easy as riding a bicycle...

It's a lot like managing two different women. You eventually get a
feel for the different sizes, widths, and overall ride quality. Of
course, unlike women, it's okay to keep both bikes in the same garage.

Seriousy, though, I think a fixie is going to feel a lot different from
any kind of bike until you get used to it - something that will
probably take you a few weeks. The difference is probably even greater
than the difference from riding a mountain bike versus a triathlon
bike. Riding a recumbant would probably be a bigger switch,
though....just a guess.

"Ravi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:1125636932.320114@sj-nntpcache-5...

Quoted message said:

Hi,
how do you guys manage more than one bike ??

I usually commute on my Gunnar Sport, which is a sport-tourer, set up with
fenders, a rack, bar end shifters, and a 46cm Nitto Noodle bar. It's very
comfortable, the most comfortable bike I've ever owned. I also have a
Schwinn Peloton, which is a racing bike with skinny tires and brifters. I
rode the Schwinn to work on Wednesday, and it was quite different than the
Gunnar. I found I didn't like the narrow anatomic bar, but brifters are a
good idea. I did my commute 5 minutes faster than on the Gunnar. I was much
less comfortable, though.

"Bill H." <[email hidden]> wrote in news:1125649534.314908.94640
@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

Quoted message said:

It's a lot like managing two different women. You eventually get a
feel for the different sizes, widths, and overall ride quality. Of
course, unlike women, it's okay to keep both bikes in the same garage.

XD You rule for that!

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Ravi said:

how do you guys manage switching from one bike to another ?? i am sure
no matter what each bike's handling is going to be different.

For issues that relate to comfort and body geometry, all three of my
bikes are set up essentially the same (the
saddle-to-pedals-to-bars-to-saddle triangle has the same dimensions and
angles, except that the bars are an inch lower on my "training" bike).
And the bars are all the same width.

But they're all conventional derailleur bikes. The only time I ever
rode a fixie I scared myself to death. I could probably adjust, but I
lack the motivation (aka suicidal tendencies!).

I want my blood pressure to be lower after a ride, not higher!

RichC

"Bill H." <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

It's a lot like managing two different women. You eventually get a
feel for the different sizes, widths, and overall ride quality. Of
course, unlike women, it's okay to keep both bikes in the same garage.

Seriousy, though, I think a fixie is going to feel a lot different
from any kind of bike until you get used to it - something that will
probably take you a few weeks. The difference is probably even
greater than the difference from riding a mountain bike versus a
triathlon bike. Riding a recumbant would probably be a bigger switch,
though....just a guess.

As long as recumbents are being mentioned, let me say this about that --
I have found that the more vehicles you have, the easier it is to
switch. I've gone from the bent to the trek 400 to the metro 3 speed to
boardwalk cruisers, an arm powered bike, fold-ups, kick-scooters and
skateboards. All need different motions and reflexes, but if you switch
a lot, you learn to switch.

--ag

Quoted message said:

The thing is with a fixie you control the speed by varying your cadence,
but on a regular road bike, you want to spin at a constant RPM. i find
these conflicting.

You're right that many recreational and casual riders of "regular" bikes
spin at a constant RPM, essentially training their legs to produce maximum
power over a relatively narrow RPM range, but this is not always the case
for others.

Racers for instance, train to produce power over a wider range, allowing
them to adjust to variations in the speed of the group or respond to an
attack without shifting gears (or shifting as much). For anyone desiring to
ride in groups, this is a good skill to cultivate.

Guess what: riding a fixie can be a great way to do just that.

Quoted message said:

how do you guys manage switching from one bike to another ?? i am sure
no matter what each bike's handling is going to be different.

My fit on my road bike and fixie are similar, right down to using the same
handlebars on each . The crank lengths are different though.

The fit on our tandem is significantly different, but a tandem is just a
different animal.

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

"Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

andy gee said:

I have found that the more vehicles you have, the easier it is to
switch. I've gone from the bent to the trek 400 to the metro 3 speed to
boardwalk cruisers, an arm powered bike, fold-ups, kick-scooters and
skateboards. All need different motions and reflexes, but if you switch
a lot, you learn to switch.

Yep. When we first got our tandem, my ride to work on Monday morning was
always a bit of an adjustment. After riding the tandem on the weekend, my
commute bike seemed rather twitchy. But now, I don't even notice when I
switch between them.
--
Darin McGrew, [email hidden], http://www.rahul.net/mcgrew/
Web Design Group, [email hidden], http://www.HTMLHelp.com/

"Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance."

Ravi said:

Hi,
how do you guys manage more than one bike ?? For just one week, i
have been riding to my work (also the weekend ride) on my new fixie.
Today evening, with a new rear wheel, i rode my freewheel equipped
multi-speed bike and i felt wierd. The handlebars are different widths -
my fixie one is more narrow and hence the steering was off for atleast
10/15 mins and the pedaling rhythm - totally skrewed 🙁 Approaching an
traffic signal i try to slow down by taking pressure off the pedals.

The thing is with a fixie you control the speed by varying your cadence,
but on a regular road bike, you want to spin at a constant RPM. i find
these conflicting. And when going over rail tracks, i try to keep
pedaling too. actually i have the same saddle on both - so in that
aspect, they both feel the same - but the legs - totally out of sync.

how do you guys manage switching from one bike to another ?? i am sure
no matter what each bike's handling is going to be different.

it is not as easy as riding a bicycle 🙁 although i didn't fall down on
the road bike, the form/posture you maintain is kind of gotten skrewed 🙁

+ravi

Now that I have three bikes (Roadie, Rainy, & Fixie) I find that
switching as much as possible makes it easier. When I first got the
rainy, it seemed to have too much reach and the brake levers were weird.
But after riding that, Roadie seemed weird. Turns out that Fixie has
almost the same geometry as Roadie, so I expect to be able to coast on
Fixie and forget than I can coast on Roadie. Eventually, each bike just
gets it's own part of the brain like different musical instruments or
cars (work truck, band touring van, and personal vehicle).

--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
..:change the words numbers
if you want to reply to me:.

I had my MTB for years before I bought my road bike. I had to adjust
to the taught, responsive feel of the road bike when I first bought it,
but now I don't even think about it much. It's like having both a 4WD
off-road vehicle and a sports car in the garage -- only this is a lot
more fun (IMO) and much, much less expensive!

-JR

Bill H. said:

It's a lot like managing two different women. You eventually get a
feel for the different sizes, widths, and overall ride quality. Of
course, unlike women, it's okay to keep both bikes in the same garage.

You've highlighted a fundamental difference between the sexes. Give
almost any man his very own garage and he's thrilled. Tell most women
you'll give them their very own garage and they are, at best,
unimpressed. Go figure.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Bob said:

You've highlighted a fundamental difference between the sexes. Give
almost any man his very own garage and he's thrilled. Tell most women
you'll give them their very own garage and they are, at best,
unimpressed.

*snarf*

--
Robert Uhl <http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl>
The average size of text documents doesn't double every 18 months
except for MS Word users. --David Schultz