Tag Archives: Fixed-gear bicycle

Bannister Hill, 9.30″

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22°C, clearing. Perfect.
MapMyRide! Distance: 39.40mi, time: 02:21:42, pace: 3:36min/mi, speed: 16.6mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/327169155
Yesterday- broke my best time up Bannister Hill, today, broke it again. The strategy today was to keep up the pace after pud summit to High Moor which is the end of the Mapmyride climb. All this was done on the 42×16 Fixed Gear.
A fixed would make an excellent hill-climb bike for those end-of-season hill races. That is when you have carefully chosen the gear for if specific climb. This ride needs a gear that is not too low to take advantage of some false flats where you can build up speed.
Overall, the conditions were perfect and my fitness- much improved.
image
I have only just found how to take a screen-capture from this phone; so here, at last is a hill profile.

2012 summary

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7°C, clear, cold wind from sea.

Cycling: ~4,409 miles.

  • Kona fixed gear– 984 miles,
  • Arrow 16 speed (Shimano)-2,220 miles.
  • Racelite 16 (campy)- 1,225 miles.

Fewer miles than I hoped for due to several problems-

  • more rain than usual,
  • more hiking,
  • work related stress much higher than normal.
  • Some loss of determination (related to the above),
  • Winter ice cost a few hundred too,

I want to clear 5,000 miles in 2013 (by as much as a thousand miles to make up for 2012). To this end, the summer bike needs a good overhaul to avoid mechanical problems and ensure that it’s more fun to ride.
This point generates another list for January-

  • Rebuild wheels,
  • New headset
  • New pedals.

Not too much cost, but quite a long turn-around while it’s away at the Campagnolo service center. No need to ride it until March though.

Soon there will be sun

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14°C, light gry skies, no wind. CK:53 miles

Weekend up North. Saturday was I tired or was I harbouring some latent poorliness? After Sunday’s ride, it was obvious that all those debilitating feelings the day before were exhaustion. The ride went well- it felt so natural to be back in the fixed-gear. Muscles ached towards the end but nothing that would have been mended by a cafe stop.

Track stand

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15C, clear but winds strong. CK19 miles.

Not up to a full ride today so playtime on the fixed-gear bike instead. I tried doing a track stand on a quiet road. Erm, it’s not as easy as it seems. The problem, for me I suppose, is fear of falling off. Very slow speed control is okay, but kicking backwards to cancel a leftwards fall is, so far, impossible.

More time another day.

Indexing

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18C, Sun+ 1 shower, Sth wind, RA:60 miles

Summer bike: I used to regard this as my ‘best’ bike, it’s more difficult now while the gears persist in playing up. They still don’t index properly across the middle of the 8 cogs. It’s the middle three that give all the trouble, changing gear is fine at first, but after a few hundred yards the chain jumps onto the smaller cog. There could be a number of reasons for this:

  • Worn cogs
  • dropout alignment
  • snagging inside the (new) cables
  • dragging cable sheath underneath the handlebar tape

I remain baffled and slightly irritated by this. It’s going to take yet more time & money to fix. Oh well, next weekend I’ll ride the fixed-wheel.