on 5/10/09 1:48 PM, [email protected] replied to: > > what James Dinneen <[email protected]> wrote: >> If you do decide to experiment with a single speed on the trek, you might >> want to start with a single speed, instead of a fixed gear. I found that it >> the downside of the hills that were killers. You either brake and go slow or >> you spin like a mad man. Jim D. Massachusetts
with: > This is part of what has dissuaded me from going fixie in the past. > I've attempted to simulate a single speed by putting my bike into a > "compromise" gear, intended to be doable on both uphill and down, and > then trying to ride without shifting. That kind of works OK because I > can coast the downhills. But if I try to ride without coasting (to > simulate a fixie) then I find that I can just barely make it up some > of the steepest hills, and am impossibly spun out on the downhills. I > guess with a true fixie, my legs will be doing some braking on the > downhills, so my speed will stay a little lower. This year, it seems I've been switching mostly between my Quickbeam in fixed mode and a singlespeed mtb. To me, trying to get a sense of fixed riding by either not shifting or running a single gear with coastable hub is an imperfect analog. (And I'm certainly not claiming one to be better than the other. I like them both. Why do you think they call it bi-cycling?) This is evident climbing and descending. When climbing, you maintain momentum in the drivetrain. (More precisely, you _always_ maintain more momentum in the drivetrain with a fixed system. But, you notice it significantly when climbing.) This tends to carry you through the dead spot in the pedal stroke and lets you keep things moving. I have the sense of adding less power in the stroke on a fixed gear. I know I climb the same hills in a bigger gear. Descending is all about relaxing. I find there's a little bobble or resonance at about 25 mph and then things just settle out nicely again once I'm above that speed until I just finally say, "hmmm. me pedal fast..." and ease up a touch. That took a while, but if you know things will smooth out again, you can concentrate on relaxing everything while your leg speed winds up. I will say that using brakes was helpful at developing upper end leg speed, because you can just lightly feather to keep just below your "system failure" cadence. Working at that point is how you get smooth and increase workable rpms. - Jim -- Jim Edgar [email protected] Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
