After several weeks of finding parts I now have my old 5 speed racer converted to a fixed wheel. the bike is about 12 - 15 years old and was a fairly cheap Universal 23" in red with white forks. I have kept the original wheels which are in reasonable condition but had to buy 2 27 x 1.25 tyres as the old ones were fairly perished but the inner tubes look ok. The rear brake has been removed along with the rear derailleur (I had to look that one up) and a threaded spacer has been screwed and threadlocked onto the back wheel to avoid re-dishing, a 16T track sprocket screws on also and I thread locked this too as their is no lockring thread, the chainline is dead on. I replaced the old pedals with some Look PP337 jobs to keep the old plates strapped in and the original crankset remains with the original chain shortened to fit. The old Handlebar wraps have been re-used as i didn't make too much of a mess removing the left hand brake lever.
I took it out for a first spin yesterday afternoon and realised that i really do need some mudguards to finnish it off as the spray was fairly bad up the back and legs but it moves along fairly slickly. It took about 5 minutes or so to get the hang off braking with your feet still going round down the cycle path before taking it onto the road notched up about 10 km and returned fairly damp but satisfied
I took it out for a first spin yesterday afternoon and realised that i really do need some mudguards to finnish it off as the spray was fairly bad up the back and legs but it moves along fairly slickly. It took about 5 minutes or so to get the hang off braking with your feet still going round down the cycle path before taking it onto the road notched up about 10 km and returned fairly damp but satisfied
Braking with your feet on the road is strictly for trackie show-offs and masochists. Use the front brake - it's easier on your knees!
Braking with your feet on the road is strictly for trackie show-offs and masochists. Use the front brake - it's easier on your knees!
Also cheap skates, your rims and pads last forever. Ive yet to have my knees fall off after six on and off years of riding a fixed and slowing with my legs. Except obviously when I have to stop fast.
Braking with your feet on the road is strictly for trackie show-offs and masochists. Use the front brake - it's easier on your knees!
Also cheap skates, your rims and pads last forever. Ive yet to have my knees fall off after six on and off years of riding a fixed and slowing with my legs. Except obviously when I have to stop fast.
I took it out for a first spin yesterday afternoon and realised that i really do need some mudguards to finnish it off as the spray was fairly bad up the back and legs but it moves along fairly slickly. It took about 5 minutes or so to get the hang off braking with your feet still going round down the cycle path before taking it onto the road notched up about 10 km and returned fairly damp but satisfied
Braking with your feet on the road is strictly for trackie show-offs and masochists. Use the front brake - it's easier on your knees!
Dead handy when signalling right or pootling up to junctions though and doesn't seem to hurt my knees at all. I imagine doing "proper" braking would.
Regards,
-david
-- David Nutter <[email hidden]> Research Assistant MHAC MC3102, Brayford Pool Campus University Of Lincoln, LN6 7TS
: Ah...the main problem of only using one brake. Thankfully I have come : across very few downhill right turns in my pootlings.
I have one on the trip between work and town centre. Since there are only two hills in York, this is remarkable. And since it's a busy road where you normally need to at least slow down a lot to make the turn, in the end I fitted a rear brake to my fixie.
Arthur
-- Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt "Blogs are neither necessary nor sufficient for evil to triumph. They're just what we call an enabling technology" - Danny O'Brien
: Ah...the main problem of only using one brake. Thankfully I have come : across very few downhill right turns in my pootlings.
I have one on the trip between work and town centre. Since there are only two hills in York, this is remarkable. And since it's a busy road where you normally need to at least slow down a lot to make the turn, in the end I fitted a rear brake to my fixie.
Sadly the 105 brakes I have for my fixed don't have the reach to engage properly with the rim at the rear (the front is OK). If I had a long-drop, I would fit and enable it[1] since I already have the lever fitted to act as a hand rest. Couldn't get the hang of the bike when it had only one brake hood...
Regards,
-david
[1] The thought of a snapped cable while hurtling down Yarbrough road (the only "proper" hill in Lincoln) makes me a bit nervous...
-- David Nutter <[email hidden]> Research Assistant MHAC MC3102, Brayford Pool Campus University Of Lincoln, LN6 7TS
