Hobart has hills. Lot of ’em. Big ones too. Vertical topography is a limiting enviromnetal factor that keeps the southern capitals SS and Fixed cycling population in check. Survival of the fittest and all that jazz. Pushing ‘one gear’ means selecting a small gear for the ‘ups’, and if you choose to ride fixed, this also means spinning like fk on the ‘downs’.
Sunrace Sturmey Archer is offering a solution. The S3X Three Speed Fixed Hub. The gearing range is as follows:
- 1st Gear -37.5%
- 2nd Gear – -25%
- 3rd Gear – Direct Drive
Will this three speed hub shift the limiting environmental factors causing a exponential grow in ‘Hipsters’ down south? I predict the following will happen: Hunners will be able to ride on hung-over days. The Bonnet will be conquered more frequently. Jessie will still ride on the footpath. Liam will move home from flat Melbourne. Grundy will buy two. Nic will buy lycra bib knicks. Check out the website: http://sunrace-sturmeyarcher.blogspot.com/search/label/%22Fixed%20Gear%203%20Speed%22
I’m confused. For some odd reason I feel attracted to this fixed deal even though I’ve never had a lash before.
A lot of your justifications on the site make sense, but I reckon cost would be the factor that would get me riding one. Especially off bitumen.
I’ve already had to replace a derailer at the end of last year and I dont want to have to again!
What sort of cadence you can train yourself to put up with?
Derailleur?! This Liam knows not of derailleurs.
i say for mega downhill pedaling madness you can rock about 170rpm and not stress to hard.
for me running 64 gear inches that equates to about 52kph.
once when benny followed me to work in his car he clocked me spinning out at 57kph which is about 185 rpm.
apologies for the spelling. I think I’ll go soft and work on a single speed first! 170? I’ll make a point of trying to bust above 150 tomorrow on the way to work and see how much meditation i’ve gotta do! So you disconnect your legs from your brain right? mad bastards!
Local Bloke has privately imported ten of these babies.
Hub, cog, barend shifter and everything you need for $150 a pop.
Too much play, too heavy and misses the point of fixed a little much for my liking. That’s wot I reckon anyway.
..until Nic is sporting Lycra bib-knicks, I’m predicting theres more chance of seeing Killick rockin’ a ‘Quike’ than S3X’s being seen in the BnC fleet. …although I have heard a pair of red, black and silver striped undies (with a little dash on yellow on the front) was seen hanging on the washing line at the Viper Den..
I forgot there was a ‘point’ of fixed. 😉
Of course never dream of putting one on a ‘serious’ fixie, that would be a travesty. I’d rather walk up hills like Benny. (Dismount before Dishonour?)
But surely a bit of dabbling with a fixed beach/beer bike is acceptable?
One can always chuck a free wheel on and have a normal three speed.
HBK will unearth a Skidstar frame one day….
ooh, ooh. I know where there is two Skidstar bikes! Ask me when I’m down there.. we’ll go get one each.
Dismount before dishonour is correct.. and on that vein, I built my CX bike as a 1×10 but in that configuration it didn’t even make it out of the house. Goddam gears. So fiddly to set up and tune.. I got pissed off, ripped them off and threw on a SS kit. Ahhhh, soooo much better.
Yeah, a cruiser with a 3spd hub would be sick! Evn better if its a 3spd with coaster brake. Awesome! ….fixed is a funny one, I love ss for the simplicity, riding and maintainence wise.. I have a SS Cecil Walker town bike with a coaster brake, soooo clean looking, no brake or gear levers on the bars.. and I think fixed is in the same vein.. clean bike, low maintainence.. so sticking a gear lever on it is a move away from the dynamic.. BUT in true BnC style, we love all bikes (except for recumbents) so build away young Potts and I’ll ogle it lustfully all the same!
What if you rigged up a chopper style stick shift? That would look bitchin on my Moto. Got to have a free wheel though, I don’t dig fixed.
tell ya what lads, I think I’m gonna chuck the towel in on the khs and flip it to ss not fixed. sick of having roadies pass me thru lower sandy bay as my 200 cadence maximum holds me back. sick of riding home with a few beers in me and not being able to cut corners tight for fear of nobbing my pedals, sick of making everyone who sees me commute thing cycling is friggin hard as they cant see my legs as I pedal too fast. sick of visiting good mate up the top of lenah valley and having to spin the whole way to taroona without a rest. sick of only using a front brake. sick of not being able to bunny hop confidently, sick of not being able to skid,
There is also a direct correlation between sore knees and riding fixed for me. and I have to keep tightening the back wheel so the chain stays tight. left it too long the other day and the fucking thing came off spinning down letitia street when I hit a bump and freaked me out big time.
my true reason for trying fixed apart from my love for mischa was that I wouldnt have replace brake pads so often. rather brake pads than knees I’ve decided.
I’ll miss the unstoppable nature of it, miss the haul power to smash roadies who sneak past me before the sandy bay tavern in the morning commute, miss the riding round in circles at traffic lights, miss the riding backwards at traffic lights,
any last arguments to convince me otherwise bnc mottlers.
I think I’ll just flip it every now and again for the experience.
I’d much rather someone be riding and enjoying themselves than pretending to like riding fixed just to impress others. It sure as hell ain’t right for everybody, or for every type of riding.
..for me, fixed is control. Like the technical control I have over my bike without needing to feather brakes.. Like at work, there is this gate with a tight entry and exit at a 45 degree angle.. I can ride through fixed but not freewheel.