Is the London fixie dead?

he explained. “They went back to their training road bike with mudguards.”

*oh dear, I'm still using my fixed gear with mudguards - so what does that make me?

*this is a rhetorical question

http://www.bikeradar.com/commuting/news/article/is-the-london-fixie-dead-36928/

Hehe

Silly article. Hybrids have been dominant articles for commuters for about as long as the genre has existed---- more or less since the 1980s when the market filtered MTB technology into the roadster to create the ATB. Before that the commuters rode 3-speed roadsters and the "sporty" fraction rode "half-racers". The 1970s bike boom (clearly linked to the 1973 oil embargo and peaking in the late 1970s on the heels of the 1978-79 oil crisis) help define bicycles as a status and fashion object-- it also helped kickstart Honda as a motorcar brand (the civic). The bike boom saw a lot of poorly made bicycle swamping the market--- Colnago and others claimed that many of these were counterfiets (pun intended). The MTB fashion hit Europe pretty hard in the mid 1980s and trickled down into the supermarkets just as the "fixed gear" has. Fixed gear bicycles have been hip since the 1990s but it took the 2007 market collapse to go mainstream--- from Hummer to Cinelli MASH. Motorcars are selling again in the US (2009 sales reach a 27 year low) and large pickups are after 5 years of decline back on the map with heavy growth. In Europe car sales are still sluggish (at a 15 year low, for example, in France) and with high levels of youth unemployment in most of the EU, bicycles are still going strong.

NOTE: Supermarkets on the European Continent seem these days to be still dominated by cheap poorly assembled hybrids with a sprinkling of MTBs and roadsters (all of Asian origin).

Edward, give me my damn crown back.

the king is dead, long live the king!

Edward, give me my damn crown back.

Some references for the US market:

The US NBA trade association published the following:

"The U.S. bicycle market is dominated by imported bicycles. In 2011 it is estimated that 99% of the bicycles sold in the U.S. were imported from China and Taiwan, 93% from China and 6% from Taiwan."

"Department, discount and chain toy stores (mass merchants) sell mostly price-oriented products. Approximately 70% of bicycle units were sold through the mass merchant channel in 2011, representing 27% of the dollars due to the average selling price of $84. This channel's market share trend line was down from 2010 in new bicycle sales."

"39.6 million Americans age seven and older were estimated to have ridden a bicycle six times or more in 2011, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. This was down slightly from 2010. The peak participation year was 1995, with 56.3 million participants. It should be noted that the age limit on this number eliminates millions of young people who ride bicycles with wheel sizes 19" and under."

Right now the average price is estimated at just over $100 USD.

"Elliot Gluskin, managing partner of the Gluskin Townley Group noted: "With 2012 imports of 20 inch wheel and larger bicycles consumption returned to the historically flat market, averaging 12.8 million core market bicycle units per year starting in 2000."

super cool story, will read again

Some references for the US market:

The US NBA trade association published the following:

"The U.S. bicycle market is dominated by imported bicycles. In 2011 it is estimated that 99% of the bicycles sold in the U.S. were imported from China and Taiwan, 93% from China and 6% from Taiwan."

"Department, discount and chain toy stores (mass merchants) sell mostly price-oriented products. Approximately 70% of bicycle units were sold through the mass merchant channel in 2011, representing 27% of the dollars due to the average selling price of $84. This channel's market share trend line was down from 2010 in new bicycle sales."

"39.6 million Americans age seven and older were estimated to have ridden a bicycle six times or more in 2011, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. This was down slightly from 2010. The peak participation year was 1995, with 56.3 million participants. It should be noted that the age limit on this number eliminates millions of young people who ride bicycles with wheel sizes 19" and under."

Right now the average price is estimated at just over $100 USD.

"Elliot Gluskin, managing partner of the Gluskin Townley Group noted: "With 2012 imports of 20 inch wheel and larger bicycles consumption returned to the historically flat market, averaging 12.8 million core market bicycle units per year starting in 2000."

Cannot forgive myself for missing the 2007 recumbent craze. What a fool I was.

I started geared and built up a fixed recently because the geared required too much fiddling with to be doing 200 miles of commuting a week on. Fixed for weekdays, geared for weekends.

What's a fixie?

its like fixeh but different, can be found easier and that than fixehs, like mainstream bra

Fixies are so last week.

I'm gonna get me a Raleigh Chopper.

I like my fixie in gorgeous baby blue, just saying.

Who is this 'London Fixie' anyway? A cousin of the screaming banshee? An estranged courier gone rogue, harassing old ladies commuting slowly on their box fresh hybrids? Buffalo bill, or even wiganwill?

RIP.

Yawn. Dead as an east London fashion item probably.

Cannot forgive myself for missing the 2007 recumbent craze. What a fool I was.

What seems to be selling right now are e-bikes. I hardly ever see them on the roads but the sales figures, R&D and infrastructure investments are quite impressive.
Germany seems to be leading in the numbers.

In NL right now 1/5 bicycles sold are e-bikes. In Denmark they are looking at capturing 10% of the market.

Most of the e-bikes sold are Pedelecs.

What's a fixie?

It's a bit like a pisti, only not as sexy.

Who is this 'London Fixie' anyway? A cousin of the screaming banshee? An estranged courier gone rogue, harassing old ladies commuting slowly on their box fresh hybrids? Buffalo bill, or even wiganwill?

RIP.

Where is Wiganwill?

A lot of people are getting a strong interest in cycling and which having gears/brakes enables people to ride further and harder, I wouldn't say it's dying out more people's interest or passion for cycling has broadened!

I think one needs to distinguish between the intro drug and the habit.

'Redundancy bike' quote is brilliant. If only cos it says nothing about fixies and everything about how discovering practical cycling represents newfound freedom! If you've been stuck in a boring job all these years, and all you get when you get the boot is one weeks' pay for every year you've worked, up to a max of 12 weeks (it generally really isn't very much money), why not piss off on a nice bike and camp in a hedge?

When I got a redundancy I built a really crappy POS bike to ride to freelance jobs and not stress about locking up. I shoulda bought a LHT!

Fuck the LHT it's all about the KM...
#sellfixehbuykaratemonkey

meh, who cares? At least people are riding.

This forum will be killed by boredom soon if this keeps going.

This forum will be killed by boredom soon if this keeps going.

my bad

road bikes!!!!!!!!!