Intro/Contents:
Learning how to
ride a bike is a moment that you will always remember. No matter how long you
haven’t done it, you will always be able to do it.
Unless you have
just discovered fixed gear cycling of course. Fixed gear cycling is as stripped
down as it can be; the only variables involved are you, the pedals and the
wheels. It’s as mechanically simple as it can be as a piece of transport.
If you are used to
the luxurious feeling of multiple gears to help you climb and descend hills, the
ability to keep going even though you are not pedaling, and the multiple
mechanical aspects of a bicycle designed to make your life easier, then you are
in a different world.
A fixed gear
bicycle’s only source of power is from the riders themselves. Rather than
relying on mechanics, it is all achieved from the person on the bicycle. This
provides many benefits to the rider such as fitness, fun, pedaling efficiency,
leg suppleness, good circulation and traction in icy or rainy conditions.
These are the main
aspects that entice most cyclists into using a fixed gear bicycle. If not as
their every-day bike, then their part time bike.
Others are influenced by the aesthetics they deliver. Due to the
simple nature of these bicycles, they tend to be lighter and less clunky. This
paired with the extensive variation of customisable elements of the bike makes
this way of cycling far more appealing to people that appreciate things that
look good as they are able to customise everything to what they want so they can
have a unique bicycle that they know no one else has.
About:
This kind of bicycle is the oldest and most simple form that exists
in the world today. In a sense, a single speed bicycle without a free back
wheel. Even though bicycles have been developed to allow an easier form of
cycling, large amounts of people are still using this form of cycling. Many who
have not ever used one would find it “stupid”, “dangerous” or simply just can’t
understand why anyone would still use them. There is a mystical connection that
cyclists feel when on a fixed gear bicycle, the bicycle is in a way attached to
the rider and everything is controlled directly through them, there are no
mechanical elements doing anything for you or making anything easier, if you
are pedalling, you are going and that is it.
It takes a lot of practice to develop the right skills, knowledge
and awareness to ride a fixed gear bicycle properly as most are used to a
freewheeled machine in this day and age. So when a rider first uses a fixed
gear bicycle, they will subconsciously attempt to coast, however the bike will
not allow it. It takes normally a couple/few weeks to get to grips with it
however once the art has been comfortably developed, a new enjoyment in cycling
appears and many aspects of the way a fixed gear bicycle works just makes it
more fun than a geared equivalent.
In respect to fitness, fixed gear bicycles are far better for your
body because of the developed subconscious act of coasting is not possible.
Therefore, simply the fact you have to constantly pedal to move, whether the
land is flat, uphill or downhill your energy is being used. The muscles in your
legs and arms are working together with the crank-set and chain allowing the
wheels to move you.
Going up hills is generally hard work dependent on your gear ratio,
as you have to push both yourself and the bike upwards on the same gear that
you’d predominantly use for flat land. This makes it all far more enjoyable as
a challenge is set within yourself to get up the hill without having to get off
and push. This generally encourages people to try harder and push themselves
closer to their limits unlike with a geared bicycle where people would be far
too tempted to flick a switch to gear down and make the process entirely
easier.
Cycling downhill to some people is far harder than uphill because
instead of pushing forward harder to increase the force providing the momentum
of the bicycle, you are instead either pushing resisting on the pedals to keep
at a reasonable pace, or you are letting your legs flow with the momentum of
the wheels and spinning the cranks at a really high rpm, sometimes up to 170.
The first option isn’t very good for your knees however the second is actually
really beneficial for your circulatory system and increases the suppleness in
your legs and also helps you develop a smoother pedalling style, if you didn’t,
the high-speed movement of your legs would force you to bounce up and down in
your seat making what should be a very smooth and enjoyable journey, a bumpy
one.
With a fixed gear bicycle you develop a much stronger connection
with the bicycle and it’s moving parts. This gives a better response to the
ground you are cycling on making traction easier to monitor in wet or icy
conditions. This is the reason a lot of cyclists choose to ride a fixed gear
bicycle during the winter months as well as training benefits for competitions
and performance in the summer months.
