fixed gear Q?

David L. Johnson said:

Paul Hobson said:

trying never to coast. I had a fairly good idea going into it, but I
actually had to go down one lower to make it up the hills (42x18). Then
when I converted my fixie, I went back up one gear (to 42x16) since the
straight, simple drivetrain is (/seems to be) so much more efficient.

Seems to be only. A fixed gear is not significantly more efficient than a
derailleur bike. But, on a fixed gear you don't have a choice of shifting
down, so you go up with what you have.

Well, I can get up hills at a reasonable cadence on my fixie (42x16)
that I can't do at a reasonable on the same gear on the geared bike.
Maybe I'm just getting lazy on the geared bike, but here's my perception:

I ride with toe clips/straps on all of my bikes. My geared bike is too
cheap to justify spending more than 1/4 of it's price on new pedals and
shoes and I scored some sweet shimano track pedals for the fixie. My
point is, the two bikes have equally sized dead spots in each pedal
revolution where a certain leg isn't applying much force and the other
leg takes the burden. On the geared bike, if the right leg is in a dead
zone, the left leg is in the only thing moving the pedals. On my fixie,
my previous momentum in the form of my rear wheel already rotating,
*plus* my left leg keep the pedals going.

from Sheldon's Site: http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html
<quote>
Fixed for (e)Fficiency

A fixed wheel fixed-gear bike is considerably lighter than a
multi-speed bike of comparable quality, due to the absence of the rear
brake, derailers, shift levers, and extra sprockets. A fixed-gear bike
also has a substantially shorter chain.

A properly set-up fixed gear has a perfectly straight chainline.
This, plus the absence of derailer pulleys, makes a real improvement in
the drive-train efficiency, an improvement you can feel.
</quote>

Maybe it's in all of our heads, but I can feel the difference.

<snip>

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

Paul Hobson wrote:
:: Roger Zoul wrote:
::: Paul Hobson wrote:
::::: ~R wrote:
:::::: Q:? Is there any benefit to having a fixed gear bike? They seem
:::::: to be popular in these newsgroups. What makes them special? Or
:::::: are they just fun in a different kinda way?
::::::
:::::: ~Rob
::::::
:::::
::::: Mechanics aside (you can get from Sheldon, as well as what I'm
::::: about to say), they are so much fun. You can control every
::::: aspect of your speed by controlling your cadence. I finished
::::: converting my Peugeot about two weeks ago and I can't stop
::::: riding. I had to force myself to take a day off.
:::::
::::: It is definitely a different cycling experience and it's quite
::::: fun. Not being able to coast makes you much more aware of your
::::: terrain since
::::: you have to anticipate obstacles further in advance. I still
::::: ride my geared bike, but not nearly as much - there's a time and
::::: place for everything.
:::
::: Have you done a century on a fixie?
::
:: I'd love too. But if I do any centuries in the near future, it'll
:: be on the geared bike. You?

No, not at all. Too hilly here for me to even think of it. The only fixie I
think I've been on it when I was a kid on the kind of bike where you pedal
backwards to brake. That is a fixed gear bike, right?

David L. Johnson wrote:
:: On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 13:25:47 -0400, Roger Zoul wrote:
::
::: Paul Hobson wrote:
::
::: Have you done a century on a fixie?
::
:: Couple of years ago I did a metric on a fixed gear. I was just
:: planning to go down to the start and help out, but then had the
:: opportunity to do the metric route as well. Since I also road to
:: the start and back, the day turned out to be ~90 miles. Almost
:: counts.

It counts in my book.

Roger Zoul said:

Paul Hobson wrote:
:: Roger Zoul wrote:
::: Paul Hobson wrote:
::::: ~R wrote:
:::::: Q:? Is there any benefit to having a fixed gear bike? They seem
:::::: to be popular in these newsgroups. What makes them special? Or
:::::: are they just fun in a different kinda way?
::::::
:::::: ~Rob
::::::
:::::
::::: Mechanics aside (you can get from Sheldon, as well as what I'm
::::: about to say), they are so much fun. You can control every
::::: aspect of your speed by controlling your cadence. I finished
::::: converting my Peugeot about two weeks ago and I can't stop
::::: riding. I had to force myself to take a day off.
:::::
::::: It is definitely a different cycling experience and it's quite
::::: fun. Not being able to coast makes you much more aware of your
::::: terrain since
::::: you have to anticipate obstacles further in advance. I still
::::: ride my geared bike, but not nearly as much - there's a time and
::::: place for everything.
:::
::: Have you done a century on a fixie?
::
:: I'd love too. But if I do any centuries in the near future, it'll
:: be on the geared bike. You?

