Training on a Fixed Gear

My road frame broke at the beginning of August. While I was waiting for my new frame to arrive, I was faced with the choice of riding my fixed-gear or not riding at all. Over the course of a month I have logged over 45 hours and 650 miles without coasting a bit.

I have had the same fixed-gear for a couple of decades, a steel Fuji Club with a front brake and 47 x 20 (62-inch) gear, although I am seriously considering switching to 47 x 18 (69-inch) gear. Over the years I have used this bike to ride and train during the winter months. It's a great rain bike, and I recall one epic 80 mile adventure on the fixie with the last half of the ride done in a wet snow storm.

Serious cyclists used to do a lot of their pre-season and early season training on a fixed-gear 20 and 30 years ago, but fewer and fewer cyclists used the fixie as a training tool until recently. By the way, I'm not really concerned here with those who are riding fixed-gears (or faux fixed-gears) around town as a means of transportation (often with the crazy notion that they don't need a brake). That's a different blog post.

Reputable coaches continue to argue the pros and cons of early season fixed-gear training. Chris Carmichael, who coached some guy named Lance, recommends early season fixed-gear training to improve leg speed and leg strength. In addition to improving one's pedal stroke, you can get a lot of bang for your buck when it comes to endurance. I have heard it said that two hours on a fixed-gear has the same effect on endurance as two and a half hours on the road bike. Joe Friel, coach and author of The Cyclist's Training Bible, recommends fixed-gear training during the base period for endurance, leg strength and speed, and to improve the pedal stroke.

However, not all coaches agree on the benefits of early season fixed-gear training. Josh Horowitz (http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7831) advocates using PowerCranks to improve one's pedal stroke instead of fixed-gear training. He also claims that any gains in leg speed obtained from riding a fixed-gear do not transfer over to the road bike.

Here are my own thoughts on the subject after riding a fixed-gear for a month straight.

1. Riding a fixed-gear is an exceptional workout if you are riding with a group and everyone else is on a road bike. I suffered quite a bit on a few group rides in August and September, especially on the rollers of east Texas, some of which really don't roll at all.

2. Riding a fixie really is a great endurance workout, 50 miles seems like 70 miles on a road bike.

3. You can improve your pedal stroke by riding a fixed-gear, but you don't get anything for free. You still have to work at improving your pedal stroke, it's just that you will get a subtle (or not so subtle) reminder if you get lazy. I have to confess that I have never tried PowerCranks, and from what I have heard they are a really good tool for improving one's pedal stroke. But I don't own a set of PowerCranks ($$$), and I do own a fixed-gear.

4. Certainly, you will often find yourself pedaling at higher cadences on a fixed-gear, but I wasn't sure at first if leg speed transferred over to the road bike. When I finally did get back on the road bike, it seemed that I was pedaling at the same cadence that I always do, 85-90 rpms. However, when I rode the Pineywoods Purgatory, a well-attended organized ride in east Texas, on the first Saturday in October, I noticed a huge difference. The faster riders roll along at race pace, and I noticed that this year the pace felt a lot more comfortable than last year. But my ability to pedal at a much faster cadence was what really caught my attention. A cadence of about 100 rpms seemed to be most comfortable. My endurance was better than last year too.

The plan for November until mid-January is to get out on the fixed-gear several times a week, especially for some of the group rides. It should be a pretty efficient use of my time freeing up my schedule to spend more time in the weight room. I still plan on doing my recovery rides as well as some longer rides (4-6 hours) on the road bike. I'm anxious to see how this plan works.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad