Anyone hate fixed gears?

Quoted message said:

POOHPOOH 🙂. Braking on a fixie with a front brake is no different than
braking on a geared bike with a front brake. Were these racers really
riding track with brakes?

Mea Culpa... no they weren't. They were just applying full power to
avoid the riders in front o f them. The fixed gear had its own wheel and
they where going over.

My point (wich indeed didn't show through)is that by decellerating you
have to watch out for the full presure from the fixie. You need to
handle it with care.

Quoted message said:

The only thing I can think of that can be more "dangerous" with a fixie
equipped with a front brake is the "objects caught between chain and
chainring" problem (fingers, trouser leg, etc.)

For sure: even with a freewheel, the only really effective brake when
using both is the front brake. That is not the danger, what does making
harder is the sudden "bang" on your legs. At least, that is what the
track racers warned about. In a life situation as traffic this doesn't
seem like a good thing.

--

Tom Nakashima said:

It's pretty clear-cut you don't see fixedgeared bikes toto your liking,
however many of us here do. So I guess we'll just leave it at that. You
ride what you want, we'll ride what we want..."let those who ride
decide." One thing I won't do is belittle a fellow cyclist's ride. -tom

Fair enough🙂

The thing is that I posted initially in vein of the title of the thread.
My latter posts were to "clarify" my stance (failed a bit I think)

--

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

POOHPOOH 🙂. Braking on a fixie with a front brake is no different than
braking on a geared bike with a front brake. Were these racers really
riding track with brakes?

Mea Culpa... no they weren't. They were just applying full power to
avoid the riders in front o f them. The fixed gear had its own wheel and
they where going over.

My point (wich indeed didn't show through)is that by decellerating you
have to watch out for the full presure from the fixie. You need to
handle it with care.

Quoted message said:

The only thing I can think of that can be more "dangerous" with a fixie
equipped with a front brake is the "objects caught between chain and
chainring" problem (fingers, trouser leg, etc.)

For sure: even with a freewheel, the only really effective brake when
using both is the front brake. That is not the danger, what does making
harder is the sudden "bang" on your legs. At least, that is what the
track racers warned about. In a life situation as traffic this doesn't
seem like a good thing.

Okay, but you should make it clear that you're not talking about "fixies",
you're talking about "fixies with no front brakes". I'll leave it to the
brakeless riders to defend themselves if they like, since I have no idea
what the actual safety statistics of brakeless riding are, but I wouldn't
feel comfortable on such a bike in traffic even if I were really good at
locking my back wheel. I've only once ever had to do an emergency stop, in
an occasion where failure to stop probably wouldn't have killed me (right
hook by a car), but I was glad to have a working front brake then since it
allowed me to finish the brevet without a scratch.

--
Benjamin Lewis

"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips
over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."
--Matt Groening

Benjamin Lewis said:

but I was glad to have a working front brake then since it
allowed me to finish the brevet without a scratch.

Uhh... you ride brevets on a fixed-gear bike? Why not just use a
unicycle? Or skip the event and spend the time at home, hitting
yourself with a hammer?

By which I really mean to say, wow. I'm impressed. I think of riding
great distances on a fixie as something that people *used* to do, like
chasing bison with spears for days on end.

Chalo Colina

Quoted message said:

From: [email hidden] (Chalo)

Quoted message said:

By which I really mean to say, wow. I'm impressed. I think of riding
great distances on a fixie as something that people *used* to do, like
chasing bison with spears for days on >end.

Missed the bison/spear deal but got in early enough for long days of fixie.
Unneccessary, punishing, but somehow fun. I did win a city limits sprint at the
end of a long 42x17 fixed ride, everyone else on geared bikes. Wailing,
gnashing of teeth, instant droppage as revenge. --TP

Quoted message said:

Benjamin Lewis said:

but I was glad to have a working front brake then since it
allowed me to finish the brevet without a scratch.

Uhh... you ride brevets on a fixed-gear bike? Why not just use a
unicycle? Or skip the event and spend the time at home, hitting
yourself with a hammer?

