There’s a few guys in the club turning up on fixies for winter training. They claim it’ll build stronger legs and stamina for the race season next year. I was recently thinking of selling my fixie but now having a rethink and putting some mudguards on and using for the sunday club run/training

(the other reason is those crud guards are a bit rubbish on my planet x)

Anyone else use a fixie for winter training? Is it an old school thing to do that claims to improve leg strength/stamina and make girls swoon in the bedroom 😉 ? does it work?

Might have small benefits in improving technique etc. but that’s contrasted with the increased likelihood of causing injury through over-stressing your knees etc. You can strength train with a bike that has gears (maybe even more so as you can have increased resistance) but the sessions can be carefully controlled rather than being dictated the environment

Try and get a copy of 24th Nov Cycling Weekly, large article on the damage they do to knees 🙂

Skinny jeans sorry…?

I’ve seen a few used in our clubs ‘second’ group, and i’ve seen a couple try over the years with the race group, but they tended to struggle so have been short lived forays. We do tend to do long and hilly runs. I’ve got a mercian fixie which i do enjoy a blast on, I think it helps with the fitness but more in a mixing it up kind of way.

I ride only fixed on the road. Apparently all the gumph spread about the benefits is rubbish! I ride it cos I like it, don’t feel the need for gears, and I’m a bit odd…

DrP

Used to ride SS on the road in winter, but went for gears this winter as I’ll be doing more group riding. There’s no way in the peaks you can keep up consistently with the group, prob better on flatter rides…

And fixed? In a group.. LETHAL. I’d stay well away from someone if they tried to do that.

And fixed? In a group.. LETHAL. I’d stay well away from someone if they tried to do that.

how so?
having ridden fixed with geared riders there’s only a problem keeping up on hilly rides as downhill’s require extra effort. if there are a few of you on fixed and the route is rolling it’s fine.

i can’t see how it’s “LETHAL” riding fixed in a group?

quick change of direction/speed/group moves just very nervous of it… some folk I’m sure will be able to ride it fine, but newbies/unseasoned riders in groups scares me.

they are riding fixed but all have brakes BTW.

Plus they are seasoned roadies that have been racing for years.

To add, my bike has brakes (can’t ride without!) And isn’t very pretty…!
DrP

if anything changes of tempo or matching speed in a group is easier fixed.
inexperienced riders in groups can be off-putting whatever they ride.

I’d be happy to ride fixed in a group of people I’d ridden with before, in the same way I wouldn’t turn up for a first club run with a new club fixed.

I think singlespeeding benefits training on the road, not sure I could isolate fixed as benefiting more but I think it does as it forces you to work into wind or at a smooth cadence when you are going down hill.

I certainly seem to have become a stronger rider for doing my commuting fixed this year rather than with gears.

I tend to use the fixed gear over the winter. No gears to get filled with crap and salt from the road and its worth not even 10% of the value of my proper road bike, so if I bin it on ice or whatever I’ll not be so bothered. No problem riding in groups on it either. It has brakes and its easier to slow down speed up gradually on it too.

If you want to increase leg strength then just try to keep the bike in one “training gear” for the whole ride. Pick one gear and only change down if your cadence drops below 65-70 and only change up if you start to spin out going down a hill.

The benefit of fixed, which is hugely misunderstood, is the simple fact that you undertake more pedal rev’s per ride, therefore develop efficient neural drive more effectively than when riding gears. That’s about all you gain from a fitness side. Grinding up hills is only valuable if that’s how you expect to ride when back on gears.

Try and get a copy of 24th Nov Cycling Weekly, large article on the damage they do to knees

I’ve not read the aritcle but I’m going to say it’s bobins anyway, I had a bad injury for years, riding with gears agrivates it more than riding the SS!

If you want to increase leg strength then just try to keep the bike in one “training gear” for the whole ride. Pick one gear and only change down if your cadence drops below 65-70 and only change up if you start to spin out going down a hill.

Isn’t that, you know, just normal riding?

I like SS for 3 reasons.

1) Good for quickly getting fit after time off and my riding tends to be sporadic due to work.

2) People are in awe of me, despite me being at the back of the group constantly. “Is it hard?” “does it hurt?” “whats it like?” “do you really need that facial hair?” etc, it’s not bum sex but it appears to have a similar reputation round here.

