I see guys on fast looking road bikes with a ton of gears getting passed by people riding track bikes going up hills. Does this happen to any of you? Just curious as to why a bike with one gear would be faster than a high performance (e)litespeed or such.

Mabye its the engine, not the bike...

because it's the engine that drives the frame.

sd

I guess wearing tights don't necessarily make you faster

G'day,

agree with the others...the 'engine' is the issue here!......but on the brighter side...if he passes you going up hill, ya should be able to kick his arse going down the other side!....failing that, of course the 'old pump in the spokes trick' slows 'em down every time...lol,

cheers,

Hitchy

but being a troll does! trolls have exorbitant strength! what do ya eat? ferrets?

Got passed by a guy on a fixie once while climbing a long 6% incline hill. I was in awe as he passed me up and congratulated him. About a mile later, though, he was literally lying along the side of the road looking like someone who just gave birth to twins.

I ride some weekends with a guy who commutes on his Ti fixie every day. Yes I have frequently been passed on the uphills But I get him back on the downhills when his cadence maxes out! haha

Yup!

Years ago, my wife and I did a rather hilly, two day local ride that was similar in many ways to the Hilly Hundred in Indiana only hillier. At the time, we didn't have much money so the best we could afford to ride was our monster Schwinn Twinn franken-tandem that I had pieced together from scrap bikes and that weighed over 60 pounds. We proudly made it up every hill.

They had a banquet on Saturday night that included awards for goofy things like "most colorful rider," "best legs," "most helpless rider," and the like. One of the awards was for something that had to do with the degree of difficulty overcome. I know that we got some votes, but the guy who did the whole ride on a fixed gear track bike got more. He was faster than us too.

Thanks for the memory.

how do you guys know how steep of an incline ur climbing? is there a cyclocomp that tells ur that?

I have never been passed by a fixie rider. ever.

that's what my friend said while riding his tarmac and me on my sirrus.

a few days ago i got passed by a kid on a bmx bike...

How often does a fixed rider get a chance to pass you? Probably why I've not been passed on a hill. Passed by fixed on flat many times. I have chased one down on my ride home (2 long uphill grades), but seeing a rider ahead makes me faster, if he was behind, he may have overtaken me. It took a couple miles for me to reel him in. When I caught him, any sense of accomplishment was quickly squashed when I noticed his "handicap"!

Sooner or later they all pass me!! What's the ol saying...slow and steady wins the race. Well...I'm not winning any races, but I like the views when they pass!!

Happened on RAGBRAI. A guy on a yellow lugless fixed Mercian passed me on my geared Mercian. We talked a bit and then he just dropped me. Of course, I do tend to live down to my moniker.

If being passed by a fixie bothers you, beware of the climbs around Fresno. There's a guy there on a Bianchi fixie that is an animal...I think his name is Doug?

when i'm climbing on my track bike i have no lower gear to fall back on, so i think i work a lot harder to keep the bike moving then i would with gears. there almost seems to be a critical speed at which i don't dare dip below because if i lose momentum i'm screwed on the hill. i don't really have these concerns when i'm on a geared bike.

Define climb. If you mean a 7% grade for 1/4 of mile I'll buy that but if you get onto a mountain you'd have to be a hell of rider to pull a 46x16 up 3k of elevation change. I'd love to see that on say the the back side of Angeles Crest (ave grade 9% max 15% total length 13.5 mi) in So Cal or up Fernwood off of Topanga Canyon (ave 11% max 17% 7 mi). You would have to be a hell of rider to pull this off faster than a good rider on a geared bike.

that's a good point. the "climbs" i train on are about what you mentioned above. 6-7% for less than 1/2 mile. I should have probably used the term hill. i think you're right about the larger grade climbs, that would be much harder on a fixed gear.

Out here in Austin Tx we have hill but no mountains. There are some tough short climbs that are more like sprinting than climbing. Having spent most of my life in SoCal and done some climbs that take hours not minutes there truely is a difference.

The thing that really frosts my arse is that so many people get worked up about this. Especailly the "I passed some guy on a 8k bike on my POS so I'm better than him" sh#t. So f'n what you ride a $600.00 Fuji and someone else rides a $8k Colnago. Maybe you were born with a better Vo2max or a naturally higher LT. Maybe this guy has always dreamed of owning a Colnago and had finally been able to afford one. So what if he bought the matching kit and can't ride as fast as you in your ratty shorts and t-shirt. Just remember that there is some guy on that same Colnago in the same kit who's a Pro/Cat1 that's gonna come along and big ring right past you on that same climb.

No. I pass them.

I ride a MTB, up mountains, good training.

(yes, I mean on the road.)

>jef.

what's wrong with riding a 600$ fuji in ratty shorts and a t-shirt?

(well, atleast my shorts arent yet ratty)

Nothing and that's my point. It doesn't matter what you ride or what you wear as long it makes you happy go for it.

I bought new sneakers today......I still cant run fast.....