fixed



Originally posted by 531
does anyone ride a track bike on the road?
I ride a bike with track ends and round forks,it,s less than ideal,taking the rear wheel out is awkward and the forks semmto have fore and aft flex.Brakes are a must on the road
 
i often get my trackie out on the road during track season for some specific efforts...........hill efforts and spinning in a fixed gear is hard work, not to mention more specific for that part of the season.

for the record i have also ridden my track bike in a road TT with a 92.6 gear and it rocked, unfortunately im not a TTer and still didnt finish on the podium. It was a pity that my club officials didnt recognise my "back pedal brakes" and i was disqualified anyway :(

Track bikes are the fastest machines around, and if you are riding on busy roads a brake is essential, but for training on open roads it is hardly neccesary except that it is slightly illegal not to have atleast one........
 
If you ride your track bike anywhere but the velodrome without brakes, you're an idiot, and a dangerous one at that !!
 
well i ride a 77 gear on the road all the time through town to the track. it easy top stop quickly but u must run a lock ring on the track in races i recked a tyre in the wheel avioding a crash and still won I was off scratch U17. so i u knwo when to stop u can ride easly on the road just slow down easly or u can strip the rubber off the tyre. but if u do lock up turn back the padals so the tyre moves backwards.
 
all i own is a fix and i haven't had any problems with my it. but i still suggest having a front brake just in case your chain breaks. a friend of mine just last week broke his on a down hill. yes its hard work to ride them all the time, but three 15 mile rides and one 30 mile ride a week help out a lot with endurance.
 
I ride mine all the time, just not with the wheels that I race on.
 
Originally posted by velvet_glove
If you ride your track bike anywhere but the velodrome without brakes, you're an idiot, and a dangerous one at that !!

Us dangerous idiots here in San Francisco ride fixed with no brakes all day long up and down steep hills and in traffic, leaving all the geared weenies in the dust.
 
yes, ride one a lot on the road for commuting and training, about a 75 inch gear works well for flats and mild hills.
 
Originally posted by climbo
yes, ride one a lot on the road for commuting and training, about a 75 inch gear works well for flats and mild hills.

I'm riding 48/16 which is slightly too high, also it's a perfect 3:1 ratio which creates flat spots on my wheel during skid stops because the wheel is always going to be in the same place every time I lock up...
 
sounds like you need a 17 cog. Are you a messenger? (I wasn't but road a fixie to work) I used to live on Fillmore in Lower Haight, great town SF, I miss it.
 
Originally posted by climbo
sounds like you need a 17 cog. Are you a messenger? (I wasn't but road a fixie to work) I used to live on Fillmore in Lower Haight, great town SF, I miss it.

yeah, i've been meaning to pick up a 17 cog or maybe a 47 chainring - do you know if there's a benefit/disadvantage from either removing a tooth from the front or adding one to the back?

i'm not a messenger, i just ride a LOT. i would probably pick up a courier gig if it werent for the fact that the computer freelance stuff pays much better (and is a much safer occupation heh)..

lower haight is pretty cool. i eat at love & haight all the time.
 
Originally posted by 531
does anyone ride a track bike on the road?
i HAVE RIDEEN FOR YEARS ON THE ROAD , TRACK BIKE WITH A FRONT BRAKE. iT IS A BLAST AND GOOD WAY TO SPIN INTO SHAPE!
 
I live in Kuala Lumpur and ride my Track Bike quite happily on the road. Traffic here is absolute **** - basically a moronic free-for-all - that's why I fit in so well.
These days I have both front and rear brakes (under orders from she-who-must-be-obeyed), but seldom use them. I rode for years without brakes down in Australia and, the day I fitted a front brake, I managed to have a big get-off in the traffic, having just been to show her the new set-up.
I use fairly heavy 32-Spoke wheels as the roads here are as crappy as the drivers (and one cyclist).
Riding a fixed-wheel is fun in traffic and, I think, provides better feel and awareness. Riding without brakes encourages you to look ahead and around you, and to maintain escape routes for when it doesn't go your way. In most situations, I believe I would pull up as quickly on a fixed-wheel as I would have on my old Road bike - possibly more quickly.
My bike has ridiculously short cranks, which makes it feel like riding a clown's bike at the circus, but it doesn't bother me enough to warrant spending money on a longer set. One advantage is that I'd have to be lying down on the road having a sleep before the pedals would touch down on a corner.
A Track Bike is great for those sudden bursts of speed required when the dog-instinct takes over and you just have to chase down that car/motorbike/bus/elephant.

Have fun.
 
Around here in Boston MA I'd say literally 50% of the under 30 riders cruising around town are on fixed gear bikes. Courier chic is very, very hip.

I ride my track back and forth to work: great exercise! And I take it for long rides on the weekends. Nothing feels better than blowing by fancy pants weekend warriors huffing away on their $5,000 DA dreams machines on my single speed, one brake track! :)
 
I ride my track back and forth to work: great exercise! And I take it for long rides on the weekends. Nothing feels better than blowing by fancy pants weekend warriors huffing away on their $5,000 DA dreams machines on my single speed, one brake track! :) [/B][/QUOTE]


not every ride is a time trial for some people. i average 14mph on recovery rides, on my dura ace c'dale.
 
i ride brakeless in downtown toronto traffic on a daily basis. as mentioned before, it forces you to be aware of your surroundings at all times...something a freewheel equipped bicycle certainly doesn't encourage. i see commuters blowing by parked cars with less than a foot between themselves and the doors, barely paying attention to what's in front, beside, or behind them. what's more dangerous....a concientious rider on a brakeless rig or some mindless clown with a regular set-up?
 
Originally posted by skin flute
what's more dangerous....a concientious rider on a brakeless rig or some mindless clown with a regular set-up?
Case in point :
Yesterday I took my fixed wheel (with the brakes as demanded by she-who-must-be-obeyed) through down-town Kuala Lumpur with its endemic lock-up traffic jams and total disregard of lanes & stop lights. It was absolutely pissing down with rain - I was nearly taken out by 2 albacore tuna on their way to the pilchard grounds - and had forgotten just how crappy my brakes are when they're wet. It was kind of weird that, when I had trouble pulling up, I'd lost the instinct to hold back on the pedals. I slapped myself silly and rode brakeless for the rest of the ride - much better control.
 
agreed. i know some guys here that ride track bikes in the snow--something i myself will never do--but riding in the rain is cool, just gotta go slower. i slammed pretty hard earlier in january when i hit a patch of ice. however, that had nothing to do with going brakeless--rather because i'm poor and can't afford to change from my slicks in the winter riding months.