Fixed Gear? Wuzzat?!
WHERE DID ALL THE GEARS GO?
Current fixed gear configuration: Black Centurion Gran Prix. Bar stem from 1980's Raliegh Record; Homemade "cow-horn" bars cut down from drop bars from same 1980's Raliegh Record; Matrix Front wheel 700c found in the trash; Mavic rear track wheel 700c with Surly 16-tooth cog and lockring; Vittoria Kevlar tires; Front sidepull brake and lever from 1980's Raleigh Record; SakeSA 170mm cranks [5 bolt] from Raleigh Technium Pre; 52 tooth front chainring from same bike; chainring bolts from neon green Haro BMX bike. Seatpost of uncertain origin [not original, though]; seat from my 2000 Trek 1000 road bike which is proting a more comfy seat itself; Cateye Mity 3 cyclocomputer/speedometer and black Shimano sdp clipless pedals. Also water bottle cage on handlebars, to the right side of the bar stem. Currently [as of 11/22/03] fitted with Blackburn aluminum rack on the back and has had the front and rear lights removed, but for months now this has been my "nite ride" and has had bright Planet Bike lights on the front and back.
About the fixed gear... My first one was a blue bianchi. I still have the frame, but the fixed gear wheel is now on my Centurion which is my fixed gear. First I rode the Bianchi [42x16] with its original drop bars; then I installed wider drop bars from a 1980's Performance that was too big for me and long ago met its fate as a parts bike. At a later point, I experimented with improvised "moustache bars" by using inverted cruiser bars offa Atala 3-speed. I have always had an interest in things Retro and old, and fixed gear is the original bike. I first became really interested in riding one when reading online articles and web pages by riders, regular folks, racers, commuters, etc., who said they were so cool. I figured I'd give it a try. After using my Bianchi, I switched to the centurion, which in its first configuration was like a track bike; no brakes at all, drop bars. I rode this for almost a month like so before I put on the "cow-horn"s and the front brake. Last week I replaced the Centurion's original 165mm cranks and one-piece chainring with its current 170 mm cranks and bolt on chainring combo. I love this bike, my biggest beef with it being its lack of drill holes [inexpensive bikes back in the 1970's didn't have them] for mounting water bottles, but a nifty gadget from the LBS solved that by allowing me to attatch a water bottle cage to the handlebar.
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Today i rode my new improved fixed gear machine. It's my black Centurian, stripped down with the wheels off my blue Bianchi described below. The centurian rocks, and i figured the day after Independence day was as good a day as any to declare my independence from gears! I still have the bianchi but it's wheel-less, have to think of a new use for it...
[About my first fixed gear, the blue bianchi: The other day i stopped for a cup of java during the course of returning from my morning ride. I leaned my fixed gear bicycle against a wall and enjoyed my coffee. Some dude coming out of the coffee shop stops, stares at the bike, and then says "Excuse me, but Is that one of those bikes they use in velodromes?" Actually, it isn't, it's a 1960's Bianchi road frame, but i stuck 700c wheels on it and the rear one is fixed, meaning it has only one gear and can't coast...if the wheel is turning, the pedals are turning.] HOW TO RIDE ONE: To slow you use a front handbrake or use your legs to resist the forward motion of the pedals, of both. You usually don't need a back brake, and some people ride fixed bikes setup after the fashion of track bikes, with no handbrake at all. I tried that but lost my nerve after a week of dealing with the hills in the area, some of which were just too bloody steep for me to control the bike. My fiked bike has a front brake. Like some fixed wheels, the other side of the rear hub is threaded to permit the attatchment of a freewheel, hence these wheels are sometimes termed "flip-flop" hubs, 'cause you can reverse the wheel and ride on the freewheel. On my very first fixed bike, an old blue Bianchi, the specs were as follows:
Flat crown fork and original "ttt" bar stem and bars. NOS Shinamo brake lever I bought of a local guy who has [no joke] the dregs of a busted bicycle shop stored on his barn. 42 tooth pro-neck BMX chainring on the front, junk find Matrix front wheel and new Mavic back wheel with flip-flop hub [other side can be fitted w/ a freewheel] and 16-tooth Surly cog and lockring. front and rear Vittoria kevlar tires and a plastic Brooks Brother's seat salvaged from an old home-made cyclecross bike I found in the junk. Seatpost is from my Raleigh Record. Since then, I made a few changes. Since it's hard to reach down and tighten toe clip straps on a bike that won't coast, I figured it'd be safer to go with clipless pedals. I picked same kind as on my TREK 1000 for economy reasons -- i can use the same shoes! Thus I added SPD pedals. At this point I also took the stem and handlebars i had long ago saved from a junked 1980's Road bike that was too tall for me and installed these bars, with their longer stem and wider spread. Doing some online research a few weeks hence, I stumbled across pics of bikes with "moustache" handlebars. This looked interesting, and although I like regular drop bars sometimes I gotta tell myself to stay in the drops. So I took an old "cruiser" style handlebar offa an Atala 3-speed and put it on upside down to give approximately the same effect. Then I needed to change the brake lever because the road lever I had on the drop bars wouldn't tighten enough around the inverted cruiser bars. Some mismathced grip tape [still waiting on new tape] stripped off an old bike and I was off. currently this is how the bike sits. I love riding fixed gears,, for some strange reason, even though it has only one gear and can't coast. Why are fixed gears so addictive? Perhaps it's the same reason folks are now buying singlespeed mountain bikes, when others have long since been converting them... it's a desire to return to the more basic aspects of riding -- namely, the ride, and not the machine. 42x16 isn't hard to pedal.] The current gearing on my Centurion is harder 52x16 but the longer 170mm cranks help. On a fixed gear you have to pedal steadily, without coasting, and it is much more fun because it's simpler. You can feel the road spring to life as it didn't before. Of course, there's also the fact that it may be harder to go up some hills, but since riding my fixed gear I am able to ride up some hills i could barely get up before on my geared bike. A fixed gear is actgually the only type of bike there was in the beginning; in the late 19th century, these "scorchers," as they were then called, where ridden in the streets and in parks -- and those bikes had no brakes back then. I recently read an account of a trip in the 1890's, where a brakeless fixie rider bailed over a ledge trying to ride down Mount Washington. That's a little nuts, or brave,m depending on your view, but if you ride one on the street it's good fun, and there is a cool retro symplicity to it. Why would anyone ride such a bike? Be prepared for this and many other questions if you ride a fixed gear. These bikes are fun, no doubt about it. You can convet any decent ten speed by substituting a geared wheel with a track wheel -- track wheels can be ordered by most bike shops, if the one by you doesn't have it in stock, don't worry. Also, some companies, such as KHS and Cannondale, make track bikes, and some campanies even make fixed gear bikes designed for road [as opposed to velodrome or track-only] use. These usually have more forgiving frame specs, especially as regards the fork blades, and places to mount brakes if you want to.Fixed Rocks! They are great fun and teach you a great deal about riding... You feel the road... your bike speaks to you. True, you have to plan your stops more carefully especially through the intersections...but this just makes one a more observant rider.
But be warned, people don't understand these bikes. They will ask you things like "why ride that thing?" "where did all the gears go?" and "How come you can't coast?" You don't have to answer, but be prepared for the questions.
Go BACK!
Back to the lone rider's index page!
COOL LINKS to Other people's Stes about FIXED GEAR Bikes
Sheldon Brown on Fixed Gears
Fxed Gear picture gallery site
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