This exact development of “feeling” with the bicycle helps the rider
control the bicycle in bumpy conditions or challenging corners. When riding on
the road, all cyclists learn how to post over bumps and the most popular way is
coasting. As a fixed gear bicycles can’t, the riders of these kind of bicycles
have to learn how to unweight the saddle without breaking stride on pedalling
making the whole experience smoother and more enjoyable. They also begin to
understand the front brake mechanics better and exactly how far or hard they
can press it without lifting the back tyre off the ground. This is because a
front brake is the predominant form of cutting speed on fixed gears as back
breaks wouldn’t work effectively and there should always be a back-up form of
stopping on top of either skip-stopping or skid-stopping by resisting on the
pedals and stopping the back wheel.
Uses:
The versatility of fixed gear bicycles is larger than most would
expect. These simple machines of transport are universally used for many
reasons and uses. In congested cities you will find bike messengers who are
predominantly used between businesses to quickly transport letters/parcels or
other goods or products. This is due to the amount of traffic making transport
by car slow, difficult and frustrating and could turn a quick 20 minute job
into a couple of hours which could be spent on more productive things.
Bike messengers tend to stick with fixed gear bicycles because of a
variety of reasons. These include the simplicity of the maintenance to reduce
problems and dangers in work, using a high gear ratio will make them faster for
the majority of the journey, the lightness of the bicycle allow them to load
more cargo without making the bicycle too heavy and finally the handling advantages
help them weave through traffic to get to their objective faster.
Track cyclists use fixed gear bicycles in the velodrome both in
training and races also for a string of reasons. Brakes are not permitted on
the course due to safety hazards, they aren’t needed either as it is a constant
circuit, everyone is cycling in the same direction, and when reaching high
velocities it is safer to slowly add resistance to the pedals and slow down
that way. As well as this, track cyclists are able to put higher gear ratios on
their bicycles to reach an extremely high speed once they are pushing
themselves to their very limits. Stripped from any unnecessary components and
accompanied with an aerodynamic helmet, track cyclists have the lightest and
most aerodynamic set-up and have higher chances of reaching higher speeds.
These are the most common uses in fixed gear cycling along with
urban city riding and commuting for the same reasons as the bike messengers. On
top of these popular reasons for riding a bicycle with a fixed gear we have the
peculiar and the different.
Other cycling sports that use a fixed gear bicycle consist of cycle
ball, bike polo and artistic cycling. Cycle ball is what it sounds like and is
a competitive sport spanning off the popular sport football, which is exactly
the same, but on a bicycle and with two players on each team. Bike polo which
is identical to normal polo but on top of a bike rather than a horse, there are
two types, hard-court and grass. And finally artistic cycling, which is a
competitive, indoor competitive sport, where athletes perform tricks on fixed
gear bicycles in a form similar to gymnastics and ballet. These tricks are
performed in front of a panel of judges in singles, pairs, four or six man
teams.
Advantages/Disadvantages:
Like anything, fixed gear bicycles have both advantages and
disadvantages; does one weigh the other out? Do they balance out? Is it an
opinion or a fact? It could be any of those things; People use bicycles for
different things, especially when fixed gear bicycles are involved.
If you are a racer then you want to go as fast as you can possibly
go on a bicycle, this leads to a fixed gear because of it’s low weight, it’s
simple and easily customised into a very aerodynamic form, the chain-ring can be
changed as the rider becomes more powerful, and finally there is very little to
go wrong on it.
If you are commuting to work, you want reliability, you want
handling, simplicity and speed in case of running late. This equates to a fixed
gear because of it’s lack of unnecessary components making maintenance far
simpler than a geared equivalent, handling is directly controlled by the rider
and you can’t be restricted with a fixed gear because it is purely an extension
of your own actions, and finally it’s speed is controlled by the drive-train
which is changed as the rider becomes stronger.
