Have you ever randomly thought about riding your fixed gear off-road? If yes, then this article is for you.

You can ride fixed gear off-road as long as the trail is long with not a lot of turns, but if it is like a mountain bike trail with steep downhills and sharp turns then fixed gear is not the right bike.

When you own a fixed gear bike it is common to have an urge to ride your bike in off-road trails, but riding it off-road can be a little tricky because you can’t stop pedaling, the rear cog is directly connected to the back wheel this makes it even harder and more fun to ride fixed gear in off-road.

Can you ride fixed gear on a gravel road?

Riding a fixed gear on a gravel road is possible but it will not be an easy ride, when you are taking your fixed gear on gravel roads you should change the tires to 35c to 38c gravel tires while riding on gravel roads, it is necessary to have wider tires.

Changing to gravel tires will help you to ride easy on gravel roads and you will have more control over the bike.

Even though, since you are riding fixed gear on gravel roads the riding of bike will be slower with tires like 30mm to 35mm width you will have more grip and it will be more fun to ride it.

is it easy to ride fixed gear on muddy roads?

You will have a hard time riding fixed gear on muddy roads because you can’t stop pedaling and obviously muddy roads will slow you down.

Changing to gravel tires (32c to 38c) will make it easier to move faster with moderate efforts on muddy roads.

Types of mud road to look after while riding fixed gear on muddy roads

Dirt mud road: you will have no problem riding fixed gear on dirt mud, it same as riding on unpaved roads.

Wet mud road: changing to gravel tires will definitely help you to go through wet mud but it will be still a hard ride make sure to pump air upto 35 to 45 psi.

Gooey mud: gooey mud is better than wet mud roads, it will be easier to ride on gooey mud since it is thick mud but not so sticky.

When you are riding fixed gear on wet muddy roads you might face some problems like 

• Slow down in the speed of riding 
• Hard to pedal with squishy wet mud on tires
• And it is a fixed gear means you cannot stop pedaling in middle 

Can you ride a fixed gear on mountain trails?

If it has a straight trail down the hill you can manage to ride by having brakes on it but if the trails are full of steep trails with lots of twists and turn then definitely fixed gear is not suitable for that trail.

Riding fixed gear on technical trails like mountain bike trails can be tricky and sometimes you might get hurt too, fixed gear is not meant to ride on mountain trails.

While riding on a mountain trail in fixed gear the biker must manage to handle obstacles like rocks, logs, which is hard on a fixed gear bike.

There are more disadvantages than advantages of riding fixed gear on mountain trails, short answer is fixed bike is not suitable to ride on mountain trails.

Can you ride fixed gear bikes on sand?

Riding a bike on sand can slow down any cyclist, it doesn’t matter if he is professional or not, even when you put on gravel tires on fixed gear still it will be hard to ride it on the sand.

When we are talking about riding fixed gear on sand makes it even harder to move in the sand especially when you are riding a fixed gear.

Like I said before, trying to ride it on sand takes a lot of energy, if you have no choice or no other road to ride you might have to drink some energy drinks before riding.

conclusion

Riding a fixed-gear bike off-road gives you a different type of feeling but not all the types of gravel roads you can take on a fixed gear.

Now you know that you can also have fun riding fixed gear off-road but there are particular off-road trails that are fixed gear is not fit for riding in.

For example mountain bike trails, wet thick mud roads,

When you have straight gravel trails you can manage to ride by having brakes on the bike, you should change tires to tubeless gravel tires of 30mm to 35mm width tires.

Key takeaways

• You cannot ride fixed gear on mountain bike trails 
• When planning to ride off-road on a fixed gear, change to tubeless 30mm to 35mm gravel tires for better control
• Fixed gear is not suitable for steep jumps, sharp turns, downhill riding