No, not at all. Too hilly here for me to even think of it. The only fixie I
think I've been on it when I was a kid on the kind of bike where you pedal
backwards to brake. That is a fixed gear bike, right?

No no...that was a coaster brake. Fixed gear bikes are more like kids'
tricylces and have a *direct* connection to the rear wheel. So if the
wheel moves, the pedals move, and vise versa, even in reverse! No
coasting! Go spend some time at Sheldon's web empire to learn more. He
has good external links too.

also check out
www.fixedgeargallery.com/
http://www.thefge.com/ (this one's just funny!)

While I'm linking to websites, I'd like to state that I could probably
to a century on the Silver Comet Trail(1) faster on the fixed gear than
on a geared bike. That things is so dern flat (<1% grade)! If only
downtown Atlanta was that way...sigh
(1)http://www.trailexpress.com/silvercomet/maps.php

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

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email hidden]>,

David L. Johnson said:

Paul Hobson said:

trying never to coast. I had a fairly good idea going into it, but I
actually had to go down one lower to make it up the hills (42x18). Then
when I converted my fixie, I went back up one gear (to 42x16) since the
straight, simple drivetrain is (/seems to be) so much more efficient.

Seems to be only. A fixed gear is not significantly more efficient than a
derailleur bike.

_ From a strictly mechanical point no, but I think there are
some subtle biomechanical efficiency differences. Mostly relating
to your momemtum keeping the cranks turning and not just your
legs.

Quoted message said:

But, on a fixed gear you don't have a choice of shifting
down, so you go up with what you have.

_ I think it's much easier to keep a constant speed on a fixed
gear and this has some overall benefits to climbing. Perhaps it's
just because you have no choice, but using the same gear
on a freewheel bike seems more of an effort. I have used the
same gear on a single speed and fixed bike on the same hills and
IMHO climbing is easier on a fixed gear.

_ When you're really gassed, you tend to "rest" a bit at the
top of the stroke, maybe not enough to engage the pawl, but
enough to slow a bit and then you accellerate a bit more than you
really need. Maintaining a constant speed is much more efficient
and that's easier to do with a fixed gear. While this is bad
technique more than any inherent advantage of a fixed gear, you
simply can't indulge in bad technique on a fixed gear.

_ Booker C. Bense

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"Paul Hobson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Claire Petersky said:

"~R" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Q:? Is there any benefit to having a fixed gear bike?

There is absolutely no benefit, and the people who use them are insane.

Thank you for asking.

Claire, c'mon! we should be encouraging him!!!

What, you don't think there's enough masochism in the world?

I used a wide range of gears going to/from work today, including my lowest
and my highest, of the 30 available to me, and that was just dandy. The rest
of you can torture yourselves on fixies -- I'll be riding up and down the
hills comfortably.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Paul Hobson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Claire Petersky said:

"~R" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Q:? Is there any benefit to having a fixed gear bike?

There is absolutely no benefit, and the people who use them are insane.

Thank you for asking.

Claire, c'mon! we should be encouraging him!!!

What, you don't think there's enough masochism in the world?

I used a wide range of gears going to/from work today, including my lowest
and my highest, of the 30 available to me, and that was just dandy. The rest
of you can torture yourselves on fixies -- I'll be riding up and down the
hills comfortably.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Claire Petersky said:

"Paul Hobson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Claire Petersky said:

"~R" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

>Q:? Is there any benefit to having a fixed gear bike?

There is absolutely no benefit, and the people who use them are insane.

Thank you for asking.

Claire, c'mon! we should be encouraging him!!!

What, you don't think there's enough masochism in the world?

I used a wide range of gears going to/from work today, including my lowest
and my highest, of the 30 available to me, and that was just dandy. The rest
of you can torture yourselves on fixies -- I'll be riding up and down the
hills comfortably.

