Does anyone know if it is legal in USCF and/or ABR Time Trials to ride a fixed gear bike fitted with a front brake?
Does anyone know if it is legal in USCF and/or ABR Time Trials to ride a fixed gear bike fitted with a front brake?
Legal under USA Cycling rules unless UCI rules apply (e.g., national championships, national team selection events, record attempts).
No longer legal under UCI rules.
Don’t know about ABR.
EDIT: I might add that with the plethora of new bikes with “hidden” rear brakes, I don’t see any real advantage to using a fixed gear - just fit a single freewheel instead.
USCF yes. There’s a rule in the rulebook about fixed gears with only a front brake. 3E2
Why would one do that?
I’m not attacking, simply inquiring…
there was at least one at the abr event in IL this past weekend and it went pretty darn fast, even better given the windy conditions. how windy?? lets’ just say the last mile in was a 40+mph drag to the finish and it wasn’t downhill.
Why would one do that?
I’m not attacking, simply inquiring…
I already have a dedicated TT bike that I’m thinking about selling. I just don’t have the chance to do TT’s very often, but the local velodrome is very accessible, less than 10 miles away, and nobody will ever know my love for track bikes. I intend to race more at the track than TT’s, which I still love to do. If the chance ever comes up to do a TT here or there, I would use that chance as a training tool for my track racing, therefore, I would use a fixed gear. My P3C has barely been used, and I’m beginning to view it as a “one trick pony,” only to be used for TT’s, whenever I get the chance. Besides, my kids are starting to get pretty good at two-wheelers, and getting rid of a bike that I never use will make some room in the storage area for a couple of sweet Trek Jet16’s. Hope that makes sense.
I know that a lot of people, including myself, thought/have thought at some time that riding a fixed gear at a TT is insane, dangerous, and incredibly painful, but so is anything in life. If you can live through it, it makes you that much stronger.
Oh my gosh, ABR started their TT events already??? CRAP! I gotta get my a$$ in gear (fixed gear, that is…tee hee!)
1st outdoor Matts event, I think they have already had other events in other areas(OH, IN, CA)
there were 230 starters this past Sunday, including any doubling or tripling up folks.
I really enjoy those MATTS events because they’re so far away, and I have to drive to BFE for them. Gives me a chance to check out the country, farms, and cows. Ah the smell of cows! A Mellencamp song on the radio would be the icing on the f-ing cake!
The kids would never go for such a long ride, just to race for an hour (I’m slow) unless there’s a McDonald’s \Playland at both ends of that trip.
Does anyone know if it is legal in USCF and/or ABR Time Trials to ride a fixed gear bike fitted with a front brake?
Legal under USA Cycling rules unless UCI rules apply (e.g., national championships, national team selection events, record attempts).
No longer legal under UCI rules.
Don’t know about ABR.
EDIT: I might add that with the plethora of new bikes with “hidden” rear brakes, I don’t see any real advantage to using a fixed gear - just fit a single freewheel instead.
I was thinking of a single freewheel too.
my kids have decided mcd’s bite bottom and teh king rules(whenthey travel, which isn’t often)
which track?
Hello ed-force-one and All,
It seems that with current technology bicycle wheels could be made with extremely narrow hubs.
Available bicycle wheels have hubs that are way too wide.
I have wondered about building a single speed free wheel bike built around very narrow wheels with the back chainstays sucked in to only about 1.5 inches width which would reduce drag considerably.
Perhaps mounting the freewheel externally to the chain stays would additionally decrease drag and make free wheel cog change easy.
Cheers,
Neal
I already have a dedicated TT bike that I’m thinking about selling. I just don’t have the chance to do TT’s very often, but the local velodrome is very accessible, less than 10 miles away, and nobody will ever know my love for track bikes. I intend to race more at the track than TT’s, which I still love to do. If the chance ever comes up to do a TT here or there, I would use that chance as a training tool for my track racing, therefore, I would use a fixed gear. My P3C has barely been used, and I’m beginning to view it as a “one trick pony,” only to be used for TT’s, whenever I get the chance.
MATTS, velodrome, cows an hour away…your must be in Chicago?
Anyway, here’s an idea: convert your P3C to into a track bike, then put on a front brake for road TTs. That would save you having to sell one bike only to buy another.
Why would one do that?
The last few years I’ve done a lot of my TTing on a track bike, but largely out of necessity (only aero bike we’ve owned). That said, it provides a couple of potential advantages:
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the lack of derailleurs, shifters, rear brake, and rear brake lever make it slightly more aero;
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the lack of a rear derailleur improves the drivetrain efficiency a tiny bit; and
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depending on the course/wind conditions, the inability to shift can force you to dig just a little deeper than you otherwise might.
The downside, of course, is that the lack of gears means you are hardly ever at your preferred/optimal cadence on course with lots of speed changes…
my kids have decided mcd’s bite bottom and teh king rules(whenthey travel, which isn’t often)
which track?
Northbrook Velodrome. I raced there over 10 years ago, and I plan on going back. I gotta do something spectator friendly so the family can attend, instead of watching me fly by in a TT, only to wait another half hour-plus to see me fly by again (did I mention that I’m slow?)
The main i guess it weight which doesnt really matter. People you can feel the bike more, bull shit if you ask me
and you skipped Maple Park??? 
It was nice, in that results were posted almost instantly, in that by the time you rode from the finish to registration, your times were available for viewing onscreen. They had their act together.
I didn’t see any cows, saw some wind turbines though
I like AC’s plan for you
Some inspiration:
Stuart O’Grady rode this and finished 6th in the prologue TT for the 2005 Giro D’Italia
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In 1995 I raced the Junior National Time Trial Championships on a fixed gear bike. Our junior gearing at the time only allowed for a 50x15 (90 inches) max gear and because the course was fairly flat and only 20k, I put on a fixed gear wheel and just a front brake and let it rip. I also used suicide bars, way more suicide than the bars seen today on slotwitch. These bars had NOTHING, and just a brake lever. It made more sense then though because Vision bars (aero cowhorns) weren’t yet mainstream nor were aero brake levers. Going suicide gave you significantly reduced drag numbers, unlike today. The officials and junior/national/regional coaches thought I was nuts, but I had a solid ride and finished second. That was cool, but no standing up, and no coasting! I also had very little fixed gear experience at the time, never had been on a velodrome, so looking back it was a little crazy. A lot of my ideas at the time came from US Hour Record Holder Colby Pearce. He was a fairly unknown guy from Colorado, but he got so aero on his suicide-Lotus he could average 50k an hour with something like 290-310 watts. He was only like 5’9 130 lbs too… He paid a lot of attention to detail. -Lewis
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