I had a guy stop me last night...

tallsam As a kid I used to have a tractor where the pedals were connected directly to the front wheel. That was my first fixed wheel.

Yeah I wasn't counting that fixed gear experience

I pulled up at a junction today and a guy pulled up on his bike next to me and stared at my drivetrain. For ages. He didn't say anything, just stared. I guess he hadn't seen a fixed wheel before.

I do that.. I'm counting your teeth so I know if I can take you off the line or if I should draft the nearby truck.. :)

mdja I pulled up at a junction today and a guy pulled up on his bike next to me and stared at my drivetrain. For ages. He didn't say anything, just stared. I guess he hadn't seen a fixed wheel before.

same here, but he asked if was good to ride like that.

mdja I pulled up at a junction today and a guy pulled up on his bike next to me and stared at my drivetrain. For ages. He didn't say anything, just stared. I guess he hadn't seen a fixed wheel before.

You're saddle is too low / handlebars too high.

And you said yes right?

cornelius blackfoot i'm surprised by the "earn your spurs" kind of comments you get on here sometimes, we all ride bikes, roadbikes, mtb's, bmx's and you learn different things on all of them, but the basics remain the same, I have a bit of cash burning a hole in my pocket and I'm going to spend it on whatever I want, just because I'm moving from riding a banged up mtb to getting on a fixed wheel, doesn't mean I have to start at the bottom all over again. you ride what you want and what you can afford. I'm not going to look down on anyone who wants to build a beater or spend a little more cash on their frame, or searches on ebay all day looking for bargains or someone who goes and buys as much phil wood's stuff as they can get their hands on.
What is underground, becomes popular goes overground, everyone buys into it, you either find some other form of cycling, unicycling anyone! which is underground, you wait for the poseurs and the bandwagon jumpers to get over it and to sell their bikes for cheap, snapping up bargains as you go, or you just ride and enjoy riding and building up bikes and talking about bikes and it doesn't matter what everyone else does, because your doing what you want to do.
Everyone wants to be part of a tribe, but you never want the tribe to be to big, or to popular, otherwise it doesn't make it special if anyone can join and knows about it. Personally the more people who come to cycling/fixed gear the better and I'll take them on their personalities rather than how they got into riding their bikes. If they're cnuts they're cnuts. Whether they are riding a fixed gear or not.

well said.

i really am waiting for the poseurs to sell their rides! might even find a cinelli track frame for cheap in 2 years time?

i'm seriously thinking of getting the unicycle from sjs... anyone tried that?

there's one locked up to a lamppost in covent garden, about 10 ft tall.

But how many people are honestly riding fixed because of the maintenance/weight thing?

Fixed just happens to be cool, you can't deny it, its nice to be different, so surely a good chunk of riding it for a lot of people is because fixed is cool...

Maintenance aside, brakes and gears are easier to ride (I never really needed that much maintenance with brakes and gears anyway), getting up a hill is easier, fixed just feels different.

I dunno man.. I'm a pretty big gear whore myself (closet roadie you see?) and I really prefer to take either of the fixed rides into the city.
It started as a maintenance thing for me (Arrrrgh! I hate working on bikes!!!) but now I prefer commuting on fixed. It's better.
Out in the countryside I prefer my road bike (god damn did I want to coast during Dunwich!!) but in town, as w@nk as it sounds, fixed does offer more control.
Stops ya scootin' up the inside of cars too! :)

Funny that I had a guy this morning ask me about my bike being fixed, said he liked the machine, says hes been meaning to do it.

not really anyone asking me anything or staring at my bike but i have a mate
who i have tried to explain why i ride fixed to and he seems quite intrigued(sp?)
but whenever he sees a fixed he rings me and tells me about it???

