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Fixed Gear
10 Tips for Fixed Gear Road Riding
I have been riding a fixed gear everyday to work now (30kms) for over 7 months and i just wanted to share some of the things i have learnt along the way that have made my riding more enjoyable and most importantly SAFER.
Some of this stuff is stating the obvious to experienced riders so please forgive me if it sounds condescending , it's not meant to.
10 Fixed Gear Tips
1. If you are riding regulary i strongly recommend running an emergency front brake. I know it doesn't look as cool as brakeless but its much better looking than staring at a hospital ceiling. (You can take the brake off when you are alive for photo day)
2. Use Toe Clips. If you are riding fast and covering longer distances it is important you run clips. If your foot slips off the pedal at high speed you can be flipped of your steed. Remember those cranks do not stop turning and when you need to get your foot back on it can be a scary experience with traffic flying past you. I'd only recommend SPD's unless you were a seasoned SPD wearer and fixed gear rider. They are much more difficult to get your feet into moving than sliding into clips.
3. Read the road ahead. Look way beyond what you would normally do, map your line and be aware of any side traffic or anyone who may be turning but don't have their indicators on. There are so many shit drivers out there its not funny.
4. Traffic Lights Instead of steaming up to Red lights and forcing yourself to brake quickly, slow down by applying reverse thrust on the cranks gradually. I try and time them so i have just enough momentum to crank up the power again before they turn green. If you have to stop on a Red just ease yourself out another 3-4 meters ahead so that you have time to get some speed up on Green before the other cars catch you up. It's not much fun trying to find your clips with no momentum and cars speeding up behind you.
5. Find your flow. I'm really starting to feel at one with the bike now, and partly this is from finding a nice riding rhythm. Distribute power evenly so you don't get tired and save energy for when you know you have a hill coming up. I know this sounds obvious but you can't stop pedalling so you need make it as comfortable for yourself as possible. Pump the last couple of KMs for fitness as you will see a big improvement in strength quite quickly.
6. Gearing. If you find that on your regular commute that you are spinning out quite a bit in sections perhaps move up to a harder gearing. I was running 16/44 and found that i was bobbing up and down almost out of control in places on my ride. This can be pretty dangerous also. I changed up to a 16/48 tooth and i'm finding it so much better. Yes it does take a bit longer to wind the bike up from stand still but then again my fitness in my legs have improved too and its now easy.
7. Handlebar positioning. I'm finding the Bull Bars to be a really comfortable position over my drop bars and straight bars. This is a personal preference mind you. I do find i can get right over the front of the bike on the climb something you can't do with straights ot risers.
8. Tyre Pressure. Keep your tyres inflated to around 100psi. Braking with a front brake and low pressure in the front tyre is well sketchy, don't go there.
9. Checking over your shoulder. This may sound stupid but looking over your shoulder when riding fixed is actually not that easy to start with. The natural thing to do is freewheel on a geared bike when you look over your shoulder. When you first try it on a fixed gear its an odd sensation and quite difficult to keep your balance, especially if you are going fast. the only advice i can give is to do it smoothly and slow a little until you get used to it. I find now that i can spin pretty fast whilst looking behind me.
10. Fancy ass moves Riding between buses at high speed might be exciting but i have to say i had a scary experience a few weeks ago where i thought i could stamp on through between two buses before they moved lanes etc... I nearly came a cropper and only just managed to get myself out of the back again before they came squishingly close to each other. It's easy as you get more confident to get complacent. Just be careful!
Hope this has been useful to anyone new to riding fixed or thinking of buying or building one.
Some of this stuff is stating the obvious to experienced riders so please forgive me if it sounds condescending , it's not meant to.
10 Fixed Gear Tips
1. If you are riding regulary i strongly recommend running an emergency front brake. I know it doesn't look as cool as brakeless but its much better looking than staring at a hospital ceiling. (You can take the brake off when you are alive for photo day)
2. Use Toe Clips. If you are riding fast and covering longer distances it is important you run clips. If your foot slips off the pedal at high speed you can be flipped of your steed. Remember those cranks do not stop turning and when you need to get your foot back on it can be a scary experience with traffic flying past you. I'd only recommend SPD's unless you were a seasoned SPD wearer and fixed gear rider. They are much more difficult to get your feet into moving than sliding into clips.
3. Read the road ahead. Look way beyond what you would normally do, map your line and be aware of any side traffic or anyone who may be turning but don't have their indicators on. There are so many shit drivers out there its not funny.
4. Traffic Lights Instead of steaming up to Red lights and forcing yourself to brake quickly, slow down by applying reverse thrust on the cranks gradually. I try and time them so i have just enough momentum to crank up the power again before they turn green. If you have to stop on a Red just ease yourself out another 3-4 meters ahead so that you have time to get some speed up on Green before the other cars catch you up. It's not much fun trying to find your clips with no momentum and cars speeding up behind you.
5. Find your flow. I'm really starting to feel at one with the bike now, and partly this is from finding a nice riding rhythm. Distribute power evenly so you don't get tired and save energy for when you know you have a hill coming up. I know this sounds obvious but you can't stop pedalling so you need make it as comfortable for yourself as possible. Pump the last couple of KMs for fitness as you will see a big improvement in strength quite quickly.
6. Gearing. If you find that on your regular commute that you are spinning out quite a bit in sections perhaps move up to a harder gearing. I was running 16/44 and found that i was bobbing up and down almost out of control in places on my ride. This can be pretty dangerous also. I changed up to a 16/48 tooth and i'm finding it so much better. Yes it does take a bit longer to wind the bike up from stand still but then again my fitness in my legs have improved too and its now easy.
7. Handlebar positioning. I'm finding the Bull Bars to be a really comfortable position over my drop bars and straight bars. This is a personal preference mind you. I do find i can get right over the front of the bike on the climb something you can't do with straights ot risers.
8. Tyre Pressure. Keep your tyres inflated to around 100psi. Braking with a front brake and low pressure in the front tyre is well sketchy, don't go there.
9. Checking over your shoulder. This may sound stupid but looking over your shoulder when riding fixed is actually not that easy to start with. The natural thing to do is freewheel on a geared bike when you look over your shoulder. When you first try it on a fixed gear its an odd sensation and quite difficult to keep your balance, especially if you are going fast. the only advice i can give is to do it smoothly and slow a little until you get used to it. I find now that i can spin pretty fast whilst looking behind me.
10. Fancy ass moves Riding between buses at high speed might be exciting but i have to say i had a scary experience a few weeks ago where i thought i could stamp on through between two buses before they moved lanes etc... I nearly came a cropper and only just managed to get myself out of the back again before they came squishingly close to each other. It's easy as you get more confident to get complacent. Just be careful!
Hope this has been useful to anyone new to riding fixed or thinking of buying or building one.
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