I read it to mean pedal striking the pavement in the middle of a turn, since a fixed gear doesn't give you the option to keep the inside pedal up.

D'oh! Well, there's reason number 3,587 why it's not a good idea for me to try fixed gear. :eek:

I say try it. I believe the Sports has a low BB, but to offset that, it also has short cranks.

I saw a guy on a fixie dislocate his ankle due to a pedal strike.

Joined the superbe club today
 

Fixies are pure and simple racing bikes. A binary system,
on and off. Pedaling or stopping, nothing in between.
They are not suitable for everyday riding and are
not for novices . They are not forgiving.
They are a fad for the young and reckless, that has, thankfully, mostly passed.
I've said my piece and welcome any
counter arguments.

Looks like a nice, clean bike.
Saddle's worth $50.00 (to me).

An SA S3X isn't a typical fixed gear. Still, fixed wheel Sports make for a funtional bike, especially with better rims and tires. This '57 has alloy rims and Dunlop EA1 higher pressure tires. Pedal strike will only happen at very low speeds when swerving around an object.

Well, that leaves me out. Also explains why I see so many on Craigslist. I must admit I look at some of them with thoughts of turning them into internal geared hub bikes. :)
I know, I'm a sad case.

That franken gitane 3 speed I just picked up was being ridden as a single speed. Guy had no idea it could be anything else haha https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...95e1036ea2.jpg

I rode a fixie once. The feeling I got was similar to the time a friend let me ride his tank shift Harley. Went around the block once and was glad to get off and say I did that.

I rode one for about 5 minutes in an empty parking lot 10 years ago.
I had some young (25) guys working with me who all had the "fixie bug".
They would come to work proudly displaying their various sustained injuries.
Eventually, three of them moved on to 3 speeds....

Clean Raleigh Folder
Listed at $120.00 here in Toronto.
Pump included!
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2bfff3089b.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...11f6b9a090.jpg

The 'fixie' craze did some unfortunate damage to the reputation of fixed wheel riding. I commuted a great deal on a couple of models into my mid forties until my knees complained too much.

A proper track bike is a wonderful thing, especially on a track. I found the riding position a little too low/aggressive for urban street rides so I converted a road Sakai to fixed and learned to love it. It takes some getting used to but Sheldon's praise isn't unfounded. It can be a beautiful, effortless form of riding. You really become 'one with the bike'

Fixed riding is also common in the pro peleton during early spring training. It tends to smooth out your pedal stroke, it forces you to spin circles. This 51 Raleigh Sports came stock with a flip/flop hub, the SA IGH was an option.

i highly recommend giving a fixed gear bike a try. Sheldon's remarks are on target. It's hard to explain... Somehow a fixed gear is the purest form of cycling. It's the bicycling equivalent of fresh water, black coffee, neat scotch.

When I ride a fixed gear bike, average speed goes up by almost a mile per hour (something like 14 mph to 15 mph). The fixed gear won't let you relax... but do you need to relax? You can relax when you get home. I'm not saying that as praise; but there it is.

I cannot give the S3X such high praise. It combines a fixed gear experience with a three speed experience, but somehow it misses the best aspect of both. It's both worlds, but it's not the best of both worlds.

Perhaps not, but my S3X is what makes fixed gear riding doable for me.I don't know what your issues are, but what I hear from some committed fixie riders is that they simply do not like the gear lash which is amplified at the crank arms. Not a deal breaker for me, and I'll take a couple of lower ratios to help on the hills.

Correct.

23" men's Sports in bronze green for small money in the Boston area:

https://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/bi...773449437.html

https://images.craigslist.org/01414_...8I_600x450.jpg

Boy, that's a good deal. 1966, 67, around there I think. Tall frame. Hard to see in the tiny pic, but it doesn't appear to be a rust bucket. Looks like a good one.

Nice

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O7Mzp-7cc...214_121758.jpg

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ujS9qKPC9...214_121813.jpg

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GQr0sRaIy...214_121840.jpg

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4tZdWAocD...214_121852.jpg

[MENTION=38859]SirMike1983[/MENTION] Brilliant. This bike turned out especially well. I do have a couple of questions. I also need to gear down these old roadsters a bit to be able to enjoy riding them. With my 51 Rudge, I chose to swap in a NOS 50s straight leg splined driver into the otherwise original hub. I see yours has a large cog. How did you handle the modification? Thank you for the closeup picture of the grip. By any chance, were these in place on the bike when you found it? If not, you did a heroic job of finding suitable replacements. To the best of my knowledge, these are very similar to what would have been on a 1930s rod braked roadster originally. Vintage handlebar grips are an exceedingly difficult subject to research. Apparently, the early natural rubber and celluloid grips were fragile compared to modern plastics and we don't have the benefit of many still existing examples to reference, so I'd like to know more about these.

[MENTION=398265]BigChief[/MENTION]: I dropped a "circlip" style driver into the 49 Humber with no issues at all....later to solve a skipping issue in 1st gear (after replacing almost every part in that dang hub) I put the guts of a NOS 70s hub into the same shell and never looked back.