Well you could ride up hills rather than getting off lol
As for the clipless pedals they are easy you just turn your heel outward and stop spinning your feet immediately rip out from the pedals 
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Fixed - A niche too far ?
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Posted 1 year ago #
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Apparently your knees are not evolved to cope with the stresses imposed by resisting the turn of the pedals, such as when you go downhill.
So to be safe I think you would be riding the brakes a lot on the downhills, or risking long-term knee damage.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Have we got this far without talking ratios?
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/index.html
I've been running 34:16 fixed, with 700c 1.6" tyres. About 59". On the roads, I've found that to be scary-low when descending, especially on steeper stuff.
I'm switching to 44:16, with 28c tyres. About 74". I think this'll help with the descents, but not sure I'll manage the ups. It's mainly an experiment to see if I can get on with fixed a bit more with the higher gear and I'll play round with different ratios if I do.
Any thoughts/advice from the more experienced fixers?
Posted 1 year ago # -
74" sounds high to me for a road gear, let alone off - but I'm a spinner not a masher. I've found 58" ok off road.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I have a fixed wheel and a free wheel for my SS MTB. I enjoy both and swap between them happily.
I don't know if it makes you pedal smoother or anything but it is different and fun for a change. I have ridden fixie around Swinley with a few groups from STW and kept up with them but you are going to spin out if you try steep hills.
From memory I am running 34/18 because I am lazy, unfit and it was the size of cog I had to hand when I started.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I think it will be far too high, but the 44t chainring was free. Will play with larger rear sprockets.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I'm running 42-18 and its ok for on and off road stuff that's on 700cc other bike is 36-16 with bigger tyres which feels the same. Both about 63" iirc
Posted 1 year ago # -
I've been running a Langster for a while now and have been debating turning the wheel round and giving the fixed thing a go, just to see how it feels, so this thread is rather interesting,
xiphon - Member
Off road - no thanks.On road - been riding fixed for a few years now. It's fun, and have found it benefits riding XC - seem to maintain a higher cadence for longer.
Try your Langster fixed on flat roads, not hills. Take a spanner on your next ride - that's the beauty of the flip/flop hub!
I like the sound of that idea, may well have to give it a try next time i'm out, however not 100% convinced about the clipless pedal aspect, would you guys recommend swapping back to flats for the test period?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Flats and fixed would seem to be a good recipe for mangled calf muscles. 120rpm meat tenderisers anyone?
Posted 1 year ago # -
I prefer to be clipped to the pedals tbh
Posted 1 year ago # -
I run with flats because my ankle won't take clips. The only time I really lost the pedals I just put my feet on top of the fork stantions and prayed for it all to stop.
Posted 1 year ago # -
miketually - Member
Flats and fixed would seem to be a good recipe for mangled calf muscles. 120rpm meat tenderisers anyone?good point well made, i was more concerned about me stopping as opposed to anything else and had kind of forgot that the cranks and pedals would continue to turn until either running out of momentum or running into my shins
Posted 1 year ago # -
I run disc brakes for extra stopping.
Where are you based? You can have a play on my bike for an afternoon if you want
Posted 1 year ago # -
The guy selling it talked about a smoother pedalling style with fixed.
ime i think this is rubbish. fixed means you can mash the pedals and think it is smooth, singlespeed makes you pedal in circles because you can feel you loose tension and regain it at the top of the stroke.
having said that fixed off road is really good fun and it's just another 'string to the bow' as it were.
if you are looking for "an advantage" it isn't for you. if you are looking for a laugh try it, you might like it.
Posted 1 year ago # -
The only advantages for fixed offroad is the hilarity (not always for you though) and you begin to learn pedal strikes aren't that scary on rocks/roots/dirt/plants. Mostly...
Being an advantage is clearly not the point of it.
2 brakes are essential IME. Especially when it's muddy as the rear is impossible to just slow with the pedals and when the front lets go it gets interesting. I very nearly bought a Phil Wood fixed disc hub but just couldn't justify the cost for the actual use it would get.
The main problem is the PITA it is riding down anything fast on anything like 2:1. I wouldn't thank you for coming on a ride with me with plenty of long fast downhills.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Agree with Tom about hilarity and down hills. I ride fixie in the New Forest which is not renown for its hills.
BEst bit about a newbie on a fixie is that the panic only appears when there is an obstacle like a drop or a really rocky bit. At this point they forget to pedal and get thrown off balance right at the moment the most need to be in control. Gosh how they laughed at me.
Posted 1 year ago # -
miketually - Member
Flats and fixed would seem to be a good recipe for mangled calf muscles. 120rpm meat tenderisers anyone?
I had a go.
Stupid stupid stupid once things got fast as you can't keep your feet on. Good on technical stuff.cookeaa - Member
I can see the.appeal if you like the.ultimate simplicity of a fixie but surely it's a total pig for anything more technical than a tow path do people really ride 'proper' offroad trails on a fixie?
