I just finished my first ride on my now officially “fixie” singlespeed. The gear came in last week and was installed on Friday. I just got out and rode around the neighborhood for a little over five miles to test things out and to get comfortable before I did the ride to work tomorrow morning.

Everything seemed fine and I didn’t throw myself off the bike yet, but we’ll see what happens when I panic at an intersection or get in a weird situation and forget. I’m sure I’ll get thrown at some point or another.

I haven’t figured out the skid-stop yet, but maybe I haven’t had the balls yet to try it at a fast enough speed. There is definitely some kick in the pedals when you try to stand up and stop turning.

I’ll keep you posted on whether I eat any pavement tomorrow. My plan is to ride to work in the morning.