fixed-gear bikes

ftony "crews are for boats"
Posts: 3705 Joined: 26-05-04 Location: East London
Submitted by ftony on 26 November, 2007 - 11:40.

how come so many people love them so much? i don't understand.

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Refused "wee fuck'n' strings"
Posts: 6393 Joined: 28-09-04 Location: Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
26 November, 2007 - 11:43

They're bike fascists.

Tacks "in it to win it"
Posts: 4723 Joined: 08-11-05
26 November, 2007 - 12:01

fixed gear?

nevererdofit. I thought it was called fixed wheel...? thats what all the wannabe couriers talk about anyhao.

Steven. ""Best hair at Unison conference""
Posts: 1899 Joined: 27-06-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 12:21
Tacks wrote:
fixed gear?

nevererdofit. I thought it was called fixed wheel...? thats what all the wannabe couriers talk about anyhao.

no they're called fixed gears. i don't get the big deal. rkn likes them cos he can play bike polo on them though.

catch "unpractical[sic] and blinkered"
Posts: 10031 Joined: 07-02-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 12:24

I don't have one, and probably won't get one now they've gone fashion item. Main advantage seems to be very little maintenance - no gears, no brakes for some people. Apparently they're a bit faster going up hills since you keep momentum better.

Steven. ""Best hair at Unison conference""
Posts: 1899 Joined: 27-06-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 12:33
catch wrote:
I don't have one, and probably won't get one now they've gone fashion item.

that makes you a worse poser.

catch "unpractical[sic] and blinkered"
Posts: 10031 Joined: 07-02-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 12:44

I know that fully well smile

If my bike dies, I might get one actually if rkn or Gav will let me try theirs out one day. But I'd have to find some way to make it not look like a fixy.

Steven. ""Best hair at Unison conference""
Posts: 1899 Joined: 27-06-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 13:05
catch wrote:
But I'd have to find some way to make it not look like a fixy.

bolt on a load of smaller gears. You could also use it as a weapon like the baddie's chariot in ben hur.

catch "unpractical[sic] and blinkered"
Posts: 10031 Joined: 07-02-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 13:11
John. wrote:
catch wrote:
But I'd have to find some way to make it not look like a fixy.

bolt on a load of smaller gears. You could also use it as a weapon like the baddie's chariot in ben hur.

fake gears? Are you mad?

ftony "crews are for boats"
Posts: 3705 Joined: 26-05-04 Location: East London
26 November, 2007 - 13:46
catch wrote:
no gears, no brakes for some people.

excellent. i'm sold. there's nothing i'd like more than a vehicle with two wheels that i can't control confused

catch "unpractical[sic] and blinkered"
Posts: 10031 Joined: 07-02-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 13:51

You brake with your feet apparently, like a BMX. Some people add brakes though so they can stop properly.

petey "They gonna eat your shoulders."
Posts: 2966 Joined: 13-10-05
26 November, 2007 - 14:13

i thought they were only fashionable in brooklyn, where the people are desperate to find something to label 'fashionable'

catch "unpractical[sic] and blinkered"
Posts: 10031 Joined: 07-02-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 14:20

All the rage in London now.

petey "They gonna eat your shoulders."
Posts: 2966 Joined: 13-10-05
26 November, 2007 - 16:23

you young'uns may not know that many bikes used to be like this, braking by pushing backward on the pedals, like the one i grew up on

Steven. ""Best hair at Unison conference""
Posts: 1899 Joined: 27-06-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 16:36
newyawka wrote:
you young'uns may not know that many bikes used to be like this, braking by pushing backward on the pedals, like the one i grew up on

no, that's not it, you just pedal slower to brake. you can't freewheel with them.

petey "They gonna eat your shoulders."
Posts: 2966 Joined: 13-10-05
26 November, 2007 - 16:38
John. wrote:
you just pedal slower to brake

howzzat different?

ftony "crews are for boats"
Posts: 3705 Joined: 26-05-04 Location: East London
26 November, 2007 - 16:42
John. wrote:
you just pedal slower to brake

madness.

