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General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

off-topic: climbers who ride 31-Aug-2005 At 8:02:22 AM tmarsh

Message

On 31/08/2005 cheesehead wrote:
>Megs, be cautious of the naughty fixy! They're so nasty. Singlespeed is
>ace, but fixed is a whole 'nother box is irate rattlesnakes.
>I think I've seen your rig around too, Tmarsh. Where do you tend to ride
>it?

I commute to the city on it, and you might see me anywhere in suburbs from Footscray to Northcote on it. Of course you might have me confused with someone else, but I would have to concede that the bike is kinda distinctive!

I've got a few singlespeeds and fixies now, but the orange one gets the most attention. Weirdly enough, fixed is a bit slower than singlespeed, largely on downhills. Brakeless fixed is the slowest of all. It's a lot like soloing - you only want to ride at a speed that you know you can pull up from. Sort of like only climbing grades you know that you won't fall on.

The fixed scene in Melbourne is small but everyone is really friendly. You'll always get a wave or a nod from other riders, particularly some of the couriers.

Megan - if you are keen to set up a fixed, PM me and let me know. You can do it on the cheap, and with an existing road frame without too much bother. I've done about 6 conversions now, some of which required brazing horizontal dropouts into the frame, but most of which were pretty straightforward. Of course, getting a track bike is probably the easiest option...