Baptism of fire

[JamesM]

Went for my first proper fixie ride (once around the block a few weeks ago doesn't count) yesterday on the first fixie I've ever built or owned with the first snowflake wheel I've ever built. 103 miles and the bike was still going strong, which is more than can be said about me

 

[feetabix]

103 on a fixie??...... :shock: .....how are the knees?

 

[JamesM]

The right one feels a bit tired as does the top of my left leg. I was still pedalling last night in my sleep

 

[IDB1]

Nice clean build... does it have its own thread in that place where people put their builds?

 

[oldave]

Very neat! The chain looks as if you've got a close-as-dammit magic chain length (unless there's an Eno in the rear?).

Received wisdom used to be that fixed is "bad" for the knees, but whenever discussed on fixed forums no personal evidence ever emerged to support this. Indeed, when I rode fixed a lot (c. 2-3000 miles or half my annual mileage p.a.) I felt that it suited my already dodgy knees. I think that in my case at least because I wasn't pushing too high a gear.

 

[michael franks]

Very impressed with the snowflake wheel you've built. How did you calculate the spoke length? Lovely bike too

 

[JamesM]

I had to use a half link. I never intended to hit the magic ratio I was going to use a ghost gear for tensioning. I had the 44 and the 17 in my parts bin. I wanted to get the 44 as inboard as posible then use a shimano freehub/cassette type hub with an SS cog and spacers to get the chainline straight. I did all that but the ghost gear touched the chainstay. It was just luck that with a half link it was the right length so I didn't need the ghost gear. It's stretched now as I knew it would so I'm probably going to try shrinking the drive train whilst keeping the ratio similar, then move it further inboard and give the ghost gear another go.

To "fix" the rear hub I took the freehub off, managed to get the dust cover off without wrecking it, bunged that end up with silicone sealant and filled it with solder from the other end using a blowtorch.

I built the snowflake front wheel following the guide on here Rear wheel was a traditional 3 cross build as it takes alot more load and I didn't know how my snowflake building skills would pan out!!!

LX 570 parallel push front V brake with a booster, salmon cool stops and matching levers . I figured as its my only brake it should be just about as powerfull as rim brakes come, plus I had it kicking around.

Oh and it's a '92 Tequesta in Tange Infinity with a set of DB Bologna cuts all freshly powder coated.

As for knees I've been riding SS offroad for over 2 years now and I always stand up when pushing hard, I believe it's sitting and mashing the pedals that can harm the knees. I think on this occasion though it was the 8.5 hours of pedaling that made my right knee feel tired, its fine now.

I never really intended riding it on long rides but I'm doing a long distance charity ride this summer and we all went on a training ride on Sunday. It was all flat mostly along cycle paths and canal tow paths so being one of the quicker riders I thought I'd put myself at a bit of a disadvantage and ride my shiny new bike. I'll ride with gears on the charity ride though. In fact after that experience I'll only ever be doing short distances on the fixie from here on in

 

[1584cc]

So when are we going to see this in the bike shed at work James?