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hey mike - bjorn is indeed loving his bicycle at the moment - we need to get him to fix his Raleigh and ditch the gears..

but that's a good shot

I'm against cat torture

Just remembered the main difference btw London and NYC, SF etc.. SHOES!
In london the vast majority o riders use clipless pedals SPDs, Time, etc..
In New York I've only seen a couple of people doing so, everyone is using clips and straps.

oh yeah - and as Dave Carnie wrote in an editor's letter in Big Brother years ago... leopard print is a sure sign of a woman's crazyness. Think about it - every girl I know who wears some is bonkers in one way or another...

I have a friend who is a nutter on a German-registered rusty Vespa and would do it for sure.

But we don't really need a pacer (or [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derny]Derny[/ame] as they're called) unless you're so fast that wind resistance against your camo shorts around a miniature square becomes a slowing down factor.

Oh that's Alicia with the Pink deep Vs. She's cool actually, and a bit nuts. Last time I saw her she had a black eye from a crash. Sexy I thought.
She will probably come on the London to Brighton ride.

There are a good bunch of street humps around HXT sq. Plus drunk peds. But very few cars indeed. Could be fun. Grandstand would be Blu bar (higher up).

rkn and do you really think trends get picked up by the gay community more than others?

Well considering the general lack of refinement and sophistication of the heterosexual community, I would tend to say yes.
Certainly it depends on what you call 'trends'. Football hooliganism, customised Citroen Saxos, Pitbull dogs, and Ultimate Fighting may not have come to the forefront of hipness

glow she'd probably think you were talking about a pantone colour if you said sheldon brown to her

hilarious.

I knew it would ignite debate. You're right - my gaydar is obviously not foolproof...
I just work a lot with fashion peeps, many of whom are gay, and they show no interest in my bike whatsoever.

Hoxton square guys! Let's be hip. Just kidding.

The niece of a friend whose half-cousin had a package delivered to his office by a messenger told me about fixed gear bikes and I was hooked.

Seriously - wait a bit and the "hipster" thing is going to explode, like in Tokyo. I get asked almost everyday where to get a bike from by designers, photographers, and other randomly trendy people.

When I'm in NYC I usually go for a couple of laps of Central Park on sundays.
The path is full of roadies, some really serious about it, with carbon everything etc..
Most are quite slow and easy to pass, but some are really quick.
I remember overtaking one of the fast guys on a slight uphill (where I feel fixed gives you a strong advantage for some reason), and hearing a condescending quick laugh.
Like "ha" mixed with "huh".
Then he got his act together and sped past me to disappear in the distance.

He seemed really offended that I had the audacity to overtake him on my silly bike with jeans, chain, bag and sweatshirt.

OK I have a more sensitive issue to discuss...

• We all agree by now that this whole fixed-gear thing has become a TREND. Right?
  
• Trends get usually either started or picked up very quickly by the gay community. Right?
  
• And yet I have yet to see a gay male riding a fixed gear bike, or drooling over one.
  
  

I know that this issue has a good potential to degenerate into a classic internet flame war - but I wanted to point it out cause I've been thinking about it for a while now.

I think the proportion between couriers and non-couriers (don't make me use the F-word) is very different from NYC for example, or Tokyo or SF (I guess cause I haven't been there for a while). In london I'd say 80% of guys (or girls) on fixed gear bikes are couriers. In NYC I'd say 50%.

maybe I'm wrong.

Also less brakeless riders in London as some courier companies don't allow it.

I was indeed there for the Fair. Saw just a few bits, mostly in Zona Tortona. Saw these bikes:
http://www.abici.org/

• sweet-looking.
  
  

Then went to the Villa D'Este Concorso D'Eleganza (some posh classic car gathering and competition) and chilled on the edge of the lake. That lake has a road that goes all the way around and which is pretty much perfect for fixed gear riding, just a few gentle uphills and downhills, and LOTS of roadies to chase and challenge.

So I've been travelling a lot with my bike for a while now, mainly to Paris a few times a month on the Eurostar, where it's free as long as you have a bike bag that fits into the Xray machine (got mine at Evans for £30 or so...).

Then I started flying my bike around (mainly to NYC - twice this year already), in the same bag, for free on BA, and with a bit more padding.

BUT what I did last weekend was by far the coolest and most efficient trip I've done:

Ride from Primrose Hill to City Airport: 40 mins
Pack up bag and check in: 8 mins
Fly to Milan Linate: 1h30
Unpack and put bike back together: 5 mins
Ride to central Milan: 10 mins

Amount of sweat released from carrying heavy bag + rolled-up bike bag on displaced ribs in the summer-like heat: a few pints I guess...

I then took one more train to go to Lake Como. Nice riding around there:

I heard that some hardcore guys ride to and from the further airports (HTW, GTW). Anyone done that here?

velocity boy That's cheating! Anyone can go fast if you attach the front of a bike to a Lambhorgini.

it's just to improve my spinning technique

RPM that's nowhere near where that bike was earlier tonight!

indeed - Phoenix is a long way from Herne Hill. And it would have taken me ages to come down from Clerkenwell in that Lambo.

Masseuse / Stunt Driver / Art Director

Jos
The thing nowadays is that if I ride into work in the morning or cruise home after I see all these new riders that want to get ‘ radical’ on there bicycle. Trying to race me and my fellow messengers and narrowly avoiding killing themselves every 100metres or so.

ha! Feels like I've been there... I remember feeling my macho competitive hormones boil up upon seeing you in front of me, then racing you, then losing.

You being let free on the streets without a disguise is kind of like having Michael Schumacher drive around in red convertible in a boy-racer suburb on a friday night. Your status of Alleycat Supremo is inevitably going to challenge testosteroned-up fakengers like me...

Seriously though, I do feel a responsibility for other cyclists when I ride a bit aggressively, and hopefully my excessive red light jumping hasn't pissed off too many pedestrians.

y

apologies...

hello hello - first post here

here are pics of the only bike I have pics of. Gitane track bike is yet unphotographed

so...
Fort frame - powdercoated at Armourtex in Hackney.
Sugino 75 cranks - zen messenger (yeah right) chainring
brooks swift
truvativ stem and bars
velocity wheels
a few random bits

donor frame:

when first built:

making friends (had a brake then)

in arizona 2 weeks ago:

new setup in NYC this week - thanks to Brad at Trackstar!:

www.fixedgearlondon.com