First time

Well I just rode a fixed wheel bike for the first time! Just fitted my new goldtec and open pro wheel, new chain, degreased everything, and went for my first whizz around the block.

First impressions:

• So quiet!
  
• The acceleration is mental. The hill that is on the road where I live I have to mash up when I was singlespeeding on 42:18 but is no problem at all in fixed on 42:16.
  
  

Without realising I tried to coast as well and I quickly noted that I better not do that again :) Looks like I'll be going to work on the cycle paths just to be safe tomorrow.

Also, how tight should the lockring be? As tight as possible or snug? I used the rotafix method to attach the cog so the cog should be pretty tight as it is.

welcome to fixed riding
lock ring should be `as TIGHT as humanly possible, you need a descent spanner to get it on. and maybe threadlock it.

my first fixie cog went on so tight in the end the only way to get it off was with my trusty old DREMEL

snug sounds about right to me

nope "snug" is not good, because once you stand/apply weight it always moves in more...

Rightyo. I don't have a lockring tool - just use a hammer and flat head screwdriver. I'll double check it tomorrow morning.

Need to sort out a tug nut, because both singlespeed and a few minutes riding fixed the hub has moved forwards! Errgh!

I just got my first fixie earlier today, I can't stop finding excuses to go round the block, or to the shops - or even along the A12... It's amazing.

Everything I hoped it would be!

So stoked you're enjoying it too!

put the cog on wind up the lock ring, face a wall stand on the pedals push hard down you should find that the cog will budge a little bit , then bang the lockring tight up against it. no gap means no slip. i managed to fuck the threads thinking it was on tight enough.

Rightyo, ta. Will do that this morning then, I might even use the rotafix method again to double check it's tight, too.

Or you could just be a fool like me and run fixed on a freewheel thread, with a carrier as a lock ring. The so-called 'suicide hub'.

Seeing as I won some money playing poker on Saturday night, it might be time to get a new rear wheel with a fixed / fixed hub. Velocity deep v with white rims and a phil hub you say? Don't mind if I do....

Also check after the first few days/week as the thread beds in a little. Mine had changed after a few weeks and needed a re-tighten.

Yeah, I have been. I'm overly paranoid at the moment because my chainline is out by 3mm or so. Tried to remove the bash guard on the cranks and put the chainring on the outside of the spider, but the chainring bolts were too small by about 1mm so I'm going to order some different bolts from Hubjub.

Plus the damn chain tension is a pain in the arse!

And my spokes keep coming loose-ish after riding. I true the wheel up, stress relieve, re-true, make sure the spokes aren't twisting and that the tension is even but they still loosen up after just after a very short ride :S Strange.

eeehhhh
And my spokes keep coming loose-ish after riding. I true the wheel up, stress relieve, re-true, make sure the spokes aren't twisting and that the tension is even but they still loosen up after just after a very short ride :S Strange.

Did you destress the spokes when you built the wheel? If not that is why it keeps on comming out of true.

You mean squeeze all the spokes together?

Yeah but it is better to use somthing to twist the inboar spoke round the outboard spokes. You need to put a lot of preassure on them until they ping. Just squeesing does not usually produce enough force to ping them all and bed them in.

Its such a bright light now I've FINALLY seen it....

Well done eeehhhh. I too took my first serious fixed ride last week and can't get enough of it now! Soooooquiet!! I'd just knackered my 3th BMX freewheel on my 14mnth old langy and thought, fuckthisforalark and did my commute slow n steady. Today I was winding thru the traffic a bit more like normal, and hardly touching my brakes. Though last Friday I made a near fatal error of wearing boxers under my cutoffs and had a couple of near freewheeling moments trying to adjust me tackle....one time my rear wheel did a lift-off!

So I must check my lock-ring is tight enough? and check fairly it regularly.
what about tyre rotation direction? As I've flipped my wheel round, my tyre is now rotating the wrong way...problem or no?
Braking effectively now without bunnyhopping all the time, but HTF do you manage to skid? Is this because I'm running 48x16?
Back brake seems to be redundant....at what point should I get rid of it? will I ever want to freewheel again? (why?)

Yeah, lockring must be real tight. As far as I know, tread direction doesn't make a huge difference. I'm pretty sure Sheldon Brown says the same thing, I remember him writing about it on a page about tyres or something. I just like mine in the right direction because it just looks right :P

I can't slow myself down very well without using the brakes. I think it's because I'm not using clipless or straps. I won some powergrips on eBay and they should arrive tomorrow so I'll see how they go. Attempting to skid is well out of the question for me at the moment! I'm only running 42:16 but I do live in a relatively hilly area.

Just keep the brake. No harm in doing so; there isn't a point when you "should" get rid of it. I'm going to stay with 2 brakes because I'm going to switch to drops and I want two hoods to grip on.

hehe.. I'm still on my first serious rides I guess. It was pretty straightforward and I can hop back and forth between the bmx and the fixed and adjust to the different riding positions instantly. I guess it's good that I never really rode a big wheeled bike that much anyway, now it's easy - pedal all the time while sitting down, feel free to freewheel while standing.

only time I tried to freewheel on the fixed was today while going a little bit too fast at a sharp corner and almost hitting the curb.. It didn't help that I tried to freewheel right in the middle of it :D