As well as the listed advantages listed above, the drivetrain on
fixed gear bicycles is more mechanically efficient than any other bicycle
because of the direct power and energy being transferred from the rider to the
wheels via the chain rather than passing through other mechanical elements. The
transmission achieved on a fixed gear bicycle s particularly useful in winter
conditions when surfaces are wet and icy, with more grip, riders tend to be
more confident in the winter months with a fixed gear. When descending hills,
the speed at which legs move is increased to extremely high rates that helps
suppleness and circulation in the legs but is very difficult. This also
increases pedalling smoothness when riding. All in all, using a fixed gear
bicycle increases the riders cycling skills in power, handling, cadence,
mobility and efficiency.
Disadvantages include difficulties in riding up steep hills if the
correct gear ratio is not used, forcing some to get off and push. Riding down
hills can be difficult even though there are benefits of it. When a rider first
starts riding fixed gear, they may attempt to coast, however because it is not
able to, this can sometimes result in a kick to the trailing leg which may
cause loss of control. Loss of control is also an issue if riding around
corners at high speeds as the pedal can strike the ground and also cause a
kick. Some riders don’t ride with a front brake because of either confidence in
skidding skills or because they want their bike to look simpler, however this
is unintelligent and dangerous and will cause the rider to be far more nervous
on roads taking a lot of fun out of cycling as well as risking their own lives
and possibly others.
Build:
The build of a fixed gear bicycle is as mechanically simple as a
method of transport can be. It involves the person, pushing the pedals, moving
the wheels and it can’t be made any simpler.
The build of a fixed gear bike itself consists of a frame,
traditionally made of steel but nowadays it can range to steel, titanium,
aluminium, carbon-fibre and combinations. The frame can range in geometry and
sizes for different rider heights. Forks, which are primarily made of the same
product as the frame or carbon fibre for smoothness on roads are to hold the
front wheel. The bottom bracket, which is a mechanical component made to
connect the drivetrain and both pedals as one so they move together, this is
fitted into the bottom of the frame. The wheel, the front is only connected to
the fork whilst the back has a fixed sprocket that the chain sits on. The
crank-set that consists of a chain-ring for the chain to sit on and the crank
arms that connects to the pedals. The seat-post that the saddle is suspended on
to connect it to the frame. Finally, at the front there is the headset that is
the mechanical element that connects the stem to the forks. The stem which
fixes the handlebars to the frame, and then there is the handlebars and front
brake.
It sounds like an awful lot but that is the entire bicycle in parts,
no other gears to worry about, no derailleur, no gear switch, no freewheel
sprocket and no rear brake.
The customisation elements of the bicycle are endless with fixed
gears as they are so mechanically simple, they are easily made unique and look
beautiful as a piece of mechanical transport the majority of the time. Sadly,
this element of the bicycle’s nature encourages people that only care about
their looks and how other people view them to ride them, this creates a
stereotype of all of the people that ride these kinds of bicycle as one of
them.
Maintenance:
This is a big advantage to people who care little about maintenance
or do not have the time on their hands to learn or complete it. The only things
that must be either checked or done on a fixed gear bicycle is cleaning it
every once in a while, lubricating the chain bi-weekly and making sure the
bolts are tight. This on top of the regular tire pressure checks will make
riding a fixed gear bicycle a pleasant and fun experience with no problems at
all.
Competition:
There are a huge variety of competitions involving fixed gear
cycling. The most popular of those, alley cat races are city-based races which
traditionally consisted of bike messengers who wanted to use their developed
urban cycling skills for fun as well as their work. Some are quite safe and as
rules of the competition, require you to obey road laws. However some like the
Monstertrack race held in New York’s only rules are that you do not have any
brakes and it is a fixed gear bicycle. This encourages irresponsible and
dangerous cycling where participants race through red traffic lights, into
crowds of people and endanger their own lives as well as other people in the
surrounding areas of the recklessness purely to get from A to B as fast as they
possibly can.
Other competitions involve include games of bike polo, cycle ball
and artistic cycling. These can be friendly games or competitive championships
or leagues.
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