First fixed gear fifty miler



"Robert Canon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> > "Curtis L. Russell" wrote
> > > "hippy" wrote: What's with those seatstays?!
> >
> > Well, its a normal track bike layout for about the last
> > 80 years.
>
> I think hippy was talking about the seat stays, not the
> chain stays/track ends:
>
> http://128.83.80.200/bike/tifixie2.jpg

Yes, like I said, I have a track bike and used to ride a bmx
so I'm familiar with track ends/horiz. dropouts. It was the
vertical arrangement of the seatstays where they meet the
seat-tube that caught my eye. Great stuff! :)

hippy
 
"TomB"
>... nobody seems to noticed your seat! Is it an old fashion
>Brooks? Did you have ever comments on it?

Good eye! It's a Brooks B17 and has a strong following in
fixed gear circles. It has a pretty strong following in
general due to efforts by Grant Peterson et al at Rivendell,
Bill Laine at Wallingford, and Peter White cycles. It
probably looks a little out of place on my bike as opposed
to a nice classically proportioned lugged steel model but I
get more comments on the stays, down-sized frame, and high-
rise stem than the saddle.
 
Claire Petersky <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Dane Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message

>> I got out for what was only my second 50+ mile outting
>> this year two days ago, and the weather was reasonably
>> cooperative. I have to wait a bit till I can try it on a
>> fixie, I'm just starting to build mine up.

> Texas has got to be flatter, though. Everytime someone
> tells me they ride a fixie to work around here, I think
> about trying to pedal up Madison Ave. Maybe you've got the
> pistons for it, Dane, but I sure don't!

Well I probably *could* do it, but then I could probably
gnaw off my leg to escape if I was caught in a meeting awful
enough. Doesn't mean I plan on it. I was thinking more to
use it just for bashing about intra-city. And I was thinking
about doing some track at the Velodrome, but I probably
won't find time for that for a year or two.

I figure my 9.30 mile commute probably has at least 600-700
feet of climbing (judging from some of the topo maps I've
looked at). Kind of sucky on a fixie. The I-90 bridge would
be okay, but I think Eastgate Way might kill me.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
To a Californian, a person must prove himself criminally
insane before he is allowed to drive a taxi in New York.
For New York cabbies, honesty and stopping at red lights
are both optional. -- From "East vs. West: The War Between
the Coasts
 
Robert Canon <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Dane Jackson" wrote:

>> I have to wait a bit till I can try it on a fixie, I'm
>> just starting to build mine up.

> Be sure to post it up to the Fixed Gear Gallery when
> you're through!

Hadn't thought about it, but I will try and remember.

> Yes and no... Austin is called the Gateway to the Hill
> Country so there are some pretty good climbs on the west
> side. The fixie fifty was out east where it's much flatter
> and I still had over 2,000 feet of climbing over the 50
> miles. Not exactly mountainous, but not a billiard table
> like central Kansas/Oklahoma where I grew up.

Seattle has hills, oh yes we do. I was thinking about
starting with a 42x18 for my regular gear, I'm not sure what
to use for a bailout.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
The two most common things in the Universe are hydrogen and
stupidity. -- Harlan Ellison
 
"Dane Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I figure my 9.30 mile commute probably has at least 600-
> 700 feet of climbing (judging from some of the topo maps
> I've looked at). Kind of sucky on a fixie. The I-90 bridge
> would be okay, but I think Eastgate Way might kill me.

Heck, Eastgate Way might kill me with 27 gears at my
disposal. You know how there's a vulture that sometimes
hangs out near there? Sometimes it circles overhead, on a
hot summer late afternoon, while I'm struggling up that
hill, and what I tell it is, "I ain't dead yet!"

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky
 
"Dane Jackson" wrote
> Seattle has hills, oh yes we do. I was thinking about
> starting with a 42x18 for my regular gear, I'm not sure
> what to use for a bailout.

I was the same way in that I wasn't sure what to get for
that initial gear combo. I settled on the 42x16 with sort
of a mental dart toss, but it's worked out well. I could
easily run a bigger bail-out though, both in terms of using
the lower gearing and having available adjustment at the
track-ends.

One thing I've been pleasantly suprised about, and you may
be too, is how well the fixie handles the hills. To
paraphrase the Kona Unit blurb from thier web site, it's
really 3 speeds; sit, stand, get off and push. I was able to
comfortably do a 25mi hilly training route on the west side
of town last weekend without having to resort to the get-off-and-
push gear. Of course, I've been getting more accustomed to
longer than usual standing stints...
 
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