There’s a new baby in the house. After several months of buying parts I landed a spiffy Bianchi frame to build my fixed gear bike up on. Other specs include a Van Dessel flip flop wheel on the rear; Tsunami Toro bars from Chucksbikes.com and a custom tape job by myself; SunTour XC crank arms; PoweRing 3/32″ chainrings (triple for now, just using the 36t ring); Surly 16t track cog, 1/8″; Maillard 500 front hub with Matrix Trans (?) rim; Specialized All Condition 700×23 tires; 3ttt Stem and seatpost; and a KMC BMX Chain, 1/8″.
A fixed gear bike is one where there is no freewheel – which means there’s no coasting. As long as the wheels are spinning, the pedals are turning. You could technically pedal backwards if you wanted to.
Why would anyone want to do this? At first most people do it because it’s “cool” in it’s own geeklike way. But after you go for the first ride and you adjust to the techniques required, you certainly feel better connected to the bike. There’s no more parts of the ride where the bike is going faster than you’re pedaling (momentary coasting) and you are always aware and in control of the speed of the bicycle. You’re able to accelerate and slow more quickly, just by pedaling slower or applying backwards pressure on the pedals. In fact, I don’t even have brakes on mine at the moment – and I don’t feel like I need them. I’ll probably get a front brake, but will only use it for an emergency. Another plus about riding fixed is that you begin to look ahead more, paying more attention to the road ahead. Remember, no brakes. :)