Nate "If Duke had a fanclub I would join it even if that meant I had to quit Chuck's fanclub"
Posts: 1255 Joined: 16-12-05 Location: Minneapolis, US
26 November, 2007 - 16:45

Fixed gears are for jerks and lesbians.

jef costello "Beautiful, just like Nuremburg"
Posts: 9964 Joined: 09-02-06 Location: razorblade of apathy, shave me with your irony
26 November, 2007 - 16:46

SO if you go down a hill the pedals spin like crazy? I had a bike like that when I was a kid. Either the bmx or the chopper

Steven. ""Best hair at Unison conference""
Posts: 1899 Joined: 27-06-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 16:52
jef costello wrote:
SO if you go down a hill the pedals spin like crazy?

yep

newyawka wrote:
John. wrote:
you just pedal slower to brake

howzzat different?

you can freewheel on the ones where you push back. on fixed gears the pedals and wheels are linked so they always rotate at the same speed; you can't push back on the pedals.

winjer "holocene death beat"
Posts: 80 Joined: 04-05-04 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 16:58
newyawka wrote:
howzzat different?

It's a lot simpler mechanically, and you can't stop pedalling while moving.

http://sheldonbrown.com/coaster-brakes.html
http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

petey "They gonna eat your shoulders."
Posts: 2966 Joined: 13-10-05
26 November, 2007 - 17:00
John. wrote:
you can't push back on the pedals.

i didn't mean actually push backwards (sorry), i meant slam on them so that you hold them in position and they stop rotating forward, thereby braking. though on a fixed gear thing i imagine the inertia would be too great to do that except at the very slowest speeds.

they seem like no fun.

jef costello "Beautiful, just like Nuremburg"
Posts: 9964 Joined: 09-02-06 Location: razorblade of apathy, shave me with your irony
26 November, 2007 - 17:14
newyawka wrote:
they seem like no fun.

There's at least one person currently suffering from state repression for wanting a bike to be fun.

EdmontonWobbly "Sombre, jaded class warrior."
Posts: 1313 Joined: 25-03-06 Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
26 November, 2007 - 17:27
Quote:
Fixed gears are for jerks and lesbians.

Or for (very hospitable) wobs from minneapolis that chip their teeth on the way to the bar to visit a car load of wobs from Edmonton. No way in hell yer getting me on one of those I'll keep my mountain bike thank you very much.

Nate "If Duke had a fanclub I would join it even if that meant I had to quit Chuck's fanclub"
Posts: 1255 Joined: 16-12-05 Location: Minneapolis, US
26 November, 2007 - 17:32

Naw, he's a jerk. He just won you over by plying you with beer and a staging a face plant.

petey "They gonna eat your shoulders."
Posts: 2966 Joined: 13-10-05
26 November, 2007 - 17:45
Nate wrote:
staging a face plant.

now that's solidarity

winjer "holocene death beat"
Posts: 80 Joined: 04-05-04 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 18:41
jef costello wrote:
There's at least one person currently suffering from state repression for wanting a bike to be fun.

I predict another split in the ABC.

rkn
Posts: 7651 Joined: 17-07-06 Location: London
26 November, 2007 - 19:22
ftony wrote:
how come so many people love them so much? i don't understand.

'Cos they are wicked-cool. And people post about you on the internet when you ride one.

mikus "I think that even a cursory study of the 20th c shows the decay of capitalism."
Posts: 982 Joined: 18-07-06
26 November, 2007 - 20:04

You guys are sooo 2006.

BMX is the new hotness.

jef costello "Beautiful, just like Nuremburg"
Posts: 9964 Joined: 09-02-06 Location: razorblade of apathy, shave me with your irony
26 November, 2007 - 20:08
mikus wrote:
BMX is the new hotness.

again?

playinghob
Posts: 253 Joined: 05-05-07
26 November, 2007 - 20:25

Are fixed wheel bikes trendy again? Must be showing my age now, myself and a couple of pals had fixed wheel drop handlebar racers circa 1970. Never heard them called fixed gear before. However a quick check on wikipedia reveals them to be the same.

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