In praise of fixed mountain riding

[esoterica etc]

Just recently I built up an old 80’s RockHopper frame that had been relegated to the darkest corner of the garage into a fixed MTB. It had been a trusty geared commuter for a long time until some neer-do-well’ers decided to make it the object of their misplaced teenage angst. Both wheels were demolished and the rear derailleur and hanger was bent beyond repair (I tried). Pulled what salvageable parts there were, but just couldn’t get rid of the frame because of the memories, so away it went into the abyss.

Then as I started doing some recent fall cleaning, she whispered from the dank grotto where she had been languishing, “fix me up, kind sir, if you catch my drift.”

I then realized that I actually had all the spare parts to do her bidding, albeit parts that I never thought I’d have any use for, and parts that would eventually have been donated to the local bike co-op. I figured out what would be a good gear ratio for the trails around here, cobbled together a rideable mare and took to the nearest trail.

I have to say, after several weeks now, riding fixed on singletrack has been a revelation. It’s certainly a learning process in the beginning, but I actually feel much more a part of the trail and the forest than when I’m on my geared mountain bike (a 1985 MB-2 with a Jones loop bar - a really great bike). And once I get into the flow, I feel I am the trail and the forest. And I’m smiling a lot more too, because there’s something about riding fixed, especially through the wilds, that’s just fun and whimsical and makes me feel like a kid again. Now I know why Deacon Patrick is always wearing a grin in the pictures on his Hunqabeam.

So here’s my pitch to all of you who haven’t been bitten by the fixie bug yet, or who have been toying around with the idea- just go for it! I think a fixed bike is something every one of us should have in our stables. When I first got a fixed bike long, long ago, I used it to commute on, and I feel that it really helped me become a better rider. And nothing is better than a fixed bike when you have to ride in snow or ice. But this is the first time I’ve ever mountain biked fixed, and I feel like it’s improved my overall riding skills even more.

Anyways, thanks for lending an ear, and I’d be interested to hear from anyone else regarding their experiences with fixed riding, especially the MTB variety. All the best,

~Mark

[Deacon Patrick]

Fantastic, Mark! Great description of the active contemplative delight of fixed gear hillybiking! I just returned from my writing, coffeeing, piping romp o’er hill and dale, past ice and snow muffled gurgling streams, and on snowpack and ice trails 6” wide with the option of either snowcrete or deep powder if I vere off and tracking and traction is far easier fixed than free. Enjoy!

With abandon,
Patrick

[Patrick Moore]

Mark: what gear do you use? And what sort of terrain -- hilly? technical? twisty?

And please post the statutory photos.

I love fixed riding on the road -- most of my road riding is fixed -- but when I tried fixed off road 10 or  years ago (just opened my record book and at the page it opened to, saw "DB to fixed, 050606"), 60" gear with 175 cranks, rolling sandy terrain with some steep short climbs, I found it very annoying. Uphill was fine, flats were fine, but downhills or tailwinds were horrible. But I swapped out the 175s for 170s, and the 60" gear to a 65" gear, and the bike was delightful for pavement, and I used it for commuting.

A couple of years later I bought a Redline Monocog 29er with a 63" freewheel gear, and that was enjoyable, though if I were to do it again, I'd upgear slightly to 65" or so; would rather walk than spin too fast. 

You do know about the defunct but still up (I think) offroad fixed website, 63xc.com

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Alburquerque, New Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique

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Auditis an me ludit amabilis insania?

[Philip Williamson]

Awesome. I used to Quickbeam fixed in the logging roads in the hills near my house when I lived in Oregon. It is pretty great. I agree that there's a fantastic connection to the trail, both uphill and down with a fixed gear. Not that I need a new bike... Hmm. Maybe the Quickbeam would like the Annadel trails as much as the Willamette trails... 

Philip

Santa Rosa, Ca 

[Palmer]

Hi Mark,
My go to beater, “I really need a ride” bike is a Peugeot city express mixte set up fixed with high origin8 Gary 2 ergo bars. Shaved rocket Rons and fenders and hideous looking green bar tape, it is just plain fun on dirt roads and trails. No real single track for me.
I also had a Schwinn Mirada mixte set up fixed with 26x2.8 WTB rangers for a while and it was fun too. The Peugeot is a little snappier riding.
A winter project is a Fuji Sundance that may end up fixed too.
As Deacon Patrick says, fixed is great for the brain.
Thanks for sharing,
Tom Palmer
Twin Lake, MI

[Kevin Mulcahy]

Man, I can’t imagine riding my local trails fixed. It’s got to be a trip!

