The TomiCOG / Velocity Blunt setup is totally rad, and now I’m only worried about my chain snapping. I’m working it over pretty bad with skips and skids though, so I’ll probably have to replace it in a couple of months. I wouldn’t be surprised if it has already stretched a little bit. I need to find a better chain breaker though, I keep breaking the cheap ones I find. Really though, it’s a dream setup. I may get another cog soon to try out different ratios.
As it turns out, skip-stops use muscles in my lower back that I don’t frequently otherwise use. So I’ve been alternating days or riding half days on the fixie. It is kind of hard to stand up gracefully right now, with the soreness and all. But I’ll get to a point where it’s not a problem. And I’ll probably have huge, bulging lower-back muscles.
Also, I bought some SKS fenders. They’re a dream! It has been pretty rainy lately, and man, they make such a nice difference. My homemade fender really makes no comparison with these guys. The best thing about them is that my pants don’t get wet… almost at all! My ankles and socks and shoes are dry, even in wet conditions or rain! My tires are a really tight fit – I’m running 700 x 28 Armadillos, and once in a while, they’ll rub on a bump or a curb drop or something. Also, I had to grind off the end of a bracket that was holding my front brake caliper to the frame so the front fender wouldn’t rub on the tire. Now all I need are front and rear racks, and I’ll have my touring fixed gear bike totally set up.
