Touring on a fixed

Wouldn't want to try it with a singlespeed - especially with 15 kgs of gear onboard!

I deff want to try this out i do quite a lot of 50 - 100 mile rides round england and this fixed touring business looks pretty good there is never anything too steep... how much would i be looking at to buy a fixed tourer and whats good?

mine cost me under a grand but you could whack panniers on anything if you wanted

reckon you could sort something for under £500 with panniers easily

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3607224754_10a1d4b0d7.jpg?v=1244541482

tilover what bars be they?
if they're midge bars and singular have some secret stock of them you might be able to liberate i'd be really unecessarily happy.

Frank

Find a touring frame with horizontal drop outs and you are sorted. These will be pre 1990 now or some thing new from surly or similar.

I say go for a touring frame as it will have right geometry etc and also have all the braze ons you might need. However, Sheldon Brown also suggested old english roadsters with 3 speeds as good potential fixed frames.

Old steel MTB frames from before 89/90 can also be good for a conversion to fixed

Wheel quality is also critical here.

a grand?!
Bike: £30.
Back wheel: £70.
Panniers + saddle: £50.
Getting to Berlin during a thunderstorm with a flat: Priceless.

mine cost me under a grand but you could whack panniers on anything if you wanted

reckon you could sort something for under £500 with panniers easily

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3607224754_10a1d4b0d7.jpg?v=1244541482

That bike was sweet, I thought that was the singular's guys?

Under a grand easy, depends on the initial frame but old touring and audax frames are cheap.

mine cost me under a grand but you could whack panniers on anything if you wanted

reckon you could sort something for under £500 with panniers easily

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3607224754_10a1d4b0d7.jpg?v=1244541482

That bike was sweet, I thought that was the singular's guys?

Under a grand easy, under 500 easy even with some decent small panniers and a rack, depends on the initial frame but old touring and audax frames are cheap.

Just noticed the tourist's hydration system of choice in the bottle cage

yeah, that one is mine (i am the beardy fellow often seen with sam from singular at such one geared events)

she's an 853 peregrine frame modified for fixed (bits filed off respaced) and yes she is a bit bling with ti swift and welded rack stuff but i am a firm believer of quality counts and when you ride something a lot it's worth putting the appropriate time and money into it

she also is built for fixed offroad with 29er stans 355 rims (although it is scary as shit!)

they are GB randonneur bars am afraid, amazing bars... i have some on-one moustache bars hanging around but no midges

Frank

Find a touring frame with horizontal drop outs and you are sorted. These will be pre 1990 now or some thing new from surly or similar.

I say go for a touring frame as it will have right geometry etc and also have all the braze ons you might need. However, Sheldon Brown also suggested old english roadsters with 3 speeds as good potential fixed frames.

Old steel MTB frames from before 89/90 can also be good for a conversion to fixed

Wheel quality is also critical here.

I salute sheldon brown

I dont think an old tourer would be hard to get hold of at all plenty of possible conversions kicking around as frames or complete bikes on ebay, cheers for the advice

after having spent close to a week on the road on my geared bike, have definitely come to the conclusion I would definitely prefer to tour with gears or at least single speed if any hills are involved...not a sucker for punishment especially when there's a few miles involved

after having spent close to a week on the road on my geared bike, have definitely come to the conclusion I would definitely prefer to tour with gears or at least single speed if any hills are involved...not a sucker for punishment especially when there's a few miles involved

Agreed.

Spending days in the saddle going up and down hills leads inevitably to this conclusion...

It's not nearly as bad going up the hills as it is going down if you've got any sort of weight on the racks. I remember going up a 700m pass maxing out at 14%. It was nails but doable. That was the easy part I realised later, boy was I not ready for the descent on the other side!!! I was running a 36x15 and hit 62kmph on the descent which if my mental math is up to anything is I think over 200rpm!!!! Grounding pedals at that speed with precipitous drops off the side was not too good for the heart which was already near maxed out :)

im planning on touring on fixed around france in a couple of weeks- 430 miles, im glad though ive opted for a flip flop hub otherwise it could be a bit crazy. As for taking stuff with me im just gonna rock a Backpack as i dont fancy bombing down hill with a trailer attached.

little voyeur, you also included a back brake as well too?

see the posts above on this

I d go for a bar bag and a saddle bag or rack pack insttead of a back pack.
Touring with back pack/ courier bag is not that comforable

Where are you headed for by the way?

On my bike only rolling with a front brake! My bro is ridding ss with front/back brake, the plan is to ride from dieppe to le Harve along the coast then down to le mans, then from le mans to paris and back to dieppe. were planning on touring for 8 days at the end of july.

i'm posting after the fact, but this belongs here.

my friends just completed the tour de taiwan. i couldn't get the time off, but i hosted the last night with a bbq on my rooftop. it was a group of about 25 guys, all fixie. hit the site. photos here.

Looks like they had a car?

Cheating.

thats what i was thinking! anyone offering to drive a support vehicle when i go to france?
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On my bike only rolling with a front brake! My bro is ridding ss with front/back brake, the plan is to ride from dieppe to le Harve along the coast then down to le mans, then from le mans to paris and back to dieppe. were planning on touring for 8 days at the end of july.

Sound great, have a good time however you do it and what ever you carry. I wish I doing some thing similar.

For further inspiration, there was a grear piece in Cycle Touring earlier in the year or late last year about 3 blokes who toured Albania in the 30s. There were on 3 speeds and single speeds I believe. Their kit was in their saddle bags .

On my bike only rolling with a front brake! My bro is ridding ss with front/back brake, the plan is to ride from dieppe to le Harve along the coast then down to le mans, then from le mans to paris and back to dieppe. were planning on touring for 8 days at the end of july.

look like you're going to have a fantastic time! althought I do advised on having both front and rear brake thought if you're touring, even on fixed, you'll find it easier to deal with.

Fair shout, i think i will just to be on the safe side. i was gonna say that i will be posting my route if anyone wanted to tag along even part of the way, the plan is to leave on the 27th of july and return on the 3rd of august.

althought I do advised on having both front and rear brake thought if you're touring,

Yeh deff when you flip that wheel over into SS