Riding free: Fixed vs SS

[Steve in SLO]

Fixed's post led me to think about a bike I am building up as a single speed.
I am swapping parts from an old frame to a newer one, and as I am doing so I began wondering about the sanity of riding a fixed gear at age 51. Oh sure, back in college we all rode fixed from Jan to end of Feb to build strength and suppleness, but that was before 1000's of miles as a runner, tennis and volleyball player, backpacker and cyclist. I've had a medial meniscal tear and am worried I may roach my knees out more quickly riding it as a fixed gear rather than a single speed.
I pretty much pedal everywhere on my geared bikes, so the utility of a ss is to decrease the chance of some badness on my knees during those high speed descents where the legs are asked to act as brakes on fixed.
Any sage thoughts?

[AngryScientist]

fixed should be no worse for your knees than SS provided you use the same technique, spinning as much as possible, and use a brake! i find what hurts my knees is always trying to slow the bike with my legs, i use a brake quite a bit on my fixed to slow down coming down a hill to save my knees. ride fixed brother, it will set you free.

[Fixed]

bro
s.s. = broken deraliler
fixed gear = something else
imho
cheers

[AngryScientist]

s.s. = broken deraliler



:beer:

[Fixed]

fixed should be no worse for your knees than SS provided you use the same technique, spinning as much as possible, and use a brake! i find what hurts my knees is always trying to slow the bike with my legs, i use a brake quite a bit on my fixed to slow down coming down a hill to save my knees. ride fixed brother, it will set you free.
+1
imho cheers

[Steve in SLO]

bro
s.s. = broken deraliler
fixed gear = something else
imho
cheers

Classic.
Thanks, Fixed. You, too Angryscientist.

[bigman]

As always Fixed is eloquently correct!

[krhea]

Fixed vs SS, wow, I just went through this mental discussion for the first time this "off-season". I went with a SS for the first time this winter. I'm 53 and began using my track bike/fixie for winter training in 1980 and it was my only vehicle in college.
After all these years I finally have to admit my knees are tired of fixie riding, even with the correct gears. As the weather here in the NW gets both a bit colder and wetter the past couple years I've noticed my knees "arguing" with me more and more on fixie rides. I also noticed a bit more ache the next day and fatigue the next day. And yes, over the years I've adjusted my gear ration to accomodate my fitness changing fitness levels.

This season I've gone 100% SS. I love it and my knees seem to be very happy with the switch.

I think it's an individual question each of us has to answer for ourselves. I'm very confident I rode a fixie as long as my "body/mind" wanted to and now, unless I decide to hit the track again next summer, I've found plenty of enjoyment and a good workout riding my SS.
Looking forward to the club ride tomorrow, a rolling 40miler on the SS in the rain.

KRhea

[Fixed]

Fixed vs SS, wow, I just went through this mental discussion for the first time this "off-season". I went with a SS for the first time this winter. I'm 53 and began using my track bike/fixie for winter training in 1980 and it was my only vehicle in college.
After all these years I finally have to admit my knees are tired of fixie riding, even with the correct gears. As the weather here in the NW gets both a bit colder and wetter the past couple years I've noticed my knees "arguing" with me more and more on fixie rides. I also noticed a bit more ache the next day and fatigue the next day. And yes, over the years I've adjusted my gear ration to accomodate my fitness changing fitness levels.

This season I've gone 100% SS. I love it and my knees seem to be very happy with the switch.

I think it's an individual question each of us has to answer for ourselves. I'm very confident I rode a fixie as long as my "body/mind" wanted to and now, unless I decide to hit the track again next summer, I've found plenty of enjoyment and a good workout riding my SS.
Looking forward to the club ride tomorrow, a rolling 40miler on the SS in the rain.

