[Thunderhawk]

Abood, unless you truely love your current bike, keep the receipt and look around.

I biked on my old Canadian Tire bike and thought it was fine, I thought my friend's newly purchased Canadian tire bike was good too. Recently I went to a speciality bike store to visit a friend and tried one of their bikes - massive difference.

Canadian tire is pretty good if your on budget, but if you have the money and inkling, go to a speciality shop.

note: Cycle Path is a cliché.
Stores that specialize in bikes, like those favoured by bike couriers, are generally pretty good.
where I got my bike

[Oxymoron]

Qatz if you want to go back to the 19th century how about a horse and buggy, i also heard of a revolutionery thing called walking.

[hannu]

I would recommend a Bianchi Pista. Fixed-gear eliminates a lot of potential problems. Convert!

Are you mad?

Fixed gear means you can never stop pedalling. You become a slave of the machine.

Although I do agree that a fixed wheel unicyle is a must.

[Thunderhawk]

He porbably means a single sprocket on the rear wheel, and a single sprocket on the [pedals], but keeping the front sprocket attached to a sprag like most modern bikes have.

Sprag = a (springed) mechanism that allows the sprocket/gear/etc to rotate freely one way, but locks the other way. Common on bikes.

[edit: typo]

[Oxymoron]

Qatz why do you insist on putting your mug for all to see at every possible time?

[Grunch]

Fixed gear means you can never stop pedalling. You become a slave of the machine.

Actually you can stop pedalling pretty easily. I am guessing you have never ridden fixed gear.

[hannu]

Actually you can stop pedalling pretty easily. I am guessing you have never ridden fixed gear.

Fixed gear/wheel bikes have no facility to "coast". The rear sprocket has no ratchet facility. In other words you cannot pedal backwards.

When you ride downhill you cannot stop pedalling unless you take your feet off the pedals which is quite dangerous.

[QatzelOk]

But Im not sure how good those tyres will be when it gets really cold, notably when it gets icy.

I bike all winter long. Even when it's -20 and on crushed ice and snow.

Crushed ice and snow provides a solid grip compared to icy pavement. And mountain tires (which is what Abood's bike has) are a must in winter.

Likewise, one habit that winter bikers have to get into is braking every once in a while to test road conditions. After slipping a few times, you learn to gently squeeze your brakes every few minutes to see how much tread you have.

And clothing is fun when winter biking. You get to dress up like an abominable snowman/freak as if you were going skiing!

I'll try to provide grovelling fan Oxymoron with a pic of my mug on a bike as soon as the snow hits the ground.

[hannu]

I forgot to ask.

Which side of the handlebars do Canadian bikes have the rear brake handle on?

Where I come from we have the rear on the left which means when you go skidding most people favour a left handed rear wheel skid.

Is it the same in canada?

[QatzelOk]

...when you go skidding...

It's exciting to finally have the training wheels off, isn't it.

[Thunderhawk]

My rear brake is on the right side.
Of course, switching around the brake lines isnt exactly difficult.

[hannu]

My rear brake is on the right side.

So when you go skidding do you favour a left hand skid or a right hand one?

Do Canadian motorcycles also have the front brake on the left hand side of the handlebars?

[Unperson-S]

When I was in Germany I rode a fixed gear style bike, but Im not sure if it was a proper one. You could stop pedalling, but not move the pedals back at all.

Was a bit hard to get used to, and it had a stupid handle bar design, and had no gears but it was actually pretty good after I got used to it.

I spent the first 10 minutes going through the handle bars everytime I wanted to up the curb, but after that it became pretty useful (it only had one brake), and so instead of using the break, just ease a little back on the pedals.

Im glad I dont have a fixed gear system (or whatever that was) at home though, useful in urban cycling, but absolutely pointless in the countryside.

I cant remember how I cycled last winter, actually I think last winter I stopped as I knew I couldnt keep up the cycling for the summer, as I was joining Maersk. But the winter previous to that I used it allot, but that was with more hybrid road commuter style tyres, my new ones have about a third of a milimetre of grip.

[hannu]

Simsydav

I think the German bike you rode had got two brakes. The rear brake was operated by applying back pressure on the pedals.

It's very difficult to induce a rear wheel skid with this set up. When turning into a skid as soon as you put your foot on the deck speedway style you stop applying the brake. This means the back wheel is no longer locked up & you come out of the skid. This sometimes results in a "High Sider".

Do you get my drift?

[Grunch]

hannu, you have no idea what you're talking about. A pure fixed-gear set up is perfectly acceptable. Stopping and slowing down are no more difficult than they are on a "normal" bike and going down hill is easy--- just relax your legs.

[hannu]

Grunch

Do you live in a flat Country? If so I understand what you mean.

Fixed gears are no good in hilly areas or when you have to stop quickly in traffic.

Try going down any mountain descent at 80mph. Can you pedal all of the way down at 80mph?

These guys can't & they get paid to ride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kZSzB4kEE8

Ask any racing cyclist how much damage downhill descents on a fixed wheel do to your legs. They won't even train on them downhill.

[Grunch]

That's funny because Fausto Coppi won the 1949 Tour De France on a fixed-gear bike. Bringing up the Tour De France to show the weakness of a fixed-gear bike is irrelevant. Should I post videos from velodromes to show the weakness of your bikes? You can take a track bike on and off the track, you can't say the same of a road bike.

[hannu]

Grunch

If you want to make things difficult for yourself by riding a fixed wheel bike that's fine by me.

I happen to think that a fixed wheel makes things more dangerous in traffic & I've never seen anyone riding offroad with one.

Good luck with your velodrome riding.

[QatzelOk]

I happen to think that a fixed wheel makes things more dangerous in traffic

It means you can't keep you bike in high gear in the downtown parts of the city where you need fast stop and go.

Gears are essential unless you live in a pancake flat city with almost complete separation of bikes and other vehicles.

By the way, total separation of bikes and cars in a really good idea if you want women and kids biking, along with people who aren't in great shape or very athletic.

And you want EVERYONE biking, so it's important that it NOT require the physical strength and balls of steel of a bike courier.

[Unperson-S]

Are you a bike courier Qatz?

I was thinking of maybe doing it over the summer last year, but decided against it as the money is a pittance and I would either have to live or travel to london everyday which would use up all of the wages that I would have earnt.