots of hills isn't good for your knees
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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clarky999, it's a bike which won't freewheel. Which sounds quite pointless and annoying, frankly. Unless it's for BMX stylee tricks etc.
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kitenski, as Arno, says many Fixies have a flip flop rear wheel which has a freewheel on one side. I doubt you would use the Fixed side its really annoying pedalling down hills and it makes you look like a tw#t doing that stupid balance thing at traffic lights.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Have used one as a training bike in the winter with a 72 inch fixed gear for years. Super as a winter bike as no gears to get gunked up, makes you work hard and have a smooth pedalling style, and no pushing huge gears which is what stuffs knees, back etc
Its takes a while to get used to it however, and don't lose it going down hills, much worse than going up. Can use just a front brake, but mine has back as well...just in case.
Just a bit of a pain when you are very tired as there is no escape!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Having never ridden one my main question would be why?
I can see the point if you are commuting in flat cities in winter but otherwise what is the disadvantage of gears other than slightly heavier a bit more maintenance and a small amount of extra weight. In turn you get the ability to go up reasonable hills without knackering your knees or stopping to get off and not having your legs go like a sewing machine on the way down.
I have a friend who does a fair bit of cycling and has a fixie amongst about five other bikes but the fixie does not get out much.
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T Bar, Its for winter training....cadence is everything, means you work all the time, develop a smooth style and there are no distractions, no fiddling with gears etc. I can get up all the hills on my training runs with that gear, some are a bit tough, buts its training so its supposed to be like that! The biggest problem i find is doing the odd sprint and at the start of the winter you sometimes forget to keep peddling.......it has interesting consequences 
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
you sometimes forget to keep peddling
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Selling onions, I presume. 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| T Bar wrote: |
| Having never ridden one my main question would be why? |
1. To look like a NYC cycle courier?
2. Because he's got a few hundred quid burning a hole in his pocket?
I wouldn't recommend a fixed wheel (and I used to ride a lot of banked track racing as a kid) but a single speed freewheel bike is good for commuting where it is fairly flat, or a Nexus/Rohloff type hub.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Surely you can buy a standard road bike and swap out the chain and gear set for a flippy fixed wheel? I'm pretty sure I know people who do this, largely because commuting in London in the winter destroys your derailleur.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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zammo, not necessarily. you need some ability to move the rear wheel back and forth to get the chain tension right which bikes with derailleurs don't always have. alternatively you can get mini chain tensioner thingies (technical term)
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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zammo, As Arno, said, more modern geared frame rear drop outs won't work very well as even if you get the chain tension right, you can't adjust it if it stretches a bit. Older frames with adjustable drop outs will work at a pinch, did this once on an old winter bike, the chain tension usually went slack, or i pulled the wheel over. You can get proper second hand fixed frames reasonably easily.
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FAQ
