As I’ve reported in the past I have a couple of bikes
hanging in the garage. These bikes are beyond rideable right now. I have gone
through several fixing cycles on these bikes including attempts to swap parts
between the two in order to arrive at least one functional bike. None of this
has worked, so I’m looking at getting a new bike.
This is of course an exciting prospect but also presents its
own challenges. Any bike I get should serve the purpose of a reliable commuter
as well as an enjoyable ride. And so I’ve
been considering a fixie. In my attempts to fix my bikes I’d attempted the
fixie conversion but it never works. There is always a problem with chain
tension.
As it turns out the frame, and specifically the drops that
secure the rear wheel, are important. The drops on a fixie should be horizontal
so that the chain tension can be regulated by how far the rear wheel is secured
from the front crank. All of this is to say that simply taking away parts from
a multispeed bike isn’t necessarily a road to a simplified ride.
Buying a fixie is pretty economical compared to another
multispeed bike. However what is gained in cost savings is lost in performance
versatility. We’ll see how the decision plays out.
