Now, if a silent voice softly whispers, “This is dangerous,” it has a point. Fixed-gear bikes are ridden in velodromes for a reason. They have no freewheel, no brakes, and no gears. This makes riding in places where abrupt stops are common less of a wise idea and more of an elaborate plot to meet the pavement face first. But who are we to tell you where to ride your fixie? So, instead, let us at least list a few things you will have to face outside the velodrome and how to handle them.
Your legs are your brakes
Let’s get one thing straight—fixed-gear bikes do not coast. Ever. If the rear wheel is spinning, so are the cranks. That means if you stop pedalling mid-ride, your bike will remind you that physics is non-negotiable, and you’ll probably experience a sudden and violent encounter with the pavement.
Outside a velodrome, this means your legs must be engaged at all times. Braking? Better start resisting those pedals like a desperate parent trying to stop their kid from running into traffic. Now, there are a few techniques you can use to slow down faster, but using them outside the velodrome is a bit riskier. Hop stop is the most commonly used. You lift your rear wheel for a moment while, at the same time, you use your legs to lock the cranks. This leads to a blocked rear wheel, skidding once it hits the road. This is the quickest way to stop. Still, it needs a lot of technique to be successful, and doing it in the middle of the traffic is pretty dangerous, as skidding is always a bit random.
So, you need to understand that your legs and your wheel are intertwined. You will use your legs to move forward and stop. It’s a never-ending leg day. Some people just install a front brake to help them reduce speed faster. Sure, purists will scoff at you, but paramedics will appreciate your effort in not making their job harder.
Hills will destroy you both ways
The moment you take a fixie outside the velodrome, elevation becomes your greatest nemesis. Going uphill? You better hope your thighs are ready to take on a Herculean challenge. With no gears to shift down to, it’s all about raw power, standing on the pedals, and gritting your teeth while wondering who put the idea of getting outside the velodrome into your head. Hopefully, it wasn’t us. If the incline is too steep, you have two choices—mash the pedals until your quads explode or do the ultimate walk of shame. And while it doesn’t sound like it, the second option is better. Especially if there is a steep downhill after.
With a normal bike, going downhill will be your well-deserved rest. A fixed-gear bike does not have a freewheel, though. So, guess what? Yes, your quads have more work to do. Your legs will have to counter the inertia and spin as fast as the wheel. This turns a simple descent into an absurdly fast game of keep-up, where your knees feel like they’re about to detach from your body.
The only way not to crash is to keep your pace steady with back force and maintain a controlled descent. Still, this won’t work on downhills that are too steep. In such cases, pedal resistance will lead to tight bumping and trembling. In these cases, just make sure you don’t gain too much speed. Yes, your legs will burn the entire time, but at least you won’t have to spin at 200 RPM and try to hop stop going 50 kph. So, if your town has steep hills, just keep your fixie in the velodrome, where it’s nice and flat.
Traffic is now a strategy game
If you ever wondered what it’s like to do cardio while playing chess, well, welcome to riding a fixed bike in traffic. With no ability to coast, every stoplight, pedestrian, and rogue taxi driver becomes an obstacle in your real-life survival game.
Every stop takes planning, so there is little space for errors. You need to see the red light, judge the distance, start resisting the pedals, engage your core, and hope your legs don’t betray you. And if you think that’s bad, try doing it between a bunch of cars, with passing pedestrians in front and on a downhill section. Now that’s pro-level 4D chess. Cat-like reflexes are the bare minimum if you want to survive the urban jungle, where a stray kid can sprint in front of you for any or no reason at all.
City riding on a fixie isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s a combination of chess, parkour, and pure survival instincts. If you love the thrill of chaos, this is your domain. If not, stick to bike paths.
Skidding: Looks cool, wrecks tyres
Now, along with the hop stop, there is also the skid stop. This is the fixie’s signature move. It’s the one thing that will put you in the spotlight for sure. It looks cool and flashy and gives off the vibe of a renegade. You look like a big shot, and you better be, with all the tyres you will destroy while simply trying to stop.
The principle of a skid stop is simple. You lock your legs, push your weight forward, and drag the rear tyre to a screeching halt. In theory, onlookers will swoon and think you’re so cool. In practice, you will have to change your rear tyre every week or so.
Experienced fixie riders rotate their tyres to spread out the damage, but let’s be honest—if you’re constantly skidding, you’ll be spending more money on tyres than actual coffee.
So, while skidding is a necessary technique for fixed-gear survival, maybe don’t do it every five meters unless you have a mission to make every bike shop owner in your area a multimillionaire.
Maintenance? Barely any
Maintenance is the one place where fixies actually make sense as a city bike. They need practically none. Unlike your road bike with fussy derailleurs, fragile electronic shifting, and a chain that needs babysitting, a fixie is a mechanical cockroach. You don’t have to adjust gears when you don’t have any—no need to check your brakes when they are absent. There is almost nothing to break and nothing to fix. All you need is a bit of lube every now and then, and you are ready to go.
Sure, you also have to have a look at your tyre pressure every now and then, as well as the chain tension. Still, you will change your tyres every couple of weeks or so with all the skidding, so that problem is solved on its own. However, is it really worth saving 30 minutes every day or two compared to all the danger and falling? And yes, you will be falling.
Face it, you will fall
There’s a universal truth in the fixie world: everyone eats pavement eventually.
Maybe it’s forgetting you can’t coast and getting catapulted off the saddle. Maybe it’s underestimating a steep hill and realising too late that your knees are about to explode. Or maybe it’s your first overconfident skid stop that turns into an unexpected parkour roll.
One way or another, gravity will win. There is no escaping, no bargaining, no bribing. There is only acceptance. You will fall, and the sooner you realise that, the sooner you will ask yourself one very important question.
Is it really worth riding fixed outside the velodrome?
Suppose you ask my personal opinion: no, it’s not. It’s far too dangerous and way too complicated, and it snuffs out all the fun of riding a fixie. The culture, the rules, and the experience are all wonderful, but they must remain in the velodrome.
Still, if you are adamant about trying this new thing, first, make sure you are well-acquainted with fixed-gear bikes on the velodrome before you hit the streets. Otherwise, you will certainly not enjoy your first ride.