3) Lack of maintenance, I washed my bike last night, first time I’ve been near an SS bike for more than five minutes and not riding it in almost 2 years.

4) It’s actualy fun. Seems an ailien concept to some people that riding slightly quirky bikes can actualy be fun in the same way that riding the latest 20 speed electronicaly shifted fully-boing carbon uber-spaff-bike is fun for them.

5) It removes the need to learn to count.

2) People are in awe of me, despite me being at the back of the group constantly. “Is it hard?” “does it hurt?” “whats it like?” “do you really need that facial hair?” etc, it’s not bum sex but it appears to have a similar reputation round here.

no. that’s reserved for fixed riders there’s nothing ‘hard’ when a freewheel is involved.
freewheels are for those not man enough for fixed, they just let other riders know you are a cop-out when it comes to stepping up.

Fixed is fine, but it makes geared riding afterwards feel like “chopping brocolli”.

Like long steady distance, bonk training and “lactate thresholds”, things have moved on. Riding fixed is old school, and no more beneficial for training than geared.

(That said, I’m about to rebuild my fixed for some post-cross season solo training in the local flatlands.)

fixed can make you lazy over the top of the stoke if you ride it a lot and then switch back to geared, i ride mine now and again as it makes a nice change and if the weather is crap i can nip out for a blast and not worry about cleaning it, definitely ups your cadence though.

training aid? who cares? it’s a bike so ride it.

Like long steady distance, bonk training and “lactate thresholds”, things have moved on. Riding fixed is old school, and no more beneficial for training than geared.

The thing is I like riding my bike.

Every time I buy a book/guide/magazine they bang on about not overtraining and taking a break to get over plateaus, don’t do any more than the perscribed number of rides etc. Whatever happend to people actualy wanting to go out for 8 hour rides at a gentle pace with a 2 hour cafe stop halfway through in the winter?

Some people take riding too seriously.

Every time I buy a book/guide/magazine they bang on about not overtraining and taking a break to get over plateaus, don’t do any more than the perscribed number of rides etc. Whatever happend to people actualy wanting to go out for 8 hour rides at a gentle pace with a 2 hour cafe stop halfway through in the winter?

Nothing wrong with that at all, but the OP was asking specifically about training benefits.

I’m definitely stronger after a couple of months on the ss, but that’s because I’m essentially lazy and just don’t push hard enough on the geared bikes. However I won’t walk up a hill until all (well, my lunch) is lost so ss makes me stronger. And more hirsute.

fixed can make you lazy over the top of the stoke if you ride it a lot and then switch back to geared,

+1

I was explaining this to two roadies i met at the weekend. I ride fixed to commute and on the road over the winter. Most of my road riding is solo but i can normally keep up on the pompino with heavy tyres on.

I keep meaning to change to a freewheel but the brakes are so awful i’m scared i’ll die. 😯

Some people take riding too seriously.

I just want to go for a spin over the winter – couple of hours on the road before lunch – not sit at zone 2. Training can wait till spring or a week before the race!!

Well this is the thing. I swear my SS mountain bike has made me stronger.

I have loved riding my fixie around as i tend to just cruise into town. (no garmin gps, cadence, hr or power meters here) But it got me thinking about using it in the winter instead of my road bike for training

The other benefit i suppose Is i can put proper mudguards on and there’s less maintenance.

@trickydisco – friend of mine has been known to ride winter chaingangs on his fixed. But he’s proper quick on whatever he rides.

I race SS so winter training on fixed makes sense (maybe) but my view on training fixed/ SS for gears is that it needs to be fitted into a training plan alongside gears.

In much the same way that you could swim/ lift weights/ do yoga along side bikes, each of these and riding fixed will focus on certain things you require for geared riding, but it is important to keep your eye in at what ever you are training for.

🙂

I commute fixed on a fairly hilly route, its definitely more effort than geared.

The fact you have to spin so fast on the downs keeps the intensity up and there is a childish pleasure in spinning to the very brink of loosing control (quiet roads)

I mostly do it cause I enjoy it, with low maintenance being a big plus too.

I have to agree with some one above although not fixed specific. Pushing a harder gear is kind to my knees where as spinning screws them and leaves me in pain for days. Riding fixed doesn’t have to be about pedaling like hell , you just hold back on descents. If you let the bike decide the speed you end up going to fast which in my book isn’t wise at the best of times and in winter on crappy roads is dozy.It sounds daft but I rather like the fixed on slippery roads. You can feel whats ahppening. Well to me anyway.

