Please explain.
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Please explain.
Postby Apple » Sun Aug 29, 2010 5:07 pm
I have been on this forum for a while, but have not visited the fixed gear section. Can someone please explain to me what that means. Is it one a big 53 ring at the front and an 11 at the back?
My other question is who rides these sorts of bike and what for? Training, fun, flat riding.etc
Speak your mind,Those that mind dont matter, Those that matter dont mind!!
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Re: Please explain.
Postby you cannot be sirrus » Sun Aug 29, 2010 5:14 pm
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Re: Please explain.
Postby Apple » Sun Aug 29, 2010 5:15 pm
You cannot be sirrusyou cannot be sirrus wrote:Who rides these things, and why, is a question that can never be answered. It's a dark and mysterious cycling underworld.
Speak your mind,Those that mind dont matter, Those that matter dont mind!!
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Re: Please explain.
Postby damhooligan » Sun Aug 29, 2010 5:45 pm
well only HE can...Apple wrote:You cannot be sirrusyou cannot be sirrus wrote:Who rides these things, and why, is a question that can never be answered. It's a dark and mysterious cycling underworld.
SCHIJNVEILIGHEID !!
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Re: Please explain.
Postby Mulger bill » Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:23 pm
FG bikes have no freewheel, when the bike is moving the cranks are turning. No coast for you!
Gearing is riders choice, a lot of the bikes I've seen seem to run about a 44/16.
As to why? Good question. Some of it will be a kulcha thing, some down to the constant effort required being a better workout. Many riders claim they feel more a part of the machine than on a geared bike.
Based on my own very limited experience, it feels different in a good kinda way but hills hurt more. Not that that's stopping me slowly building me own up.
Clear as mud? Sorry, it's the best I've got. So far...
Shaun
London Boy 29/12/2011
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Re: Please explain.
Postby brauluver » Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:56 pm
Head to your nearest velodrome and watch some track cyclingApple wrote:Hi,
I have been on this forum for a while, but have not visited the fixed gear section. Can someone please explain to me what that means. Is it one a big 53 ring at the front and an 11 at the back?
My other question is who rides these sorts of bike and what for? Training, fun, flat riding.etc
No brakes , no coasting.
For the road read sheldon http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html
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Re: Please explain.
Postby europa » Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:07 pm
I tried it and liked it. I still like it. It's a different skill set and different way of riding to riding with a freewheel and it suits me. I also enjoy riding bikes with gears but at the moment, an riding only fixed.
Then one must conside this sage advice (from, I think, a Frenchman who's name I also fail to remember) - 'tis better to succed by the strength of one's legs than to resort to the artifice of a derailleur
Richard
and no, it doesn't make any sense, but neither does kitting yourself in fancy dress and riding a plastic bike in an apparently uncompromising position
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Re: Please explain.
Postby brauluver » Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:17 pm
True...but both fixed gear,and lycra/carbon are eminently fashionable now a dayseuropa wrote:
and no, it doesn't make any sense, but neither does kitting yourself in fancy dress and riding a plastic bike in an apparently uncompromising position
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Re: Please explain.
Postby mikesbytes » Sun Aug 29, 2010 10:18 pm
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Re: Please explain.
Postby Apple » Mon Aug 30, 2010 7:04 am
Are you saing there are no brakes on these bikesbrauluver wrote:Apple wrote:Hi,
Head to your nearest velodrome and watch some track cycling
No brakes , no coasting.
For the road read sheldon http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html
So would you use them on hills and how on earth do you stop without breaks. You have all got me so intrigued I am heading off to the local bike shop to see if they have one.
My impression of a fixed is what my kids had as a first bike.
You still didn’t tell me how many teeth are on the front cog and the back cog. Or do they differ depending on what you want.
I will also be reading Sheldonbrown, thank you for the link
I am confuses with the coasting thing?
Speak your mind,Those that mind dont matter, Those that matter dont mind!!
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Re: Please explain.
Postby The Womble » Mon Aug 30, 2010 7:22 am
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Re: Please explain.
Postby DaveOZ » Mon Aug 30, 2010 7:47 am
I'm all for lightweight simplicity - I drive a Lotus that has no doors or heaters but it has brakes!!
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Re: Please explain.
Postby sogood » Mon Aug 30, 2010 7:48 am
How do you equate "cool factor" and "trendy"?The Womble wrote:theyre the cycling equivilent of man scarfes on a 20 degree day. Trendy (stupid) and pointless, and most of them are more concerned with looks than function. They do have a coolness factor though I have to admit
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
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Re: Please explain.