By which I really mean to say, wow. I'm impressed. I think of riding
great distances on a fixie as something that people *used* to do, like
chasing bison with spears for days on end.

Sorry if that was misleading, but that was on my geared touring bike. My
point was that I would have hit the car if I didn't have a front brake,
regardless of my bikes gearing.

I haven't quite got as far as doing brevets on the fixie yet. I'm still
proud of myself for doing the climb to my campus twice on my fixie -- the
last stretch involves about 330m elev gain over 4 km, and I slogged it on a
3:1 gear ratio.

Coming back down was almost as tiring, just getting my legs to spin fast
enough. The second time I came down there was a bit of a headwind, and I
managed it without resorting to the hand brakes.

If you want to see crazy, look at this guy:
http://www.mile43.com/peterson/Rocky.html

He's done our local "Rocky Mountain 1200 km" on a fixie twice now.

--
Benjamin Lewis

"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips
over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."
--Matt Groening

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

Quoted message said:

Benjamin Lewis said:

but I was glad to have a working front brake then since it
allowed me to finish the brevet without a scratch.

Uhh... you ride brevets on a fixed-gear bike? Why not just use a
unicycle? Or skip the event and spend the time at home, hitting
yourself with a hammer?

By which I really mean to say, wow. I'm impressed. I think of riding
great distances on a fixie as something that people *used* to do, like
chasing bison with spears for days on end.

A guy I frequently ride with has done complete brevet series on his fixed
gear. These are hilly, New England brevets, 200, 300, 400 and 600 km. He used
a single-speed with freewheel for the Boston-Montreal-Boston (1200 km). For
the non-metric, that's 125, 200, 250, 375 & 750 miles. This guy rides
fixed-gear exclusively. I've done up to 100 km on a fixer, it's not really all
that extreme.

"B Maytum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I think that the language in statement below in its entirety is stronger
than I like to read on this group. I am sure the same sentiments could have
been communicated other ways.

I hope you're kidding, LIKE I WAS!!!!

Why do rec.bicycles.tech posters take themselves and their hobby so
damn seriously? This whole bloody newsgroup is dedicated to playing
with TOYS! Buying new toys, working on your toy, and playing with your
toy (aka: riding you bike). Act like it. Share a joke, jibe a fellow
playmate (aka: rider) with some good natured pokes instead of the
rabbid indignation so commonly used. Be irreverant once in a while.
Giggle on a fast, fun downhill. Buy your favorite toy mechanic a beer
and tell 'em ehat FUN your last bike ride was. Tell your boss his
fixie fixation is a bit queer. Wave to a complete Fred when you whiz
by on your $6K carbon/kevlar/titanium/magnesium wonder TOY. Lighten up
people! This ain't politics or religion, this is bikes!!!! CHEERS,
DAMMIT!!!
--Jim

Meccanico di Bici said:

Why do rec.bicycles.tech posters take themselves and their hobby so
damn seriously? This whole bloody newsgroup is dedicated to playing
with TOYS!

What about the transportational cyclists? I don't drive; I can ride or
walk.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> Kill the tomato!

David Damerell <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Meccanico di Bici said:

Why do rec.bicycles.tech posters take themselves and their hobby so
damn seriously? This whole bloody newsgroup is dedicated to playing
with TOYS!

What about the transportational cyclists? I don't drive; I can ride or
walk.

Same here except I can also use the wifes mini-van. 🙂

"The bike itself is silent...that's what I love most about the
fixies...the silence. That passive existence they have on the road.
The purity in looking at them, unobstructed and well defined lines, no
distractions."

<http://www.fixedgearhooligans.com/>

Quoted message said:

The purity in looking at them, unobstructed and well defined lines, no
distractions."

They do look cool. In fact I'd much rather look at one than ride it......

"Meccanico di Bici" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The purity in looking at them, unobstructed and well defined lines, no
distractions."

They do look cool. In fact I'd much rather look at one than ride it......

Singlespeeds look just as unobstructed, and you don't even have to pedal
through corners, which sucks.

And no, it doesn't suck because of possible pedal strikes, it just sucks.

Ed Chait