[Ken Yokanovich]

Tried riding fixed off-road on a whim. I think it’s now been about 5 years since coasting on dirt. 2 full-time fixed off-road bikes with a third ready on deck, missing a few bits to complete.
https://instagram.com/p/BoWsM0VjlJ3/

I REALLY love the extra challenges of rock gardens, obstacles, skinnies, etc. but fears of my own mortality keep me pretty well grounded.

Seriously considering the thought of a Gus Boots Wilson

[ascpgh]

I can't imagine riding my local ROADS fixed: https://youtu.be/Cuwdmw-bDao (

Saturday's annual and thoroughly untherapeutic festival of masochism and broken crank arms; the Dirty Dozen which Ipointed out in another post. Yep I ride those streets, ways and paths up and down. With gears and brakes. Good brakes. 

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

[LyleBogart{AT}gmail.com]

Mark, yes, there's something especially delightful about riding fixed off-road! I've a Rawland Drakkar prototype fixed cyclocross that has carried me through Maine woods trails a forest service roads, high desert wilds of the Navajo reservation in Arizona, the old-growth of the Pacific Northwest, and the hills of the west coast of Ireland... and many other places besides. The simplicity and connectedness is one of the best things about riding fixed anywhere, but especially on single track. 

Cheers!

lyle

here're a couple pics of the ol' Rawland... :-) 

On Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at 8:32:38 AM UTC-8, esoterica etc wrote:

[JohnS]

I've been thinking of giving my QB a break from fixed commuter duty and set it up for fixed trail riding. Any advice on tires? I recently switched fenders on the QB and was struck how great it looked without them.

JohnS.

[Steve Palincsar]

On 11/22/18 12:34 PM, JohnS wrote:
> I've been thinking of giving my QB a break from fixed commuter duty
> and set it up for fixed trail riding. Any advice on tires? I recently
> switched fenders on the QB and was struck how great it looked without
> them.
>
>
>

What to you is a "trail"?   Paved? Unpaved?  Fire road?  Single track?


--
Steve Palincsar
Alexandria, Virginia
USA

[Deacon Patrick]

Kevin, no need to imagine. Give it a go! Grin. You’ll be surprised at what is ridable, and of course the key to fixed is to ride till you can’t, walk till you can. Grin.

“I REALLY love the extra challenges of rock gardens, obstacles, skinnies, etc. but fears of my own mortality keep me pretty well grounded.” Spot on, Ken! Riding fixed on trails encourages riding within one’s means, and that is one of the gifts I love about it. And, in the event I do screw up, I’m not going damaging speeds. Grin. I find the rock gardens and obsticles are often easier fixed than geared, all depending on the details of the terrain. Some places I could go up in really low, freewheel gears, I walk fixed, but fixed gear smooths out jouncy climbing amazingly, and I ride more areas I couldn’t geared because of this and what I call the fly wheel effect (whether or not that’s a thing, I feel something that makes a huge difference).

Andy, wow. That would be fun to try. Grin. Easily doable fixed. LCG. Grin. Pedalable? Not likely straight up unless trail gear is low enough. I can’t tell the grade on that, but I go up 20˚+ slopes on trails, albeit not long ones. 15-20˚ is pedalable for sustained stomping (57” Quickbeam, 47” Hunqabeam). That looks possibly pedalable with some switchbacking, which of course requires lateral clearence of traffic and other riders. Apart from oxygen, my biggest challenge climbing is often traction. Loose stuff is tricky as I can’t stand and pedal for power while also weighting the rear wheel. I have to sort of stand with weight in the saddle, and that’s a bit tricky.

Great looking bike, Lyle! There is a simple delight in never having to fiddle with unnecesary bits like derailures, shifters, that I imagine makes traveling with a bike more of a breeze.

John, I ride Compass Steilacooms. Grippy knobs, great on all surfaces, and plush, supple tires ride wider than they are, feeling more like 2” tires than 38mm. My standard ride is 1/3 each paved, dirt road/MUP, and singletrack. They wear more quickly than a less high performance tire, but I still get about 3000 miles out of my rear tire (I don’t track milage, but that is estimating my daily average and multiply8ing by days of use). You can see them in snow action here:
https://thegrid.ai/withabandon/coffeeneuring-challenge-2018
and here:
https://thegrid.ai/withabandon/six-inches-of-fresh-powder-and-a-brisk-day

With abandon,
Patrick

[JohnS]

Steve, not sure just yet what kind of trail riding I'll be doing. 