Postby yehuda » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:07 am
Yeah, the 'cool' comment sorta negated the 'trendy' comment...sogood wrote:How do you equate "cool factor" and "trendy"?The Womble wrote:theyre the cycling equivilent of man scarfes on a 20 degree day. Trendy (stupid) and pointless, and most of them are more concerned with looks than function. They do have a coolness factor though I have to admit
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Re: Please explain.
Postby The Womble » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:24 am
They are cool to look at if theyre perdy, but I didnt buy a fixie just coz everyone else had one like half, ney, most of them. Half those guys would struggle to ride safely on a fully equipped bike but they buy these things insteadyehuda wrote:Yeah, the 'cool' comment sorta negated the 'trendy' comment...sogood wrote:How do you equate "cool factor" and "trendy"?The Womble wrote:theyre the cycling equivilent of man scarfes on a 20 degree day. Trendy (stupid) and pointless, and most of them are more concerned with looks than function. They do have a coolness factor though I have to admit
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Re: Please explain.
Postby The Womble » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:38 am
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Re: Please explain.
Postby jwg » Mon Aug 30, 2010 9:25 am
Just to complete that quoteeuropa wrote: 'tis better to succed by the strength of one's legs than to resort to the artifice of a derailleur
I still feel that varable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer?
We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!
--Henri Desgrange, L'Équipe article of 1902
No offence to anyone
yeah but for me riding fixed is for the absolute near to zero chance of anything braking/coming loose/squeaking etc... plus they are pretty nice looking bikes
dont get me wrong, i love geared bikes as i do a bit of long distance touring and such as well. just riding fixed for commuting in a reasonably flat environment makes sense
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Re: Please explain.
Postby DaveOZ » Mon Aug 30, 2010 9:30 am
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Re: Please explain.
Postby sogood » Mon Aug 30, 2010 9:37 am
Well, there goes all the motivations to improve bike efficiency. Yet again, that came from some crazy french dude.europa wrote:Then one must conside this sage advice (from, I think, a Frenchman who's name I also fail to remember) - 'tis better to succed by the strength of one's legs than to resort to the artifice of a derailleur
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
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Re: Please explain.
Postby r2160 » Mon Aug 30, 2010 9:44 am
Hi appleApple wrote:Are you saing there are no brakes on these bikesbrauluver wrote:Apple wrote:Hi,
Head to your nearest velodrome and watch some track cycling
No brakes , no coasting.
For the road read sheldon http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html
So would you use them on hills and how on earth do you stop without breaks. You have all got me so intrigued I am heading off to the local bike shop to see if they have one.
My impression of a fixed is what my kids had as a first bike.
You still didn’t tell me how many teeth are on the front cog and the back cog. Or do they differ depending on what you want.
I will also be reading Sheldonbrown, thank you for the link
I am confuses with the coasting thing?
That is correct. On a velodrome, all bikes are fixed (ie as long as the wheel turns the cranks turn) and there are no brakes. As it is a controlled environment, so long as nobody has brakes, everybody is more predictable. Remember a velodrome is generally a closed short track with no real hills.
When the race is finished, to stop you simply slow your pedalling.
The gear ratio (cogs) are whatever you want. The type of track riding dictates what gear ratio you want. Whether it is sprinting or a longer distance race, the ratios can change.
Coasting on a normal road bike means that when you stop pedalling, you simply roll or coast along. On a fixed gear bike, the cranks turn while the wheels turn. There is not really a lot of rest time.
cheers
Glenn
"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever" Lance Armstrong
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Re: Please explain.
Postby Stovepipe » Mon Aug 30, 2010 1:03 pm
ah but if all cyclists were really concerned with efficiency wouldnt they be on recumbents instead of fancy carbon?sogood wrote:Well, there goes all the motivations to improve bike efficiency. Yet again, that came from some crazy french dude.europa wrote:Then one must conside this sage advice (from, I think, a Frenchman who's name I also fail to remember) - 'tis better to succed by the strength of one's legs than to resort to the artifice of a derailleur
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Re: Please explain.
Postby Apple » Mon Aug 30, 2010 2:11 pm
I actually move to an area which is relatively flat. I have a beautiful Italian racing bike with dura ace components for the hills and long distance riding; I think it would be lovely to get a simple bike like a fixed, like those women’s bikes for shopping, is it doable, I don’t need drop handle bars.
Speak your mind,Those that mind dont matter, Those that matter dont mind!!
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Re: Please explain.
Postby mikesbytes » Mon Aug 30, 2010 2:59 pm
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Re: Please explain.
Postby brauluver » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:46 pm
like this http://www.myfixedgear.net/peugeot-ladi ... ic-mixte-2Apple wrote: I think it would be lovely to get a simple bike like a fixed, like those women’s bikes for shopping, is it doable, I don’t need drop handle bars.
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Re: Please explain.
Postby GraemeK » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:56 pm
Graeme
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