Making the decision to ride a fixed gear bicycle seems counterintuitive – I mean you give up twenty gears for just one; you are suddenly forbade to coast; you have to forever be aware that your legs must continue to spin away no matter what the terrain, whether surmounting long, steep climbs, or cruising down twisting descents. Yup, to a non-roadie, riding a “fixie” seems like a rough and treacherous endeavor, an activity that borders on masochistic. But to those who've ridden fixed, they know that it’s something that has to be experienced to be appreciated. Not coincidentally, those who do give it a turn more often than not never go back that “same old same old” with respect to their winter training regime. They realize that the fixed gear bike is the “Gold Standard” with respect to learning impeccable pedal technique and efficiency.
As the name “fixie” implies, the rear wheel and the cranks are fixed together in their movement, which means no coasting. The bike is also fixed in the sense that there is obviously no shifting of gears. As long as the bike is moving, the cranks are moving. This gives the rider an intuitive sense of the speed at which the bike is moving because the cranks will inevitably be spinning at a speed in direct proportion to the rear wheel. On a bike that is able to coast, the rider can simply stop pedaling and when it comes time to start again, there is no guarantee that the gear the bike is in will be the right gear. This leads to a sort of tentative game of catch up and disorientation. Granted, the experienced roadie will be able to adjust without much effort, but it is never as direct a connection as on a fixie.
Ok, let’s go through this fixie thing point-by-point. Point one: Riding a fixie is a damn good workout. Because you cannot stop pedaling, it is like having a coach with you every time you venture out. If you try to stop pedaling and take a little breather, there is an immediate and startling reminder that no pauses in pedaling will be permitted – you’re bucked upwards! Fixed gear riders never have to think about how much or little they are coasting because it is simply not an option. Point in fact, when riding a fixie you end up peddling much more for the same distance than you would on a geared bicycle. According to professional cycling coach Chris Carmichael, "because your legs are constantly in motion, this type of riding provides much more aerobic benefit than geared-bike riding. An hour and a half to two hours of fixed-gear riding is equivalent to four hours of regular riding." This means that you get more bang for the buck with respect to your workout time.
Point two: When you need to climb, you don't need to think about when to change gears, because you don't have that option. Instead, you know that you must either stand up and put your body weight into it, or sit down and really use some leg strength, this because the gear is very likely to be too big for maximum climbing efficiency. This makes you stronger. On a geared bike you have the option of gearing down and taking a hill at a slow pace – and you all know that it’s very easy to yield to that temptation. When you ride a fixie, the need to push hard to get up the hills forces you to ride at a higher intensity than you otherwise might. Really steep hills may make you get off and walk, but the hills you are able to climb, you will climb substantially faster than you would on a geared bicycle.
Point three: The mental and physical energy used up in operating a geared bike is often overlooked. Think about something as simple as when you approach a hill. You assess the terrain, you think of what gear you need to be in, reach out and change gears, make sure the gears change smoothly by the time you get into the hill, start up the hill and think about if the gear is working well, change it if it's not thereby slowing down a bit while doing so, keep pedaling, reach the crest and then go through the same steps more or less to go down the other side of the hill and on and on. Now I know that many of these steps become innate reflexes for an experienced roadie, but there is a significant amount of effort whether you realize it or not.
Conversely, let’s look at that same situation on a fixed gear bike… you come to a hill and you pedal the bike. That's it. Inevitably you are forcing your legs to become stronger because you've got no choice but to make the gear work, and the hills will become more and more fun because they will seem easier and easier as your legs get stronger.
Point four: Technique, cadence and efficiency. For example, when you descend, you can't coast. So in the low gear that you’re using on a fixie you have to pedal at a faster cadence than you would have chosen on a geared bicycle. High-cadence pedaling improves the suppleness of your legs. High rpm's force you to learn to pedal in a smooth manner - if you don't, you’ll end up bouncing up and down in the saddle. Thus, the off-season is a perfect time to focus on the mechanics of the pedaling stroke. Riding a fixed gear on the road or on the track bike as a regular part of your winter training program can have enormous benefits by improving your efficiency in those ever changing “high & low” cadence situations.
