Fixed Fixation

Don't try to freewheel - it is dangerous!

Tony B [email hidden] opined the
following...

Quoted message said:

I have just rescued a Raleigh race frame circa 1984 from
my mother-in-law=

's

Quoted message said:

garden shed, with a view to renovating it and making a
fixed wheel machin=

e.

Quoted message said:

I want it to have cowhorns, and be cool. Also I'm hoping
to do it at mini=

mal

Quoted message said:

cost, cos I spent all this year's toy money on a Dawes
last week.
=20
I have had a look at a few sites re. fixed wheel bikes,
and feel reasonab=

ly

Quoted message said:

confident this 531 frame will make a good starting point.
=20
However, does anyone have anything to tell me before I
even start? All advice, parts etc very gratefully
received ;-)
=20
BTW I fully expect to be adding to my scar collection once
the thing is finished.
=20
cheers,
=20
Tony B
=20
there is also a butchers bike under M-i-L's stairs, rod
brakes etc. that could be the next contender for a
spanner job...

Golden Rules of Riding Fixed.

Don't freewheel. Don't freewheel. Using the rear brake (If
fitted) will almost always lock the rear wheel. Don't
freewheel.

If you already have a chainset, try to use a smaller ring as
this will=20 allow you to get the chainline closer to the
bike centre (and thus, more=20 likely to be "track"
chainline"😉. I personally went down the route of=20 buying
new-ish gear. 1 x pair Suzue cheap track hubs, s/h rims.
The=20 basic bike cost me about =A3170 all in, but I've
spent a little more since=
=20
on a rack and some mudguards, and little tinkering upgrades.

The jury seems to be out on the whole locknut thing, but my
personal=20 experience is that when I didn't have the
sprocket on properly, I could=20 unscrew it by backpedalling
until it hit the lockring. I solved this=20 with a chain
wrench and some brute force, and it now has no play.

Make sure that you get the chainline good or the chain
*WILL* fall off.=20 This is bad. A good chainline will allow
you to get away with an=20 imperfectly tensioned chain,
while the reverse is not true.

Jon

P.S. For god's sake, don't try and freewheel!

In "]news:[email hidden],
Jon Senior <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> typed:

Quoted message said:

Make sure that you get the chainline good or the chain
*WILL* fall off. This is bad. A good chainline will allow
you to get away with an imperfectly tensioned chain, while
the reverse is not true.

Also found out the hard way the other day that if the rear
sprocket's big*, then you'll need some serious torque on the
wheelnut to stop it from pulling the axle out of line and
losing tension that way. Managed to limp home, but *really*
should have walked round the roundabout that's a busy (but
low speed) motorway junction. Flailing in the middle of the
lane freewheeling at under 15km/h just isn't the way to go.

Ambrose *not a fixie, but a hub gear. I like to plug it at
every opportunity, but I guess this isn't the time to boast
about how maintenance free it is. The fact that needs almost
more torque than a 15cm wrench can give to get the rear
wheel off doesn't show well for its handiness WRT punctures.

Ambrose Nankivell [email hidden]
opined the following...

Quoted message said:

In "]news:[email hidden], Jon
Senior <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> typed:

Quoted message said:

Make sure that you get the chainline good or the chain
*WILL* fall off. This is bad. A good chainline will
allow you to get away with an imperfectly tensioned
chain, while the reverse is not true.

Also found out the hard way the other day that if the rear
sprocket's big*, then you'll need some serious torque on
the wheelnut to stop it from pulling the axle out of line
and losing tension that way. Managed to limp home, but
*really* should have walked round the roundabout that's a
busy (but low speed) motorway junction. Flailing in the
middle of the lane freewheeling at under 15km/h just isn't
the way to go.

Ambrose *not a fixie, but a hub gear. I like to plug it at
every opportunity, but I guess this isn't the time to
boast about how maintenance free it is. The fact that
needs almost more torque than a 15cm wrench can give to
get the rear wheel off doesn't show well for its handiness
WRT punctures.

My prize moment with the fixer, was when the chain had come
off twice on my way home. As I approached the top of the
hill i could hear an irregular creaking noise. I had no idea
what it was... it was around
21:00 at night and I was next to a nightclub in full cycling
garb. I didn't really want to stop. At the roundabout
just up the road, I pushed off hard managed to clip my
other foot in and then heard the twang as my chain
snapped. The creaking noise had been the plates working
their way out from the badly placed pin I'd put in! It
was a fair walk home and I was very glad I now use SPDs
instead of Looks. With the old cleats, I don't think I'd
have made it!

Jon

Jon Senior <jon AT restlesslemon DOTco DOT uk> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Tony B [email hidden] opined the
following...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

However, does anyone have anything to tell me before I
even start? All advice, parts etc very gratefully
received ;-)

Quoted message said:

Golden Rules of Riding Fixed.

Don't freewheel. Don't freewheel. Using the rear brake (If
fitted) will almost always lock the rear wheel. Don't
freewheel.

If you already have a chainset, try to use a smaller ring
as this will allow you to get the chainline closer to the
bike centre (and thus, more likely to be "track"
chainline"😉.

And the golden rule of tinkering with a fixer in the
workshop: keep fingers clear when the cranks are turning.
They can bite you /really/ hard.

--
Dave...

Tony B said:

I have just rescued a Raleigh race frame circa 1984 from
my mother-in-law's garden shed, with a view to renovating
it and making a fixed wheel machine. I want it to have
cowhorns, and be cool. Also I'm hoping to do it at minimal
cost, cos I spent all this year's toy money on a Dawes
last week.

