Fixies- who rides them? : Yamaha R1 Forum

rorlow · 01-01-2013, 05:37 AM

Thinking about picking up a fixie, who rides one on here & recommendations, see some that are pretty reasonably priced ($250-$450)

debating on brakes/no brakes, watched "Premium Rush" movie now have the urge

Petrol_Spice · 01-01-2013, 06:05 AM

Ron,

Caution.

There's some thing you need to know about riding track bikes that you must be accustom with before riding one.

The first and obvious one is you can't stop pedaling. It will make even short rides difficult because even at slow speeds you have to pedal.

If you try and coast on a fixie you'll suffer from what we call "kick","pedal kick", "Strike" or fu*k cool slang, if you stop pedaling the rear won't stop and the force of the rear wheels rotation will make itself know via one pedal continuing on it's upstroke. You will not catch it, you will be sprayed all over the road. I've seen seasoned riders brainfart and them and the bike have been launched into the air. I got kicked so hard 2 years ago me and the bike caught so much air I thought I was going to re-enact the Challenger disaster. I got a torsion related nut injury in that crash.

You'll need to learn how to pedal in circles pretty quickly - if you mash the pedals you're going to hurt your knees. One side is a down, the other is an up. Spinning is winning.

1. Don't ride brakeless, but learn to skid.
2. Do ride clipless
3. If you're going to ride brakeless, learn how to stop the bike with your one foot on the rear wheel or the front wheel. If you drop a chain you'll have no brakes.
4. Run short cranks. The last thing you want is a pedal strike mid corner at anything over 10 mile an hour.
5. Don't run anything above 77 gear inches. 77 is a big gear for city riding.

TheForumGay · 01-01-2013, 06:13 AM

The chain doesn't freespin?

Petrol_Spice · 01-01-2013, 06:16 AM

Nope. Thus the term "Fixie" which is short for Fixed Gear Bicycle. If the rear wheel is turning so are the cranks, if the wheel is spinning counter clockwise so are the cranks, if the rear is spinning clockwise so are the cranks.

EDIT: Fixies are fu*king fast.

TheForumGay · 01-01-2013, 06:18 AM

Bump that, some people are looking for reasons to fvck their bodies up

fjorn · 01-01-2013, 06:25 AM

Reminds me of my first bicycle. No brakes, fixed gear, 12" wheels and living on a hill in SoCal. Don't know how many times I got going so fast that I just wound up picking my feet up off the pedals.

I'll stick to my old LeTour as my commuter. 21 gears and brakes. Though, I'm tempted to get one of these for winter commuting:

http://surlybikes.com/bikes/moonlander

Or, I could just move to a warmer climate and be done with it.

rorlow · 01-01-2013, 06:25 AM

Some of the fixies I see advertised have a "flip-flop hub", with sprockets on both sides and road style brakes. Doesn't this give you the option to set it up with a coaster rear as well?

edited- to include photo of hub

Petrol_Spice · 01-01-2013, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearheaded

Bump that, some people are looking for reasons to fvck their bodies up

Makes you wicked fit riding the bastards. Spin up a 77 to 90 Gear inch bike and stay on top of the gear and you'll boot along at 40+ kilometers an hour.

TheForumGay · 01-01-2013, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petrol_Spice

Makes you wicked fit riding the bastards. Spin up a 77 to 90 Gear inch bike and stay on top of the gear and you'll boot along at 40+ kilometers an hour.

I'll stick to the gym

4EverWiKiD · 01-01-2013, 06:37 AM

I've been thinking about getting into road biking, and definitely want to do some mountain/trail riding. Just don't want to pay out the ass for something I'll use a handful of times a month. I can't justify paying 1-2 grand on per bike.

Petrol_Spice · 01-01-2013, 06:38 AM

Ron,

Flip Flip hubs give you the choice to put the wheel in "backwards" and you get a free cassette on the "wrong" side so you can coast. But, you might as well but a Singlespeed 29'er if you're going to do that. Cassette hubs shit themselves more often than not.

4EverWiKiD · 01-01-2013, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearheaded

I'll stick to the gym

You mean sit on your ass while your girl sits on your face?!

Petrol_Spice · 01-01-2013, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4EverWiKiD

I've been thinking about getting into road biking, and definitely want to do some mountain/trail riding. Just don't want to pay out the ass for something I'll use a handful of times a month. I can't justify paying 1-2 grand on per bike.

Buy a cyclocross bike. Best of both worlds.

TheForumGay · 01-01-2013, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4EverWiKiD

You mean sit on your ass while your girl sits on your face?!

Same thing right?

Petrol_Spice · 01-01-2013, 06:42 AM

Hardtail MTB with slicks...

4EverWiKiD · 01-01-2013, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petrol_Spice

Buy a cyclocross bike. Best of both worlds.

I'd say I'm about 70-80% more into mountain/trails than road. Would you still suggest the cyclocross?

Petrol_Spice · 01-01-2013, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4EverWiKiD

I'd say I'm about 70-80% more into mountain/trails than road. Would you still suggest the cyclocross?

I would if you're not going to be huckin' of 6 footers.

fjorn · 01-01-2013, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4EverWiKiD

I'd say I'm about 70-80% more into mountain/trails than road. Would you still suggest the cyclocross?

Pick up a decent hardtail MTB, get an extra set of wheels that you can throw some road tires on for when you want to cruise pavement.

I picked up my 2009 Trek 6000 as a store hold over a year ago for $600. New, never ridden. Current equivalent bike is selling for about $1100 MSRP.

4EverWiKiD · 01-01-2013, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petrol_Spice

I would if you're not going to be huckin' of 6 footers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjorn

Pick up a decent hardtail MTB, get an extra set of wheels that you can throw some road tires on for when you want to cruise pavement.

I picked up my 2009 Trek 6000 as a store hold over a year ago for $600. New, never ridden. Current equivalent bike is selling for about $1100 MSRP.

Based off of the picture Petrol put up I looked up Scotts. Looked at these two. Leaning more towards the 940.

http://www.rei.com/CompareProduct/User?

Thanks for the tip fjorn.

Petrol_Spice · 01-01-2013, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4EverWiKiD

Based off of the picture Petrol put up I looked up Scotts. Looked at these two. Leaning more towards the 940.

http://www.rei.com/CompareProduct/User?

Thanks for the tip fjorn.

Put a 56 tooth Dog Ring on a Hardtail and you'll have a blast.