rustystrings61 

The original owner of your bike might not have been what some of us consider a serious cyclist. Back before the inverted dropped bar became the symbol of the court-ordered cycling program, lots of casual riders set their bikes up that way during the Great Bike Boom of the early 70s. Interestingly enough, there are photos of professional track racers with their bars set up this way - but only during the hours of a Six-Day Race when the audience had gone home, and someone had to keep circling the track, though casually and at low speed. I dimly remember seeing a photo of a racer with his bars set just so and reading a newspaper while lazily circling the track.

Yes, you WILL want to spin briskly down hills, but I have had the best success just trying to hang with the rpms that gravity induces, or perhaps "floating" my feet along with the pedals. It's not some big resistance thing, though there is some resistance, it's rather letting the natural gravitational weight of my own legs help damp the speed of the cranks. I still work to be smooth about it. Count me in among those using foot retention. I had stopped using clipless pedals on fixed-gears in 2000 after a nasty crash, and I used clips and straps exclusively until this year. I feel confident in the pedals I am using now (Crank Brothers Egg Beaters) and they have worked beautifully AND given me more ground clearance in turns.

Of course you may have to stand and pedal or wrestle and grunt your way up the hill! There is one particularly nasty and mercifully short climb on one of my favorite routes that requires that I dance on the pedals - and it is a sloooooow dance that I do well to maintain 4.5 mph near the top. This is the same hill that has me spinning around 200 rpm at the bottom if I ride it in reverse. It's okay, it can be done, and on 26 mile rides with 1200 feet of elevation gain or so it falls just shy of the halfway mark.

Part of the joy of fixed is that opportunity to use legs and body at all sorts of cadences, from the spinny spin-spin-spin down hills to the grunting up the hills with Bruce Springsteen in your head singing "Stand On It." You get to use your entire physical being to muscle up that rascal.

FWIW, this is why I have my dropped handlebars set up the way the old manuals suggested, tops of the bars level with or within one inch of the saddle height and two conventional hooded road brake levers. I use every single bit of the real estate on those bars to move my body around and enlist different muscle groups in different ways, and it helps.

Good luck!

mrmb

I don't understand what there is to be "nervous" about.

If properly geared and you know how to spin, not much can go wrong.

If you are building a fixed gear bicycle, then the minimalist approach appeals to you. That's basically the whole point. So it makes little sense to install brakes, foot retention etc. because then it defeats the purpose of the fixed gear build. If you are going to do all that, just have a freewheeling single speed bike.

I have been riding fixed gear bikes exclusively for about 5 years...100miles per week. Never had any brakes, no foot retention......No problems.

mrmb

It's not about pedaling in reverse. It's about adding resistance to the forward motion of the pedals as you described.


Buuuut....this whole foot retention and brakes thing. I find it useless and purpose defeating. A rear brake on a fixed gear bike is a bit ridiculous because often times the rear wheel needs to move around to set chain tension....there goes your alignment with the brake caliper. Foot retention.....from time to time I need to momentarily lift my feet from the pedals and let the pedals spin. "Fixie freewheeling" so-to-speak. I do this on steep downhills that are followed by steep uphills. I speed up then slow back down at which point I can begin pedaling again. Also from time to time when there is a lot of wind pushing me on a straightaway. I get going too fast, so I "fixie freewheel" momentarily. Front brake........OK...so, no major downside here other than it goes contrary to the whole appeal that fixed gear riding has to offer. Which is that fixed gear riding requires the bare minimum amount of parts for it to operate. It is the perfect bike for the minimalist. Adding a front brake is not what a minimalist would want. If you are going to ride like that you might as well ride a freewheeling single speed or anything else.


So, I get it. Better to have this stuff and not need it than need it and not have it. It add safety. I understand all that. But my experience is that it would take a serious amount of operator error to end up in a position where foot retention and brakes are needed to avoid danger. Someone this careless should not be riding fixed at all.

5 mph

We had snow, and then heavy rain and winds and debris on the road. Branches, pine cones, all kinds of slop. Don't see any people riding any kind of bike now, I'm the only out there on my non fixed SS Bianchi every day.
I tried to pay attention to how much I coast. Truthfully , not that much, because when you go down a big hill, a bigger one is coming, and you have to keep pumping away to build speed for the next one.When I finally hit a level patch and I need to catch a breath. I slow mo pedal a few seconds.
Insofar as being nervous, I think it's okay. It's better than being arrogant , right ?
Next week at this time, I'll know! Flat Handlebars are here.

Rolla

During the years I was riding and commuting exclusively fixed, I used a front brake and toe clips, and no one will ever convince me that I was somehow compromising the experience or defeating the purpose. The appeal of riding fixed is not limited to the bare-bones simplicity aspect.

Mikefule

I doubt anyone has ever changed sides in the brakes/no brakes discussion as a result of listening to the other side's reasons. It seems to be more of a philosophy/attitude thing and none of us are rational. For example, I would not ride my bike on the road without brakes but I try never to use them. However, I ride unicycles on and off road and am one of the small percentage of "serious" distance unicyclists who refuses to fit a brake.

I did a lovely little ride on my fixed bike yesterday. Just over 21 miles, 700 feet of elevation slowly gained and rapidly "ungained" on the way back. The one big hill on the way out required one stop to get my breath, and at times I was climbing at barely walking pace. On the way back down, on a less steep road, I briefly hit 28 mph, which I think is a peak cadence of around 140 rpm. I'm 58, unfit, have a sedentary job, and ride with no foot retention, but I never touched the brakes. It took some effort and planning on on the descent though: choosing when to stop resisting and to go with the flow without the risk of "spinning out".

Colorado Kid

Here in Colorado, we have some very big hills! The key is to relax. If the hills are really scary, then flip the wheel and coast down. (You do have a flip/flop hub, right?) Folks have even rode across the country on fixed gear so no worries.

