And taking this one step further, I find that riding fixed is much more controlled on wet and messy conditions. I have not heard this, but was rather surprised the first time i tried it and the many subsequent rides. acceleration and deceleration can be attuned to conditions with greater sensitivity and no concerns with wet calipers. Does this seem legit to you Ted?
another thing that anyone may answer, it also seems that wet roads have considerably less rolling resistance to dry, i have only picked this up on the fixed. is this an illusion?
gabriel romeu, living in flat / or small undulating ground with little traffic in chesterfield nj usa
ternst wrote:
> My turn, guys and gals.
> Track bikes ie. fixed gear machines are designed to ride on the
> velodrome, or flatter ground criteriums like we did before multi speed
> bikes were used in our country's racing.
> Years ago Even the road races were fixed gear, and most of the courses
> were flatter terrain for obvious reasons.
> Guys who ride track bikes in hilly areas are not using the bike to it's
> best efficiency.
> Too low a gear and you spin your foolhead off or your hip joint separat
es.
> Too big a gear and you brake your legs getting uphill and end up with
> knots in your legs trying to stop on the down hill.
> Plus the safety factor in today's traffic.
> However, when used properly on flat / or small undulating ground, a
> rider who know hows to ride correctly is able to stop a track bike just
> as fast as a road bike.
> We used to try it against each other and it was always fun to see the
> road bike guys's mouths drop open when they saw how fast a good track
> bike could stop when ridden by a real track bike rider, which we all
> were in back in the '40's to '60's.
> Keep in mind that not only did guys like me learn on fixed gears, but
> then as the road and multi speed bikes came in, we started riding those
> too, and so we could ride track and road races alternatingly in the sam
e
> week.
> That "apprenticeship" was invaluble as riding went on, because we could
> take whatever the season threw at us without hesitation.
> So, start practicing , or else!
> Ted Ernst
> Palos Verdes Estates
> CA USA
--
gabriel l romeu
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