DP, the Steilacoom reminds me of the tires on my '82 Stumpjumper when I bought it new. Looks like they work very well for you. Always enjoy your ride reports and pictures, especially the leaf with the frost on the edges. How does that happen? (I know, moisture meets cold air...)

Mark, great thread! Fixed gear commuting helps me prepare for work and unwind on the way home. Looking forward to the experience of off road fixed riding. I do some already on rail trails when I ride with family and friends, so just taking it to the next level.

Thanks,

JohnS

[Deacon Patrick]

John, I must make a truth in advertizing oops: The first link is my Hunqabeam, not Quickbeam, so only the second link has the Steilacoom tires. Same conditions and trail though. My apologies.

With abandon,
Patrick

[Tony DeFilippo]

Ok ok ok... I'm going to put a new chain (longer to account for the larger cog) on the ANT and give fixed a try next week.

Patrick, it any other fixed riders - are toe clips or some other kind of foot-pedal retention device recommended/required? I noticed on your Hunqabeam Patrick that you have some kind of wide strap on your pedals. Thanks,

Tony

[Ken Yokanovich]

Sharp looking bike.

[Deacon Patrick]

Hey Tony,

Is foot retention required to ride fixed gear? No. Benificial? Yes. With fixed gear you need a solid connection with the pedal so that as your feet spin faster in that precise circle that your legs don’t quite match naturally (but come close when running), your foot stays on the pedal at higher cadances. This is only an issue on the fast downhills. I’ve ridden fixed with smooth platform pedals. It’s frustrating but doable and slower than I wanted, even on a rugged, remote curvy mtn road. Even more frustrating whn the road smoothed and straightened out. Grin. That’s when I blew up my MKS steel toe clips on the Colorado Trail. The clips take quite a beating, but not as much as I threw at ‘um. Shrug. Spikes on platfroms are the minimum foot retention I’d recommend. I began riding with Catalyst pedals and they did an excellent job, up to a point. I finally gave in and tested toeclips, and GripFast straps. Now I can really spin fast down the hills and not have to slow down!

I’ve found two basic options of foot retention and are hearty enough for fixed gear riding: toeclips or HoldFast straps (other straps seem likely to break easily based on reviews). They each do best with different types of pedals:

Toeclips: I found MKS Urban pedal ideal and it worked well even with my wide feet, though I began using a stiff leather insert to stiffen my minimalist shoe for cycling. Nylon clips are essential for singletrack (reference blowing up the steel MKS clip). I never snugged the straps tight, which makes for easy in/out and my foot always stayed on easily. My issue with toe clips is three fold: 1) bigger winter shoes in size 14 don’t fit far enough in (or not at all in the case of my Sorels) and even my summer size 12 would benifit from being deeper; 2) some ability to pull up on the backstroke for steep hills, but pales compared with HoldFast straps; 3) keeps the toe in a single lateral position, which I’d rather not have on longer rides. Hold Fast Straps solve those issues.

HoldFast Straps: I remove all pins from a VP Vice or nylon equivilant pedal that has the gap between top and bottom and the straps work great. I’m wanting to shift to an MKS pedal (Allways, Grip King, or Sneaker), but I’m unsure if they will work well as they are thicker pedals and may have more pedal strikes because of it. Pedal cornering is, of course, a bigger issues with fixed gear. Took me time to dial in how snug to do the strap (Much easier after riding toeclips and learning fixed gear a LOT more). Easy in and out. Easy adjustment for different size shoes. Amazing pull upward when climbing steep hills (your gears are your legs, and so there is sitting climbing, stomping climbing, and then my “smallest” gear (most torque) is standing pulling up on the backstroke). Underside of the pedal is ridable and so on starts on steep bits, I just put in the top foot side and ride the bottom of the second pedal until I can flip into it. Snow slickness is a not issue (once in the straps), as the strap is the retention. An icy platform no longer means a slippery pedal.

Why not SPD? No minimalist shoe options, which is essential for me. Two, walking is part of fixed gear, and I have no desire to walk in stiff cycling shoes that are way too narrow.

Starting out. I’d recommend you ride spiked platform pedals and just take things slow, without spinning too much, to get the hang of fixed gear for a ride or more. Then try straps.

