I am reasonably new to the fixed gear world. I built up this bike mostly with parts I had laying around. Anyway, the tires I had within reach were not a good choice. I knew it at the time, but didn’t care. It was an old pair of Pro Race 2.
Anyway I knew they would not last long and today on my way to work down a steep hill was the end. So off to buy a new tire. I want durability for the inevitable skids. But I also dont want to ride on garden hoses (like the armadillos).
Any suggestions?
t
Please tell me you put a brake on it if you are riding on the streets.
If you have brakes, then any tires will work.
Otherwise, if you wear shirts from the thrift store, wear cut tight jeans, have giant holes in your ears, use a messenger bag, no helmet and drink PBR’s, then you can check out the hipster fixie forums.
The obvious choice is whatever matches your cheap deep rim color. 
I’d just go with whatever was on sale at the local bike shop, you’re going to thrash it no matter what, so there isn’t much point in spending a ton of $$$ on a tire.
OMG! How did this get into a brake discussion? Oh yeah, its ST.
Yes I have brakes, Yes I use them. Yes I think people who ride without brakes are totally nuts.
I still think that pedal pressure to slow down is good. and I think skidding can be fun and a useful tool to know.
BTW, I wear a helmet too if you cared. Now would someone like to try to contribute some useful information please.
t
I have even been known to track stand at lights because its challenging and fun. And yes I would love to learn to ride it backwards, even though it is a totally useless skill.
BTW, I wear a helmet too if you cared. Now would someone like to try to contribute some useful information please.
t
I have even been known to track stand at lights because its challenging and fun. And yes I would love to learn to ride it backwards, even though it is a totally useless skill.
no, I don’t care if you wear a helmet but I think pito00 makes a good point of just buying whatever is cheap because the skidding is going to tear anything up.
Cheap tires generally use harder rubber so just buy cheap, you’ll kill them anyway.
You might also want to address your gearing if it means that you always skid on the same few spots.
If you have a front brake, there is no reason to skid. Skidding is hard on tires period. If you are a skidder use a Flintstone Tire like Armadillo and skid to your hearts content. If you have a front brake and you can just drag your legs around the circle to scrub any amount of speed you will ever need and brake for safety. Skidding and parlor tricks are great fun for the kids, but I do neither. I ride fixed and have been doing so for for over thirty years because it is fun and a great workout. In that time I have never really needed to skid once. When I do ride my one fixed gear bike with no brake on the street, you do need to learn how to skid to scrub speed. I just don’t ever ride my “track bike” except on the track and there you never need to skid either. So my answer is to ride as nice of a tire as you can afford, the Mich Pro Race are really nice tires ride quality wise. High dollar sewups are even nicer.
Gatorskins
.
Tubies rule the track. Impractical for city use, but they wouldn’t totally pimp out a fixed gear and put every other hipster to shame. BTW, wear a helmet and use lights and the hipster police will run you down.
BTW, one of my coworkers today stopped to help a girl who he thought had a flat. She had a fixed gear with about 46-12 gearing and couldn’t keep going into the wind. She had to wait for a taxi to come by. Aka, get a flip-flop hub if you can.
The obvious choice is whatever matches your cheap deep rim color.
In Reply ToIf you have brakes, then any tires will work.
Otherwise, if you wear shirts from the thrift store, wear cut tight jeans, have giant holes in your ears, use a messenger bag, no helmet and drink PBR’s, then you can check out the hipster fixie forums.
Excellent. That’s what all the Fixie riders here on UCD campus seem to do and as usual ST has nailed the typical Fixie rider.
I would go with a cheap, wire-bead tire in 28C. In fact I use a pair of them. Get Slime filled tubes if you can find them. Heavy and flat-resistant is the way to go for the off-season.
I’m riding Bontrager SelectKs (35mm) and love me for all round use.
if skidding is your thing, there is nothing better than a SOMA everwear.
Thanks for all the replies. I bought a used tire that the wrenches had in the shop. $5.
That got me home and will probably last a couple of months. They also told me a no brainer. You dont have to rotate the tire on the rim to even out the skid patches, just pop the chain off and shift it on the cog a tooth or so. I cant believe I didnt figure that one out on my own. I have evidently trained my body to shunt oxygen to my legs from my brain.
I think I will just let this bike burn through all the tires that I have laying around for a while. Oh, and our local bike shop says they recycle used tires. Pretty kewl,
t