subgrade

Ok, so to address some of the points made in this thread:

• Riding FG makes you a better rider due to gearing whicb is sub-optimal in many cases: the same goes for SS (remember what was the topic of this thread)
• Riding FG makes you a better rider because it trains muscle groups that don't get used as much on a bike with a freehub: obviously applies just to being a better rider on FG, not overall, since said muscles aren't used on a non-fixed bike
• Riding FG is fun: can't argue with that, everyone should ride whatever makes them happy

I-Like-To-Bike

Similar points and advantages cited in this thread for riding a sub-optimal feature free bicycle could also be cited for riding heavy old bicycles, especially of the so-called clunker/BSO type so often derided on this list, when equipped with heavy fenders, kickstand, chainguard, horns, lights, baskets, and a rack; lots of effort and calories burned. Good "training of muscle groups" for riding other heavy old (or new) bicycles with a department store provenance. Even better if the basket and racks are used for carrying cinder blocks, full cases of beer and other heavy loads at all times. Toting an extra passenger is good training too! And may even have additional social advantages.

Happy Feet

That last analogy reminds me of something I ran across the other day...

FiftySix

See what happens when you ride against the flow of traffic? Poor fella needs an iPatch now.

FiftySix

Let's see, put those three speeds in low gear and move along at 7 mph? I think the only training experience picked up here is balancing a bike with a squirmy load on the back and repairing pinch flats.

hsuBM

not surprised by it. did all of that idiocy in my late teens-early 20s on completely too expensive bmx’s when I had little self worth or hope for the future.

Considering them good cyclists is like considering Kerry King a good musician.

joesch

Skilled FG cyclists can be good or bad cyclists. The guys in those videos are mostly bad cyclists as far as endangering others and themselves.

RISKDR1

I raced on track till I was 46. Fixed gear. I also trained on road with it. They are more dangerous than single speed. My choice now is single speed with at least a front brake. I have seen and been in accidents with fixed that would not have happened with a single speed with brakes.

alikitch

I’d be very careful about trying a fixed gear. I thought I’d have a go on one about a year ago (with a front brake) and now that’s all I ride. Every morning I have to go into the garage and feel bad about the unused DeRosa, Tommasini and Colnago hanging there gathering dust. Occasionally I take one for a ride but the freewheel now feels weird and the riding kind of boring. The fixed gears have vastly improved my fitness, so much fun. Most days I commute 48-14 as that’s what bike came with. Mostly smooth commute with some small gentle hills. I now have other bikes with different gearings so never have to change cogs or flip hubs. Don’t ride fixed as hard to go back.

I-Like-To-Bike

Sounds as if some "accidents" with fixed gear aren't really accidents but rather the result of a deliberate choice in selecting less safe, crash prone equipment.

PdlPeet

This is the best (and most traditional) response I've seen. Although I don't think of coasting as "insidious".
Forget the macho/badass crap mentioned in this thread.

I've been riding fixed gear since the mid-90's. It's the first bike I reach for when I just want to "go for a ride".
It's fun. It's completely different than riding gears. You get a better workout than you do over the same miles.
Or it's my first choice for noodling to coffee with my wife. I have 2 brakes. I use them. You
can use your brakes to avoid going around corners so fast that pedal strike is an issue. I think I've banged
a pedal once in 25 years, and that was over a speed bump.

There is a short period of adjustment to pedalling all the time, because if you stop pedalling, you'll get a
startling reminder that you can't coast. But you soon adapt to that.

You can also use it for intervals. Or to strengthen your climbing if training is your goal. Long climbs aren't fun,
and long or steep descents aren't either. At least not for aged legs.

I've used gearing in the mid-60-inch range since I started. (46X19 currently) It suits the rolling terrain I ride on
here in the Bay Area. You'll find the gearing that best suits you and your situation.

I don't get the SS. If you want that, take your normal road bike out and leave it in the same gear.for the whole
ride.

kingston 

You must be talking about a track bike with no brakes. FG with brakes is no more dangerous than any other kind of bike.