With abandon,
Patrick

[Patrick Moore]

I prefer retention, partly for safety, because your feet can get spinning pretty fast, and partly just because I like retention on all my pedals and find SPD-type clipless the easiest and most convenient. I've used clips and straps both with and without slotted cleats. Both work, but I found myself repeatedly pulling my non-cleated shoes out of even semi-tight straps when climbing hills, so I abandoned clips/straps without cleats on all except the Hon Solo, which doesn't see many hills -- it's my grocery store, dog-walking, near-to-home bike, so it's fine that way.

When I used slotted cleats and straps on my '99 Joe Starck, I actually found the system easier to get into, with straps kept semi-tight (ie, tight enough to allow you to pull up without pulling out, but loose enough to pull out in an emergency) than with my Look Keos and almost as easy as with the single-sided SPDs on the bike now.

I've heard of many people riding fixed without retention, but I would not want to be non-retained on a fast downhill, and I find that retention certainly helps me to exert more torque up steep hills.

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[Justin, Oakland]

I preferred riding fixed without retention but with grippy shoes and platform pedals. Off road I’d double down on the lack of retention. I need to disengage from the pedal quickly if I’m going down and already have life lung damage to one ankle to show for it. Just my experience but clipless or straps off road don’t make much sense to me especially fixed.

-J

[Philip Williamson]

Single track A and single track B are more different from each other than single track A is from a paved trail.

Philip
Santa Rosa, CA

[hugh flynn]

I've been riding fixed on trails since I discovered how awesome fixed is for ice/snow riding back in the 90s and thought, if I can do that, surely I can ride trails fixed! Granted, I just ride trails and not super technical stuff because I'm old and the super technical stuff makes my back hurt after a while.

Foot retention? Meh. With or without is fine (for me). If you have a front brake on the bike, you can recover if your foot comes off by slowing down until you can get your foot back on.  In practice, I've just never really struggled with that though. If I find myself spinning THAT fast, I just scrub a little speed off with the brake before things get too hairy.

Hugh "I can fix that" Flynn

Newburyport, MA

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Hugh Flynn
Newburyport, MA

[Philip Williamson]

I just use flat spiky pedals. I used to use eggbeaters and clips n straps. Whatever you’re comfortable with on your current bikes is probabaly best to start with when you go fixed.

Philip
Santa Rosa, CA

[Lyle Bogart]

I used to use spd pedals riding fixed but no longer do. Wide spikey pedals—race face “Chesters” or the very similar VP pedals. 

I run a 48x18 or 48x21 gear and, though I sometimes get to walk a steep section up, I always manage to keep my pedals while descending.

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Lyle F Bogart DPT

9027 Yakima Avenue

Tacoma, WA 98444

253.302.1150

[Kevin Mulcahy]

What gearing combinations are other people using? 48/18 seems really high to me for road riding, so I can’t imagine riding trails with it. Heck, I’m in my 28/46 combo for just about every climb.

[esoterica etc]

Whoa, didn’t expect all the response, thanks for everyone’s feedback and comments so far!

Deacon Patrick - I recently moved from the intermountain West to NC, and I’ve been missing the mountain and snow ridding I used to enjoy, so I’ve been following your blog with much interest and living vicariously through your posts. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Patrick Moore - currently, it’s set up with a 28 up front and an 18 in back, so I started with a pretty low 40.5” just to see how I’d like fixed. Now that I dig it, I’ve got a larger chainring coming in the mail. My plan is to slowly gear up a couple inches at a time as I get comfortable with the current gear. I should have mentioned that I live in pretty flat terrain in eastern NC, and most of the trails near me don’t have much elevation change, but they can be fairly twisty and technical, so that sort of makes up for it. I’m also thinking about putting a different handlebar on it. I tried a Specialized BB1 dirt drop bar on it, but found it too cramped. I love the leverage of the 710 Jones bar I have on my MB-2, so I think maybe a similar bar, such as the Soma Clarence would be a good choice for me. Also, did not know about 63xc, thanks for bringing it to my attention. Here’s a couple requested pics:

[esoterica etc]

+1 for flats with spikes, although I’d eventually like to try toe straps on some non-spiked pedals. Being able to pull up on the pedals while grinding up a steep incline would be helpful. Don’t think I’d want to go clipless though, because I really like riding in my trail runners, and they’re much more comfy walking in than any clipless shoes.

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[Lyle Bogart]

Kevin Mulcahy--yup, 48x18 seems a bit stout, but it's different on a fixie ;-) The same gear on a multispeed bike does seem harder. Maybe it's because the fixie is sooooo much lighter and maybe it's because of the rotational inertia caused by the direct linkage of the drive train that seems to help in climbing and forward progression generally.  For some of the more technical tracks I've got my eye on for this winter and spring, I may drop down to a 44 on the front. 

