[thegood]

anyone ridden m-o-m on a fixed-gear? if so, what gearing?

i'm going to try it with a 48-19...a little worried, but not too proud to walk.

i only own one road bike and it's a fixed-gear, so going geared is not an option.

any advice would be nice.

 

[tamu]

does it have a flip flop hub? maybe downgrade the front sprocket and put a freewheel on the otherside.. for coasting down or make it really low incase you get stuck..

you cant really expect people to give you comprehensive advice with so many variables left to chance, the results would be different for a 98lb girl than a 185lb man.. how long have you been riding bikes?? things like that..

find a steep area nearby and teast out gearing, if nothing else bring another sprocket or something

 

[thegood]

no flip-flop...single fixed. i do have a beater flip-flop wheel, but it has a really bad flat spot on the rim.

been riding a long time...good climber.

gonna try to scrounge a 46T chainring from some buddies.

thanks.

 

[tobu]

I have heard that it finishes on a climb in which a 39x27 is nice to have, 39x25 is doable, and a 39x23 is masochistic.

 

[thegood]

thanks for the encouragement :yikes:

it's supposed to rain over that weekend too...the ride should live up to it's name.

 

[thegood]

39-16

tried the 48-19 this morning...didn't notice that much of a difference on the climbs, but felt reeeeeally easy on the flat (not that there is much flat at m-o-m).

gonna go with 39-16...will report back in two weeks.

 

[VaughnA]

I'm doing it.....Compact & 12/27. My singlespeed stays at home for that one. This will be my first. I heard that riders in the top 20 sometimes walk sections of the climb. You one sick puppy..... I'll have to hang out and watch this one. Good luck,

 

[Kram]

I've heard pretty much the same. It gets it's name honestly. Good luck

 

[thegood]

no top 20 for me...just finishing will be enough...

don't forget to wave when you see me walkin my a$$ up hill...i'm not sure how I was even talked into doing it

 

[capt_phun]

I live in Blacksburg so here is my take:
Being a fit climber and have ridden up the back side of Mtn Lake you are going to want to be somewhere in the 39x25 range or you are walking. It is a beast and after the first 97 miles that soften you up significantly, like Johns Creek Mtn around the 60 mile mark, Mtn Lake at the end is simply one word: DEMORALIZING.
Most of the people I know in the recreational circle are running triples or compacts with 12-27. I am running a standard Dura-ace 10 that I run for this ride in 53-38 and 12-27 and I plan on suffering as well on the final climb.

Even if you are extremely fit I highly doubt you will climb the back side of mtn lake 39x16. Not trying to shoot you down, I give you a lot of credit for fixie, but more just trying to warn you. If I was fresh of a 10 mile warm-up I may get 1.5 miles up mtn lake in 39x16 before the legs utterly explode, if even that far. Check out the profile at the on the MoM website, just look at the last 3 miles. Like I said: DEMORALIZING!
I'll be looking for you though, shouldn't be to hard to pick out the fixie. Also how do you plan on decsending Johns Creek Mtn? You can kick it up to 40 easily so on the fixie be careful. This past weeked I showed VaughA that you can kick it to over 50 on some of the local downhills, but you have to remember to brake in the corners or you end up doing an Ullrich into the ditch

 

[VaughnA]

This past weeked I showed VaughA that you can kick it to over 50 on some of the local downhills, but you have to remember to brake in the corners or you end up doing an Ullrich into the ditch

If there was any confusion the Captain was the one in the ditch! You can show me how to kick it to over 50 all day long but you didn't show me how to make a turn at 50! You were one of 3 crashes on that downhill including one separated shoulder from what I hear. Nice riding with you yesterday captain, your patience waiting for our club members is to be commended! see both of you this weekend..

