Has anyone given up the gears?

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singlespeedscott
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby singlespeedscott » Fri Sep 27, 2013 6:38 am

Clownshoes wrote: Image
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Just be careful running that tensioner with a fixed cog to much back pressure on the cranks could see you ripping it off.
Image

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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Fri Sep 27, 2013 7:33 am

Let's see? I can add one extra ratio - 1:1.5 - to my existing 1:1.

Which would allow me to max out at around 18kph

And they'd be a bugger to shift between.

And that'd cost me over $2,000!

Not a hard decision to make. Yeah, I've given up the gears. :?
Unchain yourself-Ride a unicycle

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Clownshoes
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby Clownshoes » Fri Sep 27, 2013 11:02 am

singlespeedscott wrote: Just be careful running that tensioner with a fixed cog to much back pressure on the cranks could see you ripping it off.
LOL who runs chain tensioner fixed?!? That bike has a freewheel.

celeste boy
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby celeste boy » Wed May 07, 2014 9:30 pm

Chillibones wrote:As the title says, has anyone given up the gears altogether?

I got a Wilier fixie at Christmas and have been using it a lot more than my geared bike. My regular rides take in hills and flats and on Monday I rode 52km with plenty left in the tank. This got me thinking about whether I need the geared bike at all or is just going to end up neglected.

Has anyone moved away from geared bikes?

How have you found it, did you go back?
Any chance of a piccie of that SS Wilier?

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Ant_S
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby Ant_S » Wed Oct 21, 2015 4:57 pm

I figured I'd dig up this old topic and add to it since it probably isn't worth making a new one, but I was curious about the sort of distances people regularly ride SS/fixed...

I've been riding SS for over a year, but just started commuting once a week (36km round) ~6 months ago. I probably average ~60km a week which obviously isn't that much. That said, all of those kms are pretty much pushing myself to go fast all the time, not just 'cruising'. I did have a Centurion late 80s geared road bike for a little while but never quite rode it enough to get used to the DT gears & gears in general before selling.

Last weekend there was the MS Ocean Ride fundraising ride over here in Perth. A few of my workmates signed up months back to do the 70km distance, but last thing Friday one of them had to pull out. So rather than let the ticket go & fundraising be toward no rider, I decided Saturday I'd do it. I was genuinely not sure I would make 70kms, half to do with endurance and half just general comfort on the bike for that long. The most I'd ever done in one sitting was about 35km.

Anyway long story short, I felt like I was crawling the first ~10km so eventually I left my two work mates behind and was pacing myself at an easy pace. By about the 50km mark I realised I was feeling good and needn't have worried. The last 10-15km I tagged onto a pair of riders and we pushed home to the finish at probably ~30km/h or so.

I did get a bit sore in my shoulders & neck from leaning on the bars and looking ahead. My flexibility isn't great and my setup I think needs tweaking. But overall I surprised a few people riding an SS for 70km and I really had a pretty fun time of it. True I really didn't push myself but the fact I knocked along at ~24km/h without really even trying was good. My ratio is 47/17 so somewhere around 73GI?

But basically the point is it has encouraged me to look into getting a proper bike fitting and try to tweak my setup for more comfort and push on with longer distance SS riding. It is pretty fun even if isn't as quick as a top shelf geared bike

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KGB
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby KGB » Wed Oct 21, 2015 7:34 pm

I commute 50km a day, usually SS but I'm sick of destroying freewheels so will be pretty much only fixed in future. Occasionally the geared bike gets a run if i'm sore or tired and want a bludge.
I find it great training, especially in track season for the standing starts.
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singlespeedscott
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby singlespeedscott » Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:02 pm

Old thread. I used to commute on the fixed gear all the time but now days I bludge with gears. I just don't have the energy to do the 50km round trip after a 12hr shift. I try to get out on the fixed once a week or so or when I only have time for a short ride. My longest fixed gear ride is 240km
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cancan64
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby cancan64 » Wed Oct 21, 2015 11:01 pm

I dont know what my longest ride on the SS is but have done 60km plus commutes which sometimes included 3 gravatts or bf cootha... have been thinking of doing a 100km ride ..one day
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Ant_S
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby Ant_S » Thu Oct 22, 2015 5:55 pm

singlespeedscott - sorry mate, could've made a new one I guess! Searched and found this..

KGB - what freewheels do you run and how long do you usually get? I am running a White Industries one which seems to be going strong for now. I had a few other types on other bikes and they always made creaking noises and annoyed me. The White seems good for now.

Yep I think a 100km ride will be on the cards once I've tweaked the setup a bit.

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KGB
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby KGB » Fri Oct 23, 2015 11:16 am

Generally I was using cheapies. I've heard that Shimano is quite good and WI is the biz. For the cosst of a WI though, I'm happy enough to just throw a fixed cog on - plenty of them from racing track as a junior.

The cheap ones last a couple of wet comes and then start grinding, creaking and clunking.
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dodgiebros
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby dodgiebros » Wed Oct 28, 2015 10:42 pm

It's all about the right gear ratio that you know you can ride all day with. My longest fixed ride was a 360km AUDAX ride pushing a 48x15 most of the way but lucky enough to flip flop to a 16 on a couple long climbs[emoji38] was still bloody hard though! Especially knowing you pedalled the whole way, no coasting[emoji16]

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dodgiebros
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Re: Has anyone given up the gears?

Postby dodgiebros » Wed Oct 28, 2015 10:44 pm

I hate gears, I prefer to ride my $500 fixed gear than my $5000 roadie [emoji41]

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