I haven't road a fixed except in a parking lot. Getting one next week. I would appreciate some beginner tips.

Tip No. 1 - I already know.... don't try to coast!!! :p

What else to expect????

Some of this might sound stupid, but I here's what I did when I was starting out last fall.

Recognizing that I did a lot of my on-bike activities with the pedals stationary (get a drink, stand up, sit down, get things out of my pockets, etc), I knew that I had to break these habits or I would have a rough time of it.

What I did was ride around the neighborhood for about an hour, doing all of those things on the fixed, to get used to the feel of doing these things with the pedals turning. In addition, I did a number of stops and restarts, so that I had a technique down for stoplights and signs, and I was not trying it out for the first or second time while sitting in traffic. The hardest part, for me, about restarting was getting my still-clipped-in foot in the right position to get a good initial pushoff. I saw something on Sheldon Brown's site (link below) that works: engage the front brake and push down on the handlebars so that the rear wheel lifts off the ground, rotate your clipped in foot to where you want it, and then put the rear wheel back down. I can't find exactly where it is on the site, but it's there if you look around.

What some folks might think was being overcautious on my part was that I did all of this first with only tennis shoes on (I run Look pedals), then with one tennis shoe and one foot clipped in, then alternate feet with a tennis shoe and a clipped in shoe, then both feet clipped in. After an hour of these combinations, and practicing the on-bike activities, I went on my first fixed training ride with no problems.

There are a lot of great folks on this site who are very experienced and willing to share their knowledge with newbies like us. You've found a good place to share your experiences and learn from.

Post a picture of your ride when you get a chance.

Here are some links that may be helpful:

Sheldon Brown:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

Fixed gear gallery:
http://fixedgeargallery.com

Fixed article on cyclingnews:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/fixed.shtml

Heckman covers it. When i first got on, I rode around the block with flat pedals on so if anything got out of hand, I could just take my feet off the pedals.

I also just rode around normally. I haven't gone down yet from forgetting to pedal, corners are a little nerve racking. Just hop on and it'll all come naturally, nothing really crazy about it.

I found Sheldon’s site helpful, but RBR & the old skool track site (linked below) provided LOTS of good info. The folks here have been the single, best resource to help me learn about FG bikes and riding.

I rode brakeless for a while at first but that is a personal decision. I think it actually helped my learning curve but the reality was that I was so anxious to get out on my new fixie that I just couldn’t wait for UPS to arrive with my parts. Once they came, I was too busy having fun riding to spend the time to install them.

My first ride (8/9/03) was to a local park that has approx. a 1-mile loop with 1/3 flat, 1/3 uphill & 1/3 downhill. This way I didn’t have to deal with stop signs, lights & cross traffic (except on the way there, which was a flat 2 mi & I rode VERY cautiously). I used cages/straps w/sneakers. After 3-4 laps, I felt confident enough to cinch up the toe straps REALLY tight and hit the streets. I did 25 miles that day & it felt like 80. At first I planned my routes VERY carefully to avoid downhills with stoplights, stop signs & hectic cross streets in potentially damaging places. After my 2nd ride I tossed the cages/straps in favor of Time mtn bike pedals and was MUCH happier. My 4th ride was a 48-mile round trip commute to work in NYC. Duking it out with cabbies, city busses and the like was a total trip – very Zen.

Good luck, enjoy & make sure you post a very detailed 1st ride report. We love to read stuff like that.

Link:
http://www.oldskooltrack.com/files/home.frame.html

Appreciate all the advice and links. Can't wait!

I'd add just a couple things.

One. Don't ride brakeless. Especially in the beginning.

Two. At stops I use a vatiation of the option proposed by Sheldon Brown. Rather than pushing down on the bars to get the rear wheel up, I just grab the saddle to lift the rear so I can position my starting foot where I want it.

Enjoy your fixie. It's been a blast for me.

I haven't road a fixed except in a parking lot. Getting one next week. I would appreciate some beginner tips.

Tip No. 1 - I already know.... don't try to coast!!! :p

What else to expect????


I'm pretty new to riding fixed myself, but didn't find the learning curve to be terribly difficult.

After building mine up I rode it around town for an hour or so and started doing my 10-mile commute on it the next morning. That was a relatively flat commute, but it did include some busy streets.

I think you'll find that if you just get on it and ride you'll become accustomed to it quicker than you might think. One advantage I've noticed to riding fixed was that it forces you to be a lot more cognizent of what traffic is doing and to always plan an "out" in case something happens that you simply can't stop quickly enough to avoid.

The more advanced stuff (long skids, skidding whilst turning, loooong track-stands, descending long and/or steep hills etc.) you'll have to ask others about. I'm not quite there yet.

If you live in a large enough city to have messengers about, I'd imagine you could probably learn a lot by watching the fixed messengers ride.

I'm told there's an occasional Saturday "fixed" ride from the local coffee shop, but I've never seen them out there. That'd be another good resource if you have such a group in your area...

-Trevor

it's a lot like riding a bike..sorry--it was there, i mean right there!!:)

i've never had the prob, but shoelaces and pantlegs should NEVER get
into the chain~chainring.

As the late queen mum once said, "Them cranks ain't stoppin' fer nuthin'!!"