ryanspeer

For those of you with fixie's, how/when do you typically whip 'em out of the garage/house and ride them? Jaunts to the corner store? Constant-pace rides on a bike-friendly trail? During the off-season from racing only, or do you incorporate it into your year-round training, too?

I have a 35mi RT trail very near my house that's basically level the whole way, and have started thinking recently that it might be fun to build up a fixie for jaunts out there - just something different for a change of pace. The possibility that it might be a relatively inexpensive build makes it more appealing.

What would be a good starter fixie to start thinking about? Perhaps an older steel bike of some sort?

I'm basically just starting to entertain the idea and am wondering what ya'all do.

Da Tinker

My fixie conversion is used for short rides, late-night rides, bar runs, bad weather, and the occasional run to the store.

It's built up from an old steel Bianchi frame I got off Ebay for $40, a set of 27" wheels for $45, and so on. The Crank Candy C pedals & Brooks B-17 are over 1/2 of the total budget.

I've got very long legs, so a fixie my size has proven very hard for just anyone to ride off on. Hence the use on rides where I don't want to risk one of my road bikes.

merlinextraligh

Base season training, recovery rides, and just for a change of pace now and then.

Kinda fun to show up with the Fixed Gear on a group ride with people that aren't as fast as they think they are on $5,000 CF bikes.

caloso

Mine is my daily commuter so 90% of my rides are under 10 miles, but I'll occasionally take it out for a 25-30 miler. It's geared pretty low (42-16 = 69 gear inches) for the stop and start of city riding but out on the open road, it requires a high cadence (110 rpm to go 20mph). And that's not a bad side effect.

I converted an '89 Trek 660. It probably cost $250 out of pocket. I set it up so that my fit is nearly identical to my Trek 5200. I run both front and rear brakes, standard road drops, full fenders, and Mr. Tuffy tire liners. It's certainly not the lightest bike in the stable, but when you get spinning it develops a momentum of its own. I love this bike.

steaktaco

I have 2 fixies—one at 48x14 for track use only, one at 39x18 for gettin' around. before I worked from home I would commute 16 miles round trip (I know, not far, but within the city of chicago that seems far).

ryanspeer

Here's another question: how much time did it take you to get used to not being able to freewheel? I imagine that'd be the hardest thing for me to get used to - especially needing to apply reverse pressure to help slow myself down (although I'd certainly add brakes just for safety's sake). I work in downtown Seattle and see messengers every day with fixies and they don't seem to have many problems, but it just seems like it'd be so akward to get used to.

hairlessbill

I use mine for commuting and around-town rides. 42x16 gearing. It's a converted Panasonic DX4000 I got for $60.00. Bought a fixed rear wheel from IRO cycles, replaced the bars, pedals seat, and reused parts (cranks, headset, brakes) that came with the bike. Build details.

Surferbruce

i use mine as part of my regular training schedule. for me it just adds variety to the routine. if i'm doing a flatish ride for 2 hours or less i usually grab the fixed gear. it doesn't take much time to get used to not coasting, the bike will remind you when you forget.
put a front brake on and use it. i have road bars with hoods and my position is relatively close to my geared bike position, so it's easy to switch between the two.

caloso

There's definitely a learning curve. I think it took a week or two (or say 100 miles) before it felt natural to me. Of course, your mileage may vary.

I remember spending a lot of time whispering to myself, "Don't stop pedaling! Don't stop pedaling!" And then you'd forget because you would go over a rough patch and your instinct is to stand up and bunnyhop or at least try to float over it. That's when the bike would remind you, immediately and quite forcefully, to keep pedaling.

But it's not awkward at all. In fact after you've been riding fixed for awhile, coasting starts to feel weird.

cmh

I have one I used for almost all my training over this past winter. I have just recently switched back to mostly geared bike riding. I'm planning to gear it down a bit and use it around town and for the occasional recovery ride this summer.

ryanspeer

Another thought . . . do you find them really useful on a trainer? I currently slap my rain/commuter on the trainer to avoid the wear on my race bike, but often still find that I just don't flip through a ton of gears. I'll up the cadence quite frequently, but the gears remain largely unused. I imagine a fixie could be useful here too, right?

I'm liking this whole idea more and more now. I always see old steel Trek's, Bianchi's, Giant's, etc., on Craigslist, and realize this really could be $250 or less. Probably even in the sub-$200 range.

Do/did most of you just buy single-speed conversion kits, have to buy single-speed-specific wheels, or just what?

mezza

My fix is a track conversion.

