My first fixed ride [1]

[Bronzie]

Some 8 weeks ago I started a thread "Specialized Langster - can anyone
recommend it?" - option 3 (the home made effort) was what I ended up
with - pictures to follow when I get the kitchen clear of unwanted
clutter such as wife, child etc.

So today, after much faffing and tinkering, the fixed project made her
maiden voayge on a 27 mile circuit.

Now my legs feel this this ..................... :-(((

But my face looks like this ....................... ))

Cheers
Bronzie

[1] Other than riding the track, which doesn't count in my opinion as
it doesn't have hills in it.

 

[Tony Raven]

Bronzie wrote on 22/10/2006 22:19 +0100:
> Some 8 weeks ago I started a thread "Specialized Langster - can anyone
> recommend it?" - option 3 (the home made effort) was what I ended up
> with - pictures to follow when I get the kitchen clear of unwanted
> clutter such as wife, child etc.
>
> So today, after much faffing and tinkering, the fixed project made her
> maiden voayge on a 27 mile circuit.
>
> Now my legs feel this this ..................... :-(((
>
> But my face looks like this ....................... ))
>

And how long did it take you to learn not to stop pedalling? ;-)

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

 

[K-Paws]

"Bronzie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> But my face looks like this ....................... ))
>
> Cheers
> Bronzie
>
> [1] Other than riding the track, which doesn't count in my opinion as
> it doesn't have hills in it.

Still can't see the point in them though. Why not go another step back and
use penny farthings? Gears, pneumatic tyres, modern seats, bah humbug ...

No, I think I would prefer to have all of them on my bike.

 

[Clive George]

"K-Paws" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Still can't see the point in them though.

Try it.

cheers,
clive

 

[Rob Morley]

In article <[email protected]>
K-Paws <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Bronzie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > But my face looks like this ....................... ))
> >
> > Cheers
> > Bronzie
> >
> > [1] Other than riding the track, which doesn't count in my opinion as
> > it doesn't have hills in it.
>
> Still can't see the point in them though. Why not go another step back and
> use penny farthings? Gears, pneumatic tyres, modern seats, bah humbug ...
>
Why bother with a bicycle when you could have a hovercraft?

 

[Tosspot]

Rob Morley wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>
> K-Paws <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>"Bronzie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>
>>>But my face looks like this ....................... ))
>>>
>>>Cheers
>>>Bronzie
>>>
>>>[1] Other than riding the track, which doesn't count in my opinion as
>>>it doesn't have hills in it.
>>
>>Still can't see the point in them though. Why not go another step back and
>>use penny farthings? Gears, pneumatic tyres, modern seats, bah humbug ...
>>
>
> Why bother with a bicycle when you could have a hovercraft?

http://www.hovpod.com/

I *so* want one!

 

[Bronzie]

>And how long did it take you to learn not to stop pedalling? ;-)

I timed it at about 0.3 seconds (on the first occassion) ;-)

Certainly makes cornering an interesting experience, if a little slow
(at least for now).

As for why bother riding fixed, the answer is in how my legs feel this
morning - totally wasted! You pedal every inch of the route,
*hopefully* building strength and making your muscles so flexible that
you can happily spin at 120rpm plus. I am hoping this will manifest
itself into something useful when I next race at Welwyn track in April!
Time will tell.

 

[Mark Thompson]

> [1] Other than riding the track, which doesn't count in my opinion as
> it doesn't have hills in it.

Go wide on the corners?

 

[bugbear]

Bronzie wrote:
>
>>And how long did it take you to learn not to stop pedalling? ;-)
>
>
> I timed it at about 0.3 seconds (on the first occassion) ;-)
>
> Certainly makes cornering an interesting experience, if a little slow
> (at least for now).

I found corners fairly "natural" from the start.

What got me were potholes
and drain covers etc.

They appear rather suddenly, and I *wanted*
to freehweel, and stand up in the pedals
to bunny hop, or just be "light in the seat".

This (when you're a beginner) doesn't work
well on fixed.

BugBear

 

[Bronzie]

> On Oct 23, 12:08 pm, Mark Thompson did issue forth:
> Go wide on the corners?

You mean go up and down the banking I presume.

I found out fairly quickly yesterday that riding up and down the
banking at the local velodrome is not very much like riding down a 1 in
10 hill at 25mph with my legs trying to make a bid for freedom from
under me! It's an unusual sensation for sure. Glad I fitted the rear
brake after all!

 

[Wheelist]

Bronzie wrote:
>> On Oct 23, 12:08 pm, Mark Thompson did issue forth:
>> Go wide on the corners?
>
> You mean go up and down the banking I presume.
>
> I found out fairly quickly yesterday that riding up and down the
> banking at the local velodrome is not very much like riding down a 1 in
> 10 hill at 25mph with my legs trying to make a bid for freedom from
> under me! It's an unusual sensation for sure. Glad I fitted the rear
> brake after all!
>

I've been riding a fixer for about 3 months now, (another home built
beast for the 15 mile daily round trip) and went to Manchester Velodrome
for my first spin on the track on Saturday.

The constant pedalling took some getting used to on the road for the
first week or so (trying to stop and finding myself rotated by the
pedals is a weird feeling!), but I was very comfortable with this by the
time I hit the track. Riding those banks was a bit freaky though - they
don't half feel steep on the first couple of circuits.

