First impressions on riding fixed gear
I gave birth to an idea. So far, it's working out pretty good.
The bike:
I've decided to name her Sadie. I alternate between "Sadie the sadistic" and "Sadie the suicide cycle".
The suicide hub of suicide hubs. There wasn't enough room to put the lock ring on the outside and the chain line was a little off so I put the lock ring on the inside and jammed the two together as hard as I could. It works almost okay in spite of the fact that there's no reason why it really should. I thought it was rock solid; in fact, I thought it was just perfect until about 10 minutes ago. Re-dishing the wheel worked out pretty well but for now, the axle spacers are just flat washers. I can't think of any good reason why that's bad since they don't actually rotate and the thickness doesn't seem to need to be that exact. Either way, I'll probably procure proper spacers soon. Otherwise, I put a front brake back on. None too soon as I'll relate in a bit. I went ahead and flipped and chopped a set of bars as anyone can see in the pictures. I don't know why, but i couldn't bring myself to chop the bars that came on it so I chopped a set that I got off of a dumpster dive. The bike is about done. The only part that wasn't meticulously disassembled and lubed is the front hub. I'll get to that, but I got to a point where I had to make a choice between riding and tinkering and riding won. The seat post still isn't perfect to my liking but it will do for now. Lastly, I know this bike is a little small for me. It's hard for me to accept, but it is. There are other bikes (insanity update will come soon) but I'm attached to this one, I'm sure that a solution will reveal itself.
Riding fixed:
I think I like it but I don't know if the 'new' will eventually wear off. I still can't track stand but then I've only been riding like this for a few hours. I've taken it slow and gentle. I put the bike through her paces around the house until I got used to the sensation of riding fixed but once I got a brake put on, I had to go on a real ride. Thanks Martin! I rode about 20km yesterday. You become brilliantly aware of what 20km fixed really means. It means that I pedalled every centimeter, uphill, downhill, or indifferenthill. I returned a shirt and bought some bread and a bottle of scrumptious wine from my wine merchant friend.
As I was saying, I can't track stand indefinitely but I can do it for a little bit and I was right about one thing: if you want to learn to track stand, fixed gear is the easiest way to do it.
I was getting annoyed that I couldn't skid stop. This is where the excitement began. I thought maybe I just had too much traction or that I'm too heavy or that my gear ratio is too high.
I consider myself to have an enormous amount of mechanical aptitude but I'm not embarrassed to admit that for a minute or two I had a hard time figuring out why I can get a beach cruiser with big tires and a coaster brake to skid but I can't skid on those tiny 700c tubulars. The reason why is because a bike with a coaster brake doesn't push back. So I figured out that I need to lock up, suddenly and powerfully, so that the tires break traction all at once. Yesterday, I was on a dirt path crossing the park in the center of town and tried my hardest to lock up my rear wheel. I eventually succeeded on dirt. Then, today, near home, I decided to experiment and really tried my hardest on the dry pavement. After a few attempts (which is weird and jarring and exciting when it doesn't work because you basically get vaulted into the air when you lock your knee and the crank refuses to comply) I did a tiny little skid. The bike kind of hopped for a second but I knew I'd done it; mind over matter. On the second try, this time going for a real skid, the 'suicide hub' let loose of the cog and I discovered just what it takes to get the cog to come undone. No skid, hub failure and instant freewheeling and near-heart attack which confirms that at some point, I'm going to have to procure a proper track hub.
The good news is that I didn't crash. That's even better news because I was in work clothes; slacks, jacket, tie, and I would have been bummed to have done excessive damage to expensive clothing.
The bike:
I've decided to name her Sadie. I alternate between "Sadie the sadistic" and "Sadie the suicide cycle".
The suicide hub of suicide hubs. There wasn't enough room to put the lock ring on the outside and the chain line was a little off so I put the lock ring on the inside and jammed the two together as hard as I could. It works almost okay in spite of the fact that there's no reason why it really should. I thought it was rock solid; in fact, I thought it was just perfect until about 10 minutes ago. Re-dishing the wheel worked out pretty well but for now, the axle spacers are just flat washers. I can't think of any good reason why that's bad since they don't actually rotate and the thickness doesn't seem to need to be that exact. Either way, I'll probably procure proper spacers soon. Otherwise, I put a front brake back on. None too soon as I'll relate in a bit. I went ahead and flipped and chopped a set of bars as anyone can see in the pictures. I don't know why, but i couldn't bring myself to chop the bars that came on it so I chopped a set that I got off of a dumpster dive. The bike is about done. The only part that wasn't meticulously disassembled and lubed is the front hub. I'll get to that, but I got to a point where I had to make a choice between riding and tinkering and riding won. The seat post still isn't perfect to my liking but it will do for now. Lastly, I know this bike is a little small for me. It's hard for me to accept, but it is. There are other bikes (insanity update will come soon) but I'm attached to this one, I'm sure that a solution will reveal itself.
Riding fixed:
I think I like it but I don't know if the 'new' will eventually wear off. I still can't track stand but then I've only been riding like this for a few hours. I've taken it slow and gentle. I put the bike through her paces around the house until I got used to the sensation of riding fixed but once I got a brake put on, I had to go on a real ride. Thanks Martin! I rode about 20km yesterday. You become brilliantly aware of what 20km fixed really means. It means that I pedalled every centimeter, uphill, downhill, or indifferenthill. I returned a shirt and bought some bread and a bottle of scrumptious wine from my wine merchant friend.
As I was saying, I can't track stand indefinitely but I can do it for a little bit and I was right about one thing: if you want to learn to track stand, fixed gear is the easiest way to do it.
I was getting annoyed that I couldn't skid stop. This is where the excitement began. I thought maybe I just had too much traction or that I'm too heavy or that my gear ratio is too high.
I consider myself to have an enormous amount of mechanical aptitude but I'm not embarrassed to admit that for a minute or two I had a hard time figuring out why I can get a beach cruiser with big tires and a coaster brake to skid but I can't skid on those tiny 700c tubulars. The reason why is because a bike with a coaster brake doesn't push back. So I figured out that I need to lock up, suddenly and powerfully, so that the tires break traction all at once. Yesterday, I was on a dirt path crossing the park in the center of town and tried my hardest to lock up my rear wheel. I eventually succeeded on dirt. Then, today, near home, I decided to experiment and really tried my hardest on the dry pavement. After a few attempts (which is weird and jarring and exciting when it doesn't work because you basically get vaulted into the air when you lock your knee and the crank refuses to comply) I did a tiny little skid. The bike kind of hopped for a second but I knew I'd done it; mind over matter. On the second try, this time going for a real skid, the 'suicide hub' let loose of the cog and I discovered just what it takes to get the cog to come undone. No skid, hub failure and instant freewheeling and near-heart attack which confirms that at some point, I'm going to have to procure a proper track hub.
The good news is that I didn't crash. That's even better news because I was in work clothes; slacks, jacket, tie, and I would have been bummed to have done excessive damage to expensive clothing.