Originally Posted by
Bandera
Adaption to riding a FG
and being capable of riding close ratios effectively are part and parcel of the Old School training techniques when limited gear ranges were the norm and the capability of putting out both grunt or spin on demand as adaption to the FG winter base miles required carried over into the racing season. There is no substitute for good technique, a fair bit of power and some grit.
I don't claim to know if one technique is better than another, but I have found that riding fixed in the spring helps prevent sore knees and riding a lot of fixed in the spring makes it annoying to ride wide-ratio cassettes in the summer. It stinks because the trend in the market seems to be moving towards wider and wider ratios.