KRhea
try it again just around the block it will be worth it
i bet you will be smiling
( i have been riding fixed gear almost 25 years but i live in fla. no knee problems yet )
imho some of those aches and pains may be part of getting older i have them too riding helps
cheers

[Fixed]

the argument for a s.s.
you want a s.s. just don't shift .versus ...who can eat only one patato chip
cheers
imho

[Pandergosk]

Once I broke down and bought a front brake for my fixed gear I loved riding it. Skid stopping was killing my knees. It's a fantastic workout. I also love that there isn't much to break on a fixed gear bike. You can really treat them like rented mules.

[spiderman]

Road = fixed
Off-road = ss

[Bob Loblaw]

I guess I will stand up here and say the emperor's naked.

I like SS better for anything longer than a track race. I do 60-80 mile rides on my SS in the winter, and it's awesome training, super fun and a great way to switch up off-season training. It's a lot easier to keep up with a group ride on an SS than on a fixie. Plus it's fun to see the reactions I get when I muscle that rig up a steep grade.

I don't see the value of going fixed. But that's just my $.02, take it for what it's worth.

BL

[Fixed]

a fixed gear might not be the best bike to show up on a group ride with .
i wonder what ti designs thinks about it
cheers

[rugbysecondrow]

I don't like riding fixed on hills. Going up isn't as bad as going down.

[Fixed]

my fixed gear mt. bike urban bike
cheers imho

[swithouski]

My Old Man is 54 yrs old and he stole my Fixed gear. Haven't seen it in a couple years now...He loves it too much.

[krhea]

try it again just around the block it will be worth it
i bet you will be smiling
( i have been riding fixed gear almost 25 years but i live in fla. no knee problems yet )
imho some of those aches and pains may be part of getting older i have them too riding helps
cheers


No thanks, I'm plenty happy on my SS and have the smiles of 20+ years of fixie riding to my credit. I find my SS a great workout, the machine is still almost fixie "simple", is easy to clean-up after a "grit" ride as we call them out here and I can use it on fast groups rides with no problems.

Go forth and spin your wheels, be they fixed or "free".

[Fixed]

i guess a lot depends if you live in hills and ride in groups ..enjoy the day that is the most important thing imho
i am off to ride
cheers

[sjbraun]

I',m almost 56. I ride an average of 2000 miles fixed every year.
I'm not fond of using back pressure for braking, though I will slow a bit with my legs.
Just use brakes and riding fixed is not unlike riding a geared bike, except you can't stop pedaling.


Steve-who finds he has to force himself to switch to different gears on his geared bikes because after his frequent fixed miles, he tends to just ride in whatever gear he's in

[oldpotatoe]

Fixed's post led me to think about a bike I am building up as a single speed.
I am swapping parts from an old frame to a newer one, and as I am doing so I began wondering about the sanity of riding a fixed gear at age 51. Oh sure, back in college we all rode fixed from Jan to end of Feb to build strength and suppleness, but that was before 1000's of miles as a runner, tennis and volleyball player, backpacker and cyclist. I've had a medial meniscal tear and am worried I may roach my knees out more quickly riding it as a fixed gear rather than a single speed.
I pretty much pedal everywhere on my geared bikes, so the utility of a ss is to decrease the chance of some badness on my knees during those high speed descents where the legs are asked to act as brakes on fixed.
Any sage thoughts?

Here in 'not flat' land, I found that altho I liked the simplicity of a fixie, the 'pedal all the time, better workout in a shorter amount of time on a cold day' aspect, I found I was really limited as to where I could go w/o having to crunch up some hills and ride the brake and leg to go down some.

My solution was a cheapo RD, friction shifters, 6 speed freewheel. Still very simple, crud and gunk doesn't keep the friction shifter/RD/FD from workin and I can go more places...better solution. Plus I looked silly in tight black pants.

