Fixie/ Single Speed

I converted my 1990 Nishiki Modulus to a Fixie/Single speed this spring.  I got a wheel with a "flip-flop" hub, that is fixed on one side and has a single speed cassette on the other.  It works pretty well.  I've never really ridden the fixie side and still have both front & rear brakes on it.  I use it a lot around town and have been doing a lot of mini-bricks where I ride it to the Y (about 4 miles), swim, and then ride home.  I don't like the idea of having my Trek out there where it can get messed with.  The one issue I have with it is I need to carry a 15 mm wrench in case I get a flat on the back tire (or as did happen, the axel shifts in the frame).

My brother built one that he was going to use for mountain bike race training, but he only kept it for about a month.  Got tired of not being able to go fast downhill and not being able to go fast uphill... I say if you want to 'try' a fixed, just set your front and rear derailleurs up so that you can't shift and go give it a try before you decide to invest the money into building one.  If you enjoy it, then build one, but this way you can get a taste for it without wasting any money that could be spent on other toys if it turns out you don't like it.

Fixie? Isie broken?

My knees would last about 5 minutes on a fixie but I turned my old mtb that I Raced on back in HS into a single speed. I only rode it a few times to and from work but the gear is annoying, decent hills in both directions. I decided its not worth me trying to find a compromise i can climb with and still try and pedal downhill so its getting put back to a 8spd cassette and triple up front and I"m going to try and start mtbing again, but better use for it even though its quite dated.

I think this says it all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4

I have a fixie, but I only ride it at the velodrome.

I change gears multiple times a night. I usually run anywhere from a 47x14 to a 48x16.

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I watched that on the other thread... awesome.  I know, performance....

Still- could be fun, right?

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Edited by wgraves7582 2009-08-19 1:01 PM

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my commuter bike is a Specialized Langster Seattle edition - though with track bars instead of straight ones.

I keep it fixie

love it

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I've got 3 single speeds.

I have a single speed mountain bike. A Santa Cruz Chameleon. Despite have a nice 6inch travel dual suspension bike I ride the Chameleon 95% of the time. I run the Chameleon 32x20 in the beginning of the season and switch it to 34x20 later on. I'm thinking that I might go to 32x18 this fall though. The last couple times I've felt under geared.

My kid cart pulling bike is the mountain bike that I first built as a single speed to try out. I fell in love with single speed mountain bikes and built up a sweet surly 1x1, then switched to the Santa Cruz frame after another season. Now the original mountain bike is converted to more of a comfort bike. I run it 39x18. A little tough pulling the loaded trailer into a headwind and a little easy pulling the loaded trailer otherwise. So perfect for the flat town I live in now. I almost always have a stiff headwind coming or going.

The 3rd is a trek roadie built up single speed with a 44x15. It's got mustache bars and a cushy saddle on it now but I'm going to switch it back to drops and a decent saddle.

ETA: Pictures
The Chameleon after it's first ride. I switch it between the 5inch travel fork in the picture and a 6inch travel fork depending on where I'm going and my mood. I can also run gears on it if I really want, but have only done that for trips out west. I've got a second rear wheel and all the cable are ready to go so it's just a matter of slapping it all on there and doing some minor tweaking.

The Townie/Trek roadie SS.

Edited by graceful_dave 2009-08-19 2:51 PM








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I thought about building a fixie, but found about the same price it was easier to just buy one already made that I liked.  Not as cool as building one yourself, though.

I use it exclusively as my commuter bike (2 or 3 times a week during tri season).  It has wide tires which is nice since I commute on fairly bad roads.  

I'm not sure how much it helps my tri training, but it definitely makes you pedal when on a regular bike you'd be coasting.  Going uphill can be touch depending on your gear ratio, but going downhill is far worse!!

Around here there's not much of a cool factor when riding a fixie since nobody knows what it is.... 

Brian

 

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I forgot to add how I feel about it. I really think single speed mountain biking gives you the ability to always have a kick no matter how wasted you are. In trail riding if you are climbing and the trail gets steeper you either have to suck it up and push harder or get off and walk. I've noticed that when I do runs or rides with the group and we sprint finish, no matter how wasted I am, I always have the ability to sprint just a bit harder. It might just be the fact that mentally I know I can or it might be conditioning from riding the singe speed.

I also don't have very much to break and that is very appealing. A rigid 29er single speed will probably be the next bike in my mountain bike quiver unless I get a big raise and move the family somewhere with mountains, then it's a downhill bike.

i converted an old mountain bike to single speed a long time ago after I broke off the non-replaceable derailer hanger...  It was a fine around town/campus bike, but my knees really couldn't handle the low cadence required for climbing on it.  Once I left school and moved to a hilly area (and got a job so I could afford a new bike!), it never got ridden again.

set your bike to a gear ratio, and leave it there for a week.  See if you like it.

Fixie - Ridden lot's of fixies... I used to race on the track. I would also ride one on the road during the winter for training purposes. It can do a couple of things for you... it forces you to spin and be smooth. It also forces you to ride easier when used during the "off-season". In reality, not much fun in the 'grins-and-giggles' department.

If you want simple and fun, a 'free-wheeling' single-speed is way more practical.

You can also get a flip-flop hub which would allow you to go back-and-forth between single-speed and fixed-gear modes.

Edited by TaylorB 2009-08-19 5:19 PM

I have to speak up on this. Maybe for a road bike, but mountain biking in hilly areas this doesn't work. If I put the kind of pressure I put on my single speed drivetrain on a geared drivetrain I'd be breaking chains and/or derailleurs every ride. It may be fine for a quick taste, but don't think that riding around and not shifting will give you a true idea of what it's like to ride a single speed.

I have a langster too...the 2007 London edition, its my commuter but i ride single speed and love it

Fixie yay! Here's mine being a grocery porteur.

 

Be careful the narrow drive chains on 9/10 speed mtb bikes are VERY prone to breakage if you're really cranking up a steep incline.  Long term single speed riding requires you to ditch the ramped cassette cogs narrow chains.  Also, (and this is the part I love about SS riding), it feels like the bike responds sooo much faster under pedal load.  And way quieter. The shorter chain combined with the loss of the r der/jockey wheels really makes the bike go.    However, there are some rides here in Boise and I simply can't do on a SS.  Long, sustained climbs just plain suck.  I try to find trails that have more of a rolling profile.  I like mine so much I'm going to build a cross bike with the parts I took off 2 yrs ago.

Edited by jeffnboise 2009-08-20 4:50 AM

oh I am jealous!  I wanted the London edition (it is my last name) but it was not available in my size last summer so I settled on the seattle - the good news is that mine has the built in fenders - which this summer has proven very useful!!!.  It will just be another thing to remove though if I ever decide to take it to a track....

I tend to agree with this guy... http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/

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