TugaDude

Adjusting your rear brake after moving the wheel is not difficult at all. I don't see that as being problematic. YMMV.

Rolla

It's also completely unnecessary to adjust it. On any singlespeed bike with horizontal dropouts/track ends, you have to pull the wheel back to set the chain tension -- and that rim position is where your brake pads are already aligned to. The only time you might have to fuss with brake position adjustment is when you change the cog/chainring/chain length.

TugaDude

I don't know what bikes you own, but on all of mine, when I move the axle back the rim comes along with it.

79pmooney

One advantage of horizontal dropouts over track ends is that the vertical position of the rim relative to the brake pads changes little as the hub slides along the dropout. And if you are building a frame from scratch, you could do this. (Notice the long dropout angled at 11 degrees and the deep Velocity Aero rim. I can use any cog from 12 teeth to 24 teeth without changing chain length and the brake pad stays on the rim. The pad is pretty low with the 24 but how fast are you going to go in a 42-24? 200 RPM is 14 MPH! I have less angle to this dropout than a standard dropout because I wanted to minimize BB drop as I slide the wheel back. The fastest and most consequential pedal strike corners will be happening on the tiny cogs with the wheel pushed all the way back.)


This bike has seen mountains. Biggest single day was twice to the Crater Lake rim, twice down and around. 9800'. Five Cycle Oregons. It is a true road bike, not an adopted track bike or a road-ish designed track-like bike. Conceived of and built as a fix gear road bike; one that could handle real hills and be ridable by a 60 year old.

It has excellent brakes front and rear. Levers chosen to be excellent handles for climbing - see above. Toeclips, quality leather straps and the shoes have deep slot aluminum cleats. Flip-flop hub, fixed on both sides. In the mountains I carry a chainwhip as well as the Pedros Trixie wrench/spanner (under the tool bag). When this photo was taken I had the 17 and 23 on the hub and a 12 hanging from the tool bag. (I messed up on this hill and didn't stop and flip the wheel so you see me going up 14% on the 17.)

I'm not posting this to boast. I'm posting to show a fix gear where brakes and foot retention are a real part of the ride (and what a ride!) This bike allows me to ride fixed in some of the most spectacular places on earth (thank you Cycle Oregon!) Climb the hills this born mountain goat loves. Go down those hills fast and enjoy it without taking a baseball bat to my undersides. (Less fun at 60.) And do it all without coasting. (Yes, I do stop. Just like the old days. 2 minutes to flip the wheel, ~5 to swap cogs. I do plan my rides with those stops in mind. And there are rides I won't do on this bike - like the Oregon coast! Once was enough! Those hills are for 25 year old fools like I once was.)

Rolla

I don't know what bikes you own, but on all of mine, the chain is a fixed length. So the rim ends up in the same position relative to the brake pads when I move the axle back to tension the chain.

TugaDude

This has become a silly debate. Sorry I said anything. But for the record, this is what you said.

"A rear brake on a fixed gear bike is a bit ridiculous because often times the rear wheel needs to move around to set chain tension....there goes your alignment with the brake caliper"

So does it move, or doesn't it?

mrmb

Fixed length means having a set length that never varies......

I don't know what chains you are using, but all of mine stretch over time with use. As the chain stretches, the axle, hub, rim, tire, cog, axle nuts, tube etc. all slide back a little. There goes your brake pad to rim alignment.

Or you could just dump the brakes...

Unless this is a magic gear with vertical dropouts, but thats another story.

Rolla

It's especially silly because -- for the record -- you're quoting mrmb, not me.

Rolla

Most of these gradual changes only "stretch" the chain by a mm or so, which shouldn't affect brake pad position enough to warrant an adjustment. If your chain has stretched more than that, you should probably replace your chain rather than reposition the brake pads.

cxwrench

Terrible advice, that last thing you want is to be disconnected from your pedals, especially at speed. At least the OP has brakes.

TugaDude

My bad.

79pmooney

+1. Crashes are bad at speed but (if you are wearing a helmet) probably less long-term life altering than being hit in the Achilles by that pedal.

I won't use clipless on my fix gears because when I am spinning fast, I have non idea how straight my foot is on the pedal and I am not going to look down. I have unclipped a few times with toeclips but the good thing is that when my foot comes out, it is still in the toestrap. My heartrate goes to max, I dip on the brake, slide my foot forward and then it's like nothing happened.

Mikefule

That's only one opinion among many. I've ridden thousands of miles on and off road on road and gravel bikes, tandems, occasionally mountain bikes, and unicycles, commuting, touring, camping, club rides, and general leisure riding. For many years, I did regular days over 100 miles. I happily ride without any form of foot retention other than pinned pedals. Never a problem. Each to his own: mine is just one opinion based on several decades of riding. Foot retention is an option with pros and cons.

takenreasy

Two brakes are the way to go (in case one breaks). I think it's good to use them as a learning tool rather than normal bike braking. You'll soon develop a "sense" of how to control a descent without too much breaking. I find it fun using less and less brakes but I'll never be a skid stopper.

cxwrench

Funny how you don't mention FIXED gear...which is what this thread is all about. You can ride anything that can coast w/ flat pedals...you ride fixed you should be clipped in.

Mikefule

Sorry, I probably assumed that went without saying. Most of my riding over the last 10 years has been on the fixed gear or the unicycles (which are also fixed). I've ridden my fixed bike every day this week, for example, and the geared bike has not been out of the garage for weeks.

urban_cyclist

Take corners and bumps slow! Slower than normal.

Keep a close eye out for bumps.

Spend your first ride or two, in an empty parking lot. You’ll be glad you did.

GianJeric

Just keep practicing eventually you can be familiar with it.