Timeline for I am a beginner to commuting by bike and I find it very tiring. Is it my fitness level or my single-speed bicycle?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
22 events
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| Jan 10, 2021 at 22:41 | comment | added | leftaroundabout | @IanKemp please don't scream. Also, you're wrong – in fact such bikes are designed for the city. And, yes, for fit persons, but asserting that the OP will “never” get there is totally speculative. | |
| Jan 10, 2021 at 15:27 | comment | added | Ian Kemp | @Jay you are NEVER going to ever "conform" to that bike. It is designed for an extremely young and fit person which you are NOT. It is designed for a uniform speed and surface which a city is NOT. You will have a much more enjoyable time with cycling if you stop deluding yourself. | |
| Jan 9, 2021 at 20:24 | comment | added | mattnz | @Judy N - Not correct, putting a person on an unsuitable bike will reduce their enjoyment, make things harder than they need to be and possibly put them off cycling altogether. In the case of a fixie, a predictable outcome for a novice is a crash and possible serious injury, a single speed a predictable outcome is frustration and giving up. The OP is 39, not too old that he won't get over the training effort, but not as quickly or easily as a 20 something year old. Obviously this is based on typical, not details of a specific individuals personality and physical makeup. | |
| Jan 9, 2021 at 16:38 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| Jan 9, 2021 at 20:17 | |||||
| Jan 9, 2021 at 14:27 | comment | added | Judy N. | Since what you're saying is "the bike is not suited to the OP's level of cycling condition" surely this means the statement "it's the bike, not you" is not quite illustrating the full picture? Like if we could change one or other of the variables, both would result in a satisfactory situation. Really what you're saying is "since you can change the bike but you can't change you, there' s only one sensible approch to it" | |
| Jan 9, 2021 at 8:43 | comment | added | rexkogitans | +1 "It's the bike, not you". Exactly this. This is a racing bike, not a city- or trekking bike. My best bet for a beginner is to change the bike altogether, not just the gear. It is everything that should change: Gear, the way you sit, the handle, lights. | |
| Jan 9, 2021 at 0:02 | comment | added | Christian | on the other hand, i really switch gears on my bike and usually go 15 kph tops. that should be totally doable with a fixie and on 4 miles you don't need to go fast. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 20:39 | comment | added | mattnz | No dispute gearing it lower will slow you down, and might have you spinning out, but the time lost is 'minimal' over 4 miles. Lets say you gear at 44/24, your ideal speed range is around 10-15mph, vs 48/19 which is 13-21mph. 15mph vs 21mph over 4 miles is around 4 minutes - half that in reality by the time you account for corners and stops and you actual desire to ride at 21mph. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 20:29 | comment | added | mattnz | @Jay, First action I would recommend is return the bike to the shop if you can. Try to use consumer protection law as its not fit fit for purpose, but that will depend how it was purchased and where you live. If you cannot return it, given the investment is already made, then your strategy is not all bad (A smaller front cog might be possible as well). Do make sure you don't let this bike put you off the idea of commuting 4 miles if it does not work out. | |
| S Jan 8, 2021 at 17:16 | history | suggested | SQB | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 8, 2021 at 16:26 | comment | added | cmaster - reinstate monica | @Jay The problem with single speed bikes in a city is, that you cannot bike in a good cadence all the time. Either your cadence will be too low when you are slow (which you experienced), or your cadence will be too high when you are fast (any good road or slight downhill). Biking in the city requires very frequently accelerating from a stop, but also includes good roads where you can go fast. If you adjust your bike to suit your acceleration needs, your feet will be spinning like hell when you could go fast. The gear for normal speed should be at least twice as fast as the acceleration gear. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 15:43 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jan 8, 2021 at 17:16 | |||||
| Jan 8, 2021 at 15:10 | comment | added | julian | @mattnz Before selling the bike and getting another one, I'll see if I can get in shape and conform to the bike, since I have until the warmer months before I can really cycle daily. I'm also going to try to get another free wheel cog with more teeth for the rear wheel like someone suggested and see if that helps some. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 15:06 | vote | accept | julian | ||
| Jan 8, 2021 at 15:04 | comment | added | ojs | @cmaster-reinstatemonica the bike is marketed as "alloy frame", which usually means aluminum. Even if their marketing was misleadingly technically correct and it's a steel alloy, the tubes are thicker than usual so spreading won't be that easy. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 14:37 | comment | added | cmaster - reinstate monica | @ojs The frame looks like steel to me, so it can probably be widened to 135mm rather easily (7.5mm on each side). You'd also need a longer BB axis to adjust the chainline (good idea, but not required, would mainly reduce chain wear - chain shifts allow for stronger cross chaining). But yes, if you still get a price for the low use 2nd hand bicycle that recovers most of the investment, selling the bike and getting a true commuter would be the better Idea. I mainly added my comment for the case that the losses of selling would be too stiff in comparison to an IGH rear wheel. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 13:22 | comment | added | ojs | @cmaster-reinstatemonica track bikes have 120mm rear spacing, and that limits the selection of internal gear hubs a lot, and the result would be something that's not a good commuter bike nor a good track bike. I'd recommend selling this one. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 12:32 | comment | added | Peter - Reinstate Monica | Upvote for the future consultations :-). | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 10:30 | comment | added | cmaster - reinstate monica | The bike could be made into a useful commuter by replacing the rear hub with an internal gear hub. This can easily give 7 gears for relatively little money. (Probably it would be easiest to just replace the entire rear wheel with one that is built around the IGH.) The only other option that I see would be to sell the bike and get one with proper gears. (I would still prefer an IGH, especially in the city where switching needs to be frequent and fast, and for a new rider who needs as simple switching as possible.) | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 9:51 | comment | added | UEFI | Agreed. He would be much happier on a hybrid bike, flat handlebars, gears and road tyres. Fixies are for experienced cyclists who have matched the gear ratio to their fitness and steepness of the local hills. | |
| Jan 8, 2021 at 3:10 | history | edited | mattnz | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jan 8, 2021 at 3:03 | history | answered | mattnz | CC BY-SA 4.0 |