First time I thought about fixed was when I saw a guy slowing down with no brakes. I thought that was cool and wanted to find out what he was doing. It's not so much that it's cool to be seen riding it but I thought it was cool how the bike worked.

edmundane i really am waiting for the poseurs to sell their rides! might even find a cinelli track frame for cheap in 2 years time?

i'm seriously thinking of getting the unicycle from sjs... anyone tried that?

Unicycles are soo last year... Pogo-sticks are where it's at man.

Bandwagons, defo.

Especially if you can jump one.

Jake Maintenance aside, brakes and gears are easier to ride (I never really needed that much maintenance with brakes and gears anyway), getting up a hill is easier.

Beg to differ ;)

I still feel that varable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer?
We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!
--Henri Desgrange, L'Équipe article of 1902

I had a woman stop me today.. she walked into me, and I fell over. Oh the embarassment! Nothing worse than falling over a 1mph stuck in your clips. A newbie mistake I'm sure.. Damned street performers drawing crowds and clogging the street.

Jake But how many people are honestly riding fixed because of the maintenance/weight thing?

I am. not so much weight, but for cheapness of build and maintenance.
You can't really leave a geared bike outside every day all year round if you want it to work properly for any length of time.

I also think it's easier because of the momentum you can carry up hills.

it's just a bike, the majority of people don't like bikes.
out of those who ride bikes, the majority don't like fixed wheel.
out of those who ride fixed wheel, the majority don't do it to be cool.

see, it's a small world (until someone asks you to paint it)

photoben I still feel that varable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer?
We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!
--Henri Desgrange, L'Équipe article of 1902

.. and then they allowed deraillers into the Tour and thus the Tour was won by a multi-geared rider.. Desgrange was a knob :)

hippy Desgrange was a knob :)

He was a non-indexed shifter.

RPM

I also think it's easier because of the momentum you can carry up hills.

I never quite understood this argument. Fixed riders HAVE to go up hills fast due to their gearing, the slower you go the harder it is to turn the cranks etc...). Likewise SSers. Geared riders could do the exact same thing (stay in gear and keep pedalling) but it'd be stupid to do so. Why not conserve energy and make it an easier ride uphill (it's not a race after all). Fixed gear just limits your options when going uphill - which is great if you're training or whatever and have to exert extra energy to get over a hill.

You make it sound like geared riders don't have that momentum which is twoddle.

tallsam [quote]RPM

I also think it's easier because of the momentum you can carry up hills.

I never quite understood this argument. Fixed riders HAVE to go up hills fast due to their gearing, the slower you go the harder it is to turn the cranks etc...). Likewise SSers. Geared riders could do the exact same thing (stay in gear and keep pedalling) but it'd be stupid to do so. Why not conserve energy and make it an easier ride uphill (it's not a race after all). Fixed gear just limits your options when going uphill - which is great if you're training or whatever and have to exert extra energy to get over a hill.

You make it sound like geared riders don't have that momentum which is twoddle.[/quote]

tallsam [quote]RPM

I also think it's easier because of the momentum you can carry up hills.

I never quite understood this argument. Fixed riders HAVE to go up hills fast due to their gearing, the slower you go the harder it is to turn the cranks etc...). Likewise SSers. Geared riders could do the exact same thing (stay in gear and keep pedalling) but it'd be stupid to do so. Why not conserve energy and make it an easier ride uphill (it's not a race after all). Fixed gear just limits your options when going uphill - which is great if you're training or whatever and have to exert extra energy to get over a hill.

You make it sound like geared riders don't have that momentum which is twoddle.[/quote]

I feel going up the same hill single speed is harder than fixed. I do not have a perfect circular pedal stroke, no one does, haveing the fixed wheel helps on the hill because of this especially when the cadence drops. The momentum is on your feet not on your bike.

I am with Hippy it feel more controled in the city on a fixed wheel, easier to stop and check round buses e.t.c when you pull inbetween a que of traffic, nice and smooth e.t.c

You're probably right about the smoother cadence on hills. I don't see it as a great benefit though personally.

you say tomato

etc...