Altogether I've been really pleased with my fixer - like you say it's a
killer on the legs, but this instills and incredible sense of
satisfaction. The lack of gearing just seems to cause me to focus more
on the effort I'm putting in, and on keeping a good (nice and smooth)
spin rate - and psychologically the lack of gears makes me feel like I'm
the one doing all the work (i.e. I don't have gears to help me) which
makes for a hell of a buzz.

There are hills on my commute (depending on which way I go) so I'm still
at the stage of minimal hill climbs at the moment - like Bronzie says -
the downhills are killers - legs trying to go way too fast for my brain
to handle - I've fitted a front brake which takes out some of the pace,
but it's still hairy.

Anyway, just my twopenneth - I'd recommend a fixer to all!

Cheers,

Wheelist

 

[Bronzie]

Wheelist wrote:

> Riding those banks was a bit freaky though - they
> don't half feel steep on the first couple of circuits.
>

I've only ridden indoor velodromes a couple of times (Manchester and
Newport) and there is no comparison to the outdoors tracks (like Welwyn
where I race the Friday night track league).

When I first rode Manchester, I made the mistake of looking down the
banking from the top. It looks like the "wall of death". But after a
couple of hours I ended up riding in a pursuit line of four, changing
off the front by swinging up the banking to the top and back down to
sit on the rear of the line. Now *that* is some serious fun when you
get the hang of it. Up until that point it just scares you to death!

Cheers
Bronzie

 

[Mark Thompson]

> When I first rode Manchester, I made the mistake of looking down the
> banking from the top. It looks like the "wall of death". But after a
> couple of hours I ended up riding in a pursuit line of four, changing
> off the front by swinging up the banking to the top and back down to
> sit on the rear of the line. Now *that* is some serious fun when you
> get the hang of it. Up until that point it just scares you to death!

I'm still trying to get the hang of riding mere inches off someones tyre.
Bizarrely I haven't tried looking down yet - will give it a try on Monday.

Incidentally, anyone know why Manchester is "the fastest track in the UK"?
What makes a track fast (can't just be a record just happened to be set
there, can it?)

 

[Phil Cook]

Mark Thompson wrote:

>Incidentally, anyone know why Manchester is "the fastest track in the UK"?
>What makes a track fast (can't just be a record just happened to be set
>there, can it?)

Yes and no.

Individual tracks have their own character and things like the
geometry of the banking and surface have an effect.

IIRC Manchester is a Webb special. Webb designed most of the Olympic
tracks .

More here http://www.manchestervelodrome.com/static_info/about_us.htm
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

 

[Mark Thompson]

> More here http://www.manchestervelodrome.com/static_info/about_us.htm

"The angle of the exit from the bankings is steeper than that of the entry
so that a competitor is ‘catapulted’ along the straights - in effect,
always downhill."

A-ha, so that explains why I kept catching up with people on the straights
despite trying to maintain a steady distance (I was heavier than most/all
of them so get a bit of an advantage on downs).

 

[LSMike]

Mark Thompson wrote:
> > More here http://www.manchestervelodrome.com/static_info/about_us.htm
>
> "The angle of the exit from the bankings is steeper than that of the entry
> so that a competitor is 'catapulted' along the straights - in effect,
> always downhill."

That sounds like bollox (TM). It's a loop, it can never be always
downhill.

 

[Dave Larrington]

LSMike wrote:
> Mark Thompson wrote:
>>> More here
>>> http://www.manchestervelodrome.com/static_info/about_us.htm
>>
>> "The angle of the exit from the bankings is steeper than that of the
>> entry so that a competitor is 'catapulted' along the straights - in
>> effect, always downhill."
>
> That sounds like bollox (TM). It's a loop, it can never be always
> downhill.

OTOH Manchester /feels/ like hard work going into the turns and easier as
you exit them, while Newport doesn't. And I rode Manchester /before/ I read
that catapult-o-thing.

--
Dave Larrington
<http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk>
Kinder surprise! What's the surprise? Your children are now dead.

 

[Mark McNeill]

Response to LSMike:
> > "The angle of the exit from the bankings is steeper than that of the entry
> > so that a competitor is 'catapulted' along the straights - in effect,
> > always downhill."
>
> That sounds like bollox (TM). It's a loop, it can never be always
> downhill.

Maybe they got Maurits Escher to design it.


To be fair, they did say "*in effect*, always downhill", which leaves
some wiggle room, I suppose.




--
Mark, UK
"Those who are at war with others are not at peace with themselves."

 

[Tony Raven]

LSMike wrote on 26/10/2006 07:44 +0100:
> Mark Thompson wrote:
>>> More here http://www.manchestervelodrome.com/static_info/about_us.htm
>> "The angle of the exit from the bankings is steeper than that of the entry
>> so that a competitor is 'catapulted' along the straights - in effect,
>> always downhill."
>
> That sounds like bollox (TM). It's a loop, it can never be always
> downhill.
>

That's bollox too. You just have to ride in the opposite direction to
me. Everywhere I go on a bike is uphill (and into the wind) ;-)

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

 

[Wheelist]

Phil Cook wrote:
> Mark Thompson wrote:
>
>> Incidentally, anyone know why Manchester is "the fastest track in the UK"?
>> What makes a track fast (can't just be a record just happened to be set
>> there, can it?)
>
> Yes and no.
>
> Individual tracks have their own character and things like the
> geometry of the banking and surface have an effect.
>
> IIRC Manchester is a Webb special. Webb designed most of the Olympic
> tracks .
>
> More here http://www.manchestervelodrome.com/static_info/about_us.htm

Yep. This AND the fact that Chris Boardman holds the hour record on this
track.