Singlespeed & Fixed Gear"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

what are the effects of skidding on your fixed gear bike? I'm sure it's not too good for your frame and other components to suddenly sieze up your wheel/ cranks, and I'v never read anything about the effects of skidding... Inform.

most notable effects are obviously gonna be on your tires. but i would guess that most of the other components on your bike can easily withstand the amount of force you are exerting on them while skidding.

Skidding exerts no more force on the bike frame than any other strenuous exertion (mashing the pedals for example). It is easier on the seat stays than braking with rim brakes would be. The only thing that takes greater force is the lock ring and the tire due to the fixed pattern (skidding using brakes would spread the wear more evenly.

Skidding exerts no more force on the bike frame than any other strenuous exertion (mashing the pedals for example). It is easier on the seat stays than braking with rim brakes would be. The only thing that takes greater force is the lock ring and the tire due to the fixed pattern (skidding using brakes would spread the wear more evenly.

Couple of principles. Skidding tires impart less resistance than rolling tires (basic physics).
The energy used to resist skidding is provided by your legs. Your legs also supply energy for accelerating your bike. The energy for pedaling forward strongly is the same as the energy available for resisting the motion. Thus no more force is put on the bike while skidding than while stomping on the pedals going forward.

Further, chain tension created by typical FG is substantially lower than that generated by using a low gear on a mountain bike. Chain tension is inversely proportional to gear inches. Low gear inches mean higher potential for heavy stresses on chain - hub - bottom bracket. The chain tension required to skid a FG bike is less than half of what you would get hillclimbing in a granny gear.

Seat stays on a fixed gear have only axial stress. Braking instead of skidding adds a load perpendicular to the seat stay. This stress is much tougher on the frame than an axial stress.

So bottom bracket is experiencing lower forces than typical geared bikes and no different during skidding than when mashing hard. Seat stays have minimal stress. Chain tension on cog and chainring is lower than geared bikes and no different than when mashing.

The only thing that is stressed more is your inseam as you stretch to impale your balls on your stem.

99% of the time stripped threads are from improper threading of the cog/lockring or failure to use enough grease.

I'd second that with some improper tightening of the lock ring which could allow the cog to untighten/tighten with every skid, eventually leading to hub thread/lockring failure.

When installing your cog, grease the threads, carefully start on the threads, then back out slightly to make sure you are aligned on the threads. Tighten pretty well but not gorilla tight. Repeat for lockring.

Ride the bike around the block. Give it a couple of skids. If you feel any movement at all, time to tighten everything down again; maybe get your girlfriend to help.

You are stopping the rear wheel via use of your legs which are providing the same action as any rear brake but because you are going to unload the rear wheel to do this you are actually subjecting the bike to less stress.

A coaster brake would be the closest comparison as you also need to reverse and stop the chain.

i'm jacking this thread because this seems like a good place to ask my question. and i dont' want to starta new thread. . .

My rear tire is starting to wear down from the occasional skid. i'm a little broke a the moment and can't afford new tires just yet. would it be a bad idea to switch my front tire with my rear one to wear that one out first before i buy new tires? do any of you do this to save a couple bucks?

i'm jacking this thread because this seems like a good place to ask my question. and i dont' want to starta new thread. . .

My rear tire is starting to wear down from the occasional skid. i'm a little broke a the moment and can't afford new tires just yet. would it be a bad idea to switch my front tire with my rear one to wear that one out first before i buy new tires? do any of you do this to save a couple bucks?