That's when they get interesting. Steep tech is ace. To a point... then after that point you end up a dabbing spinning mess hoping it will all stop sometime soon.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Oh just remembered from WCA's post. You also learn an awful lot what a bike with a sack of potatoes attached to it can roll over without falling over :0)
Posted 1 year ago # -
Try it, why not you might like it!
Personally I'll happily ride my fixed CX all day, but I haven't wanted to take the plunge with a mtb yet!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Cheers tom - you were watching my decent of terror then?
Posted 1 year ago # -
I've ridden fixed for the last 43 years. Yes, it's just a fashion fad and I'll get over it when I grow up.
Mostly on the road but I have taken my smooth tyred road bike on Follow the Dog and it's rather splendid, but not something I'd do more than once every couple of years.
I used to think it was essential to be clipped to the pedals but I recently bought some boots that are too bulky to get in the clips and straps so I put V8s on. Surprisingly, for commuting and riding to the pub, it doesn't feel any different.
Posted 1 year ago # -
The main problem is the PITA it is riding down anything fast on anything like 2:1. I wouldn't thank you for coming on a ride with me with plenty of long fast downhills.
I don't think I'd go on a group ride on fixed, unless everyone was fixed.
The steep road into Fremington (which I struggle to ride up on my SS MTB) was pretty scary riding down on my low-ratio fixed. Rear wheel kept locking up, which is a very odd sensation on a fixed wheel.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I managed a group ride around Swinley but then I was in the slow group
Posted 1 year ago # -
I'm sorry but I can't believe I'm the only person who thinks that even contemplating the whole concept of riding fixed off-road is the work of the terminal bewildered? or the criminally insane? Really? Are you all mad?!
You are aware that this isn't flat, aren't you?
And all this guff about it making you pedal smoother etc. Thats the same logic as saying: Hey, I've had a **** great idea! I'm going to gouge both my own eyes out with a sharpened screwdriver. Why? What do you mean, why? Isn't it obvious?
Well... they say that if you go blind then your other senses compensate by becoming sharper. So despite the fact I'll lose my vision for ever.... JUST IMAGINE HOW GOOD MY SENSE OF SMELL WILL BE. Pretty damn cool eh?!!!
Posted 1 year ago # -
I poked my eyes out and poured boiling oil into my ears.
The amazing things was that being deaf made my eye sight better and being blind made my hearing better so the end result was I could see and hear better than before!
binners - haven't you ever turned your lights off during a night ride just to see how far you can ride in real darkness?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Aye, plenty times. Riding by moonlight is hardly comparable with trying to cripple yourself though
What kind of stuff are you lot riding on who ride fixed then? Seriously. I'm just thinking of our average couple-of-hour blat round Rivi. To attempt some of those descents on a fixie would be genuinely suicidal!!
I'm sorry, but I really really just don't see the point
Posted 1 year ago # -
That's fine. Some of us enjoy it, some who have tried it don't like and some won't try it. No big deal.
Posted 1 year ago # -
binners - I am a soft southerner. Check out the contour lines on the map of the New Forest and you will see that fixie makes perfect sense
Posted 1 year ago # -
Aha. All becomes clear
Posted 1 year ago # -
Aha. All becomes clear
I'm a hard northerner. Well hardish, well I used to be.
When I put the flats on I also out the drivetrain on the left. The pedals fell off a couple of times :0)
What kind of stuff are you lot riding on who ride fixed then?
Anything I would normally ride barring a couple of trails which are basically a rut that you can't pedal in :0)My favourite example was SSUK in Hamsterley. I was dropping people on the 2 tech downhills. I looked back at the water splash and expected to have a long line of grumpy people but they had disappeared.
You just have to disengage your brain that says freewheel and add pedal instead but pedaling without force.
What I didn't like was the amount of skidding and rear wheel locking that was necessary in places where it's unnecesary on a freewheel bike.Posted 1 year ago # -
Ooh I've just remembered another "advantage".
You know how SS are supposed to be zero maintenance but clearly aren't. Fixy offroad almost get's there with the complete lack of cleaning required. The wheel will go round if you press on the pedals. (I'm ignoring all the chain tensioning required obviously)
Posted 1 year ago # -
What kind of stuff are you lot riding on who ride fixed then? Seriously. I'm just thinking of our average couple-of-hour blat round Rivi. To attempt some of those descents on a fixie would be genuinely suicidal!!
Give me a shout next time you're up there, I'll show you something.
Posted 1 year ago # -
my mate got down Blacka moor on fixed off road, it wasn't easy and he did fall off but he made it.
I run 22:16 x 700 on the road (for polo)
still experimenting with off road gearingPosted 1 year ago # -
Clipped for fixed here. The bike came with toe clipped pedals, which are a nightmare to get into if you're fixed.... SPDs just seem so much easier to engage.
The flip/flop hub came as standard on my Langster (2010 model), and probably other models too.
When climbing, I find the momentum of the bike removes the 'dead spot' you get with a freewheel.
Posted 1 year ago # -
My favourite example was SSUK in Hamsterley.
I'd forgotten that you rode that fixed. Was it just you and Alex on the fixies?
I think Cab rode fixed at Dalby?
Posted 1 year ago #
Topic Closed
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