Fixed Gear in a Group - My Experience

crumjack · Nov 20, 2006

After lurking in this forum for a while and reading various articles about the wonders of fixed gear as a training tool, I built up a garage sale conversion this summer looking ahead to winter riding.

On Saturday, I took my fixie to one of the last official club rides of the year. I have done some solo rides fixed so I was used to the no coasting thing and allowing a little extra time to stop, etc but was a little nervous about riding fixed in a group for the first time. I had a couple of things going for me: I was familiar with several others in the group and this wasn't going to be a hammer fest.

To start the ride, I hung out towards the back of the group and left myself plenty of space just in case. As I got more comfortable, I narrowed my gap to the wheel in front of me and worked my way into the middle of the group eventually taking some pulls on the front. About 20 miles into our ride, a small group organized a "breakaway." After allowing them about 30 seconds, I made the foolhardy decision to bridge the gap. Clearly a dumb decision and I paid for it later in the day but I wanted to see if I could make it. Fortunately the break ran out of gas and I was able to catch on for a bit. Towards the end of the ride, I did find myself longing to coast but being fixed forced me to keep pushing and probably got me off the cold windy road a few minutes sooner than my geared ride would have.

I've only been on the fixed seriously for a couple of weeks but so far I've noticed the biggest gain in my handling skills. Aside from pedaling thru corners, being fixed really forces you to focus on the wheel in front of you. I have brakes on my fixed but I know they don't give me the margin of error the brakes on my geared bike do.

The point of my post is that you can ride fixed in a group. Its really not much different than geared (bridging gaps is a bit more difficult!) and can be a lot of fun. I know this isn't news to our grizzled veterans. Hopefully this will push some to give it a go!

danl1 · Nov 20, 2006

One of the things I like about fixed in a group is how easy it is to get tight on a wheel. The small changes in speed that yo-yo through the pack because folks tap the brakes when they get too tight... don't get past the guy riding fixed. Unless somebody does something really stupid, staying six inches off a lead wheel is nearly automatic.

The offset is that most folks are more accustomed than they realize to the non-verbal signal of coasting to adjust speed. You'll find the guy that has your wheel coming up on you when the pack slows, because your legs don't pass the signal back. Makes the fixed rider a bit less welcome in some groups, at least until others get used to your presence.

Jamieshankland · Nov 20, 2006

Riding a fix in a group is the best training you can do. A nice light gear and a good pack pace = spinning your head off. At the same time your building your muscle memory and endurance aswell. I beleive it works out to be 35-40 min on a fixed gear = one hour on the road bike.

The only problem with fixed gears in groups is some riders get nervous around you because apparantly your more likly to crash. Meanwhile out of all the fall / winter rides ive seen crashes on, non were caused by a fixed gear rider.

bigrider · Nov 20, 2006

One of the biggest adjustments riding on a fixed gear with a group of riders is the varying of speed. If you are riding rolling hills you will have to change postion in the group on a regular basis. Most of the time you can ride up hills with the group, but you end up trying to get a little ahead. The reason? We you start down a long downhill the group will go faster than you and you will get spit out the back. You then work to catch up or get the front on the next uphill, if you don't, on the next downhill you could get permanently dropped.

sitzpickel · Nov 20, 2006

More Importantly

I would like to hear the experiences of the other people in the group about you being there ;-)

Michael
---------------------------
Ride, rinse, repeat.

crumjack · Nov 21, 2006

sitzpickel said:
I would like to hear the experiences of the other people in the group about you being there ;-)

I don't know what they thought but I seemed to blend in after about 10 miles. There were some jokes about shifting when a couple of folks got themselves caught in the wrong gear. Nice thing about fixed, none of that clicking back and forth across the same 4-5 gears all day.:thumbsup:

BianchiJoe · Nov 21, 2006

My only expeience riding in a group while fixed was riding in a group of five other fixed riders -- pretty scary at first, but we eventually found a rhythm of sorts, at least for the flat stretches. The difficulty was in the variety of gears we were all running. To maintain pace, some riders were spinning like chipmunks while others were barely hitting 60 rpm. We got pretty strung out on any climbs, and the descents were madness. It was fun, but in sort of an absurd way - and it taught me that the the track, with its unrelenting predictability, is probably the best application for this sort of thing.

Pablo · Nov 21, 2006

Riding with other fixed riders is fun. A buddy and I went on a long ride out on the rolling flats with the same gear ratio and similar fitness levels, both trying to drop the other on the false flats and climbs, which is nearly impossible because all things we equal and I couldn't mash my way ahead.

Spinfinity · Nov 21, 2006

my experiences

1. I lost contact on anything steep. Could neither climb nor descend as fast as geared riders on the serious grades. On the very steep stretches, I found climbing without slaloming was a helluva lot harder.

2. I caught back up easily with all but the fastest riders.

3. Holding a wheel was no problem on anything other than the steeps. I found myself using more hand signals than usual so people wouldn't expect me to stop pedaling when I slowed down.

4. Many riders didn't appear to notice my bike was fixed, others didn't know what fixed meant. Once I hooked up with a shop ride on my way home and riders, many of whom were triathletes, were first amused that somebody would ride with a bag on his back and then amazed that I regularly rode to and from work. Nobody asked about only one gear or what happened to my back brake.

Jamieshankland · Nov 21, 2006

Up where I am winter is creul but goes in spurts. When it gets nice for a few days on end the country roads fill up with group rides. Fixed gears are very common too since it keeps you warm.

ukiahb · Nov 22, 2006

If I'm riding fixed w/ geared riders I usually hang at the back so as not to cause problems and let the other riders know that.....but have ridden in a paceline at the velodrome and that was a blast, though a little scary and it requires total concentration (no brakes), it is very cool when the paceline settles ito a groove and the leader goes up the banking and cuts back in at the end each lap.
If you get a chance to take riding classes at a track it is well worth it even if you don't indend to race, lotsa fun and it will make you a better rider...

Fixed Gear in a Group - My Experience

crumjack

danl1

Jamieshankland

bigrider

sitzpickel

crumjack

BianchiJoe

Pablo

Spinfinity

Jamieshankland

ukiahb

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