VaughnA

 

[capt_phun]

The funniest thing... this morning I uploaded all the info from my GPS. I went from 50.8mph to 47 mph into that corner. Well the next speed logged was 16mph, my crash speed! So crashing at 16mph really isn't bad
The best part is that it shows my tracks descending Rt 43, and then where I went off the road. Gave me a little smile this morning, I owe one to the Big Guy upstairs, only one tiny scratch on my knee, looks like a cut from shaving.
Like they say, if you aren't crashing, you aren't riding hard enough.

 

[VaughnA]

That is cool, I'd like to see that. I'm going to have to get a mount for my gps but not for that reason I don't think that I got above about 48 except at the first long straight at the top where I went just above 50. I'm chicken and/or smart.

V

 

[thegood]

50mph, holy s**t! that's scary. slow and slower will be my pace. yes, i'll probably walk the last climb...but i will put forth a valiant effort before throwing in the towel. as far as descending goes...my front brake is going to get some serious usage. overall, i don't plan on going over 20mph too much during the ride.

actually, there is a small part of me that hopes the forecast will call for rain...if it does, i plan on staying home

 

[VaughnA]

50mph, holy s**t! that's scary. slow and slower will be my pace. yes, i'll probably walk the last climb...but i will put forth a valiant effort before throwing in the towel. as far as descending goes...my front brake is going to get some serious usage. overall, i don't plan on going over 20mph too much during the ride.

actually, there is a small part of me that hopes the forecast will call for rain...if it does, i plan on staying home

Bad News The weather is looking good if warm (85ish).

We weren't on Fixies.... I have no idea how steep the downhills are on MOM. The place where the capt crashed is where we climb UP to train for MOM and is very steep and twisty. I was a bit behind him trying to pass two guys descending slower than us when he crashed. I didn't see him as I went by and was a couple of miles down the road at a sag stop when they came by. They asked if I was with the guy that went over the side. I asked why they didn't stop, they said they couldn't. If you can slow down to make a turn, you can stop! I can't believe that someone would just keep on riding after someone crashed like that. Luckily capt_phun showed up soon after a little muddy but ok. I guess there is karma, the guys that couldn't stop had a flat a mile down the road...

 

[capt_phun]

hey hey lets not spread to much word about my descending prowess.
I went back and looked at some of the gps data. There is definitetly a blip somewhere in the satellites or something cause at times it said outrageous things like 96mph, 85 mph. Thats why I always run it compared to my bike computer which showed 50mph as well. The track data is never as accurate as the trip data which shows speed, average, total ascent, max speed, etc.

 

[VaughnA]

Since the GPS only updates at best once a second it will be wrong if you're going fast & on a curvy road. It will cut out the apex and make it seem faster. It may also do this in poor coverage where it moves because of innacuracy, not because you are moving.

 

[thegood]

I survived

39x16 wasn't too bad, until the final climb up mountain lake...I had to stop about a mile from the top to relieve the massive cramps in my legs. With the heat and the pain, I was delirious. It took me 7h 56m...I'm happy with that because I thought I was in for 10+ hours. Good stuff overall...can't wait for next year...hope to see some other FG or SSers out there...got lots of strange looks and snickers from the other riders

 

[bigrider]

39x16 wasn't too bad, until the final climb up mountain lake...I had to stop about a mile from the top to relieve the massive cramps in my legs. With the heat and the pain, I was delirious. It took me 7h 56m...I'm happy with that because I thought I was in for 10+ hours. Good stuff overall...can't wait for next year...hope to see some other FG or SSers out there...got lots of strange looks and snickers from the other riders

Way to go!!! It sounds like you made great time as well. Most of the time, the downhills hurt a lot more than the uphills. Did you have any saddle issues from the length of the ride and all the downhill spinning?

 

[thegood]

The downhills were definitely a pain...I used my front brake to keep my speed at 20 mph or below. On some of the longer downhills, riders were blowin by me at probably 45+ mph...they were goin scary fast.

I used plenty of chamois cream, so I didn't end up with any problems in my nether lands.