First Fixed Ride

I rode with aero bars for the first time today.

It was ok.

Did they melt ?

<---- more of a Mars man myself

nah, had them in my bag so it was cool (in both senses).

I use them to lower the overall weight of my bike, like having a helium balloon in my bag. Smart see.

*note maltesers and quavers also work for this trick.

My first fixed ride will be on Thursday when I get my brothers Charge Plug off him. Been riding my mountain bike in the closest gear ratio to the Plug for 2 weeks now and been getting myself into the pedal all the time mentality, so much so that I almost had an off when pedalling whilst leaning into a tight turn. The strangest thing for me is when standing up to pedal over an obstacle, it feels very weird and nothing at all like when I get out of the saddle for a steep hill.

Smart C.B. Helium bolloons... now there is a great idea.

Blow up clothes? Inflatable gf ? (or bf)

How does this affect traction ?

(hmmn Bolloons, I quite like that)

I took my fixed out for a proper ride this weekend, (as opposed to a scoot to the shops which is all it has been used for).

Had a 2 mile scoot to the Halfords as I had a wobbly crank, but then on my way. Managed a 20 mile round trip, which I thought was pretty successful really. I had a few hairy moments when going over bumps or avoiding a pothole where I forgot about my legs, but no major events.#

Also, I had a man at Tesco tell me how pretty my bike was. This made my day.

I've met scoot and she's tiny. Not sure like being referred to as a two mile scoot. Unless she's blossomed somewhat.

Halfords should be under a nationwide boycott. they try to charge £2 to use their bike pump ffs!

Saucy cunts.

Use it to do what?

To blow up your aerogirlfriend, obvs.

Not sure mine is worth £2 each time, though. She attracts punctures like she does it on purpose.

Inflatable, insatiable you.....

Smart C.B. Helium bolloons... now there is a great idea.

Blow up clothes? Inflatable gf ? (or bf)

Halfords should be under a nationwide boycott. they try to charge £2 to use their bike pump ffs!

Use it to do what?

To blow up your aerogirlfriend, obvs.

£2 for hellium sounds great.

Just got one of these last week and so far think its great. It's my first fixed gear bike and will be using it for commuting mostly with the occasional weekend ride I reckon.

Any tips from anyone to a newbie would be greatly received.

Anyone else got one of these bikes?

Got a frame in the garage, hipster blue, 2010 I think. Sensible starter bike I'd say. So long as it's not the all white (2011?) one.

for me I found have some sharp brakes at the front, really helped me to "hop and skidstop" and get used to looking over you're shoulder whilst moving legs.
Love fixed gear but remember as the gearings usually higher than other bikes be aware when moving off etc to allow for initial slower acceleration especially if you're turning right at a junction etc

Do
Get an areospoke
Chop those risers

Don'ts
Stop pedaling
Lean

If youre about to divebomb down a massive hill make sure if you have a hat on its well on the head, as if it starts to fly off its tricky to get it back on whilst pedalling at top speed

Paddywagon is a good bike, a bit heavy but very comfortable. Mine's done the DunRun twice and been a solid commuter for several years. Other than new sprockets, chains, chainring, headset, bar tape, brake blocks, bottom bracket and front wheel, it's still exactly the same as when it came out the box and still has 1000's miles left in it. :)

PS: there's a post your paddy wagon thread for pictures: https://www.lfgss.com/thread17594.html

I had many happy miles on mine, including a DunRun and many FNRttCs and my daily commute. Rock solid, good looking, no-nonsense workhorse.

Only parted with it when a TNRC left me thinking I might stand a better chance of keeping up with the bunch if I had a lighter bike, and bought a Pearson Touche.

Love my Paddy Wagon, use it way more than any of my other bikes - did an Ironman on it last year (though they made me flip the hub as fixies aren't tri-legal).

Any tips from anyone to a newbie would be greatly received.

Ride it.

Sell it. FIxed was done in 2009.

It's all about Weight-Weenied 16" shopping bikes converted to trikes and ridden up hills brakless with dark sunglasses on.

Sell it. FIxed was done in 2009.

It's all about Weight-Weenied 16" shopping bikes converted to trikes and ridden up hills brakless with dark sunglasses on.

starts new build

After dicking about on a road bike for the last couple of years I've built myself a track bike/getting around town fixed gear. It can be seen here: http://imgur.com/a/YOLqE if anyone's interested...

It's fucking terrifying and weird but quite good fun. With any luck I'll get it down to Herne Hill to wobble around an induction. Please feel free to pass comment/ridicule my bike/setup as you see fit.

It's been a while since I went fixed (about 8 months) but love it. It's especially great in slow moving start/stop traffic.

Two tips (aside from not trying to coast...)

1: Sensible pedals. I use SPDs. Anything that feels good and keeps your feet TIGHT on the pedal. The more they are locked to the pedal the more control you have over speeding up/slowing down.

2: Dig your hands/arms into the handlebars (if you come from riding loose with most weight on the backside) as you need something to push off against if you pull against drive direction to slow down. Within reason of course don't fully lock the elbow but be ready to push against if needed.

The rest, good front brake for Mr White Van Man/Suicidal Pedestrians/Monday Morning Bus Driver, don't start on 52/14 and other boring sensible stuff which is no doubt already posted :)

I did my first fixed commute yesterday. It was great fun, the only downsides that I found were:

• Getting into toe clips is much more difficult on a fixie. I was looking like a proper spanner away from lots of lights. Any hints (other than "practise!")
  
• I ache like a sonofabitch. It seems to work lots of different muscles around my hips. That could just be me being overly tense due to the new bike though.
  
  

I'm hoping that this could actually be good for my ropey knee. I think being forced to stand up off the saddle to get going might actually be a good thing. Because you're using your bodyweight to move the pedals, it puts less strain on your knees than putting purely muscular load through them in more bent position. I also think that resisting the pedals to slow down may well engage a load of muscles that aren't usually used, a bit like a wobble board. Fingers crossed!