I last rode fixed wheel about twenty odd years ago and loved it as a town bike in Edinburgh. I recently built the bike below and like it a lot. While the trails have been so bad here lately, I’ve used it to go night riding on the road with my usual riding partner. Its not the most social bike to go out on as I have to thrash up the hills and spin like hell down them. Flat bits are few and far between in these parts. It would be a great solo training tool.

I’ve never experienced knee problems with it, and I feel it as helped me pedal a slightly taller gear rather than shifting down when a gradient steepens. I’ve always pedaled with a high cadence, I feel riding fixed is helping me put more power into each pedal stroke.

I sometimes ride with local club. Inexperienced riders have a nasty habit when transitioning from sitting to standing to stall for a killer second causing riders behind go straight into the back of them. Riding fixed should be compulsory for these guys.

I tend to think it’s better to get fitter and stronger on a set up that is the same or very similar to the one you’ll be racing on.
In the group surely it’s best to train hard on the right gear, push it going up, down and along. So on a 60/100 mile training ride you can select a gear that tha means you will be training on every inch of the route.
Also there’s technique to consider i.e cornering, climbing, decending all different on fixed/singlespeed.

My experince of fixed/singlespeders is this. I know some that’ll do 600km non-stop at their pace. And I know a fair few that can do a good 100km ride together, but I’m yet to find any that can keep up with a quaility fast 100km plus geared ride.

I rode singlespeed most of my mtb’ing life, and I’d say it made me a fitter faster singlespeed rider and that’s it. But when I got back into road racing and the training it involved my mtb’ing went up a notch.

And fixed? In a group.. LETHAL. I’d stay well away from someone if they tried to do that.

Only if they don’t know how to ride one!

Anything that breaks your routine is a good training aid.

And fixed? In a group.. LETHAL. I’d stay well away from someone if they tried to do that.

Yeah…ok…this lot are bound for casualty and an early grave presumably?

I rode fixed for 10 years and one of the things it did was develop a nice smooth pedalling action (souplesse) and confidence in cornering whilst pedalling and how to deal with pedal strikes.
I used a 66″ gear which was a bit spinny going down Combe Bottom at 30 mph.
I’d not ride fixed in a group of geared riders though.

I might be old fashioned but….

…in my racing days, the only thing to ride in winter was a steel fixie with a saddlebag with three or four house bricks in it – I kid you not – I rode a couple of full winters in such mode when in my late teens and won the Divisional road champs and made the national squad – anyone who suggests it’s not good for you doesn’t know what they are on about!

Of course, “scientific” training hadn’t been invented then – just riding your bike and making it as hard and as unpleasant as possible was the only known way to train – and it worked!!! Racing was the easy part, by a mile.

velocipede – Do you think ‘scientific’ training isn’t hard and unpleasant?

Was the reason you didn’t win the national champs because you should have ridden a heavier bike with more bricks? Or a bigger fixed gear? Or for reasons unrelated? Which begs the question, that winning the divs was also unrelated.

@iDave
I didn’t win the national champs because I wasn’t good enough – you can’t “buy” talent no matter how hard the training 😀

“Scientific training” is certainly hard and unpleasant, but it is also “short”! Therefore is has huge advantages over long miles, fixed wheel, 27″ steel wheels, saddlebags and bricks!!!!

Actually – to go back to the OP’s question – fixed works really well as a part of a structured training programme – which really means that as a training tool it’s probably most valuable when you’re training solo and hitting some very personal, tailored training goals. It’s also excellent for training on the rollers, again as part of a structured programme.

Just bought cycling weekly, doesn’t mention injuries except maybe not a good idea to try and slow down on a long hill using your legs.

And fixed? In a group.. LETHAL. I’d stay well away from someone if they tried to do that.

CW article points out that (before my time) in the 60’s club rides were entirely fixed gear. And that the macho posturing didn’t come from pushing huge gears, it was from how fast you could pedal (i.e. how small a gear could you get away with). Might have to swap the 58″ on the 29er now for something easier as a result (well thats my excuse).

I can already pedal like a madman (cough cough.. Bristol’s rollapaluza champion )

Like a lot of people have said i think it’s nice just to mix it up a bit and ride a different bike and not have the option of gears.I won’t be using solely for winter training

not THE Bristol???!!??