79pmooney

I got reminded of another benefit of fix gear road riding (especially downwind and downhill) that has been for me, huge. The training of the leg muscles that aren't actually driving the pedals to relax completely. I was never aware I had those less than loose muscles until I started going down real hills on gears like 42-17. At 45 MPH (225 RPM) any tightness at all makes for a wild ride! But 100% loose, I can go faster and it is ear-to-ear grin fun. And that teaching of those muscles to relax benefits me every ride. (Rollers go a long ways to achieving that same looseness.)

I rode a 50 mile out and back to a point straight upwind yesterday. Hard out, the spin on tired legs coming home. That my legs didn't fight that spin - a real blessing.

Ben

PdlPeet

"jagoff"? Sounds like PGH to me.

clongwill

Yinz know that too?

ofajen

Commitment to a single gear. Lighter. Less stuff in the way (no shifters on h-bars). SS chain spins easier. Less troubled by dust on trails than derailleur. Can stand and coast to comfortably negotiate super tight turns. Can stand and coast down long hills (more weight bearing). Just getting started... there’s more.

Otto

FiftySix

I've done the leave a geared bike in one gear thing. It's still not the same as a Single Speed because you know that you can't bail out by downshifting to a lower gear on a Single Speed. You have to muscle it or walk.

Before I take a ride with my Single Speed, I take wind into consideration much more than I do with my geared bike. On really windy days, my Single Speed stays at home.

I-Like-To-Bike

Is that built-in limitation considered a positive attribute for bicycle riding?

FiftySix

"Muscle it" is simply relative to the gear ratio you choose and the strength you have. My version of "muscling it" is no where near what other's versions of muscling it would be. The reality is, if you pick a gear ratio that works for your strength and riding conditions you won't really be walking much if at all. But, broadening one's powerband by only having one gear ratio is a real thing.

To be clear though, I don't ride my single speed to torture myself. I ride my single speed because it is simply fun to me.

I like geared bikes and single speed bikes for their own merits, but a single speed makes me feel more human. I'm not sure how to say it well, but a single speed bike feels like an extension of my legs or my ability to run. But a geared bike makes me feel more like I'm powering a machine, perhaps like cranking a generator.

RohloffRoller

During covid lockdown here in Melbourne Oz I was tidying out the shed when I found my fixed wheel which I had not ridden for about 15 years. I dusted it off, pumped the tyres and while we were restricted to a 5km radius from home (they take lockdown seriously here) that is all that I have been riding.
It keeps you alert and 165mm cranks help to prevent the dreaded pedal strike!

Mike

devianb

Single speed with a flip/flop hub. I prefer single speed because I like to coast down hills.

ofajen

It’s a “feature”, not a limitation.

Otto

vane171

What is the point of SS? That's what my father rode in the first half of last century and passed it to me... I mean, just don't shift on your 20+ S bike and you got SS LOL

As to FG, while you have some who successfully take such bike to very hilly terrain, even without possibility of wheel reversing to make it SS bike for big downhills, for the rest of us, sticking to flattish or at most. a rolling roads is a golden standard that provides all benefits and excitement of riding FG.

Like you don't take TT bike to mountains.

I would liken riding FG bike to solo rock climbing. The latter is done with rope or without rope. Climbing without rope is equivalent to FG bike without brakes. Both can be done in a reasonable way, meaning you are experienced enough to minimize its hazards. I rode fixie around town without brakes when young, also did rock climbing with ropes and a partner, solo without rope only several times and not too serious climbing difficulty.

FG means you ride alert to very alert all the time, even hyper alert if you don't have brakes. It is not a sight seeing ride by any means. If you feel macho, you are half way to end your ride in accident, in rock climbing to fall.

While on a FG bike you can remain seated on red light and keep balancing yourself, after a while you get so good at it, you don't need to do any active balancing anymore. I am sure it also trains something but not sure what -

I-Like-To-Bike

Do you consider the FG "feature" - you can't bail out with a lower gear on a Single Speed. You have to muscle it or walk - a positive attribute for bicycle riding?

ofajen

I don’t give it much thought. The only hills I have to get off and run up are so steep I’d be going that same speed grinding up on a lower gear on the bike (which I don’t like anyway) and I bike in shoes I can run in.

The broader feature of course is a completely different experience of riding, where you use position on the bike, effort and attitude to handle the changes in the ride, free from considerations of gearing change.

Otto