Advice needed

I have, after some months of pitiful and pathetic crawling, persuaded my wife that I need a single speed/fixed wheel bike.

I am besotted with this one:

http://www.cyclefit.co.uk/images/bikes/LARGE/TUPELO_ss_bike_XL.jpg

and, am going off to order one as soon as I retuirn to London from a business trip in a couple of weeks.

I have decided to go for a flip flop rear wheel with fixed on one side and free wheel on the other. I need help to decide what gear ratios would work best.

I am an overweight elderly man. 15 stone and 50. Not a pretty sight. I have cycled 6000 miles in the past year and aim to increase that over the next twelve months. The SS/Fixie is for commuting (only three miles each way from Islington to the City - slight slope on the way home) and short training rides after work, say laps of Regents Park. I am aiming to lose more weight (yes I was really fat when I took up cycling in earnest just over a year ago) and get stronger but I do not want to mess up my aging knees.

Any suggestions on ratios?

Thanks

Hello and welcome!

blimg bling!

high 60s to low 70s gear inches, you may find it low at first but learn to spin to win!It will maximise the effect of your short commute.

That's a stunningly beautiful bike. Have you seen it in the flesh? It's wonderful.

Ask CycleFit to swap out the crankset from the Miche to a Sugino 75 or Campagnolo Record. I've found the Miche to have a bit of flex in it.

The Brick has the ratio spot on, high 60's (spinner) to low/mid 70's (masher).

If you go for a singlespeed freewheel, ask for the White Industries one as it has more contact points and means instant engagement when you put the power down.

And if knees are a concern for you, then as you're in CycleFit ask Phil or Julian about the shims or custom footbed things for your cleats and shoes. They are masters at making knee movement (side to side) disappear and to get the bike set up precisely for your fit. It's definitely worth it.

Oh, and the really incredible thing is that it's a Serotta steel frame with a geometry designed by CycleFit. It's pretty awesome in my opinion. But then, I am something of a fan of theirs (they eradicated my back pain, got me cycling long distance, and furnished me with the most perfect bike in the world).

i dont have much to add at the moment, except bling bling.

Thanks. I've been riding a Glider Boxer Cross ever since I first dicovered Cyclefit and have never had a flicker of pain from it. Before that I struggled around on a heavy old hybrid which I have had cyclefitted and which still gets me to and from work but I feel the time has come to move onto something better. I saw the bike in the shop a little while ago and fell deeply in love. My wife was initially reluctant for me to clutter the house with another bike and concerned about my mid life obsession. She is now content in the knowledge that I am fitter than I was, thinner and thinking of riding a fixed wheel bike and not the office bike which, in her view and mine, is an all together better way of getting through any mid life crisis.

I am struggling on whether to go with the white saddle and tapes as shown or to go for Brookes. The latter is a little cliched but the former could show wear and dirt.

white will show ware and dirt, and that saddle may get blueish if you ride in denim, but i think that brooks would look a bit odd on that frame, and they are heavy, but comfort is important.

If you can spare the cash I'd go for a Brooks Swift. Or even a Swallow if you're feeling flash. Neither would look out of place on that bike, imho.

I agree with CC, maybe a B17 would look a bit clunky.

That said, I have a B17 on both my bikes and I don't find them to be such an eyesore. 'specially when I'm sitting on them.

you ride your bike? i just take pics of mine and blog about tricks.

you ride your bike? i just take pics of mine and blog about tricks.

hah!

Though it has to be said, never really understood why people get so angsty about how saddles look given that they're kinda obscured...

i like my saddle, it holds my bum like a lovers hand, not to soft, not to firm.

Nice bike! +1 to DKs suggestion of Sugino 75 cranks - but from an aesthetic standpoint. Be a shame to have black everything else and silver cranks.

I like the white bits. Fiz:ik white bar tape holds out pretty well. How about trying that?

I went for Brooks 'collars & cuffs' and didn't find the tape to be worth the premium. Plus I was pretty narked that the leather didn't match my saddle.

Either way, enjoy what will be a lovely whip and welcome to the forum.

A tory called a velocipede a whip, the world is at an end

I am an overweight elderly man. 15 stone and 50. Not a pretty sight.

50 is not 'elderly' !!

73, yes, but 50 is more mid-life crisis territory :)

As a pretty out of shape cyclist I will make no comment about the 15 stone part.

I'd go for the white tape and saddle that they have on there. I don't ride in denim much at all and my white Fizik Aliante has not shown any major scuffling or marks in a couple of years.

The white bar tape they're using is luxuriously padded and grippy. It's really nice. So nice that my girl is now getting that on her Thorn Audax bike.

As you've had a fitting are you not going to have the saddle that worked best in the fitting put on? Surely that would be the best thing?

And the Brooks. Don't go for aesthetics over function. It's your arse, back and knees and comfort that are involved and it's never worth gambling with. If you don't have a saddle that works for you, feel free to try anything else including a Brooks. But if you've got something that is already heavenly then don't change it.

does 14 stone sound right for approx 200lbs?

I'm too young, stupid and foreign to figure out your quaint ways

95 1/4 kilos Chris. Not sure what that is in US lbs.

1kilogram= 2.20462262 pounds, so 1 stone= 210.001326lbs?

seems more wrong then the answer wiki gave me... where did my math go wrong?

google says 1stone= 14lbs, didn't know it had a calculator... what will those clever geeks do next.

Difference between UK and US lbs, and US Imperial lbs and US lbs. Which is why I went for kg as my unit of choice... I have no idea which lbs you actually use.

nither do I...

metric is better, but having never been actually taught it, i don't really have a frame of reference, distance i have good, and volume is solid, but weight i have no clue other then one cm3 of water is a milliliter and weighs a gram at one degree c.

And the Brooks. Don't go for aesthetics over function. I

Exactly. It's hidden under your arse afterall when you're riding!

That's a really, really nice bike. You're going to have a lot of fun; even more so that it's fitted by Cyclefit.

chris
14lbs = 1 stone, so 10 stone is a 140lbs, so 15 stone is 210lbs

chris
14lbs = 1 stone, so 10 stone is a 140lbs, so 15 stone is 210lbs

US or UK lbs? ;)

US or UK lbs? ;)

They're the same - it's only US and UK gallons that differ...

the reason why this question appeared here and not google is there are a lot of different pounds, i weigh around 190-200 of one kind, but not sure which.

wait, you fuckers do gallons wrong?