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not so stupid when most of us chosen the h plus son simply because of the extremely deep v-ness that offer no advantage at all when we could've gotten a much much better rims for more than half the price (and perform much better than the H+son too as well as being stronger).
so yes, it's kinda a fashion thing.
after weeks not using the brakes I end up taking them off, ironically enough the amount of close call I used to get while commuting dramatically drop after being less aggressive due to relying on the front brake to slow down immediately if something popped up while going very fast.
Thats why I keep my front brake on.
Couldn't bare to slow it down... -
nobody is telling you to go brakeless, the best way to have 100% enjoyment out of your bike is to have it how you feel comfortable so you can zoom in and out of traffic quicker, especially when the light is turning red and having the option to put on a lot of speed and hope for the best
you'll get fitter either way once you're started to get used to riding a fixed wheel bicycles, so consequently less sweating too.
fixed
i think riding brakeless is more fun, but im waiting for the day when someone smooshes me for doing something entirely my fault and incredibly stupid
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Here's what I'm doing at te moment. Something a little different to the norm...
I'm running a front Hope XC hub on the rear of my fixed wheel bike with an ISO cog from 'London Fixie Bike' bolted to the disc mounts. My friend made me a special axle and spacer, so the hub runs in a 120mm spaced frame with perfect chain alignment and uses track nuts instead of a QR skewer. I'm also running a set of wethepeople royal BMX cranks upfront with a 43 tooth Profile imperial sprocket, which seems to work well.
Also a slightly different wheelbuild...It's a 3leading, 3 trailing snowflake with a single twist for each pair of spokes. Never seen it done before, just thought I'd give it ago. Seems pretty reasonable so far!
Here are a few pictures:
Sorry, the wheel's clearly only half built in this photo...I know it's not the average setup for a fixed wheel bike, but I can't see any disadvantages over the conventinal, screw-on cogs, but there are many, obvious advantages!
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Since when has riding fixed made a person fitter? Some of the nonsense you hear on this forum cracks me up.
I would have thought that having to constantly pedal would provide a more consistent cardovascular workout.
What I dont understand, is when people claim that you sweat less if you are fitter. OK you should be able to ride at the same pace, at a lower heartrate. But the heart is not the only muscle involved in cycling.
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Since when has riding fixed made a person fitter? Some of the nonsense you hear on this forum cracks me up.
I would think that it probably does, all things being equal, as it is harder work as you are never really in the optimum gear. i.e if you were to ride 20 miles in 1 hour it would be harder to do fixed than with gears (unless you had a 100% flat route with no wind and the perfect gearing for 20mph!)
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There are too many unaccounted for variables for this to make any sense. It's a non-argument
Yes, you are probably right. Controlled tests would be the only way of knowing. However, I would still think that more energy would have to be used to maintain the same average speed on a fixed/singlespeed. Otherwise why would people use gears? (gears are there to make it easier/faster/more efficient which means less energy required for same speed doesn't it)
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Yes, you are probably right. Controlled tests would be the only way of knowing. However, I would still think that more energy would have to be used to maintain the same average speed on a fixed/singlespeed. Otherwise why would people use gears? (gears are there to make it easier/faster/more efficient which means less energy required for same speed doesn't it)
A lot of TTers race on fixed, but train on gears. If fixed was "harder" or "less efficient" then it'd be the other way around!
Cadence isn't really a limiting factor on power (unless you are in completely the wrong gear).
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There are too many unaccounted for variables for this to make any sense. It's a non-argument
Fair enough.
The specific examples I was thinking about, were...
1) a long deccent.
Geared = freewheel + smoke'm if you got'm
Fixed = spinny spin spin2) Riding with gears (ie. me at the mo)
Typical school boy error of always riding a couple gears too high. Poor CV workout, although pretty good for strengh. -
Depends on the given speed. Still too many variables for this to make any sense.
My original point was that the forum seems to be unduly biased towards a number of things (fixed gears, lo-pros, quill stems, 531 steel, etc...) and then inflate the properties of those things to justify their liking of them as purely a fashionista and hipster.
Why don't people just tell the truth and say they bought a 'fixie' to be cool and get down with the kids?
(This is heavy on the sarcasm and my tongue is firmly lodged in my cheek but the point stands.)
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A lot of TTers race on fixed, but train on gears. If fixed was "harder" or "less efficient" then it'd be the other way around!
Cadence isn't really a limiting factor on power (unless you are in completely the wrong gear).
Very good point.
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Since when has riding fixed made a person fitter? Some of the nonsense you hear on this forum cracks me up.
I would have thought that having to constantly pedal would provide a more consistent cardovascular workout.
What I dont understand, is when people claim that you sweat less if you are fitter. OK you should be able to ride at the same pace, at a lower heartrate. But the heart is not the only muscle involved in cycling.
okay I used to be about 16.5 stones 1 years ago, I remember breaking into sweat just by getting in a tube in the evening of the summer when it's not that warm, walking for 10 minutes I break into a sweat, so consequently I break into a sweat after riding a bicycles for more than 5 minutes, and on a fixed wheel bicycles, a lots earlier.
I used to cycle on my old hybrid, I didn't even lose weight, and I had that bike for a year, I always liked singlespeed and the idea of getting a cheap road bike and putting in a fixed wheel seemed fantastically cheap.
the first 2 months was hard on me, but it got a lots easier, when I do 11 miles, I do 11 miles due to the fixed wheel, not about.. 8-9 miles if you included the amount of time that I've coast and have easy gearing.
as of May 2008, I weighted 12 stone, I lost 4 and a half stones simply by riding a fixed wheel bicycles.
so yes, I'm living proof that fixed wheel bicycles does make you fitter (oh and I no longer break into sweat anymore, even in a crowded tube, I didn't even managed to).
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Many do I believe.
A famous example would be boardman's 25 record, that was done on fixed.
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the first 2 months was hard on me, but it got a lots easier, when I do 11 miles, I do 11 miles due to the fixed wheel, not about.. 8-9 miles if you included the amount of time that I've coast.
Stop coasting then you lazy fucker.
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Posted by
@emoxfag
nobody is telling you to go brakeless, the best way to have 100% enjoyment out of your bike is to have a front brake to able to zoom in and out of traffic quicker, especially when the light is turning red and having the option to stop on time, going brakeless is entirely my own choice, there's not much benefit in going brakeless beside the aesthetic reason.
you'll get fitter either way once you're started to get used to riding a fixed wheel bicycles, so consequently less sweating too.