Riding a Fixed Gear Bicycle Does Not Improve Pedal Stroke

Riding a fixed gear bicycle has long been touted as a way to improve your pedal stroke. Some coaches believe this and numerous riders echo the sentiment every time they discuss off-season training.

But I do not see any proof (or even logic) to support the notion that a fixed gear setup will improve your pedal stroke. If anything, it makes your pedal stroke worse!

Yes, it’s time to dispel the fixed gear myth…

In case you are not familiar with this type of bicycle, a “fixed gear” bike is one in which the whole drivetrain is “fixed” together. As in, if the wheels move forward, the pedals move forward.

So, if the bike is moving forward, you absolutely have to pedal the entire time. If you take your feet off the pedals, the pedals will continue to spin as long as the wheel is moving.

The myth came about because of how one has a circular pedal stroke when riding a fixed gear. That’s the true part. But the problem is the flawed logic and analysis. The bike is doing all the work, not the rider. The rider’s feet are just along for the ride, so to speak.

So anyone that hops onto a fixed gear is going to have a perfect pedal stroke. But the question is, how good will their pedal stroke be once they go back to a regular bike?

In most cases, their pedal stroke will be worse!

See, the fixed gear is like a crutch helping you along. As soon as you go back to a regular bike, you won’t have that help, and your pedal stroke will be the same as it was before, or worse.

Why does it actually make your pedal stroke worse?

Since the fixed gear did the work for you, you didn’t have to concentrate on pulling through the bottom or top of the stroke, or pulling up. With skills like this, it’s “use it or lose it.” So, by not practicing your circular pedal stroke, you effectively “lose it.”

Let’s look at an example to explain this further…

Imagine you switch to a fancy electric toothbrush. Due to some advanced technology, it will clean your teeth better than you did manually.

But after using it for a month, you switch back to your regular toothbrush. Are you going to be better at cleaning your teeth? No, because it was the toothbrush doing all the work.

Sounds absurd, right? I mean, the toothbrush cleans your teeth but it doesn’t teach you anything. Who would think it did?

Well, riding a fixed gear is the same principal. The pedals move in circles, but it doesn’t teach you a darn thing about making your feet move the pedals in circles.

Don’t believe me? Take it from Greg Lemond.

You may not like Lemond in a political sense, but the man won three Tours de France, so he knows a thing or two about training!

I got some advice from him about training methods, and when asked about riding a fixed gear, his opinion was, “what’s the point?”

Exactly!

The only thing a fixed gear could teach you is something basic like not to apply backwards pressure in the pedal stroke. If you were to do something like that on a regular bike, letting your feet lag, you could get away with it. But if you try it on a fixed gear, you’re going to blow out your knee or catapult yourself off the bike.

But backpedaling can be useful when riding and racing, if used properly. So not only would that lesson be less than worthless, it would be very dangerous if inadvertently learned on a fixed gear!

There’s no point in hurting yourself over something basic that you could learn on your regular bicycle. So don’t fall prey to the fixed gear myths!

Want to improve your pedal stroke, for real? Do single-leg pedaling drills. That will perfect your stroke!

Want to get in the habit of pedaling constantly? Ride rollers. You have to keep spinning the pedals or you’ll fall over.

You can get a set of rollers for less than it costs to get a fixed gear bike, and you can do your one-leg pedaling drills while riding rollers. That’s the best “bang for your buck” way to improve your pedal stroke, in my opinion.

Photo credit: newbie-foto