Thinking About Trying This As A Commuter. Thoughts?
02-15-20, 07:34 PM
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Thinking About Trying This As A Commuter. Thoughts?
Is this bike worth $125? Would it be ok if I had a couple hills to climb on my commute?
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/bik/7072309465.html
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/bik/7072309465.html
02-15-20, 07:59 PM
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IDK. Depends on your commute with a fixed gear. Wouldn't have suited me.
02-16-20, 06:22 AM
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It's geared really low. Would take me forever to get to work with that gear. I used a cheap fixed for a bit, but was running something like 48:16. It just takes longer. I ran a Sturmey 3sp last summer.
My commute is pretty flat and about 20km. A few short hills, but nothing I can't stand the whole way up.
My commute is pretty flat and about 20km. A few short hills, but nothing I can't stand the whole way up.
02-16-20, 10:05 PM
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Low is good for hills, but is going to get seriously old on the flats, with everybody breezing past you. I alternate between single- and 3-speed bikes during the summer for variety. The single-speed is set up 46:19 with 27 inch wheels, so it's still a slow bike, but I can reach that comfortable commuting zone of 12 - 14 mph on the flats without going crazy. Despite the personal satisfaction of riding single speed, having at least one low gear can be nice on windy days, or for hauling groceries home from the store.
Note that some replacement parts can be hard to find for old French frames, notably bottom brackets. And that BB doesn't look like it's gotten a lot of love.
Note that some replacement parts can be hard to find for old French frames, notably bottom brackets. And that BB doesn't look like it's gotten a lot of love.
02-16-20, 11:21 PM
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There's a part of me that admires this kind of setup, but it takes a special kind of person to enjoy stopping, loosening the rear wheel, moving the chain around, and re-fastening the rear wheel every time the ground points up or down.
The gearing is way too low for my taste for fixed-gear. You'd be spinning your ass off just doing a normal speed on flat roads, let alone going down a hill. But swapping the chainrings to 46T and 42T would give a 72" high and 53" low by my math, perfect!
The gearing is way too low for my taste for fixed-gear. You'd be spinning your ass off just doing a normal speed on flat roads, let alone going down a hill. But swapping the chainrings to 46T and 42T would give a 72" high and 53" low by my math, perfect!
02-17-20, 12:19 PM
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I'm wondering if the chain can be manually shifted; push to the smaller chainring up front, which creates enough slack to push to the larger cog in the back? You'd have to have a solution to deal with grease, like a stick or device that you use to push the chain so you never touch it
02-17-20, 06:43 PM
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ThermionicScott the top gear as shown is roughly BMX, also popular for SS mountain bikes, 55”
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02-17-20, 07:09 PM
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ThermionicScott the top gear as shown is roughly BMX, also popular for SS mountain bikes, 55”
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02-18-20, 02:08 PM
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Is this bike worth $125? Would it be ok if I had a couple hills to climb on my commute?
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/bik/7072309465.html
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/bik/7072309465.html
02-18-20, 07:15 PM
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My impulse would be to treat shifting as a rare occurrence. For instance, set up the high gear so you can get around on it under most conditions, even if you have to get out of the saddle while climbing hills. Leave switching to the low gear, for rare situations such as unexpectedly strong headwinds, or hauling a lot of stuff.
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02-20-20, 09:51 AM
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Riding on diverse terrain is the use case for bikes with gears that can be shifted in-flight. I think that it is not optimal for your use case. Pass.
02-20-20, 09:55 AM
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I'm wondering if the chain can be manually shifted; push to the smaller chainring up front, which creates enough slack to push to the larger cog in the back? You'd have to have a solution to deal with grease, like a stick or device that you use to push the chain so you never touch it
02-20-20, 10:34 AM
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what's that you say? I've never heard of such a thing. I have only ever in my life experienced single-speed, fixed-gear bikes. We call them 'penny-farthings'. So please put up with my ignorance as I speculate about potential methods for achieving variable gear ratios on bi-cycles
