Friday, May 25, 2012

My first fixie commute...


Today was my first commute on my Bianchi Pista fixie. I’ve had it a few years, but it’s only now that I feel confident in riding it. The only modifications I’ve made was to take off the curved track bars that came with the bike and replace them with bull bars and also fit SPD pedals. The bike shop also fitted a front grab brake. The bike also has no lugs to fit a bottle cage, but luckily I had recently bought a rucksack that came free with a 2 litre hydration bag.



Ok, things that went well…

All my pedal energy seemed to transfer directly to the rear wheel. I noticed this most on the half mile incline, which just seemed smooth. Most of my ride is on rural roads and once underway I felt really connected to the bike. And despite a breeze, my ride time for the 17 miles was very similar to my Van Nicholas Yukon without pushing it at all.

Once stationary and with left foot unclipped, to get the right pedal in a position ready to push off I grabbed the front brake and pedaled. You are trying to lift the rear wheel off the ground so you can pedal till the right foot reaches the 2 o’clock position.

I had thought about replacing the Bianchi saddle with one of my Fiziks. Glad, I never did. Since you cannot leave the saddle when riding fixed I was grateful for the well-padded Bianchi.

Things that didn’t go so well…

Stopping and starting, both planned and unplanned; I really need some tips here. If it’s a planned stop then I unclip my left foot and continue forward till my right foot is at the right position to push off again. However, I keep making the mistake of trying to “scoot” forward, especially in traffic. So with the right foot still clipped in, scooting with my left foot, whilst sat awkwardly on the top tube makes you look and feel just stupid. There are some major road works that change daily. I found it just safer this morning to get off and walk rather than ride slowly and risk falling.

My saddle height is probably set too low, erring on the side of caution, so I could get my feet down fast. But not at the expense of sore knees, I need to raise it about 1 cm.

I think I may have set my bull bars too aggressively. After dropping down a curb I’d convinced myself that the bars had dropped a bit. I then tried not to put my full weight at the ends of the bar.

Towards the end of my ride my legs were aching and my shorts were cutting in. This would normally not be a problem when riding freewheel. I had it in mind to just stop, but I just slowed right down so I could get out of the saddle and have a bit of a wiggle and that seemed to sort it out.

I am sure I had washed out the hydration bag when I got it, but the water tasted yewk. Maybe I need to add a bit of fruit juice as well to mask the plastic taste.

Having said all that I’m still looking forward to the ride home…


Update: cycled home into 20+ mph headwind is NOT fun on a fixie :(

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