Why don't they do this for bike races?

[Commander Kinsey]

[Dean Hoffman]

The video shows someone replacing the drive sprocket by the pedals with a much larger one. The driven one by the rear wheel might be the original. I wasn't interested enough to look that closely.

[invalid unparseable]

You would never go up hill on a bicycle like that. Would not be fun to ride probably even on a perfectly flat road.

[alan_m]

possibly only ride-able on a flat surface.

[Fredxx]

It's a typical mistake from a schoolboy of limited intellect.

It's fine is you intend to get off and push the bike on the flat and any incline.

Next you'll be saying you only drive in 5th gear in your car without wondering why you don't make any progress.

[Commander Kinsey]

Nothing to stop some normal derailers going on the back.

[rbowman]

Other than they would have to be correspondingly large to get a usable reduction.

[Bob F]

Downhill with a tail wind. On the flat you would have to be a muscle monster to get any speed.

[Brian Gaff]

What? Brian

[Commander Kinsey]

The one he had looked rather like the smallest on a normal bike.

[Commander Kinsey]

Might work better as a tandem then.

[Commander Kinsey]

Bike with massive front cog. Goes really fast. Need strong buttocks. Discuss.

[Dean Hoffman]

In a race that measures a rider's skill and endurance? The bikes should all be the same. Why go to the extra work? It's pointless.

[rbowman]

The fixies aren't meant for the handicapped. There is no freewheel so when the bike is moving your feet better be. Brakes are optional since you can stop by resisting the pedals.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Not true back in the day. Many pone speed bikes with free wheel

[Fredxx]

^^^ Yes, I had one when I was young.

[Paul]

You pedaled backwards to activate (rear only) brake. That's what having the free wheel effect on those one-speeds, brought to the table.

Pedal forward, idle, brake backwards, being the three functions.

The only danger with those, was perhaps getting your pant cuffs caught up in the works, and not being able to turn the crank in either direction.

*******

They still sell those, for smaller bicycles the kids will grow out of. A benefit for the parent, is less maintenance. Some people apparently, cannot even manage to keep a bicycle pump at home :-) I had to explain to a parent once, that they should not leave the store with their new purchase, until the store staff pumped it up properly. They didn't seem to be aware about the need for air in the tyres. (The air pumps at petrol stations, are no longer suited to bicycle maintenance, so you cannot cheap out by just using those. Pressure is too low.) I even had to help the store staff, find the bicycle pumps they had for sale :-/

This is the kind I have now. It has Presta and Schrader on the working end, and I can easily pump the 75psi pressure the current tyres take. There is a pressure gauge right on the pump. There are some tyres that take more pressure than that (they use less materials in the tyre, requiring more pressure to make it seem like you have a tyre).

I had a friend once, who was doing tricks in a mall parking lot (businesses closed, no cars, a very large car park). He accelerated and slammed on the brakes, to give us a scare. And he succeeded. By having both tyres blow out at the same time. What a sound! Impressive. That's why you don't want to do stupid stuff with two tissue-thin 90psi tyres on a bicycle. Lots of modern bicycles, have better tyres than that. But if you want to set up a bicycle for a spill, someone will sell you stuff like that. Those tyres are fine, if you just drive in a straight line and don't do stunts.

So if someone asks you "can you blow out both tyres on a bicycle at the same time", the answer is "Yes".

Paul

[invalid unparseable]

Good advice on the bicycle pump. A long time ago I pumped up a bicycle tire at a gas station and the pump works is spurts of high pressure and with the low volume on my road bike tire it blew it up.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Only in Holland. No biked like that were ever sold in the UK until IIRC the 90s

See what is on sale today

"What are Fixie Bikes?

Fixed gear bikes have been around as long as cycling, but they've recently become more popular as they're so well suited to riding around town.

A 'fixed gear' bike has just one gear and no freewheel. This means that when the back wheel turns, the pedals are always turning. However, most fixies have a 'flip-flop' hub, which lets you have a fixed gear on one side and a freewheel on the other. If you want to be able to stop pedalling while you roll along, you can swap between the two and still enjoy the benefits of single speed riding."

In addition Halfords sell no gear freewheel bikes e.g.

[Max Demian]

Cyclops!