My fixed gear project

[dkel]

So when I got home at 9:30, the first thing I did was unscrew the axle that I had used to spread the front fork, and what do you know! My front fork spacing is now 98.5mm! I was going for 100, but I think I’ll leave well enough alone. The question is, will it still be that way tomorrow morning, or will it relax back to 94.5 where it was yesterday.

I also measured the gap for the axle in the fork ends, and it is 9mm. The Origin8 front hub that I was looking at has an axle billed as 9mm, so maybe this will work!

Here’s to having no bad dreams about fork spacing tonight.

[Phatboing]

Well, seems like a mix-up has led to Bikenetic ordering me a wheelset that I was eyeing. It seems nice, so I’m buying it ☺

But here’s a quandary: I have nearly no intention of riding clipped in. The internet thinks that I’m GOING TO DIE, but if anyone has strategies for not dying riding fixed with platforms, I want em.

[DismalScientist]

You are only going to die riding fixed without being clipped in if you don’t have any brakes. If your feet are off the pedals, you don’t have any control over speed going downhill, unless, of course, you have brakes.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Phatboing 97860 wrote:

Well, seems like a mix-up has led to Bikenetic ordering me a wheelset that I was eyeing. It seems nice, so I’m buying it ☺

Yeah, I’m sure that was an accident. That Jan is worse than a drug dealer with his “check it out, you’ll love it” tactics.

[Phatboing]

@DismalScientist 97862 wrote:

You are only going to die riding fixed without being clipped in if you don’t have any brakes. If your feet are off the pedals, you don’t have any control over speed going downhill, unless, of course, you have brakes.

Oh good. Because I have brakes all over the place.

[dkel]

Headset!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6897[/ATTACH]

Can’t wait to install this on the old Schwinn!

[mcfarton]

I ride clipped in on my fixed. There is no reason to take your feet off the pedals. So I don’t think it is a big deal being clipped. Its nice using one pair of shoes for n+1 bikes.

sent from your mom’s house

[dkel]

I don’t ride fixed…yet…but now that I’ve been riding clipless for a while, I never want to go back, even when I get my FG project done. I don’t see an advantage to riding platform pedals. I have noticed in all my obsessive research of FG bikes that today’s urban hipster favors pedal straps instead of a clipless system or even a retro cage. I’m not an urban hipster, though, I’m a suburban bike nerd.

[Dickie]

Finally got around to reading this thread and a few things stuck out:

1) This has been the best thread in weeks…. no mention of blinkies, ass-hats, school busses, or intersections of doom…. THANK YOU!
2) I am always at the shop these days, basically tethered to the CNC machine for the next two months, so feel free to bring stuff over if you need help…. also bring coffee!
3) I am so ready to start my build…. once I can reach the hacksaw and break free of my horribly boss.

[DismalScientist]

Well, hipsters like me can’t afford those fancy cycling shoes.:rolleyes:

I ride with miniclips.

Also, platform pedals are good for winter boots.

[Phatboing]

Oh, yessss.

Granted, I have yet to obtain the track cog and lock ring, but the freewheel will do for now.

[dkel]

@Phatboing 97860 wrote:

But here’s a quandary: I have nearly no intention of riding clipped in. The internet thinks that I’m GOING TO DIE, but if anyone has strategies for not dying riding fixed with platforms, I want em.

I had a thought in the middle of the night last night (yes, I think about bikes sometimes :rolleyes:). I rode with Dirt last weekend when he was riding fixed. At every stop, he very deftly tipped the bike forward using his front brake and the last bit of his momentum, and with the foot he had still clipped in, rotated the cranks around so they were in the right position to get him started. I’ve seen Dismal do this, too, though in the poor man’s grab-the-back-of-the-saddle-and-hoist maneuver (or, economist’s maneuver, rather). If you’re riding platforms, won’t it be much more difficult to get the cranks into the right starting position? Dismal’s trick would still work, but Dirt’s won’t, I don’t think.

[dkel]

@Phatboing 97902 wrote:

Oh, yessss.

Granted, I have yet to obtain the track cog and lock ring, but the freewheel will do for now.

Is that a Surly tuggnut on there? I might have a bottle that needs opening…

[jrenaut]

As a new fixed gear rider, I can tell you that starting and stopping is the hardest to get used to. I thought I’d be trying to coast all the time, but not only do I not do that much, but unless you’re really moving, the reminder is quick enough that you just feel kind of silly.

But coming to a stop is still awkward for me after about 100 miles fixed (about half of that downtown). I’m so used to putting my left foot where I want it to be when I start up and then coasting to where I want to stop, then unclipping the right. Fixed still feels weird – stopping isn’t normal enough yet that I don’t have to think about it. I also do a hybrid of the Dirt/Dismal move – you can just grab the front brake and lean forward so the rear wheel comes off the ground. Assuming you have a front brake. That should more or less work with platforms, though probably not if you want to rotate backwards.

Where the clips really help is starting. Being able to start up then just stomp on the right pedal and be clipped in is very helpful.

But I’m used to clips. I find myself twisting my right heel out when I come to a stop on a CaBi. Obviously if you’re used to riding without clips, your experience will be different.

[dkel]

@jrenaut 97916 wrote:

As a new fixed gear rider, I can tell you that starting and stopping is the hardest to get used to.

Ha! My first and only time riding fixed was on a little test ride out of Freshbikes in Mosaic. I rolled the bike out, got on, and stood there for what must have been 30 seconds or more just trying to figure out what to do next. Someone remind me why I’m spending all this time and energy (and money) building up a FG bike on a not-so-hot frame that’s almost as old as I am…

[Author]

Posts