SR on Fixed Wheel

[The Solo Socialist]

SR on Fixed, what gearing, what wheels what tyres ??

[Karla]

Preferably round ones.

[Pichy]

SR on Fixed, what gearing, what wheels what tyres ??

You are asking the how-long-are-pieces-of-string questions and you will therefore get back a multitude of different responses. I ride a sturdy steel frame, Ambrosio Excellence rims (32H on front; 36H on back), GP4 Seasons 25/28s and, depending on state of fitness at any given time, gearing of 48x18/17/16.

[psyclist]

I've never changed from 48x18. Seems to work fine for me, but then I don't venture into hilly terrain on fixed.

[Chris N]

SR on Fixed, what gearing, what wheels what tyres ??

What are you used to?  What do you find reliable?  Where do you live, and which rides are you considering?

[wilkyboy]

SR on Fixed, what gearing, what wheels what tyres ??

This is comfortable for me in Flatlandia — 44x16 (72 inches) with 18T (64 inches) on the other side for the hilly stuff (outside Flatlandia).  25mm Michelin Pro Endurance 4 tyres on self-built Open Pros on SP-PV8 dynamo and BLB double-fixed hub.

I rode fixed all last season (except The Shark, which is very hilly), including RRTY (almost double-RRTY on fixed, except for that Shark) plus SR and numerous other rides.  Apart from a couple of "for comparison" rides on gears, this season will be another fixed season, including Easter Arrow (again) and LEL.

[Greenbank]

I used 46x17 on 700x25c tyres for 71" for usual (non-AAA) Audaxes.

Then switched to 46x18 on 700x25c tyres for 67" for hilly Audaxes (Elenith, Bryan Chapman) and never bothered switching back.

I think I still had 46x18 on the bike when I did the 24h TT and that was very flat.

[hillbilly]

Basically the same as Greenbank.

Also, perhaps consider a reversible hub, that is the ones that have a cog on each side.  You can then have a "this is my cruising cog" and "this is for when my knees feel like they are going to explode".  You may never use it (I had it, but never swapped part way through a ride) but it will be there "just in case".

Don't forget the importance of thinking about what brakes and how many to have.  Just one on the front, or one front and back.  And whether you should have a beard or not.

[Manotea]

Really depends on whether you're a masher or a spinner.

68/72 for hilly stuff, some thing longer otherwise.

Don't be scared of an occasional walk.  5Om here or there makes no odds on a long day.

[arabella]

something times something was the gearing I had (have, I just haven't done an audax on thet bike recently, or indeed done much audaxing at all).
I did inflate my tyres every now and then if that's what you mean - again, whatever you usually have
tbh as noted above, whatever works for you - what gear are you usually/comfortable in?  then go slightly longer 'cos of the flywheel effect etc.

More importantly, have you thought about whether you want dropped bars or sit up and beg on your fixie?  And cottered or cotterless cranks?  and cleats, toe straps or neither  (in my case, suab, cottered then cotterless when I got rid of the all in one cranks+chainring, and a toe strap on one pedal only) hth

[Chris S]

I found 83" was perfectly OK East of the meridian, if there wasn't a headwind.

Venturing West, to where an average of 1% average gradient (ie: 1000m/100km) is more the norm, then a more moderate gear suited me better; but then I'm not a lightweight.

The whippety racing snakes of the fixed world can make bigger gears look easy.

As far as the SR is concerned - I found I would miss being able to freewheel after about 300km. Even after several fixed SRs, and being actually quite fit for a couple of seasons, that feeling never completely went away.

[Deano]

Don't forget your saddle - I can get away with saddles on long brevet with gears that I wouldn't fancy on fixed over the same distance.

[The Solo Socialist]

Thanks for your replies, I do appreciate both questions are ambiguous. They arose from riding Mark Rigby's Audax on Saturday. my gearing was 44 x 17 which is 69", on 32mm tyres. I found it a struggled  and walked on a few hills. So wondered what others use.

[Greenbank]

For me, 67" is ok for anything up to about 12% after that I end up walking. 10-12% may have me stopping and pausing every so often (e.g. Ditchling Beacon) but I'll make sure I ride it all.

I don't think I walked up anything on the Bryan Chapman for example (as long as you got a run up for the bottom bit of the Kings YH driveway). The Elenith/Elynydd is another matter. I walked the 17% bit after Pont-Rhyd-y-Groes, and various bits of the Devil's Staircase and Gammalt.