I have had a look at a few sites re. fixed wheel bikes,
and feel reasonably confident this 531 frame will make a
good starting point.

However, does anyone have anything to tell me before I
even start? All advice, parts etc very gratefully
received ;-)

BTW I fully expect to be adding to my scar collection once
the thing is finished.

Cowhorns are a good idea if you only have a front brake,
becasue you have somewhere to rest your left hand (a dummy
brake lever is rather inelegant).

If you have one of those old SR chainsets Raleigh used to
fit with a permanently swaged-on big ring, lose the bolt-on
small ring and fit a 22T sprocket. This is a reasonable gear
for "rolling" roads. Try eBay for the sprockets - Deeside
Cycles often flog them for a couple of quid each.

You'll almost certainly need a proper track hub. Screwing a
fixed sprocket onto a freewheel hub gives major chainline
problems. You can offset the cost of the track hub against
the new BB you'd need.

Zog The Undeniable <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Cowhorns are a good idea if you only have a front brake,
: becasue you have somewhere to rest your left hand (a dummy
: brake lever is rather inelegant).

Don't see anything work with a dummy brake lever myself. I
did have the fixie setup with cowhorns but I found them
uncomfortable for longer rides. I now have a rear brake as
well though.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune clune.orgclune.orgOpen ↗ "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Jon Senior <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote:

: Using the rear brake (If fitted) will almost always lock
: the rear wheel.

erm....no. I have both brakes fitted and have no bother
using the rear one either on it's own or with the front.

Smooth pedalling is the key.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune clune.orgclune.orgOpen ↗ "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Jon Senior <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote:

: Using the rear brake (If fitted) will almost always lock
: the rear wheel.

erm....no. I have both brakes fitted and have no bother
using the rear one either on it's own or with the front.

Smooth pedalling is the key.

You're obviously far better at controlling it than I. I
found that while I can use it to bleed off small amounts of
speed, the combined effect of having two braking systems on
the same wheel was enough to lock it whenever I was braking
hard. Between the front brake, and back pressure on the
pedals I've found that I can bring the bike to a halt safely
without having to touch the rear brake. Clearly, Your
Mileage May Vary (TM).

Jon

Jon Senior <jon@restlesslemon_dot_co_dot_uk.remove> wrote:

: whenever I was braking hard. Between the front brake, and
: back pressure on the pedals I've found that I can bring
: the bike to a halt safely without having to touch the rear
: brake. Clearly, Your Mileage May Vary

True enough. The reason I fitted the rear brake was that I
use the fixie for commuting and I need to be able to brake
will signalling right at times.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune clune.orgclune.orgOpen ↗ "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Arthur Clune said:

True enough. The reason I fitted the rear brake was that I
use the fixie for commuting and I need to be able to brake
will signalling right at times.

I use both brakes on my fixie, I live in West Yorkshire,
ride a lowish (62"😉 gear and have a steep downhill on my
commute home.

With normal drop bars you would wnat the extra lever anyway
and it lets you spread the starin on your hands on the long
steep downhills.

--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

Love this:
Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
home.in.tum.deoe quotefixOpen ↗

AndyMorris said:

Arthur Clune said:

True enough. The reason I fitted the rear brake was that I
use the fixie for commuting and I need to be able to brake
will signalling right at times.

I use both brakes on my fixie, I live in West Yorkshire,
ride a lowish (62"😉 gear and have a steep downhill on my
commute home.

With normal drop bars you would wnat the extra lever
anyway and it lets you spread the starin on your hands on
the long steep downhills.

I fitted a rear because I dropped a chain and terminated the
lock-ring. An extra brake never hurt anyone! Only courier
wannabes and diehard [censored] have a problem with an extra
brake lever. Oh and milligram freaks.

AndyMorris said:

I use both brakes on my fixie, I live in West Yorkshire,
ride a lowish (62"😉 gear and have a steep downhill on my
commute home.

With normal drop bars you would wnat the extra lever
anyway and it lets you spread the starin on your hands on
the long steep downhills.

The brake levers on my fixie are a particularly nasty
pair of Weinmanns from which the second levers (Death
levers) have been sawn off. Riding the drops is not an
option with these.

Then Vincent Wilcox [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

I fitted a rear because I dropped a chain and terminated
the lock-ring. An extra brake never hurt anyone! Only
courier wannabes and diehard [censored] have a problem with an
extra brake lever. Oh and milligram freaks.

The rear brake is still fitted, as much because I can't be
bothered to remove it, and because the bike looks odd with
only one lever. I'm not sure that I understand what happened
to you that a rear brake would help with.

Jon

Jon Senior said:

The rear brake is still fitted, as much because I can't be
bothered to remove it, and because the bike looks odd with
only one lever. I'm not sure that I understand what
happened to you that a rear brake would help with.

The chain mangled the rear cog and lock ring. After that I
would come unscrewed under moments of stress as it were. On
a normal bike I think of the rear brake as a spare and
cannot see why having three hurts.

Vincent Wilcox [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

The chain mangled the rear cog and lock ring. After that I
would come unscrewed under moments of stress as it were.
On a normal bike I think of the rear brake as a spare and
cannot see why having three hurts.

As mentioned earlier, a combination of the brake and my
braking skill means that every time I've used the rear brake
in anger, I've locked the rear wheel. I can pedal through
when braking at the front, but had more problems doing so at
the rear. As my front brake is now considerably better able
to stop the bike, I no longer use the rear. This is a
personal thing. The reason it was left on in the first place
was for the reason you give above, but my experience
suggests it's not so good (Except for those occasions when
the chain comes off, but I haven't had any of those since I
got the chainline sorted!)

Jon