My fixed gear project

[Phatboing]

@dkel 97914 wrote:

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.

You’d be surprised what you can do with grippy shoes on grippy platforms – I’ve done similar things when I’ve needed to shift gears while waiting for a light to go green. I don’t have the coordination to do the Dirt trick, but I can certainly pull a back-of-saddle maneuver. All conjecture, of course – we’ll see.

@dkel 97915 wrote:

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

Uh huh. Also featured on the Troll, too.

[DismalScientist]

I would think repositioning the pedals would be difficult with platforms alone, but I have miniclips. Since I’m lazy, I’ve also developed a technique of sort of hop starting, pushing off the ground and not putting weight on the pedals until I’m in launching position.

I don’t have enough technique to do Dirt’s move. That would likely require the ability to do a skid stop.

[dkel]

@DismalScientist 97925 wrote:

I don’t have enough technique to do Dirt’s move. That would likely require the ability to do a skid stop.

There was no skidding that I observed when riding with him; it was just a matter of him locking the front brake and pushing the front end such that the rear wheel lifted a tiny bit. I’ll definitely practice doing it if I ever get the stupid bike built. Now, a skid stop…by the looks of it, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do that.

[mcfarton]

Skid stop isn’t that hard. But its time to get to work on your bike. This thread makes me want to take on a project.

sent from your mom’s house

[DismalScientist]

Seeing dcv’s demonstration today, it looks you use your clipped in foot to raise the back of the bike, then you rotate. I don’t think I can get the leverage with miniclips to lift the rear of the bike with only my leg.

[jrenaut]

@dkel 97919 wrote:

HSomeone 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…

Because they really are cool to ride. It’s partly because it’s the new toy, but I’ve been planning my week to try to maximize the number of days I can take the fixed gear to work.

[Phatboing]

@DismalScientist 97929 wrote:

Seeing dcv’s demonstration today, it looks you use your clipped in foot to raise the back of the bike, then you rotate. I don’t think I can get the leverage with miniclips to lift the rear of the bike with only my leg.

You can theoretically do this by shifting your weight, too – I’ve had moderate success (i.e. worked maybe twice) with these shenanigans while bunny-hopping (well, trying to) things on the mountain bike.

Refer my previous comment re glorious flaming disaster.

[vvill]

@jrenaut 97933 wrote:

planning my week to try to maximize the number of days I can take the fixed gear to work.

Same! Originally I was going to “save” this bike for fair weather rides and weekend rides/less commuting but, oh well. It’s gotten a bit dirty and a few paint scratches now.

I still stop awkwardly on the fixed gear. Usually I try to make it so I’m in a comfortable position to dismount, although if there isn’t any traffic I’ll just roll slowly enough to stay clipped in through the light cycle/whatever.

I use the front brake to reset my pedal position to start up again, although sometimes I’ll do the hop start that Dismal described. I’ve been riding road shoes (SPD-SL) on the fixed gear for a while now and sometimes miss my left shoe clip in, so I end up riding one-legged for a few strokes.

[DismalScientist]

@Phatboing 97935 wrote:

You can theoretically do this by shifting your weight, too – I’ve had moderate success (i.e. worked maybe twice) with these shenanigans while bunny-hopping (well, trying to) things on the mountain bike.

Refer my previous comment re glorious flaming disaster.

From what I understand, bunny hopping is key to a skid stop. In any event, no matter how badly you try and fail to reposition your pedals while stopped, I don’t see how this can result in a flaming disaster.

[OneEighth]

So…the whole stopping elegantly thing is as much about timing your arrival at your intended stopping place as anything else. I typically try to time things so I don’t have to actually stop.

[dcv]

trackstand

[mcfarton]

Clips are not a big deal. My main use of my fixie is to run my dog for 6-12 miles

sent from your mom’s house

[dkel]

@mcfarton 97975 wrote:

My main use of my fixie is to run my dog for 6-12 miles

Think how much farther you could go if you’d put the dog on a fixie, too!

[Phatboing]

Fixie bits!

[Phatboing]

Only mildly related to riding fixed: I love my singlespeed conversion. It’s not surprising, given that I love my dinglespeed Troll in the mud, but good heavens. After associating the Pompino with the heavy internal hub for so long, swapping out the wheelset makes it feel like a whole different bike! And this with 40mm tires, even.

I do slightly miss the crocodile-doom-ticking sound of the Sturmey Archer, but I’ll live with this silent drivetrain.

So, uh, someone need a set of Soma Iggy wheels?

[Author]

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