this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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Bicycles

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A place to share our love of all things with two wheels and pedals. This is an inclusive, non-judgemental community. All types of cyclists are accepted here; whether you're a commuter, a roadie, a MTB enthusiast, a fixie freak, a crusty xbiking hoarder, in the middle of an epic across-the-world bicycle tour, or any other type of cyclist!

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My Summer Bike (feddit.org)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by superkret@feddit.org to c/bicycles@lemmy.ca
29 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Today I revived My Summer Bike!

This one's a bit of a beast — a fixed gear touring gravel bike (?)
Cinelli Tutto frame, bought online in size M (I'm 5'8/172cm), and it needed a seat post with setback, a saddle with long rails scooted all the way back, and all the spacers to make it fit.
I guess I'm tall for Italian standards.

Mounted the widest tires it would take, the lightest rack I could find, and the bare minimum in accessories to make it kinda street legal.
It's the silliest bike I ever built, and it makes me smile every single time I ride it.

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[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

fixed gear TOURING?? You say it makes you smile "every mile", but do you genuinely do touring distances on it? Doesn't Italy have mountains??

[–] superkret@feddit.org 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I'm from Southern Germany.
And yes, I do tour with it. The longest was about 800km in a week through the Black Forest. It's important to remember that every fixed gear bike has three gears: sitting, standing and walking.
But I also noticed that when I start to walk on a steep hill, my riding partner with 30 gears usually follows soon after.

I admit I wasn't smiling on some of those miles.

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

They may be too nice to say anything, but I am certain your riding partner hates your fixie. Riding with a fixie in the group kinda sucks.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago

Trust me, he isn't too nice to say something.
But we had an agreement that worked: I get to set the pace, and he gets to sit in my slipstream all day long.

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

Biking sucks. I do it because I hate myself. But I've mostly switched to running because it sucks so much more, and rednecks and fascists don't try to kill me.

[–] maxmalrichtig@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 day ago

What a beauty!

[–] dumblederp@aussie.zone 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Fixed or single speed? Fixed can't be good for your knees on an extended ride.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

It's only bad for your knees if your gear ratio is too big, you try to push up too steep hills, or if you ride brakeless.
On tour I ride with a 39/17 ratio and two brakes, and when it's too steep, I walk.
I do bring a spare freewheel cog with 18 teeth to limp home when I'm absolutely done, but I haven't needed it yet.

[–] dumblederp@aussie.zone 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sound like coriander salad and pub trivia nights, not my idea of a good time but I'm happy for others to enjoy themselves.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm used to the fact that neither "normal" cyclists nor fixie riders agree with my idea of fun.

[–] Evkob@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

A fixie gravel-touring bike?! You're the best kind of insane. I absolutely love everything about this two-wheeled beast.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 10 points 2 days ago

You wouldn't wanna see how smug I can look, when other riders arrive at the top of the highest hill around with their E-MTBs and notice my bike, while I'm sitting next to it drinking beer.

[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'll never stop loving steel frames <3

That's a beauty + points for single speed

[–] superkret@feddit.org 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm a bit obsessed with steel frames, horizontal top tubes and single speed.
Which limits the options for bikes somewhat.

[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's easy if you're fine riding 80s and 90s chromoly

[–] superkret@feddit.org 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Yeah, unless you want to mount wide tires.
Then you'd be limited to extremely rare (expensive) 80's MTB frames and 26" wheels.

[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yeah, that part sucks. I think most frames from that era can fit 26x2.2 ish though, which is something

Oh btw, that Ukraine-EU flag is nice touch. Meaningful, and happens to fit the color scheme just perfectly

[–] JillyB 6 points 2 days ago

I went bike camping with some friends last fall. The campground had a bunch of MTB trails around it and we had to ride them to get groceries. 2 of the guys were riding Surly Steamroller fixed steel bikes. We rode black diamond trails with groceries. The dudes with eMTBs that they brought on the back of a truck must have been confused.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

♨️🌡️💦

That said I'll never get fixed gear drivetrains. I'd always go with a basic 1x derailleur setup. Shimano Cues is super abuse-resistant.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

The only good reason to ride fixed gear is if you enjoy riding fixed gear.
It isn't objectively better in any way.
But it gives me 10x more smiles per mile.
The fact that I can pull it out of the shed after a year, pump up the tires, and start riding is just a bonus.

[–] BevsDad@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago

How quiet they are is a nice bonus too! At least until I put the studded tires on for the winter.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, I guess the feel is very different from any sort of freewheeling drivetrain. ☺️

[–] superkret@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

When you stop pushing down on the pedals, the bike starts to push your legs, like "Come on, I wanna keep going!"
It's impossible to go slow on this thing, it wants to move.

[–] Evkob@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Ah gosh, I've actually never even ridden a fixie and this thread is really making me itch and want to buy one.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What bags you got?

[–] superkret@feddit.org 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

https://hilosports.de/products/fahrrad-hinterradtasche-wasserdicht-25l-doppel-set
Hilo Sports is a small and pretty new Austrian brand.
The bags are cheaper than Ortlieb, have similar features, less durability and less weight.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

They look pretty nice

[–] superkret@feddit.org 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

They have 2 issues, though:
Too many straps. You can roll them shut, then clip both ends down with a strap. There's another strap going over the top.
You have to secure them all every time you close the bag, or they'll just fly around. Eventually I just cut the 2 on the sides off, cause it was too much hassle.
And they have little plastic latches that lock the position of the rack mount in place.
But sometimes they pop open when you remove the bag and the mounting point moves a little.
Then when you try to pop them back into place, the plastic latch breaks off.
After 3 years now both latches on both bags are gone and the mounting points can move around as long as the bags aren't on the rack.
Which isn't really an issue, anyway.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 2 points 9 hours ago

My helmet bag is the same way: Straps all over the place! I just let them flap in the wind mostly.