winter riding: beater vs. fixie/SS

[Climb01742]

what's your perference for lousy weather riding: a beater with lots o' gears or a fixie/SS? each seems to have their pro's & con's. i'd appreciate folks' thoughts. merci.

[dbrk]

As my palClimb says...oh, that's you..."moderation in nothing." My beater is hardly one 'cause it's a Moots titanium but naked ti has little other appeal to me than the fact that you can hose it off when yer done. Singling or fixin' is so much fun and good out your way (in Concord) but harder here in Bristol with so, so many hills. I tend to go shorter on the fixie and longer on the gear bikes because there is a three mile climb home from the short direction (and longer from the others).

I'm thinking that once the dust settles I'll get a Kogswell fixie for the pure non-peurile fun of it. Kogswell says the new ones in red will be here by December and you can't beat the price ($400 f/f). Of course many a fixie can be made of a fine old bike and if it doesn't have horizontal drop-outs then the Paul's gadget works pretty nicely (as do others).

dbrk

[zap]

Naked ti w/gears.

Fixees can be hard on knees if you live in a hilly area when in fact winter riding should be the time to take it easy to allow knees to re-build.

Want to work on spin, get rollers.

[11.4]

Like everyone says, do you have a lot of big hills? If so, fixies can be a little tough (and flipping a double-sided rear wheel doesn't really cut it). But if you can have a moderate winter route, they're great. They aren't just about spinning. They teach you more about position, about general smoothness, about not coasting more than you should, etc. Ridden on a trainer or rollers, it can give you a real spin workout as well. They're great for one-legged drills and other similar exercises. In wet weather they're easier to keep clean and you get better speed control and contact with the road than with a freewheel/cassette. Fixies are also cheaper, there's less to wear out, and it's generally cheaper to replace.

Number one issue in the end is ... if you don't like a fixie, you won't ride it. If you love a fixie, you'll ride more. That's for you to determine.

[gasman]

I prefer to be outside and riding. I also like hills so my knees need lots of gears so my winter bike has Ultegra 9 speed. Like dbrk my "beater" is a Litespeed Ti Catalyst with fenders. I just hose it off then wipe it off with a rag. I actually like the naked Ti, it feels "elemental".

[christian]

Fixie.

Less maintenance, less crud, less everything. If you live in a flat area, a fixie is a great year-round commuter.

I have an early-80s Specialized Sequoia, with IRO fixed-gear hubs, an old Shimano 600 crank, 'stache bars, and SKS fenders. Total investment was less than $200. It's geared 40x16, which is fine for any hills in the NYC area.

The cost no object commuter would be a Matt Chester with the same geometry, a Tubus rack, and Phil hubs...

That said, any hills greater than a mile and steeper than 5-6% grade probably call for gears...

- Christian

[coylifut]

I can think of two people who made great strides regarding their cycling strength over last winter. The common denominator, they both rode fixed.

[pbbob]

fixed/ss. a nice one.