Cecil Walker custom build with bullhorns and a bmx brake lever. Schweet

caloso

Funny you should ask. I have no idea. I built up my fixie as a rain bike specifically because I hate the trainer so much. I realize that there's a lot of training benefit to a good trainer workout, but I like to ride my bike to get out and see the world outside and I'd rather get wet.

As to building one up, you have a lot of options. Personally, I think a 70s or 80s road bike is a good way to go. You need to find one with horizontal dropouts, preferably the long Campy 1010 dropouts. And you need a rear wheel with a fixed hub.

Check out Sheldon's site: www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed

superdex

I started with a Schwinn Le Tour for $40 on ebay. Then replaced the wheels and cranks. I rode fixed from the get-go, and didn't take me long to get used to it. The harder part is, initially, when you go back and forth. You'll try to coast for half a second on the fixie, and on the geared you'll forget to coast --or funnier-- go to backpedal to slow down.

I then bought a Kona Paddy Wagon and moved parts over. I ride it to work (28mi RT), to the bar (instead of my ex$pen$ive geared road bikes). I ride it on slower rides with the girlfriend or when I'm just loafing around, and I'll go do cadence intervals too. It's a great change-up and I don't reserve it for winter riding only. I'll ride it on the rollers, but I actually prefer the freewheel bike on the rollers so I'm not lazy on the upstroke.

Here's mine, total cost near $500ish (I think)

ggg300

I got mine so I can ride with the wife...it keeps my under 26mph and that is her upper limit...

I also use it for a short runs or flat rides under 30 miles...it has a trackish set up that would kill my neck after more than 2 hours...

its ok to train with on rollers...

over all, I love the thing and I love that I got it new for 300 flat...

jbhowat

I think the benefit to training is that you will be forced to increase your cadence, and it can create a kind of "fartlek" training if you have any kind of rolling terrain near you. That said I don't think you are losing out if you don't incorporate fixed gear riding into your training - you just need to be sure you work on cadence and constant pedaling on the road bike. I think it could mix things up nicely though. I'm tired of commuting on my very aggressive (brakeless, big gear, HUGE drop, smallish frame) fixed gear setup - I use a Schwinn Suburban mostly now - fenders, gears, upright position - its great.

That said, next fall I have a frame that fits me that I plan on building into a fixed gear road bike. I'd like to get a saddle similar if not identical to what I ride with on the road, some cheapish dual pivot brakes, etc. I'll need bottle cages, clipless pedals, and some training tires. I'm going to set the gearing so that I will be spinning pretty fast on flat roads.

I plan to use it as part of my base training when I'm trying to keep the HR down anyway.

marqueemoon

I bought a conversion pretty cheap, rode it a few times, and got something nicer. Now I have two fixed bikes - one for around town, and one set up like my road bike for longer road rides.

Ghostman

Off topic: Marquee Moon: Maybe the best guitar album of all time....

merlinextraligh

One ride. you start to coast at a high rate of speed, you learn yourlesson quickly

merlinextraligh

as long as people are posting their fixed gear bikes:

marqueemoon

That's my size too. I hate you.

terry b

Last year I rode my geared bikes on the weekends and my single gear bikes on evening rides after work. Made for a nice combination.

Grasschopper

The real question is will I ever get my fixie or did I get ripped off.

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting

Seller said his LBS would ship...then they hadn't so he was picking it up to ship it...then the LBS did ship it but they also shipped me another one of his bikes and can I ship that back to him. Meanwhile I don't have any tracking info or a bike...I have no clue if this thing is going to show up or not....I am thinking I may be out $520.

Retro Grouch 

Mine started life as a Raleigh Technium mountain bike. I threw away everything but the frame and fork, cut off the canty mounts and repainted it.

Then I built it back up with a Surley hub 700c wheelset and bits and pieces that I had around the house. I think that the only parts I had to buy were the hubs and track cog, front brake and lever, bottom bracket, and handlebar tape. Actually, I trade wrenching with a local bike shop for bike parts so I have zero out of pocket cost.

pedex

depends on how much you ride it, everyday for about a week and you will forget what a freewheel feels like

learn to skid and/or skip skid and brakes become pretty much irrelevant

2 weeks ago was the first time I rode a freewheel bike in months, it felt broken for the better part of a day when I was riding it, then got back on fixed gear today, fixed gear felt weird for about 2 hours this morning , now Im ok again

once you learn what each pedal stroke means distance wise and what cadence means speed wise, judging your stopping efforts gets to be pretty automatic, that only takes a few days for most it seems, other maneuvers some people never ever learn