Cheers!

lyle

Lyle F Bogart DPT

9027 Yakima Avenue

Tacoma, WA 98444

253.302.1150

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[Patrick Moore]

48X18 is a good pavement ratio; mine are 70, 69, and 76 gi. For off pavement, I find low 60s best for a single gear for my terrain which involves sand and mostly rolling terrain (Rio Rancho) with only short steep sections. I'd rather walk more on hills than spin futilely on flats.

If I were to build a ss mountain bike again, I'd probably consider 2 ratios, a road ratio and a technical singletrack ratio. Or just use multiple gears. Wait! I just did that!

Seriously, I went back to multiple gears with my Fargo for dirt road and off road use, my first bike with multiple gears in 10 years or so, and continue the trend with the replacement Matthews. But just the other day I was thinking about an off road single speed ...

On Sat, Nov 24, 2018 at 7:37 PM Kevin Mulcahy <kpmu...@gmail.com> wrote:

What gearing combinations are other people using? 48/18 seems really high to me for road riding, so I can’t imagine riding trails with it. Heck, I’m in my 28/46 combo for just about every climb.

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[Deacon Patrick]

Riding without retention, but with spiked platform pedals sacrifices highspeed spinning and low speed climbing some, but if your focus is trails, the ease of on/off may well be worth it. On trails, this generally means only losing a small amount of steeper hill climbing.

With abandon,
Patrick

[Tony DeFilippo]

Patrick and others - thanks for the very thorough answer to my question about pedal retention.  I tend to ride with the middle of my foot on the pedal so no clips or straps have ever worked well for me... And I haven't missed them.  I do like the heavily spiked VP platforms on all my bikes though.  I'm glad to hear that it may not be required for safe fixed riding.

I'm going to throw a set of VP's and a new chain on my ANT and try fixed this week... I'm looking forward to it, thanks again for the info and inspiration!

Tony

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[Deacon Patrick]

Lyle, Wow. 48x18 is impressive for trail riding! I ride up in my either a 44x21 57” gear (Quickbeam) or 34x22 47” (Hunqabeam). Coming down, I’m in “high” gear generally, 71” 61” respectively), but on snowy trails or bikepacking I stay in low for the extra torque backpedaling. My bikepack gear for trail riding (Hunqabeam) is 34x22, 42”.

Mark, 28x18 is quite low gearing, and is roughly my lowest gear for trails when bikepacking. Rather than going up incramentally, what if you jumped to a 60ish” (2+” tires) or 70” (38mm or so tires) gear and see what that is like to ride, so you learn the other end of the spectrum. I think you’ll be plesently surprised how much you can ride with a bigger gear, then you may end up splitting the difference around 50-55” for dedicated trail riding.

With abandon,
Patrick

[Doug H.]

Call me lazy but I enjoy coasting at times. Fixed is a no go for me. Fixed I think makes cycling less efficient. Am I wrong?
Doug

[Patrick Moore]

Yes, generally speaking and taking everything into account; which is why only a few weirdos ride fixed. But it's also great fun in ways that freewheeling and multispeeding are not, so liking it is not *entirely* absurd.

In certain respects of course it's *more efficient*, which is why speed records and distance records are set on fixed gears (are some of the latest speed records set using freewheels? I think all record attempts use fixed drivetrains.)

On Mon, Nov 26, 2018 at 9:37 AM Doug H. <dhansf...@gmail.com> wrote:

Call me lazy but I enjoy coasting at times. Fixed is a no go for me. Fixed I think makes cycling less efficient. Am I wrong?
Doug

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[Deacon Patrick]

Doug wonders if fixed gear makes cycling less effecient. Less effecient at what? Greatest speed per kilowatt? Gears are indoubtably more effeceint. Greatest amount of fun per kilowatt? Personal preference. Greatest workout in a given amount of time? Fixed gear, hands down. At some point I saw data about the times of the Tour de France in relation to adopting first freewheel, then gears vs. fixed. There is a reason free wheels and gears were taken up. Doing so, however, come at a cost as well, all depending on what you want from you riding experience.

With abandon,
Patrick

[Doug Hansford]

Efficient in my mind is the least amount of effort in traveling a given distance. I do understand that efficiency is not always the most important factor. If you enjoy fixed riding then keep on keeping on. And, I enjoy your ride reports Deacon.
Doug

Sent from my iPhone

[ted]

Without including time taken in your goal function peak efficiency probly occurs at close to a walking pace.