Lance Rides with the fixie crowd In Austin

Cool enough to make you want to ride around Austin

over 3 years ago Clydesdale 19 comments 1 recs |

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OK, now I like Lance a bit more

Thanks for posting – very cool

by Veloki on Oct 15, 2008 11:52 AM EDT reply actions

Leadville, Cross Vegas

riding with the Austin messangers. He stil had a cool side.

by Peter Fontecchio on Oct 19, 2008 4:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Can someone explain the fixed gear thing to me?

I just don’t get it. I’m not trying to be an ass – I just don’t understand why you’d only want one speed when you can have several. Whatever happened to always trying to keep a proper cadence when you pedal, or actually making it up steep hills without having to walk? Anyways just asking.

by plinytheelder on Oct 15, 2008 2:36 PM EDT reply actions

Can''t speak for fixies (who seem insanely stupid in traffic to me)

but I did use a singlespeed for many years as my everyday use/commuter bike and I have the distinct impression that ,used that way , it built better overall fitness than the 7 (and later 18 speed) ones I had after that. I don’t know if anyone can back this up with physiological evidence?

Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets

by Jens on Oct 15, 2008 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions

About 12 years ago...

Fixed gears were thought to hone in your peddling motion and help you develop a smooth stroke throughout the whole circle. At least that’s what us wannabe’s believed. We rode them in the late fall & winter and yes, they were fun and different AND you could do about 2 hours on one and feel like you just did 4 on your road bike. I felt I received a benefit from working out on one (I actually had my pedal stroke complimented on…more than one occasion). A cold December morning weekend 50-60 mile workout ride with your teammates…all on fixed gears…man, that’s a butt-whoopin’.
They’ve been getting bashed lately as being viewed as a “hipster accessory” for those trying to capture some of that cool street cred that bike messengers have.
I ride a fixie now (the same one I trained on back in the mid ’90’s) for essentially one reason: My race bike is unrideable and I can’t afford to upgrade.

by swells on Oct 15, 2008 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks for this...

…interesting what both of you say about increased fitness. Man, 60 miles on one, sounds hardcore!

The reason I ask is because I see a ton of them, but most of the people I see riding them should clearly be riding a smaller gear. I like the way you put it though – “you could do about 2 hours on one and feel like you just did 4 on your road bike” – makes sense, especially for cold weather.

by plinytheelder on Oct 15, 2008 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions

I dither about trying one.

A friend trashed her (admittedly not-so-solid) knees in a few hours on one. I might resemble that. But being able to control speed that precisely, braking included, with the chain? Sounds good. And it has to work more muscles, because you have the opposing muscle groups handling the incremental braking. Of course, that’s also how it grinds your knees, if the muscles are not developed right. But the potential total control factor is kinda cool. “not one thing happens on this bike unless my legs agree.” Ditto the bull horns. To me, they say “I will never relinquish control unless my wrists break.” The rest of the appeal is just style points for bike minimalism and low maintenance. Can’t drop the chain, can’t grind the gears, can’t overheat the rims braking (at least not the rear).

by JFS_PGH on Oct 16, 2008 8:31 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm no physiologist, and I'm sure there are studies to show damage from various things, but

just like a road bike, proper set-up can negate some of that. I have regular road handlebars, clipless pedals and front brakes on mine…an old ‘80s track bike. When I first started riding it, I used the brake quite a bit. But, it’s dead flat around here (SE Va) and unprecise speed and uncontrolled spinning on descents does not exists for me. I’ve never had a problem with my knees (cycling related) while pedalling this fixed gear or after the ride was over.

For me, especially nowadays with family commitments and all, low maintenance is the key. Plus, as you mention, the bike minimalism aspect is pretty cool too. I saved up a few bucks last fall and gave my fixie an overhaul…I’ll post a picture here when I get home.

Also, it’s pretty cool to roll up to some young roadies (college kids home for the summer and whatnot), chat them up, pull through and ride away. Most of the time, they don’t even realize I have no gears.

by swells on Oct 16, 2008 8:59 AM EDT up reply actions

just like grinding gears on an old car without a synchro

only a problem if the speeds don’t mesh, so indeed, I suspet it is mostly a problem on hills (or while trying start & stop stunts your first day on the bike). Do post those pix.

by JFS_PGH on Oct 16, 2008 9:17 AM EDT up reply actions

I look forward to the pictures too

I’ve been wanting a single speed for a while. There are lots of flats around where I ride and for just cruising around town would be fun. But I want to start off with the hub flipped to the freewheel and later try out fixed gear. And for me brakes would be a must. I love the simplicity of the design and yes the cool hipster styling too.

by Veloki on Oct 16, 2008 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, I was going to stick a pic of my fixie in here...

but apparently I’m a nimrod. Can anyone enlighten me as to how I throw a JPG in a post from my home C: drive?

by swells on Oct 16, 2008 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions

I'd post

the picture to one of the free hosting sites like photobucket. Then when you post, just click on the tree icon and enter the url for where you uploaded your picture.

by Katiek on Oct 16, 2008 11:49 PM EDT up reply actions

yup. No hosting here...and probably a good thing, can you imagine the server we'd need?

by JFS_PGH on Oct 17, 2008 3:53 AM EDT up reply actions

I usually

use tinypic.com which is pretty idiot proof.

by Monty. on Oct 17, 2008 5:50 AM EDT up reply actions

Here's my huckleberry.

Here are a couple of my fixie…post overhaul. This is my ’80’s 58cm Simoncini track frame set up for road use. The ride—unforgiving. New “Bottecchia Blue” paint job courtesy of local framebuilder Gordon Freeman.

Thanks, KatieK for the photobucket rec.

If anyone would like to cross-pollinate, check out Fixed Gear Gallery.

by swells on Oct 17, 2008 8:58 AM EDT up reply actions

It's very pretty.

By the way if you don’t mind my asking, what kind of brake levers are those?

by plinytheelder on Oct 17, 2008 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Brake levers...don't get me started.

I’ll tell you, but you have to sit through my brake lever saga:
I bought the bike used from a Tri-geek on my team and it had a set of Suntour Superbe Pro Aero levers; both…the right is just a dummy. When I tore the bike down last fall, I decided since the brake hoods were slightly torn, I’ll just rip them off and get new ones. I thought (are you ready?) “how hard could they be to replace?” Answer: Impossible! I checked about a dozen bike shops in 3 different states, online vintage vendors, craigslist…nada. There was a NIB pair on eBay that I bid on and chickened out at $50.00, they eventually went for $110+ IIRC. Looking back, they’re probably worth it.
When I gave up, I went to my LBS and just asked for a pair of “non-Shimano” aero levers and that’s what I got, a functional set of cheapo Dia-Compe’s…which match the sweet, vintage Dia-Compe calibers.

by swells on Oct 17, 2008 8:50 PM EDT up reply actions

wow that is quite a story.

the cheapo dia-compes sound great, I asked because I have an old road bike and used to have shimano aero levers…which given their shape were absolutely killing my wrists. So I recently got some tektros for fairly cheap…anyways I looked at a bunch and couldn’t identify the ones on your bike. Crazy about the suntour hoods! I can’t believe they go for that much on ebay.

by plinytheelder on Oct 18, 2008 12:07 AM EDT up reply actions