What made you start riding fixed?

if your saddle hurt when riding fixed then it has probably accentuated bike-fitting issues that coasting around lazily on single-speed has masked.

re: inefficiency - try riding up a hill and you'll quickly see how much more efficient a fixed drive train is.

This is possibly true. BMMF did warn me. But I feel that I have been very comfortably positioned on my bike, and never suffer from any body aches at all, despite cycling over 100 miles per week, every week. But I also feel that my ability to move around on my saddle, subconsciously, is now removed, as a profficient action in fixed cycling is to sit still and let the legs spin (slowly in my case....I'm am just trying it for the first time). 18-19 stone sitting on a tiny saddle and never moving is not an experience that I think saddle designers envisaged at the drawing board. But like with a Brooks, it may just take a bit of time to get accustomed to. Either that or a different saddle needs be sought.

I went up Loampit Vale this morning, and yes, it felt different, but not more efficient. It probably will when I have the confidence to return to my normal cycling speeds. My typical journey from Lower Sydenham to Farringdon is about 40 minutes. My fastest is 36 minutes. My journey this morning was a very intimidated 50 minutes. My regular slow time is 45 minutes. I'll aim for 45 minutes and work my way down. Once I get to 40 minutes, I have reached a level of confidence that can then be built on.

GAGS, you will also find you have more control of the bike at low speeds. That and it's a lot more fun.

This hasn't been my experience so far, and I have a feeling it might not be. We shall see. I remain open-minded because it is a new enterprise for me. Fun? Isn't that something people have until the end of high school? I don't remember.

GA2G, you could also decide not to leg-brake and use the two brakes that are on the bike from SS times.
Then your braking would be as accurate, no?

My knees certainly never liked leg braking, so I decided to not do it. I use both brakes and very rarely counter-pedal ...

I only leg-braked to slow down....almost to a complete stop, and that was from low speeds. Its a discipline I actually want to at least try to master. Consider though that we are talking of slowing down a 19 stone mass (gorilla plus bike plus heavy bag). Luckily my legs are well developed.

Bingo!

Brakes on road fixed are the most underrated thing ever, and brakeless riding on the road is the most overrated.

The forces acting on your joints and muscles when resisting hard are not usually good ones. That's why most experienced track rides do not use lockrings and do not kick back hard to slow down or stop.

I won't overdo it.

I agree with Pascalo and RPM. I only run a front brake but I don't often need to use my legs to slow down. Its important that I am able to stop using my legs if need be as I see rear braking on fixed as an insurance policy against the occasional time when you need to stop quickly. Its all about being safe I reckon.

If I'm reading the road carefully pseudo freewheeling is all I need from my legs in terms of stopping. Like Pascalo, applying pressure with my legs to stop doesn't feel natural so I aim just to do it enough to me confident that I've got some of the necessary muscle development but rarely enough not to cause any problems further down the line.

Having said that, I had to skid stop last night and I tweaked both my hips. Maybe I should be practising more.

I'll keep all of this advice in mind. Any accidents and I'm suing the lot of you. TruFax.

All comments and advice honestly appreciated. I never thought I would ride fixed, and its not so bad really.