[citoyen]

Getting up the hills is only half the problem on fixed. You want the gear high enough to make pedalling down the other side enjoyable too.

[rob]

I started out using 70" then moved up as I found out the spinning caused me more long distance discomfort than grinding up climbs.   I've been using 79" for a while and this has been used for a couple of SRs and a PBP.

I'm not seen in hilly areas very often.

[Greenbank]

Getting up the hills is only half the problem on fixed. You want the gear high enough to make pedalling down the other side enjoyable too.

I went the other route. I picked a gear low enough to force me to learn to spin rather than trying to treat the symptom.

Enjoyable? Not doing it right, etc, etc.

[Ian H]

Getting up the hills is only half the problem on fixed. You want the gear high enough to make pedalling down the other side enjoyable too.

I went the other route. I picked a gear low enough to force me to learn to spin rather than trying to treat the symptom.

Enjoyable? Not doing it right, etc, etc.

Yup.  That kind of thing. 

In my younger days I could get up the side of a house on 67", but no longer.  These days, for hilly rides, I use 63".  PBP in 2015 was okay on 67".  I can still spin comfortably to about 150.

[vorsprung]

I always use a 30-40-50 triple and a 30-11 cassette

The wheels are firmly attached (or fixed) by QRs 

I recommend this style of "fixed" for an SR

[citoyen]

I went the other route. I picked a gear low enough to force me to learn to spin rather than trying to treat the symptom.

Pfffft. According to bikecalc.com, my 48x18 gives me a gear of 71", and my max speed on the Poor Student of 58kmh equates to a cadence of 171rpm. I don't think that's too shabby. Back when I was commuting on fixed regularly I could have sustained high cadences (150rpm+) more easily for longer spells but I'm out of practice. I used to ride a lower gear for commuting (64" iirc) but I'm with rob - I prefer higher gearing for long rides. I'm also with rob in that I don't do very hilly rides on fixed.

Instead of a get-out cog for hills on the flip side, I have a 15t in case I ever find myself in East Anglia.

Enjoyable? Not doing it right, etc, etc.

When I said enjoyable, I meant it in the sense of keeping the cadence just the right side of terrifying without having to use the brakes too much.

[wilkyboy]

I rode a couple of my hillier routes recently on gears to compare to the previous times when I've ridden them fixed.  It was illuminating — yes, I was quicker up the hills on gears, but not by as much as I would've thought.  And I didn't enjoy it as much, all the twiddling around trying to find a suitable gear when I would've already been halfway up the hill on a choice of just one 

Also, gears are quite noisy, whereas riding a fixie with the wind on your back and it's almost totally silent — bliss!   

[johny bath]

Hi
I am toying with the idea of riding an SR on fixed - maybe this year - maybe not! I could of course just do it in my own time and do permanents or DIYs and have the knowledge that I have done it, but if I wanted to get card stamped level of 'authenticity' is it possible to get a fixed wheel brevet card validated for permanents or DIYs - I am sure i would endeavour to comply with any form of validation of the fixed wheel bit. The time for doing calendar events for an SR this year and looking slim. If I cannot then so be it - I am not trying to stretch the interpretation of the rules - following the rules is what I want to get the card stamp thing done!
Thanks

[tonyh]

It's mainly "taken on trust", see:

http://www.aukweb.net/_resources/files/results/awards/FWC-SFW-FAQs.pdf

[Greenbank]

There's no stamps required for DIYs/Perms. I signed my own FWC/SFW cards for those rides (and for one calendar ride where I forgot to bring the cards with me).

It's an honour system.

[Ian H]

Hi
I am toying with the idea of riding an SR on fixed - maybe this year - maybe not! I could of course just do it in my own time and do permanents or DIYs and have the knowledge that I have done it, but if I wanted to get card stamped level of 'authenticity' is it possible to get a fixed wheel brevet card validated for permanents or DIYs - I am sure i would endeavour to comply with any form of validation of the fixed wheel bit. The time for doing calendar events for an SR this year and looking slim. If I cannot then so be it - I am not trying to stretch the interpretation of the rules - following the rules is what I want to get the card stamp thing done!
Thanks

I can vouch for a good fixed-wheel friendly 600 event.