N+1 = Spa Audax Mono

[trundle]

I've indulged and bought my first fixed gear. To the untrained eye, it looks very similar to my other bikes - so I've convinced others that this is not a new bike - I've just cleaned one of the existing ones <cough>

It's a spa audax mono. With 42/17 gearing on 28mm tyres.

This was taken tonight on its first ride, outside the Royal Albert Hall. It's blurry - just like my legs going downhill!



Sprinting from traffic lights is amazing - I can see why track bikes use fixed. The rim brakes are superb - extremely powerful, and very easy to modulate.

You already know it feels easier to pedal, even uphill. But it's an unexpected revelation for a first timer.

I'm planning to use the fixed on shorter rides - and especially some 100km audax which I often overlook, unfairly.

[Hot Flatus]

Chain looks a bit slack

[JonB]

Looks great. The spa frames are filling a bit of a hole in the market, very few fixed/SS frames about now with full mudguard and bottle cage mounts, the Genesis Flyer has turned into a Single Speed gravel bike. Look forward to the ride reports (once you've tightened the chain ).

[Sergeant Pluck]

Looks good.

I sold my Bob Jackson a while back and I miss having a fixed. I do have a new fixed frame ready to build up though, and a rather expensive set of Paul brakes for it as it's canti mounts. And some nice levers.

What chainset do Spa put on these?

[rogerzilla]

Chain looks a bit slack

Beat me to it 

[trundle]

Looks great. The spa frames are filling a bit of a hole in the market, very few fixed/SS frames about now with full mudguard and bottle cage mounts, the Genesis Flyer has turned into a Single Speed gravel bike. Look forward to the ride reports (once you've tightened the chain ).

Thanks Jon.

I almost overlooked Spa to be honest, even though I've bought my Elan from them. After Christmas they were selling the framesets for £270 £290! Which was an unbelievable price for a nice 725 main triangle and all the audax'y options you list. I did plan to built it up myself - but when I totted up the item cost, the Spa complete bike was £50 more.

I shall wind the chain SOOO tight, that the chainstay starts to bend

[trundle]

Looks good.

I sold my Bob Jackson a while back and I miss having a fixed. I do have a new fixed frame ready to build up though, and a rather expensive set of Paul brakes for it as it's canti mounts. And some nice levers.

What chainset do Spa put on these?

The chainset is Spa's branded crank TD2. This is an old Sugino 110BCD double design, polished silver. It has a Spa 42T 3/32 silver chainring, an Andel sprocket and KMC 1/8" chain. I love the look of it, although it will take elbow grease to keep clean!

[sojournermike]

These frames do look very good. The blue is a lovely colour too. They have shaped tubes, more like the elan than the all round tubes steel Audax frames - a benefit of later introduction I presume. The 47-57mm brakes also mean that you really can get mudguards in - though if you want them with 28s my experience is that the tyres need to be true to size and not big.

So the big question is how does it ride? I’ve got a 1959 Ron Cooper built Gillott that is built up as a single speed and used to have a Peugeot Aravis that I built up fixed/ss. Both are fun to ride.

[rogerzilla]

42/17 is lower than the usual 70-72" - not many hills in London, though.

[trundle]

42/17 is lower than the usual 70-72" - not many hills in London, though.

Indeed - I’ve got a 16 and 18 tooth too so I can experiment and see what works. I’m on 42/18 today which is very spinny!

[rogerzilla]

Generally you gear up for the steepest and longest downhill you expect to encounter regularly, to avoid dragging the brakes (which is especially bad if you only use a front brake, as is my preference).  The uphills can look after themselves.

I normally use 47 x 18* but used a slightly lower 46 x 18 on the winter fixie because strong headwinds are more likely, and it rarely went off the usual commuter route.  When I was still commuting, that is!

*48 x 18 is an excellent ratio but has some sprocket (and often chain) wear issues.

[trundle]

These frames do look very good. The blue is a lovely colour too. They have shaped tubes, more like the elan than the all round tubes steel Audax frames - a benefit of later introduction I presume. The 47-57mm brakes also mean that you really can get mudguards in - though if you want them with 28s my experience is that the tyres need to be true to size and not big.

That's an interesting point. I had assumed it was just an audax frame with different drop-outs welded in. As you say, the main tubes are shaped rather than perfectly round.

I measured the Schwalbe One's with verniers and they are exactly 28mm at my preferred pressures on the Kinlin rims. I went along a mucky lane this morning and there is still enough clearance that normal road detritus doesn't get stuck betwixt tyre and guard.

