I’ve heard this said so many times through out the years and I’m questioning if it makes sense at all. Wouldn’t riding a road bike be more like driving a stick shift due to the gearing and a fixed gear be more like an automatic since it’s just one gear a simple mechanism?
by melancholymann
27 Comments
no its more like driving a tesla. one gear. fixed. when u release pedal it slows down.
It is just like driving stick. Because in a manual transmission, you are making the adjustments, just like in fixed gear. You are doing the work. In an automatic transmission, just like in a bike with gears, the machine is doing the work for you. Fixed gear = the gears are inside you, not on the bike. You are the engine, you possess the gears.
It’s only similar in the sense that you feel more “connected to the bike”. I think it’s more akin to driving with a welded diff.
The best analogy I have is that with manual driving, you can use engine braking, and you feel a bit more connected to the car (also, I can feel the revs at 3000 rpm when in 3rd gear is 40mph).
In an auto, the car does everything for you so I don’t get that same feeling of awareness.
I’ve never done it but I always wondered if surfing gave the same feeling. I always feel like I’m riding a wave or something.
I’d say it’s complete opposite, but your break pedal is malfunctioning. You don’t have any gears, just Park/Drive/Reverse.
It would be more like a 1 speed manual with a tricky brake mechanism.
It’s more like snowboarding
“If fixed gear is manual, then coasting on a road bike is like putting your car in neutral and pretending you’re driving”
Wouldn’t stem shifter be the most like a stick shift?
I rode fixed every day for years. Not feeling it, the whole point of a stick shift is — there are gears.
It’s like having functional knees, but not wanting them
My take is that you are actually correct, but, the idea must be about the feeling; I’ve had the thought myself and it’s about the feel of coasting, you let off the gas on stick shift the car decelerates and also you can bang down the gears to slow down more; fixed feels like that because you can’t decouple from the drivetrain. The difference is the automatic has a torque converter, so when you let off the deceleration feels more floaty, you can’t just decel in one gear really so you don’t get that feeling of depedaling, like with freewheel bike you can only shift by pedalling forward and you can’t drag the drivetrain to slow down, I think that’s what the feeling is
It’s similar to driving stick in terms of vibes and feeling. Stick shift is harder and realistically less practical but is simply more fun, the feeling of connectivity is better, and it’s cooler to the folks who get it.
I am really into cars and bikes.
I personally always felt that fixed gear is like driving stick.
I think the feeling comes in 2 ways, speed modulation/ traction feel.
Engine breaking feels similar to slowing the pedals as you come to traffic light.
I also feel like with both fixed gear and manual cars you can feel the traction (or lack there of) of the wheels more quickly
It’s less about the shifting and the gear but more about the connection.
imo:
Single speed with freewheel = electric car transmission
Road bike = sports car with two pedals on the floor and paddle shift
That a poor analogy- it’s more like riding a unicycle with two wheels. Lol not really. It’s more like riding a fast cruiser than a stick shift.
Closest thing to a stick shift would be a Sturmey Archer 5 spd, which is ridiculously fast in 5th gear with an almost prohibitively high gear ratio. And you have to stop pedaling in order to shift.
Which brings to mind the Sturmey Archer fixed 3 spd. I’d love on of those! You can rig a 3 spd Sturmey into a 2 spd fixed but I can’t be bothered .
There’s one good thing about this analogy and it’s that if someone says it, you know to completely disregard everything they ever say again.
The only comparison i can think of is that it makes you way more aware of what’s going on in front of you. When I drive manual, I slow down earlier to try not to come to a full stop. On a fixed gear bike it’s similar in the way that I slow down way before so I dont run into anything.
If it had anything to do with driving a car, I wouldn’t love it so much.
As a stick shift driver (8th gen Si) and a fixed gear rider (All City Big Block), I can confidently tell you that I have had this thought myself for a while. I didn’t realize it was an opinion anyone held but myself until right now. The two activities couldn’t be more different on paper, but I think the similarity in my brain comes from maybe just having to be a little more aware of the road? I honestly haven’t thought too hard about it until now.
No… its the exact opposite. It has no gears at all and you have no engine.
A motorcycle is like driving a stick shift. Not a bicycle
no shifting, no coasting, no clutch. hmm not really?
it feels like walking.
driving a drift car on the street. you trade cool for practicality
No, I think of it like painting.
The finesse of speed adjustment through your pedal strokes. The bold dashes pulling your handlebars in a sprint. The gentle balance of a trackstand, especially hands free. But more than anything, flicking your rear wheel sideways in a skid, literally drawing lines on the road, gliding across the pavement.
It’s a really beautiful experience. My favorite way to move.
I’ve not heard that before, but I guess it’s more of an American thing, maybe? At face value, I’m guessing what people mean is that automatic cars/gears bikes are ubiquitous and what the majority of people learn on and stay on, whereas manual cars/fixed gears are a specific thing that people make a choice to get into.
I agree with “connectedness” idea, which in my view means that the fixed gear riding and manual transmission driving experiences require a greater level of attention.
When you’re driving stick, you have to continually make sure your car is in the right gear, and you can also use the engine itself to modulate your speed by downshifting.
Riding feels the same. You have to keep your legs moving and you can more finely modulate your speed with your legs. It’s really apparent when you are cornering and instead of squeezing your brake, you can just stop accelerating, or you can just decelerate a little bit and then immediately accelerate again.
If you’ve done both things, I think the similarities are readily apparent. If you’ve only done one or the other, I don’t think you can really imagine the other one. You need to experience it.
In a sense, it’s kind of like driving manual.
In exactly the same way that operating a sewing machine is like laying an egg