Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club

Just wanted to share

got my fixie yesterday
and all i can say is this it not as fun as I would thought
feels sooo wierd having to pedal all the time

big thumbs up to all the fasties i see who ride waterfall on there's - RESPECT

I know this sounds stupid but the hardest part is getting on and off the bike

but as with all things a few more weeks im sure I will get use to it

btw

I wheels which came with the bike are only so so

can anyone suggest a lighter/stiffer upgrade

cheers
Hung

Hahaha, try doing a bunny hop!

You have succumbed! Enjoy!

Just get used to riding the bike first before you do any upgrades.

the best part of a fixie is your fitness goes up soooooo quickly!

Welcome to the dark side

Velocity Deep V's from Al, but don't worry for now, use the wheels it came with until you trash them

What gearing r u running?

the back wheel is

Track: 15T x 1/2"" pitch x 3/32"" = 15T

front chain ring is

FSA Vero Single, 130mm B.C.D., 39T x 3/32 = 39T

39T and 15T = what ever that means

http://www.dhbc.org.au/forum/viewtopic. ... &start=180

Looks like that same bike as Micks

Micks bike is a good one

70.2 inch a good starting point

Crafty has the byline 'if it's not fixed, it's broken'. With reason. Starting / stopping and spinning at any speed will be second nature any time soon.

the hardest part is getting on and off the bike? come for a ride with me down a hill or two ill race you

hey tim i'll race you up a hill or two

name the time and place liz

yeah show down!

sounds good, i think there may be a hilly north shore adventure ride, i'll race you up one of the hills in that.

cool, well ive started training for this already liz, if your free in the day, we have been doing 160km hill rides, and are doing mac pass which will be 260 on friday assumadly fasties pace

i work monday to friday

...and i don't think i'm a fastie yet

I'm hoping my new fixie will be ready for pick up by the end of the week....

I'm hoping my new fixie will be ready for pick up by the end of the week....

sweeet
another one drawn to the dark side

what gearing is on yours danny ?

this isnt the dark side, its a much brighter happier place to be, i really love riding around the place on my fixie, just for the fun of it.

Looks like there is a Fixie Waterfall coming up.

There are people on fixies most weeks in the fast bunch.

this isnt the dark side, its a much brighter happier place to be, i really love riding around the place on my fixie, just for the fun of it.

I just need to remind myself to not stand up and try to free wheel when going over a speed hump

fixie waterfall is most weeks that i turn up!

I just need to remind myself to not stand up and try to free wheel when going over a speed hump

hmmnn in that case, maybe not fixie waterfall for you..

sweeet
another one drawn to the dark side

what gearing is on yours danny ?

Picked it up earlier today and so far so good.

According to that chart, it's a 82.8

According to that chart, it's a 82.8

That is a pretty big gear for the road, there are some guys that ride 81" on the waterfall ride but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are quite strong. I ride 76" when I'm doing Waterfall fixed with the fasties, otherwise my fixie runs a 72" gear.

were you two out for waterfall today? i was looking out for you, i didnt realise there was an actual fixie ride so i was just with the fasties

That is a pretty big gear for the road, there are some guys that ride 81" on the waterfall ride but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are quite strong. I ride 76" when I'm doing Waterfall fixed with the fasties, otherwise my fixie runs a 72" gear.

and girls!
i run 81 fine in the city, i suck at spinning so it suits me

Danny will be fine

he has legs like sparticus

and girls!
i run 81 fine in the city, i suck at spinning so it suits me

you should probably go down a lot too liz, and start learning to spin.

grrrrrr
but i don't wanna spin

You have to learn to spin. Spinning teaches the correct technique for riding a bike. Once you have clipless pedals you can and should learn the correct technique. Anyone can stomp on the pedals, but that is neither efficient nor effective at transferring power. If you sit at the DHBC meeting spot at Centennial Park, you can see the people who aren't spinning as they climb the hill. Usually, their bike is swinging, and their shoulders bounce with each pedal stroke.

Spinning imparts a rotational force to the cranks rather than an up/down force. It's not a natural thing for humans to do, so it needs to be learned. It only becomes "second nature" after lots of practice. If you don't practice it until it becomes second nature, you will forget to do it right when you need it most, like when the effort gets hard going up hills. I recall a friend of mine whose coach made him ride in just the small chainring for 6 months. He was clocking up nearly 800km a week without the big ring. He not only became super efficient, he started winning big races too. There is a reason why juniors have gear restrictions too, and it's not always what you might think.

but...
it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard

I'm not so sure about this fixie thing

incident 1)

almost threw myself off the bike as I stood up to go over a speed hump

incident 2)

almost threw myself off the bike again along president ave brigthon as I had to slammed on the brakes cos a person drove out of there driveway and didn't see me but i forgot to keep spinning

incident 3)

thank god for flipflop hub's changed it to a single speed with a 65.8 gearing

Hung, put it back on fixed.

For the meantime;
- Don't stand up when you go over speed humps
- Apply reverse pedal when braking and that will help teach you to keep spinning when you do an emergency stop

Screaming down the big hill into Watson's Bay on Australia Day (74 inches, about 70km/h ~That's about 204rpm!!!), I was hard on the front and back brakes, and the back wheel lifted right off the ground. My cadence dropped to about 150 and my back wheel skipped along the ground until my bike speed slowed to my wheel speed.

Riding fixed gear gives you so much more environmental feedback than riding with a freewheel. You need to learn to harness this information to control your bike rather than have it control you. I was effectively using 3 brakes to slow, not just 2. Hence the greater control... Yes, it takes practice, but I'd suggest that you've probably already taught yourself the big lesson that you can't stop turning your legs. If you do it again, your body will begin to instinctively know what to do. It's guaranteed that you will forget you are riding fixed every now and then, but it will only take a moment before your body remembers, your legs automatically turn, and you roll forward again, without any risk of crashing.

I'll put another vote in for riding fixed on the road. I've left my road bike back in Tamworth and only ride fixed around Sydney - now when I go home coasting feels really weird.

I use 76" for longer rides like RNP etc, 69" on my city bike, 73" the rest of the time, and 51" for my polo bike. Makes 92" at the track feel a bit tough, but that's probably a good thing.

A low ratio, fixed, is obviously good training for leg speed, but riding hills fixed also means teaching your legs to function at a wider range of cadences than otherwise. Grinding up a climb is always balanced out by a spin, so it means a wider range of leg muscles, which I think feels better after a while on the bike that sitting on 95 rpm for hours.

Also, there's never that temptation to pick a too-easy gear and ease up on the climbs - which I think is a trap a lot of new riders fall into.


I'm looking forward to doing more club rides on Sunday, if I can somehow manage some earlier Saturday nights.