Should i go fixie

Change the chain and the freewheel every few months, and you're good to go. It's genuinely my favourite bike, and wouldn't swap it for the world. Commuting on a road bike isn't the same anymore.

I started off buying a single speed then when that was ready for an upgrade, went fixed although I could have just swapped the wheel on the first bike for my new bike and haven't looked back. It's got a front brake and narrow bull-horn bars. You know the type.

I've had schwalbe durano plus on it for about 3 years and they're still going. Helps with leg muscles and getting used to pedalling smoothly, or at least in my case. I had visions of riding MashSF style, skid stopping at high speed between traffic. That doesn't happen, I just use the brake. Previously I could just freewheel down the hill into work in the morning, with barely a turn of the pedal, and riding fixed forces me to spin, which is good. And somehow, riding fixed is just fun - especially in the urban environment.

Then I bought a Dolan Track Champion, changed the fork, stuck a front brake on. My legs got bigger every day. Not only did my legs get a workout getting up to Crystal Palace but they they got a workout going down the hill into Dulwich as well. Get one! There is of course the no maintenance bonuses as well I cannot recommed going fixed enough.

You want to damage your knees. You do not have knees. You have plenty of spare knees. Explore the complete archive of reviews of fixed and singlespeed bikes on road. If you like road. As a subscriber you can read road. The revenue from adverts helps to fund our site.

Your subscription will help us to do more. The aim of road. We continuously update and republish our guides, checking prices, availability and looking for the best deals. Our guides include links to websites where you can buy the featured products. Like most sites we make a small amount of money if you buy something after clicking on one of those links. Even if you can stop by skidding, it is wasteful to ruin a tire. I find that I get a better workout per minute or per mile on a fixed gear than on a freewheel bike.

Kids start their cycling experience with such bikes itself and makes sense to upgrade to another similar one since it costs less, less maintenance and all that's said before me.

The price acts as a major deterrent in promotion of geared cycles. Fixed gear bikes can be very silent. All you hear is the tire on the road. I don't think you can get that with any other type of bike. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why ride a fixed-gear bike? Ask Question. Asked 11 years ago. Active 4 years, 6 months ago. Viewed k times. I'm not trying to insult or flame riders of fixed-gear bikes - I'm just curious! Improve this question. Brian Beckett. Brian Beckett Brian Beckett 2, 3 3 gold badges 16 16 silver badges 12 12 bronze badges. It's also hard to turn sharply pedal can hit ground. Many don't have brakes and rely on either resisting pedaling or skidding the rear wheel, which means stopping can be hard.

Good question! After I started riding three-speed bikes, I can understand the lure of simplicity. I'm looking forward to some answers from fixed-gear riders. I've created another question to track the single-speed portion of the question. Hipster says, "Because yolo. If I'm going to ride a km then I'm going to pedal km. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Your understanding is correct. Why do people ride them? Some random answers: Maintenance is very, very low.

You have to keep the tires and chain in good working order and, on a bike you ride on the road, hopefully some form of a brake. That's it. On most velodromes, you have to ride a fixed gear bike, so if you race track, you have no choice.

There is something to be said for how a fixed gear will force you to develop a smoother pedaling style since you simply cannot stop. Due to this, they are somewhat popular for 'off season' training by serious road cyclists. Hesitating to mention this There is a certain segment of the population that loves retro and simple things. In addition to being possibly the most efficient people moving device that exists, the fixed gear bicycle can be an important fashion accessory. Improve this answer.

Also it is hard for most people to steal them, due to "Hard to get started" — Ian. For 3, I usually use rollers for that - after you've surged forward over the front roller once or twice you learn good pedaling mechanics or good first aid. I wouldn't be too hesitant to mention 4, it's pretty objectively true. I would imagine that 4 is key. It's the only one that can really explain the lack of brakes, too. If the question was 'Why so many people use fixies', the order of your points should be inverted.

I think you should not hesitate about the 4th point. Show 6 more comments. It's harder work than a normal free hub, your legs are constantly moving so there's no rest. Going up hills without having to think about gear selection forces you to think about optimisation of effort Going down hills is hard, too - spinning your legs in a way you can rarely achieve on a free hub This constant movement translates to a much smoother rhythmic style of pedalling, which will have a beneficial effect on your free hub cadence There are fewer components to maintain As a consequence of the fewer components, the machine is lighter, so the experience is more responsive, which means you're able to maintain speed more easily.

Traditionally fewer people knew how to ride them, so they were alleged to be less attractive to thieves. Unsliced Unsliced I converted an old bike to fixed gear in college for several of these reasons: it made it lighter, harder to steal, improved my road bike fitness. At least I would disagree with the last point and I can't see how this is true.

Braking with the rear wheel is always less efficient than with the front wheel, and applying the correct amount of "brake" on a fixed gear is much harder.

Quinn: So braking is so bad to start with, that wet weather does not make it significantly worse? Skidding the back tire, with the drive train or breaks, is an inferior way of stopping the bike compared to the front brake.

If anyone claims anything else, I like proof, lots of it. Anyway, if someone likes to break "without brakes", sure go ahead, but claiming that it's as good or better than breaks is just wrong. And I don't say this to offend anyone or anything like that. QuinnCulver: Sudden braking is only certainly unnecessary on a track. But anywhere on a road, you're eventually going to have idiot drivers, animals, or kids kicking balls out in front of you.

Then sudden braking is necessary, and what do you do? I mean, in Syndey, there are car drivers who actively try to maim cyclists. Yes, riding on roads without using brakes is good, but riding without brakes is just stupid. Show 9 more comments. Reasons I ride: There is a direct feel of the road. There is no slack going forward or backward before the "catch" on the chain.

No derailleur maintenance. No clicking. No wait on gear shifts. No finding the right gear. Where I ride, it is completely flat, in and out of neighborhoods, constant speed changes.

And pulling up on the pedals actually reduces your efficiency, another study published in found. The idea is that by stripping a bike of its functionality, you gain a higher degree of control. But control is about getting the most out of your body and bike, not making the most of a faulty machine.

For me, that means accelerating effortlessly and having the optimal gearing for any situation. But when a subversive act becomes a trend, against what, exactly, is it rebelling? The fixie is meant for the velodrome, and it excels there. If you plan to ride on the road, gears are the way to go. Search Search. A beautiful addition to your two-wheeled arsenal, or a pockmark on the face of cycling history? Twitter Icon. In Praise of Fixies The first time I rode a fixie, in , it nearly killed me.

I haven't quit since. More on Bikes. Whatever Happened to Singlespeed Mountain Bikes? By: Eben Weiss. Standout Road Bikes from Our Test. By: Aaron Gulley. The Troubling Rise of the Ghost Bike. By: Marc Peruzzi. Dignity may not be one of them. A fixed drivetrain makes for a very clean and elegant bike. Fixies are more versatile than you might imagine.

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