Popularity...

24" isn't a real bmx ! heheh (the haro was ok mind)

but a SE pk ripper with landing gear forks.. now that was a nice bike.

always wanted a torker, saw 'crazy legs,' a west london dude jump this thing 20' out of a bowl at guilford once. thought he was going over the fence. incredible.

don't swap that bmx for bits, have you seen the prices some of the old school stuff is selling for now. i've got an old haro freestyler with skyways bought it for 400 about 6 years ago if i had kept it looking neat instead of riding it, it would be worth double that now

i've seen skyway ta's not reach their reseve on ebay at 750

pearcey 24" isn't a real bmx !

I know, old man's category.

still scares the shit out of me and does my back in though.

there's a great adrenaline rush when you're balancing on the gate and the pips go!

the downside is driving to get to a race and spending the majority of a long day standing around

Awesome experiences!
Seems everybody here was on a bike way before they learned about fixed and/or before some circles deemed it 'cool'. I'm actually hoping that this popularity of the fixedgear is helping to introduce cycling as transport, not just sport, to more people.

main reasons for my switch to fixed last september?

• wanting to be cool
  
• desire to be hip
  
• frustration from my co-worker being trendier than me
  
• seeing Mike (trampsparadise) rolling by on old street and digging his brakeless style
  
  

seriously though

• been riding bikes as long as I can remember. Grew up in the hotbed of cycling south of Paris (TDF passed by my village!)
  
• for the past 10 years went through a few MTBs that I gradually customised for city use (rigid forks, slicks, riser bars, etc..)
  
• then started reducing the number of gears (from 21 to 7)
  
• then still wasn't happy with that whole shifting thing
  
• then tried my co-worker's fixed and haven't coasted since!
  

Hot damn, 55 posts and nary a snide remark, I need to get back to London.

Anyways, started skateboarding and riding around the burbs as a kid on mountain bikes just for shits and giggles. Moved back in to NYC when I was 18 and decided that getting around the city on the subway and my board sucked ass so I bought my friends completely shat on Ross that effectively had no brakes or gears (bad idea). Got rid of that shit to move to school in Maine where I kept jumping my bike off stairs and shit but then I started watching the tour and saw my friends mad hot yellow "road bike" (didn't know what a fix was at the time, didn't even notice it had 1 speed). Moved back to NYC for a summer, hung out with too many skinny kids and I've been fixed for 2 years next months (feels a lot longer).

Riding fixed is easily the best way to get around and have a posse all over the world right tramps?

Here's my story. WARNING: it's long and probably very boring.

I grew up in Northern Ireland. I started on BMX when I was 8 (23 years ago!) - I had a DP Firebird that I rode around all day, jumping makeshift ramps in the garden and cruising the streets. I rode that thing for hours and hours every day. My family moved to England when I was 10 and I kept up BMXing until I was about 13. I was lucky to live near a decent race track. I always came last though, I was more of a dreamer than a racer...

Then, aged 13, I got a Peugeot 12 speed racer, which I loved and rode everywhere, much faster than a BMX!

I moved up to uni in London when I was 19, and rode an old 3 speed Sunbeam from the 1920s. That was a beautiful bike, heavy as lead, but stately. I rode it from Chalk Farm to the Strand every day. It's rusting away in my parents greenhouse now, with tendrils growing around the spokes. I must rescue it (or rather, him: he's called 'Watson'!).

Then, aged 21, I returned to BMX again and went through a succession of bikes: a lovely GT Performer (now belonging to my sister) with rad 3 spoke Skyway Tuffs, an SE Racing Quadangle, and then an SE Racing Floval Flyer (also with rad Skyway Tuffs). I rode those bikes every day for years, into uni and then on my daily commute into various workplaces. I lived near Cantelowes in Kentish Town and had fun on the ramps (I was always a bit crap though).

About 3 years ago I realised I was a fully grown man and needed a proper bike. I got a beautiful Chas Roberts Reynolds 831 road bike, fully Chorus equipped, light as a feather. I had the racer bug again! A little later I got a Pinarello frame super-cheap and swapped all the gear from the Roberts onto that. I had bike building fever!

By then I had moved to the east end and my commute was pretty long. About a year ago I felt I wanted to spice things up and decided to give fixed a go - but it was a long time before I managed to get everything together. I read a lot and waited for the right frame to come up (I wanted something by an English builder). I eventually got myself a Chas Roberts track frame. I built it up slowly, enjoying learning and hunting for stuff. It was finished about two months ago, and when I took it out for its maiden voyage I realised withing 30 seconds that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE riding fixed. I can't imagine I'll ever go back. I commute 25 miles a day on that thing, up Highgate West Hill, weaving in and out of traffic and loving it. SO FAST! Here it is on Velospace: http://velospace.org/node/2969

I think having ridden BMX was a big factor for me, riding fixed feels like having all the best things about the simplicity of BMX back again, but new and different (and a bit more grown up!). Some people have been a bit disparaging about the supposed 'Zen-thing' with fixed, but I must say that for me it does bring about a special feeling of connectedness, both inwardly and outwardly. But then I've always been a bit of a mystical twat. (Take a look at my avatar and you might see why...)

Thanks for reading!

le car main reasons for my switch to fixed last september?

• seeing Mike (trampsparadise) rolling by on old street and digging his brakeless style
  
  

seriously though

What? You mean you didn't mean it when you whispered that in my ear that night?
I feel so used!

ImOnCrank Hot damn, 55 posts and nary a snide remark, I need to get back to London.

I like this thread (and this forum) because it really should have turned into people bitching about how they've been riding fixed since the year dot, and how all these kids don't know shit. It just seemes to have turned into a series of little autobiographies all of its own accord. Long may london fgss stay this way.

