What made you start riding fixed?

I started riding fixed on the road 2yrs ago. Before that it was 10yrs on the track/road/cyclox.

I was invited to ride the Clunker Classic - bring any bike inappropriate for mtb and ride it as hard as you can against 20 other people down a narrow rocky 4 mi long dirt track. Not being drunk is frowned upon. In the lead up to the event I had a small panic on, so I picked up a disused road frame, found a set of shitty fixed clincher wheels and lobbed something together. Got home and the frame was still in one piece so decided to ride it to work instead of the DH/freeride bike.

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

Really? How would it be more efficient? You shouldn't be able to tell the difference if the GI are the same and you're constantly applying pressure to the pedals.

but you're not going to be applying constantly pressure to the pedals, that's the point.

well, you're not going to be freewheeling are you?

No, hence it's easier doing it fixed because the pressure is more constant that with a freehub.

I'm not seeing the logic sumo.

me neither... Am I missing something?

I can't tell the difference between fixed or free when I'm applying force

I can see that fixed could be more efficient on the flat.

while applying force you can't tell.

However the uphill lark is usually claim to be easier because of the rear wheel forcing your legs to keep a smooth cadence by not letting you coast in a moment of weakness while climbing, thus why some (like sumo) find it easier.

perhaps the momentum of the wheel helps the pedal get over the dead spot?

precisely, especially the big 700c wheel.

have marky boy and andyp had a baby?

perhaps the momentum of the wheel helps the pedal get over the dead spot?

This.

When you think you're 'constantly applying force to the pedals' you're really not, are you?

Sorry, I meant, this:

but you're not going to be applying constantly pressure to the pedals, that's the point.

ummmmm. You are applying a constant force to the pedals, however, the torque being applied is not constant.

I'm unconvinced. If you're climbing a hill how often does your cadence reduce enough to allow free-wheeling? I don't think I ever do that.

Efficiency will only improve by a noticeable margin if you have bad pedalling technique and thus dead spots are a problem. Dead spots shouldn't really be much of a problem at sort of low cadences that you tend to climb fixed as you can focus a lot more on pedalling in circles. If anything the advantage to fixed when climbing is down to the lower weight.

cyclotron, when you're climbing, you might in a moment of weakness stop pedalling, and once you stop, it become a lots harder to restart after dropping too much speed even in the few second of coasting.

like mccarthy said, fixed wheel is useful to teach yourself to climb better.

ummmmm. You are applying a constant force to the pedals, however, the torque being applied is not constant.

You are almost definitely not applying a constant force to the pedals. Unless you're really weird.

For a freewheel,I think that it is the momentum of the cranks and pedals that carry you over the dead spot. With a fixed wheel the momentum of the rear wheel will help the cranks over this point.

exactly.

blah blah blah you might in a moment of weakness blah blah blah

What is this "weakness" of which you speak?

;-)

have marky boy and andyp had a baby?

It's just the first wave of the great user merge of 2011.

See you on the other side, wibscoble.

Bpm?

:-)

It's just the first wave of the great user merge of 2011.

See you on the other side, wibscoble.