Today I rode my fixed

[mlocke]

This morning I took the pedals off an old mountain bike and put them on my new (to me) Bianchi Pista so that I could use it to ride to work.

Felt really wierd riding this as I kept wanting to freewheel but the bike had other ideas and wouldnt let me.

My position on this bike needs quite a lot of work as my ride in was really uncomfortable - the seat was pointing down so all my weight was on my arms which were holding onto the very curvy Pista handlebars.

By the time that I got to work my arms were completely knakered and typing this is a bit of a strain. I dont have any tools on me as they are in the bag on my other bike so I am going to have to ride home like it too.

However, this might all sound a little negative when it shouldn't as I actually really enjoyed it. My commute was a bit livelier because of the new steed this morning. All the sensations of riding a fixed feel very different and my time to work was about the normal average even though it felt really slow.

I am looking forward to having a blast around the lanes on it (this long weekend??) to see what its really like as I dont think you can get a real feel going through london.

[Will]

It's supposed to take a couple of weeks to get used to riding fixed so stick with it and have fun

(I must admit I gave up after 2 days because I enjoy freewheeling too much )

[Ivor]

[quote]I dont have any tools on me as they are in the bag on my other bike so I am going to have to ride home like it too.

[Andrew G]

It'll only take a few rides and you'll be well in the swing of it. Fixed should be no different to your other bike so take measurements off that to get the set up correct and you'll have no pain or problems. The only obvious difference is that you don't shift gears but you'll still want the hoods in a similar place for comfort. Proper track bars are curvy little numbers so you may want to switch these for normal road bars which will probably help you get the brake and hood position sorted better, brakes not being an issue on the track.