Rattlebag Long may london fgss stay this way.

I give it until June ;)

trampsparadise [quote]le car main reasons for my switch to fixed last september?

• seeing Mike (trampsparadise) rolling by on old street and digging his brakeless style
  
  

seriously though

What? You mean you didn't mean it when you whispered that in my ear that night?
I feel so used![/quote]

I thought my intentions were clear when I ran my hand along your riser bars..

we have a forum groomer already

Road around loads when I was a kid road mbt for abit but as a young man far too expensive and did not know many people who rode. Started getting to bmx when I was about 14 -15 had a raleigh burner thaat I got cheap because it was 1995 and noone want old school stuff. Whish I still had it, than got a haro freestyler still have the frame, then eventually got a bmx that was "uptodate" saved for ages wanted something diffent and went for a fishbone, a flash in the pan company :( still loved the the bike, still ride it sometimes but with a 18.5" tt it is a bit small. Rode less and less once I went to uni but would ride over the summeres in Oxford. All the time would still go for some rides on my own on to the ridgeway on my old mbt. Commuted to uni on a selection of beaters. Stoped rideing for a year or so, after uni came back to London used the train again for 5 months. Another beater 26 miles r.t commute, guy in my office sells me his coppi for 40 quid. Never change gear, think about simgle speed find out about fixed gear and build up a convertion. Got back into biking again like when I was 15 interested in all bike, want to do a tour e.t.c. My next plan is to build a frame just need to get round to getting some oxygen. Hopefuly have it done by winter.

Did I already post this? Can't remember. Must be getting old.

Fixies are for c***s. (That was for anyone who might have thought I was mellowing with age).

i quite enjoy the little instalments of buffalo bill's life.....its like a story before i goto bed. im looking forward to the next one bill.

Fuck C**sorship! Come on bill, it's not like it's the over the radio! PS: say hi to martin, al and the boys for me. - Jack New York

Yeah, innit! Except if you swear lots then you will find that people at work won't be able to view the site because of firewall safe-mode issues. That's what happened with MT.

'Tis true.

But that's ok... we have other domains, if anyone has this problem I start setting them up. And https (they never scan secure stuff as they can't!). Or have it IP access :)

There are ways. I've kept a forum littered with curse-words active and accessible for the better part of a decade :)

Hi!
I started 2 weeks ago. Tired of my '05 Trek 1500 with all the bits, water bottles, tri-bars, clocks, etc... I've always been amazed by the simplicity of the fixed-gears bike, the design is just brilliant. And watching couriers surf through traffic is a real eye-opener...
I just got a Condor Pista with bullhorns, and despite a few frights the first week I'm kind of getting there. Slowly. I wish I could track-stand right now cos looking for railings or posts at every light is becoming very annoying...
Anyway, hope you have enough comments right now. Have a good night!

Been riding for 35 years or so, half of that fixed. Used to ride low geared single speeds with cowhorns around epping forest and Kelveden woods in the seventies, til I got into 10 speeds. Went back to singles and then fixed when I was a courier. Never ridden a BMX.

I'm 18 years old, to put this into perspective. I learnt to ride on a cheapish Halfords-style full suspension mountain bike at the age of around 8. Was absolutely mental about riding everywhere, jumping off everything I could find.

Fast forward to the age of around 16, and my bike is pretty knackered, and consequently ride a bit less but still ride out to my mates and then ride back pretty wrecked!

I decided about October last year that I wanted a new bike but never really did anything about it. Started to commute to college on the same knackered old bike from college! I literally hadn't ever changed the brake pads, tyres, tubes, cleaned the chain, etc. Nothing! Haha

About March/April I started looking about, came across Sheldon Brown's articles on singlespeeds and fixed, was very interested. Decided to build my bike because I enjoy things like that. Ended up with a Cotic Roadrat after waiting 6 odd weeks for it, set it up singlespeed. Was amazing to ride compared to my old mtb.

Decided I want to go fixed, and got a set of Goldtec hubs for my 18th birthday from my grandparents. Had to wait for my new job to pay me to buy spokes and rims etc and went fixed about last Friday evening!

I still use the old mtb for leaving at the train station all day. Going to use this morning to ride to the post office in the rain :) The suspension is absolutely knackered and the brakes don't work!

I started riding SS about a year ago up until about 2 months ago, when i had my bike nicked. Gonna be fully fixed in about 2 weeks when i finish my build. My first experience of fixed was about 10 years ago when my dad cycled the lands end to john o groats run on a fixed wheel...there and back....at the age of 60!! Nutter. So i had a run around on it then, but thought it was a bit weird. My dad is a bike fanatic, and as a result i spent my formative years doing ALOT of cycling. Summer hols mainly spent cyclng round the highlands of scotland. Cant remember a time when i wasn't cycling. Did a stint as a courier in Edinburgh for 6 months in winter that nearly finished me off about 8 years ago before i moved to london, but it was all mountain bikes back then esp with the hills of edinburgh/ shitty weather to contend with. Cant wait to get back on the road again fully fixed!

I think that I'm a rare breed in that I have always ridden fixed. Coming from a somewhat impoverished family I depended on hand-me-downs for pertty much everything, including bikes. My uncle gave me my first fixed bike when I was 14 (an old hetchins). I had that bike till I was 18 at which point I got given his old Yamaguchi. This got stolen in 2005 so i built a beater bike from a found Lotus frame. This got written off a few months ago and I am now being fitted for a brand spanking new Yamaguchi.

If I ould jump onn the band wagon I would, but alas I am the only person i know riding fixed in or around my area (Ipswich).

first fix was 5 years ago a ready to roll condor. Sold it 6 months ago to fund my Keirin build, been riding fix no brakes since.

shhhhhhhhhh!!