Dilemma of the 'mature" fixed gear rider.

No idea where to post this but keen to hear others' experiences. Don't think I'm the only old-timer (52) on this forum who suddenly finds themselves a few years beyond the age at which Henri Degranges deemed 'variable gears" acceptable. Most of my riding is still on a fairly easy gear and well fitting fixed gear bicycle but my legs just feel more and more tired. It's not joint pain but muscular fatigue. Do I just accept it's time to stop riding fixed for good or do I just need to work harder on strength?

I'm a similar age & riding a Brompton after sacking fixed off a couple of years ago; tired of being a lone wolf!
What are your general fitness levels like & diet? Bad habits? 52 doesn't sound too old if you're riding a spinny gear!

This became a gravel bike forum in 2017, that may hint at the answer you seek :)

I'm pretty fit but still have a beer habit so am no whippet! Not obese though obvs

Month off the booze?
Eliminate that as a variable.

I'm 72 and live at the top of Crouch Hill - still ride fixed (as well as geared), say 70/72ish gi depending on which bike. I don't see why riding fixed should be any more tiring than geared (in general, that is). You just need to be determined and, as you say, work harder.

Yeah - good shout. Have never actually tried this.

Mature fixed gear rider, aka MAMILILF

Same age and I’m looking forward to putting my fixed back together and riding it, perhaps not out in the lanes like I once did but shorter local routes to stretch the legs, it’s currently in the loft but moving soon means it will be in a garage so no excuse to not jump on it for an hour.

It’s not going uphill I’m that bothered about but I’ll likely be avoiding long downhills if I can as I prefer tempo rather than furious cadence.

I’m a bit younger (45) still riding fixed every day. I do feel a bit more fatigued than I used to but doing more stretching has made a big difference also a foam roller has helped.

A noticeable, swift decline in muscle power is worth going to your GP about. I had this, battled it for months assuming I was just getting weak and old, turned out it was iron deficiency. I now pop a ferrous sulphate a day and drink one of those horrid meal replacement shakes and I’m back to being a legend.

Diet is more of a thing as you get old apparently.

I'm a few years younger than you and have started riding fixed again post lockdowns (previous to those I mainly rode ss). Really enjoying it again and hoping that it will keep the leg strength up. That said, I do find 79 gear inches a bit harder than I used too and I'm wondering whether to do it a bit for the winter...

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/374416/

reminded me of this thread. keep the faith!

Thanks for all these helpful replies! I'm going to stick with it but maybe try to make some changes elsewhere in life - diet, drinking etc. It's too much fun to give up the fixed cog. Whenever I get a geared machine, I end up selling it on because it's not getting much use.

I really agree with those who say a long ride on a fixed gear feels memorable, adventurous and satisfying.

Thanks again folks!

And to @M_V, i also owned an equilibrium for a while. Loved it for about two rides then found it dull forevermore. The only geared bike I have loved riding over the past 20 years was a De Rosa Milanino (the one that took mudguards). They stopped making them and I've hankered after one on my size ever since. If you see one on large, send it my way!

I'm 54,my ratio is 48 x 14 and I'm not slowing down.Sometimes I think that age is irrelevant ,I'm pretty sure I could do well in the crit races but I do ride alot.When my body complains I ride harder.

a few years beyond the age at which Henri Degranges deemed 'variable gears" acceptable.

I don't think M. Desgrange ever thought variable gears were acceptable - he just got too ill to prevent their use.

I recently made some provision for my old age - I bought a 47 tooth chainring to fit at some time in the future when I can't manage the 49 I'm using ATM.

P.S. This post is a reply to Rastapopoulos, not user 150449.

48 x 18 conveniently expresses my développement in gear-inches and years, so far so good

The fear is real.

Interesting to hear about iron deficiency.

Sometimes I wonder if I should have had a rear brake-hole put on my custom Yates, and used long dropouts with a hanger. For options. But I intended it to be the forever-fixed. Not getting as many outings as it could, but still ridden regularly, as I approach 51.

Should we do a classic fixed group ride sometime, to encourage those whose Groad Bieks have taken over to rediscover Fixy-lyf? Cambridge is the obvious one. For old times’ sake.

Slow and steady? Lunch from that Londis around half way? I don’t think I could cope with the nostalgia.

I still commute in and out of London fixed. Still seems much the same tbh.

Roughly the same age.

I have a 47 awaiting my older years too. I’m currently on 48x20. 65 inches. I used to ride 63 as a teen on winter rides. I’ll be back there soon enough.
I’ve not ridden geared or freewheeled at all since 2019. I dread coming up to a junction and having to remember what the brake levers are for.

Mid-50s and commuting fixed through west London on 74”, which gets tough in the Chiltern Hills. Need to sort out some niggling knee pain this winter that is probably the aftereffects of significant broken bones in my youth. Riding gears helps a little but not heaps. The pain is making stairs quite uncomfortable now and the next PBP is going to difficult otherwise.

I pootle around on 67/68 inches (living on top of a hill) and am in the mature forumenger bracket. Haven't noticed much difference in getting more tired over the years. Not as fit as I was as haven't been doing many longer miles (+ unhealthy red wine and cheese intake).

50 years old, still ride fixed about 70 miles a week, but only climb around 3,500ft. I have 48x16 gears and although I live in Norwich I live at the top of a hill and also work at the top of a different hill :P Some days my legs are shot, other they are fine. I don’t think it’s age, I think it’s pies.