[zray67]

A flip flop hub allowing ss or a fixed gear. Not using brakes is only for 20 year old bike messengers.

my .02 cents

[veloduffer]

Fixed's post led me to think about a bike I am building up as a single speed.
I am swapping parts from an old frame to a newer one, and as I am doing so I began wondering about the sanity of riding a fixed gear at age 51. Oh sure, back in college we all rode fixed from Jan to end of Feb to build strength and suppleness, but that was before 1000's of miles as a runner, tennis and volleyball player, backpacker and cyclist. I've had a medial meniscal tear and am worried I may roach my knees out more quickly riding it as a fixed gear rather than a single speed.
I pretty much pedal everywhere on my geared bikes, so the utility of a ss is to decrease the chance of some badness on my knees during those high speed descents where the legs are asked to act as brakes on fixed.
Any sage thoughts?

Get a flip flop hub. I ride both whenever I feel like it. I'm a little more conscious about my knees after some tendonitis this past spring and have ridden more SS than fixed - a bit easier on the knees.

It's great to ride for winter - I can clean and lube in about 10 minutes.

[Wilkinson4]

If you pick a gear that is appropriate, I don't think you will have any issues with your knees. I on the other hand used to do tons of fixed miles, but I have found lately that riding high rpm on my fixed gear bike really aggravates my sciatic.

Probably when I am really spun up +130RPM going downhill so I have ridden SS alot more this year.

mIKE

[Steve in SLO]

Thanks all for the input. We have rolling + hills around here and I found myself spinning 130-140 down some hills unless I used a lot of brake with my old fixed gear. I think I'll ease into it with ss and see how it goes.
Gooe riding everryone.

[veloduffer]

If you're interested, I'm selling my Specialized Langster frameset (56cm aluminum with carbon fork). I'm switching the components to a single speed cross frameset.

[Fixed]

I',m almost 56. I ride an average of 2000 miles fixed every year.
I'm not fond of using back pressure for braking, though I will slow a bit with my legs.
Just use brakes and riding fixed is not unlike riding a geared bike, except you can't stop pedaling.


Steve-who finds he has to force himself to switch to different gears on his geared bikes because after his frequent fixed miles, he tends to just ride in whatever gear he's in
55 was a good year bro imho smart cat

[marle]

fixed should be no worse for your knees than SS provided you use the same technique, spinning as much as possible, and use a brake! i find what hurts my knees is always trying to slow the bike with my legs, i use a brake quite a bit on my fixed to slow down coming down a hill to save my knees. ride fixed brother, it will set you free.

+1

[forrestw]

I'm 54, last fall/winter season was my first off-season riding fixed and it worked out fine.

The first 3 weeks or so I had some sense of tweaking my knees and I just stayed careful about building mileage. I pretty routinely ride 8-10% grades which is about as stiff as I want to do regularly riding fg.

This fall I finished out my regular training ride season riding fg to their geared setups. I got real good at faking the ability to still be first up our one long hill, about a mile with a couple of 10-14% sections .. I say 'faking' 'cause mid-season we'd do multiple reps and had we been keeping those up there'd have been no way. Spinning 140-160 on the downhills is great for working on spinning strength for next season.

Anyhow, my knees both have sustained prior damage no PCL left and torn medial meniscus both sides. Not withstanding, they've held up fine with a winter diet of 80-120 mile weeks riding exclusively fg.

This Dec I spent a week in SF riding fg, that was less fun, a steady diet of 15% grades was more than I really wanted to do but I also sustained no damage.

I say go fg and just listen to your body / choose suitable gearing for your terrain.

[forrestw]

a fixed gear might not be the best bike to show up on a group ride with .
i wonder what ti designs thinks about it
cheers

As S-SLO original ponder/query here relates to fears about knee injury and riding fg, Here's what Ed told me last year ref a torn knee cartilage:

"the injury was 10 years ago, I bet my ortho surgeon that he'd retire before I needed surgery"

9k miles after my own RH medial meniscus tear I'm prepared to make the same bet with my doc :-)k

[Fixed]

geared s.s. fixed gear they are all beautiful
ride what you got and..
be thankful you are healthy enough to ride ..
some cats are not so fortunate
cheers imho

[Steve in SLO]

Beauty, Fixed.
Look at that head tube angle and fork rake!
Owned by anybody you know?

[Fixed]

http://www.63xc.com/willm/tdef.htm
cheers enjoy