Originally Posted by 79pmooney

Humbling. I'm just a newcomer. Didn't ride my first one until 1976. But I was sold that first ride, have had one ever since and done more than half my lifetime miles fixed. And yeah, I started my first season of racing when the club vets told me i needed to set my second bike up fixed to learn to pedal smoothly. Thank you! my Mooney is a (rather differently geared) very traditional English road fix gear and wonderful! My TiCycles is what we might have raced in the '80s as a top of the line road bike in a fictional world where gears never happened. If I were to put light sewups on, that bike would be pure race.


Fix gear bikes:

~1983 Trek 400 set up with an enormous stem, centerpull brakes, fenders, LowRider rack and a U-lock mount. Winter/rain/city bike. The bike I will always have. All parts, including frame, subject to wear, crashes and replacement. 28c Paselas. The Trek is about to roll 20,000 miles, all fixed. ~75,000 with all five frames it's been through.

2011 TiCycles ti fix gear with custom super long dropout (yes, not track ends), fenders as appropriate and two brake/"cockpit"s. Dual pivots, deep, wide pista bars and V-brake levers for the climbing setup and traditional Nitto road bars with regular levers and Superbe sidepulls for flat rides. 5 minutes to swap. Tires to 25c. Bigger at the expense of the biggest (23 and 24 tooth) cogs. Can run all cogs, 12 to 24 on one length chain. 17,000 miles. Never seen a freewheel.

And in part time fix gear use, my Mooney running a triple in front with super low Q-factor and 1/8" rings. In back a single or double cog on one side, a single on the other so I can run either a true mountain fix gear (95", 70" and 46" with the option of going to a 41" if I carry a chainwhip) or simple fix-fix two speed for the flat, say 72" and 67". Brakes of course and fenders as appropriate. Tires to 35c. Part time fix gear use because this bike is also the one I will take for serious gravel or touring. A newbie. Only 3200 miles fixed.

Ben