Supple and smooth pedaling is essential to being successful on the bike… and too few athletes address this important issue – or they might think they do by trying to reap the benefits of fixie riding by spending endless hrs in spinning and computrainer studios. But the truth is that such activities don’t even come close to approximating the benefits of the fixie. Outdoor fixed gear riding is a simple and cost-efficient way to become more proficient! Even a short ride has purpose in that you are constantly pedaling and learning to pedal through the two “dead” spots of the pedal rotation. By training the legs to transition through the different muscle groups with smoothness eliminates wasted energy. Bike racing is a lot of transition pedaling, which includes cadence and torque variations – this means slow cadence (and high torque) to super fast cadence (and low torque) over and over again. When riding a fixed gear you can go from 50rpms to 120 in a matter of seconds while going over the tops of hills. This trains the legs to react to those situations. From a physiological perspective, this helps train your body to clear lactate.
Point five: You develop the intimate feeling of being at one with the bike, as if it’s an extension of your own body. I’d equate this to something akin to playing basketball with your bare hands or playing basketball while wearing winter gloves. With fixed, you can feel every nuance of speed, balance, acceleration and deceleration, giving you a very real neuro-muscular connection that so many fixed gear riders rave about. A key component to this particular benefit is the ability to slow the bike down without using brakes. You can rely on your own power to slow the bike down as well as speed it up. Subtle pressure on the pedals in a reverse direction slows the bike down, this of course, because the cranks and the rear wheel are fixed together. That is why some of us ride our braked-equipped fixies without ever touching the brakes, giving our legs total control over speeding up and slowing down.
First steps to riding a fixie outside:
1) Try the first few rides in an area like the towpath or bike & hike trail where there is zero-little traffic and you’re on a flatter terrain. Focus on relaxation and get into the flow of the bike.
2) You may want to try your first few rides with old-fashioned “platform” pedals and tennis shoes rather than clipless pedals and cycling shoes. That way, you will get the hang of getting the bike moving without that locked-in feeling.
3) Always be thinking to yourself that you must pedal and NOT coast – this you must burn into your brain. If you’re one who is often listening to your Ipod and/or just cruising down the road, daydreaming, you’re very likely to end up having a brain-fart and letting yourself coast. Do this and the back wheel violently lifts off the ground, immediately resulting in a major rush of reality surging into your brain! Such instances can be minor…or deadly, depending on your speed!
What to look for when buying a fixie:
1) Since you will be riding it on roads and bike trails make sure your crank length is the same as your road bike. It helps make the transition easier from fixie bike to road or tri bike.
2) You don’t have to spend a lot of cash on a fixie. Go to your local bike shop for an inquiry, or if that doesn’t work to the web and check online. Do a search on “fixed gear bikes”. There are numerous businesses who handle fixies – new and used. The beauty of a fixed gear bike is that there are few moving parts, so it’s great for bad weather days and easy to clean – and cheap! You can get a new bike for around $300-400. Make sure to get a fixie that is more along the line of a cyclocross bike NOT a track bike. The Cyclo fixie has much more relaxed frame angles, and it will enable you put on big 28-35c trail tires for the winter. What’s more you’ll have cantilever brakes for better stopping power in the mud and snow.
3) Most important is the back wheel. Not a bad idea to get one of the reversible hubs where you can have two cogs. These are called “flip-flop” hubs. Make sure that the cogs on each side are close in size (i.e. 17,18), so the chain length is not affected. Do NOT use quick release for a fixie rear wheel locking system. You will need to really snug the rear axel nuts to the dropouts to compensate for the high torque that’s encountered with a fixie. And you’ll always be carrying a wrench to loosen the nuts and pull the wheel back to re-snug the chain. This to keep yourself safe because the chain will inevitably loosen up over time.
4) Some feel more comfortable with two brakes, and that’s just fine. But actually, one strong brake on the front allows stopping in pretty much any situation, as you’ll also use the force of your legs to “backpedal” and slow down.
5) One of the best things you can add to your fixed gear bike is an anatomical seat (aka - prostate saver). This one speaks for itself! A comfortable seat and double shorts and/or bibs will save you from the discomfort of the constant pedaling on a fixie – sometimes for many hours.