I recently picked up a road bike to add to my stable. Why did nobody tell me that brakes and gears could be so much fun?
I still ride my track bike everyday to commute to work and back, and for alleycats etc but I’m now loving going off on big mile Sunday rides in the hills and dales.
It’s got me wondering, those of you who also have both road and fixed, how often do you find yourself straying from the fixed path?
I like black bikes…
by __inhalesatan
12 Comments
A brakeless fixie is a road bike
I have a road bike. I ride approximately 100% fixed, 0% geared
Gears are death
Given there’s no FG scene where I live, I ride fixed when I ride solo and my multi-gear bike when I’m riding with others. The balance varies week to week, but hovers around 70% FG, 30% multi.
I have a road bike and a mountain bike. My road bike is my main bike. Percentage-wise, it’s probably 80%/15%/5% road, fixed, mountain, but it’s mostly in spurts, like I’ll get in a mood and decide to do more mountain biking, or more fixed riding on the road, or actually go to the track.
The fixed gear is mostly for the track, but I ride it on the road to change things up and for the challenge.
The feeling of swooping down a big descent is just so good. I wouldn’t want to give that up.
**edit:** And, yeah, the ability to go further over more varied terrain on long weekend rides is also really nice. I’ve taken my track bike on rides I definitely shouldn’t have, and it was a fun challenge and more capable than it would seem, but it’s always going to be a limiting factor compared to having gears and freewheel.
Was a roadie rider only for about 7 years, two years ago I got into fixed. Slowly but surely riding more fixed. Nowadays I’d say 80% fixed 20% geared. Just got into fixed gear centuries recently and I feel like it’s easier to hold a steady speed on fixed than geared.
I’m probably one of the only ones that are going to say this, but I ride my road bike probably 90% of the time, and I have an extra fun time in that 10% messing around on fixed
I ride my road bike for sport and adventure (bikepacking) and my fixed gear as a commuter. So i ride my fixed on a lot more days, but generally not great distances and my road bike is the exact opposite
I have a MTB cos I refuse to wear Lycra
My long-time roadie that I can’t bring myself to part with has been hanging on the wall for 18+ mos now. My sw8 phiksie has been my regular rider for practically ever.
https://preview.redd.it/byyulphbf1jd1.jpeg?width=4608&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d274f769d716bcaf31d634473eef35750feb12ca
I do it based on seasons. This season is a fixed gear race season. I do everything fixed, so I ride fixed most of the time. If I’m doing Mtb or road I’ll ride those more but I try and select one style a year. I seem to have a hard time getting my legs to swap, I don’t think geared fitness translates to fixed fitness and vice versa for me.
My split is something like 25% tracklocross, 20% street fixed, 10% track, 25% mountain, and 20% road. Odd mix, but I love my oddball bikes