David, Congratulations on your foray into fixed gear riding! As Patrick mentioned, climbing is fun on a fixed gear--I don't know why, but it really is--but I must say I don't mind the downhills. I've had some pretty ferocious spins going in the past but, if I try to actually keep up with the pedal speed, I find it fairly easy to do. Sort of a relaxed, high-speed spin with minimal resistance.
Give yourself time to acclimate and you may be very pleased with the fixed gear experience. Oh, as a data point, I'm 52 and started riding fixed in my early 40s; I typically have the bike geared at 48x18 to 48x20. Cheers! lyle On 11 March 2013 12:48, PATRICK MOORE <bertin...@gmail.com> wrote: > David: Welcome to the fixed gear club. You do know, do you not, that > there is now no turning back? No, none at all. > > Downhills are the biggest bane of fixed gear riding. Uphills are fine > once you develop your high torque muscles and, even more important, > your mental outlook: you learn to pace yourself. Heck, hills are even > fun -- I love climbing long, moderately graded hills. You learn to > stand for extended periods without going anaerobic, and you learn when > your knees prefer you to stand. But for downhills I've learned that > the trick is, not to let your speed build up. > > I started with a small gear: 63" or so, IIRC, and quickly found that > flailing along on the flats was annoying. I gradually upped my ratio > until now I prefer something in the mid 60s to the mid 70s depending > on total bike weight. I've even thought of gearing my gofast from > 46/15 (24.5" 650C X 22mm wheels) to 48X15. > > In all seriousness, give it sufficient time. I personally love riding > fixed more than any other kind of riding -- tho' I must say that, > yesterday, I did appreciate the 31" gear on the Fargo when schlepping > 30 lb of groceries up a very steep hill against a headwind. > > On Mon, Mar 11, 2013 at 9:28 AM, David Spranger <daspran...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > 50 years old and I had never tried fixed gear, so I built a fixed/free > wheel > > for my SimpleOne over the weekend. Not sure I am in love with fixed, but > I > > will give it a couple of weeks before flipping it to the free side. > Think I > > will have to relearn habits. I have a couple of big hills to roll down on > > the way to work and I picked up speed too fast. My legs did not like > > spinning so fast. > > > > Put on a set of Bullmoose bars as well. I am definitely liking them more > > than the mustache I had on there (though I do still like the mustache). > > > > David > > Charlotte, NC > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > > Visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > > > > > > -- > __________________________________________________________________________ > > BUSINESS BUILDING COME-ON!! > $300 off a $600 resume + letter or Linked In profile package with > referral that leads to full price sale! Refer two full-pay clients and > you get the package for free! > > I am not cheap, but I am very good. So they say. > > Patrick Moore, Ph.D, MBA, ACRW, Albuquerque, NM, USA > http://resumespecialties.com/index.html * > patrickmo...@resumespecialties.com > __________________________________________________________________________ > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- lyle f bogart dpt 156 bradford rd wiscasset, me 04578 207.882.6494 206.794.6937 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
