Should I ride my first fixie back from the shop (in London)?

ha ha ha ! i mean how unfortunate...

http://www.londonfgss.com/post595-7.html

better edit my post :s

ride

definitly

gotta ride it. at some point you'll forget to pedal and be surprised when your legs get thrown round. it's no biggie. btw you will always get advice on this forum mixed in with the derision/abuse

Lima? It's a piece of piss. You should try cycling in Machu Picchu. Bloody tourists everywhere and the roads look like they haven't been resurfaced in years.

machu picchu? pffft, piss. i commuted for years through the rainforests of Java, with nothing but a rusty old Pickerton and a blunt camping knife. macchu picchu is heaven.

Okay cheers guys, I'll prob be at BLB/14 Bikes at around 9am as I have other stuff to do in the middle of the day, so I would think the deal should be sealed by 11 at the latest if anyone wants to come and mock/sherpa me.

Okay cheers guys, I'll prob be at BLB/14 Bikes at around 9am as I have other stuff to do in the middle of the day, so I would think the deal should be sealed by 11 at the latest if anyone wants to come and mock/sherpa me.

I thought you were collecting a pre-ordered bike. You'll be lucky to find exactly what you want in the right size out of stock. Usually you'd need to do the deal, then come back to collect when the bike's been built and set up.

Oh really? Oh well, I'll need to go there anyway to find one so maybe I won't be picking up Tuesday ...

I'm not very good at this.

The point about learning to constantly pedal on a MTB first is good, that's how I learned to ride fixed. Just tell yourself to keep pedalling from when you leave until the moment you get to your front door. Only use your front brake for a bit to get used to not slamming on both at once, should help you learn to modulate it well.

I'd never been on a fixed ever, until I built one, and if anything I actually feel safer being able to squeeze through traffic now than I did on my MTB.

9am? You'll be lucky....most shops in London don't open til atleast 10

Make sure you bring your stabilisers with you too

Oh really? Oh well, I'll need to go there anyway to find one so maybe I won't be picking up Tuesday ...

I'm not very good at this.

Don't worry mate. Nobody is when they first get into anything. Both 14BC and BLB are OK to talk to as long as they don't think you're a tyre kicker. They answer any questions and give you plenty of advice. Half the fun is looking at all the gorgeous bikes. Enjoy yourself.

why the fuck would anyone buy a bike if they didn't feel comfortable using it or know how to fuckin ride it properly?!

Because they want to learn maybe. FFS how difficult a concept is that? Under the nose of a bus isn't an ideal place to do that learning though.

My twopenneth to the OP is not to try to learn riding fixed for the first time on a journey you've never done, on roads you don't know, in a city you're new to, with traffic you're not familiar with, on a bike you've never used before which has a riding system you've never experienced before. Too much new shit all at once.

Learn to ride it somewhere quiet if you're concerned. Being worried about it will be half your problem - if you're fussing about it being fixed, you're not concentrating on stuff like not ending up under lorries. And I wouldn't want to hear about the OP being the next thread about that.

You can walk the bike to Bethnel Green overground station and go to Liverpool Street, where you can pick up the circle line round to Monument or Embankment and just pootle over the river. Minimum of cycling, if that's what you want.

There's loads of quiet back streets streets between Waterloo and London Bridge. There's some really quiet roads around Roupell St/Threed St that you could go in a square around til you're happy to head out in the traffic.

Ride.............

Follow your head.

I like rocky road ice cream!

You can walk the bike to Bethnel Green overground station and go to Liverpool Street, where you can pick up the circle line round to Monument or Embankment and just pootle over the river. Minimum of cycling, if that's what you want.

Can't take Circle line any time, whether peak hours or not. It's one-a those underground lines.

Crap, can't find the link for the one I'm looking for but I just asked about it, so do a search for TfL bicycle tube map or something.

@PHer, ride the route home a coupla of times the on MTB remember to keep pedalling, before attempting on the fixed.. a daft thread really... or get Pistanator to escort you home..

most of us just ride out of the shop... first time, because we have 'had a go, somewhere' welcome to the forum..

Can't take Circle line any time, whether peak hours or not. It's one-a those underground lines.

Crap, can't find the link for the one I'm looking for but I just asked about it, so do a search for TfL bicycle tube map or something.

you can, any sub-surface line allowed bike, it's only when it's rush hour you're not allowed completely.

ha ha ha ! i mean how unfortunate...

http://www.londonfgss.com/post595-7.html

better edit my post :s

hee hee. I take it this is the first useage on the forum? Although I still don't understand why people have such a problem with it....

i can't remember if it has already been mentioned but you could always get a flip flop hub with one side fixed the other side with a freewheel. just ride ss till you get home and practice fixed in a car park or something.

also, i hear tempertemper has a nice light blue blb frame for sale. you should send him a pm to see if he still has it.

Fancy someone asking a forum of enthuthiasts for advice! Jeez! The audacity of some people.

PHer, if you are use to riding clipless, riding with a fixed gear isn't /that/ different. You will forget, try to coast, and get a bit of a kick a couple of time. It happened to me when going over pot-holes, but you soon get the hang of taking the weight of the saddle while still pedalling.

Riding in London can be a bit intimidating but isn't that bad. The worst of it is not knowing early enough which lane you should be in, so work out your route first. You can always walk around the big junctions if you can't work out what the fuck is going on with them. Brick Lane to Waterloo shouldn't be to bad, probably best go over Tower Bridge.

It is if you know where you're going, I think straight down past Liverpool St Station and over London Bridge might be better for someone who does not know London though. No turns, pretty much straight all the way.

As for the OP, well not a lot to say. If you don't feel comfortable then don't do it.

also, i hear tempertemper has a nice light blue blb frame for sale. you should send him a pm to see if he still has it.

Meanie.

Hmm . . . heres an idea, if you are buying from BLB or 14 no doubt the rear wheel will most likely have a flip flop hub:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html#flip-flop

get them to put a freewheel on the other side (if it doesnt already have one) ride it SS back home, take it to a local park, flip it back to fixed and learn in safety.

This also means that if you dont like fixed you can run it as a SS instead.

Problem solved.

4 fucking pages?

I think we should offer a phalanx of fixed riders to escort PH from the shop till he gets the hang of it, and give him some free beer tokens to be redeemed at a beers of his choice. I'd volunteer if I weren't out in the sticks and nursing a sore butt. PH may seem a bit namby-pamby asking if he should ride home, but he's got some balls in surfacing among us lot and asking a newb question out loud. Hats off to the man! Time he gets home he'll know if fixed is for him or not. Good luck dude!