So the big question is how does it ride? I’ve got a 1959 Ron Cooper built Gillott that is built up as a single speed and used to have a Peugeot Aravis that I built up fixed/ss. Both are fun to ride.

It is great fun to ride. I am new to fixed, so I keep finding random situations where my muscle memory is to stop pedalling: This creates moments of unplanned excitement 

I couldn't ride fixed all the time - there is nothing more blissful than a gentle downhill with good sight lines and no need to brake. This furious flurry of legs is more like hammy the hamster on an amphetamines rampage dancing along to Riverdance at 10x playback speed. I half expect one of my legs to fly off on a long enough hill...

I love my Elan, but I would be the first to agree it isn't a beautiful bike: When I look at it, I yearn to go for a long bike ride not because it looks like a beautiful Italian carbon race bike. But because it brings back memories of all the wonderful places I have been on it, and the promise of more wonderful places to visit in future.

The mono is evocative in another way - it is svelte, functional art. I know it's a cliche - but it meets my image of a simple bicycle.  A diamond truss frame with slender tubes. Big, skinny wheels. Drop bars and a saddle. The fixed wheel then adds an interesting spice. Something that feels very normal at cruise, can become a complete liability if you 'forget' to keep pedalling!

[Sergeant Pluck]

I have yet to use that walkway under Barnes Bridge - is it handy? I guess it makes the north bank Thames path from Chiswick Bridge to Hammersmith much more convenient.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Be careful about grounding a pedal round a fast corner on fixed. I choose a narrower pedal to increase ground clearance.

[rogerzilla]

165mm cranks are common on fixies, both for spinnability and extra ground clearance. Pedal strike can be relatively benign if the pedal only just grounds out (I've caught the RH pedal on a slightly raised mini-roundabout) although it is startling.  Hitting a kerb with a pedal would be more catastrophic, so don't cut corners too closely.

[trundle]

I have yet to use that walkway under Barnes Bridge - is it handy? I guess it makes the north bank Thames path from Chiswick Bridge to Hammersmith much more convenient.

I'm not sure to be honest - I normally approach from the North and just go straight over Barnes Bridge to the other side. There were people walking so I'm assuming its open again, but I couldn't tell you what the surface is like for cycling.

[trundle]

Be careful about grounding a pedal round a fast corner on fixed. I choose a narrower pedal to increase ground clearance.

A fair point. I was torn between double sided SPD and treking. But went treking as I don't want to be mown down if I fluff clipping in getting away from lights - that's the greater risk for my normal cycling than taking corners fast.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I worry more about losing a pedal at high RPM on flats than clipping in or out (not a BMX kiddie!). I usually trackstand at lights, averaging maybe a foot down twice during each commute.

[trundle]

I may be teaching you to suck eggs - treking pedals are SPD one side, flat the other. On my freewheel bikes I can grab them and go down the shops in flats, or clip in for a longer ride. On the fixie I expect to always be clipped in, but I really like the flats to give a second go at clipping in at lights.

Having said that - with the crank at bottom dead centre, the lean angle isn't great. So I'm going to swap to dual SPD's when riding fixed. In my head I 'know' not to strike the floor - but I bet I will forget at times.

[Timb]

My words of wisdom are mostly enjoy and be prepared to soon get sucked in to doing silly long rides on it!  Also ride what gear works for you, some people like to grind, some to spin.
Nice bike.

[trundle]

Cheers Tim.

I took it out on its first 100km today with great weather for mid February. Uphill was much easier than expected. And the solid headwind was fine. You quickly learn to accept the cadence required  rather than the cadence you prefer on gears.

As an added bonus, one of my knees was not happy from running. But this ride has removed all knee pain. I guess that's the benefit of so much variation in load, cadence and body position.

[rogerzilla]

My first fixed ride was a similar length, and had 1 in 6 hills (up and down).  It was a bit scary.

[trundle]

My first fixed ride was a similar length, and had 1 in 6 hills (up and down).  It was a bit scary.

That sounds rather brutal.

No chevrons on my route, mostly rolling (800m in 100km) with a couple of 10% up and 12% down to test the legs. One of the dowhills had a suicidal Hare ran across - so of course I braked AND stopped pedalling: I don't recommend that.

[Paul]

Gorgeous colour.

[trundle]

Thanks Paul - I really like it too: The colour was a leap of faith as Spa have no pictures of that colour! Well they do - but you have to know it is the same blue as another bike, the Aubesque.

I'm now riding 42/16 = 70.5" - which is lovely, and could be "the one": It is much nicer downhill and doesn't feel too hard elsewhere: But needs a longer ride to be sure.