Ok, but that's your commute! Sometimes you can go ride just for
fun...and fixies are perfect for that! It's whole different cycling
experience.

Also, you can still be plenty macho and keep all of your gears! As long
as your riding a bike of some sort, you're doing something
right...that's my motto.

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

~R said:

Q:? Is there any benefit to having a fixed gear bike? They seem
to be popular in these newsgroups. What makes them special? Or
are they just fun in a different kinda way?

~Rob

Another aspect: maintenance.

Fixies are as easy and cheap to maintain as you're going to get. If you
commute in rain, sleet, snow, etc, or need your bike for messengering
around, there is simply less to break and less to maintain.

Collin O'Neill said:

~R said:

Q:? Is there any benefit to having a fixed gear bike? They seem
to be popular in these newsgroups. What makes them special? Or
are they just fun in a different kinda way?

~Rob

Another aspect: maintenance.

Fixies are as easy and cheap to maintain as you're going to get. If you
commute in rain, sleet, snow, etc, or need your bike for messengering
around, there is simply less to break and less to maintain.

Right. I put studded tires on mine and use it as my snow/ice bike here
in Boston. Have ridden it in more than one blizzard, before the roads
got plowed.

Paul Hobson wrote:
:: Roger Zoul wrote:
::: Paul Hobson wrote:
::::: Roger Zoul wrote:
:::::: Paul Hobson wrote:
:::::::: ~R wrote:
::::::::: Q:? Is there any benefit to having a fixed gear bike? They
::::::::: seem to be popular in these newsgroups. What makes them
::::::::: special? Or are they just fun in a different kinda way?
:::::::::
::::::::: ~Rob
:::::::::
::::::::
:::::::: Mechanics aside (you can get from Sheldon, as well as what I'm
:::::::: about to say), they are so much fun. You can control every
:::::::: aspect of your speed by controlling your cadence. I finished
:::::::: converting my Peugeot about two weeks ago and I can't stop
:::::::: riding. I had to force myself to take a day off.
::::::::
:::::::: It is definitely a different cycling experience and it's quite
:::::::: fun. Not being able to coast makes you much more aware of
:::::::: your terrain since
:::::::: you have to anticipate obstacles further in advance. I still
:::::::: ride my geared bike, but not nearly as much - there's a time
:::::::: and place for everything.
::::::
:::::: Have you done a century on a fixie?
:::::
::::: I'd love too. But if I do any centuries in the near future, it'll
::::: be on the geared bike. You?
:::
::: No, not at all. Too hilly here for me to even think of it. The
::: only fixie I think I've been on it when I was a kid on the kind of
::: bike where you pedal backwards to brake. That is a fixed gear
::: bike, right?
:::
::
:: No no...that was a coaster brake.

Oh, new term!

:: Fixed gear bikes are more like
:: kids' tricylces and have a *direct* connection to the rear wheel.

Okay...

:: So if the wheel moves, the pedals move, and vise versa, even in
:: reverse! No coasting! Go spend some time at Sheldon's web empire
:: to learn more. He has good external links too.

Thanks, will do.

::
:: also check out
:: www.fixedgeargallery.com/
:: http://www.thefge.com/ (this one's just funny!)
::
:: While I'm linking to websites, I'd like to state that I could
:: probably to a century on the Silver Comet Trail(1) faster on the
:: fixed gear than on a geared bike. That things is so dern flat (<1%
:: grade)! If only downtown Atlanta was that way...sigh
:: (1)http://www.trailexpress.com/silvercomet/maps.php

Wow. I learned about that trail a while ago and forgot about it until now.
How is it for cycling? I'd love to go down there one saturday and ride it
(I'm in Greenville, SC). Out to the 52 mile point and back could make a
good days work for me! I'm very tempted.

"Paul Hobson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Claire Petersky wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I used a wide range of gears going to/from work today, including my
lowest and my highest, of the 30 available to me, and that was just
dandy. The rest of you can torture yourselves on fixies -- I'll be riding
up and down the hills comfortably.

Ok, but that's your commute! Sometimes you can go ride just for fun...and
fixies are perfect for that! It's whole different cycling experience.

Where would I cycle where there would be fewer hills than my commute? I've
already perfected it to be as unsteep as possible.

