bowzette

I did three centuries last year-two were flat and one was hilly but no serious climbs just lots of rollers. Last two years I often did group rides with geared riders usually 50-60 miles. Roller hills aren't a problem. Unless the climb is hard I can keep up better climbing than going downhill with geared riders. Wind can be a problem if there is not draft to hid in. I ride 70 gi most of the time. If with a geared group I will ride 75 gi. and a few times 80 gi on a flat fast Thursday night ride. It isn't hard to build up to long rides on fixed gear. Use appropriate gear for terrain and your level of fitness. BTW my bike is closer to road bike specs than track but with a bit higher bottom bracket than a road bike. It is as comfortable to ride as my road bikes.

rustystrings61 

I've done one full century, a couple of metric centuries, and the old MS-150 charity ride fixed.

If you're not into re-inventing the wheel, look into the old British club cycling scene. Those guys used to be all about long-haul fixed-gear cycling, and their's was pretty much the ONLY cycling culture that valued fixed-wheel on the road as anything other than race training or posing. In the U.S.A. fixed-gear on the road started off as a reflection of a track-racing bias that later blended with messenger-chic. The Italians kept it because Cino Cinelli advocated it for race prep, along with a VERY LOW gear ration. The British took it seriously though, as an end in itself. If you really want to dive into that world, find a copy of Reginald Shaw's Teach Yourself Cycling or Let's Go Cycling, both originally published in the 50s. Shaw advocated a very British method of handling climbs, where one basically sat back on the saddle and focused on "turning 'em 'round" as he put it.

I use traditional Maes bend dropped handlebars with the tops within an inch of the saddle height and a roughly 70-72 inch gear, which is pretty much what the old manuals used to recommend. Panaracer Paselas 28mm tires at no more than 90 psi are my friends, though if I felt a bit more hardcore I could go up to 32mm and down to 70 psi, which is what I rode everywhere forty years ago.

tuxxdk

I can't even fathom how you endure those distances.. I'm _done_ after 30km tops. SS/FG or gears doesn't matter.

Maybe I should ride more

Tahoe_Fixed

No need for gears. I just rode my brakeless fixie around Lake Tahoe. 74 miles over 4000ft of climbing. I'm in the middle of training to try the Death Ride this year. Just get out on your bike and ride.

Batavus

My longest fixed ride was a flat 124 miles in a day. I did the same ride on a geared bike a year later. I didn't notice any difference. It was a long ass ride on both bikes.... (fixed ratio was 42-16)

mukman

I did 190 km from Amsterdam to Antwerp on fixed gear, basically all long distances I ride are done on fixed gear. It's more fun for me that way.

TMonk

You can't ride 10 miles in 23 minutes without a massive tailwind or a negative gradient.

bjeffwoff

I ride my fixie trough the woods and everywhere i go. But i do it for the workouI have a couple sets of wheels tho, so i switch it up depending on what i do.t since i had a knee injury 5 years ago. And this seems to be the treatment that is working wonders.

thewilson 

There used to be the Metric Century challenge, but it would appear they've stopped doing it.

They handed out memberships for those who completed 12 fixed metric centuries. That's how I got my membership too. You could even do double metric centuries to count as 2 rides, I did one 126mi ride for it. So yes, it's totally doable HTFU

jlafitte 

Busted! Unless he's pro.

TMonk

IIRC, @Sixty Fiver used to race in his younger days, primarily TT's.

For an amateur, 10mi. in 23min is doable (26mph), but difficult. It would require both a dialed in-TT bike with all the aero fixings AND a powerful engine.

Sixty Fiver

I used to be able to knock down a sub hour 40 (25 miles) on a whim unless the winds were massive and I could still do this on my geared road bikes and my fixed gear bikes up until I was 42 and blew up my back and did a bunch of nerve damage that affects my left hip and leg.

Was training for masters (riding and training 16,000 km / year) when I blew up my back and now I am pretty happy if I can do 35 km in an hour and can still keep up a decent pace on longer rides and ride a few centuries every season and also like to go touring and aim to ride 100 km a day when I do that.

I have never owned a time trial bike... but I was gifted with some freaky cardio, stupidly strong legs, and a really high pain threshold.

I still have great cardio and really high pain threshold but you need all three to be racing and now I only have one good leg.

50voltphantom

That's impressive.

FBinNY 

BITD when I was young and dumb, I loved taking my fixed wheel bike out to Northern NJ or the Poconos for a century in the hills. IMO, nothing improve your short to mid size hill climbing ability as riding fixed. But it does take a toll after a while, especially the fast descents,, so I don't suggest it as a long term steady diet.

But in rolling terrain with reasonable small climbs, the joys of riding fixed offset the added effort when climbing.