A lot of guys and gals buy a fixie thinking it is a good training tool. They think that because you have to pedal all the time it improves your pedaling technique. It does. But probably not for the reason you think, or you wouldn't think you need a fixie. Any improvement in your pedaling technique is due to having to pedal at a high cadence part of the time. Pedaling at a high cadence requires you to use muscles that don't get much use at lower cadences and at high cadences you need to pedal smoothly to keep from bouncing up and down.
But you don't need a fixie for that. All you have to do is shift down on your multispeed bike. My favorite training method, for improving my pedaling, is to find a hill with a moderate slope and shift to a smaller gear than I normally would use. Then I do repeats. I pedal uphill, at a high cadence, for a couple minutes, then turn around and go back to the bottom of the hill and then I do it again. I'll do that four to eight times.
Another reason you might be getting benefits from a fixie is you are sometimes forced to use a gear that is bigger than you'd use is you had multiple gears. This builds strength. You also don't need a fixie for that. I sometimes do hill repeats in a gear that is too big. Sometimes I combine that with hill repeats in a gear that is too small. Sometimes I'll alternate between the two. Do an interval in a small gear then an interval in a big gear.
The point is, having gears allows you far more control over your training. I've seen lots of videos of pro teams training. I've never seen them on fixies. Maybe some use them, but I don't think you will see many pros out on the road on fixies. Less safe, doesn't help..
But you don't need a fixie for that. All you have to do is shift down on your multispeed bike. My favorite training method, for improving my pedaling, is to find a hill with a moderate slope and shift to a smaller gear than I normally would use. Then I do repeats. I pedal uphill, at a high cadence, for a couple minutes, then turn around and go back to the bottom of the hill and then I do it again. I'll do that four to eight times.
Another reason you might be getting benefits from a fixie is you are sometimes forced to use a gear that is bigger than you'd use is you had multiple gears. This builds strength. You also don't need a fixie for that. I sometimes do hill repeats in a gear that is too big. Sometimes I combine that with hill repeats in a gear that is too small. Sometimes I'll alternate between the two. Do an interval in a small gear then an interval in a big gear.
The point is, having gears allows you far more control over your training. I've seen lots of videos of pro teams training. I've never seen them on fixies. Maybe some use them, but I don't think you will see many pros out on the road on fixies. Less safe, doesn't help..