Well, I suppose down the multi-use rail-trail, hmpf.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Roger Zoul said:

::
:: While I'm linking to websites, I'd like to state that I could
:: probably to a century on the Silver Comet Trail(1) faster on the
:: fixed gear than on a geared bike. That things is so dern flat (<1%
:: grade)! If only downtown Atlanta was that way...sigh
:: (1)http://www.trailexpress.com/silvercomet/maps.php

Wow. I learned about that trail a while ago and forgot about it until now.
How is it for cycling? I'd love to go down there one saturday and ride it
(I'm in Greenville, SC). Out to the 52 mile point and back could make a
good days work for me! I'm very tempted.

It's great for cycling. The eastern part of the trail is the most
crowded. More advanced cyclists typically drive (ug) out a few miles
before they get on to avoid the crowd.

If you ever come down and want a riding buddy, let me know. I'm always
in the mood for riding!

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

Paul Hobson wrote:
:: Roger Zoul wrote:
::
:::::
::::: While I'm linking to websites, I'd like to state that I could
::::: probably to a century on the Silver Comet Trail(1) faster on the
::::: fixed gear than on a geared bike. That things is so dern flat
::::: (<1% grade)! If only downtown Atlanta was that way...sigh
::::: (1)http://www.trailexpress.com/silvercomet/maps.php
:::
::: Wow. I learned about that trail a while ago and forgot about it
::: until now. How is it for cycling? I'd love to go down there one
::: saturday and ride it (I'm in Greenville, SC). Out to the 52 mile
::: point and back could make a good days work for me! I'm very
::: tempted.
::
:: It's great for cycling. The eastern part of the trail is the most
:: crowded. More advanced cyclists typically drive (ug) out a few miles
:: before they get on to avoid the crowd.
::
:: If you ever come down and want a riding buddy, let me know. I'm
:: always in the mood for riding!

Believe it or not, I may come soon. It won't be this weekend or the next (I
have a major ride here that weekend) but I might come down within the next
month. I'd love a riding buddy, but let me warn you that I'm not that fast.
I would just like to ride a nice strip of path without all of the hills.
Where do the advanced cyclists start? I was reading the webpage you gave
but had to put it down. I did note some comments about starting what seems
like 4 miles or so down the trail. I also saw where only about 42miles or
so in GA is currently open. But 80 miles would be a nice training ride for
the other two centuries I plan to do this fall.

~R said:

Q:? Is there any benefit to having a fixed gear bike? They seem
to be popular in these newsgroups. What makes them special? Or
are they just fun in a different kinda way?

~Rob

Rob,

So what's the word? You going to give it a shot?

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

Paul Hobson said:

Claire Petersky wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What, you don't think there's enough masochism in the world?

I used a wide range of gears going to/from work today, including my lowest
and my highest, of the 30 available to me, and that was just dandy. The rest
of you can torture yourselves on fixies -- I'll be riding up and down the
hills comfortably.

Ok, but that's your commute! Sometimes you can go ride just for
fun...and fixies are perfect for that! It's whole different cycling
experience.

Hey! I commute on my fixie!

--

John ([email hidden])

~R said:

Q:? Is there any benefit to having a fixed gear bike? They seem
to be popular in these newsgroups. What makes them special? Or
are they just fun in a different kinda way?

Yes!

--

John ([email hidden])

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Ok, but that's your commute! Sometimes you can go ride just for fun...and
fixies are perfect for that! It's whole different cycling experience.

Where would I cycle where there would be fewer hills than my commute? I've
already perfected it to be as unsteep as possible.

Don't you think the terrain in the original poster's neighborhood is what
should really matter in his decision whether a fixie is something he should
be interested in?

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

"Chris Neary" <[email hidden] > wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Ok, but that's your commute! Sometimes you can go ride just for
fun...and
fixies are perfect for that! It's whole different cycling experience.

Where would I cycle where there would be fewer hills than my commute? I've
already perfected it to be as unsteep as possible.

Don't you think the terrain in the original poster's neighborhood is what
should really matter in his decision whether a fixie is something he
should
be interested in?

Ya think? I know there are people with much more gnarly legs than I here,
but I'll be in my little ring to make it up the 5% grade from Factoria to
Eastgate.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky