I don't generally nerd out hard over bicycles. I also know myself well enough to know that I lack the skill and fitness to operate a fixie well or safely. Still, I found myself rather smitten by this spartan conveyance parked up out front of Twenty Tap this afternoon...
36 comments:
That bicycle's so white that Touré just Tweeted that it's racist.
"I don't generally nerd out hard over bicycles."
Ummmmm . . . yeah . . . ummm . . .
Shootin' Buddy
Couple of my co-workers have single speed mountain bikes, really hardcore bikers in really good physical shape. Amazing to watch them ride. I like flat stuff myself.
That's not a real fixie... Real fixies don't have any brakes at all.
/hipsterdouchebag
I do like how they painted it to look like a hipsterdouchebag ghost bike. :)
I was into being into stuff before it was cool before it was cool.
That one would be easy to spot... :-)
(ohgodi'mgonnahatemyselfforthisbut) What's a "fixie?"
Single speed bike.
I can appreciate the minimalist appeal but am skeptical of any bike with handlebars narrower than a normal person's shoulders. That to me implies bicycle fashionista (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that). I LIKE that he/she's got at least a front brake, "authenticity" be damned. Without a brake if you break the chain you're screwed.
So it's a genuine track-style frame with rear-facing dropouts (so not some random crap frame repurposed), but the seat angle looks pretty relaxed, and there's actually SPACE between the rear tire and the seat stay. Clearly not a classic track bike -- wonder who made it.
@Joel: in case that was not a facetious remark, a "fixie" is a fixed-gear bicycle meaning it has a single chainwheel (the gear thing in front) and a single sprocket (the gear thing in back). In a "real" fixie there is no freewheel, meaning you can't just coast along. If the rear wheel is turning the pedals must revolve as well. In the modern age fixies originated as track bicycles (as in used in velodromes) and have no brakes -- to slow down you use your legs to slow the rear wheel down (much like a kid's tricycle except for the rear vs front wheel part). Also the rear dropouts (where the axle fits into) face the REAR of the bike, while bikes with freewheels usually have dropouts facing forward/down.
Some road racers rode fixies in the winter off-season, believing that the lack of freewheeling forced the rider to learn to pedal smoothly ("pedal circles, don't lurch around pedalling squares") at high RPM. This belief has some truth behind it. Somewhere along the line hipsters appropriated the fixie, making it a centerpiece of the artisinal neckbearded, fair trade coffee, Occupy, social justice, trust-fund hippie Wiliamsburg lifestyle. Much to the annoyance of people who just wanted to improve their cycling skills. I think many hipsters have moved on to something else now. Last I heard it was carrying around a axe (sic) as a sort of urban fakerjack. But I'm out of the loop on that stuff.
> What's a "fixie?"
Single-speed bike without the ability to coast. Some people pretend that you can use it without brakes safely.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixie
>In the modern age fixies originated as track bicycles (as in used in velodromes) and have no brakes...
Funny, as the typical hipster-douche doesn't realize that a stop sign = track stand practice. Instead, they assume such things only apply to the motorized.
I happened across a 29" single speed MTB with a steel frame on craiglist. Pure simplicity and focus on just letting your legs control the speed. My Town Run and local trail times improved over my best with 27 gear combinations at my fingertips. Whether a sign of my physical condition or not, that bike sees more time than its cassetted stablemates these days. Steep hills are a *&%#(*@#! and roads between trails are a blur of pumping legs, but it's a blast, for sure.
Anon @ 11:31, it's not just the hipsters that are douchebags unable to see red stop signs or lights. I would estimate over 98% of cyclists are afflicted, more prevalently among the more avid riders that ironically demand their "equal rights to the road!" I'm part of the miniscule minority, using my restarts as muscle building opportunities.
Around here white bikes are usually ghost cycles. People paint old bikes white and install them as memorials near the locations of fatal auto vs. bicycle collisions. They'll be chained to a street sign or hung from a utility pole 10' up in the air.
perlhaqr,
"I was into being into stuff before it was cool before it was cool."
Metahipster. :p
Tam,
any idea why bicycles have the front brake lever on the left hand?
Once I started riding motorcycles, all pedal bikes got it moved to the right hand bar. Bad enough with shifters on either side, with 3 possible patterns. (I've got the bent valves and broken lifters laying around somewhere...)
Looks like it oughta be stashed behind the rear seat of Tony Curtis' "Great Race" car.
Secret word: taryDebs. One more cigarette and a dixie cup of bourbon before you go in for the night?? (Don't yell at me; Florence King started me down that path.)
Chainstay has the hot tip:
http://www.retrospecbicycles.com/config-saint-urban-fgfs.html
My guess is that the bike costs more than my car.
the gripping hand,
"My guess is that the bike costs more than my car."
$319, it looks like. (See above link: it's Retrospec's B-Series Fixie.)
I may need to get a paper route or something...
Will
I'm guessing it's because most people are right handed, have more strength in that hand, and would instinctively squeeze the right (rear) brake first.
Besides, if there's one thing you don't want to do, it's to jam on the front brake harder than the back one...unless you like impromptu somersaults onto concrete.
Bad for the image, you know.
Oh! Okay.
I knew a kid - when I was a kid - who wanted to be a bicycle racer in the very worst way. He once proudly showed me a training bike that answers to the description of what you call a "fixie" - no brakes, no gearing, no coaster clutch.
I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen. That was going in fifty years ago and my opinion hasn't changed. When I was a kid in Detroit only this one French kid had a bike with actual gears (and at the time I had no idea what a cliché that was), but at least we all had brakes. Brakes are important on moving vehicles, especially when they can't win fights with cars.
"Besides, if there's one thing you don't want to do, it's to jam on the front brake harder than the back one...unless you like impromptu somersaults onto concrete."
On motorcycles I rarely used the rear brake. (It's only because of the reversed levers and years of mo'cycle-ingrained habit that I use the rear one on the push bike.)
Would that thing be an iBike, or an iFixie?
>any idea why bicycles have the front brake lever on the left hand?
I think it's because in the UK you would signal with your left hand while on a bike.
I swap them all on mine. I think it's totally crazy that the more effective brake is by default on the left, the hand I signal with. Of course the vast majority of cyclist never use hand signals, so for most people this doesn't really matter.
Also, Sheldon Brown agrees with me on front brake; right side: http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html
-SM
UK signal with wrong hand?
Motorcycle left hand = clutch, right hand = front brake, rear brake = right (mostly) foot.
I thought one was meant to signal with the left hand in the US as well. But it seems no one understands the left arm bent up at elbow = right turn convention anymore, so now I just point with the right arm for a right turn.
I'm agnostic on the which lever controls which brake thing, but I'm glad to be reminded (thanks, -SM) to check the brake connections prior to riding a borrowed bike. If nothing else, reversing the lever connections might cause a bike thief to crash, which would be a win. Either way, front or rear braking or both, you push yer butt rearwards (redundant?) off the saddle when emergency braking anyway, right?
Prince of Sparta, Gripping Hand. Lots of Pournelle references lately, eh?
Geodykt asked: Would that thing be an iBike, or an iFixie?
Neither.
It's not designed to please the majority of users with a thoroughly thought-out, accessible experience that makes the hardware "vanish".
That bike's not Apple.
It's more like OpenBSD, or one of the more user-antagonistic Linuxes.
I thought "ghost bike," too - they're all over out here in NM.
John Peddie:
"Besides, if there's one thing you don't want to do, it's to jam on the front brake harder than the back one...unless you like impromptu somersaults onto concrete."
No worries. My Moto Guzzi LeMans roadracer could lift the rear wheel when braking hard. When it wasn't smoking the front tire, that is!
Actually, I think riding the Commando and V7 Sport with drum front brakes got me comfortable with using the front brakes as hard as possible. When they don't stop all that well, one ends up braking all the way to the apex, while leaning it in, in hopes of making it through the corner 8-)
>I think it's because in the UK you would signal with your left hand while on a bike.
Sorry. s/left/right
I think Fixies have finally become too "main stream" for the Hipsters... I saw a flat-bar single with a flip-flop hub that looked quite a lot like the one pictured on the rack at Target. Under $100 too.
Fred, fixies are "over."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlGqN3AKOsA
I am still looking for the Trek Soho belt drive bike you featured a while ago. that will be my next bike.
Instead I have purchased in the meantime a Specialized Shark cruiser with a coaster brake and 4 speed internal gear set. Plus I had fenders installed. Perfect bike for Key West, and dorky enough for me.
Great fun.
Worst part about fixies isn't the uphills, it's the downhills. They are usually geared mid-range, which means on a mild downhill you have to peddle frenetically to keep up. Then you can't stand on the peddles when you see a big bump coming, so your ass ends up absorbing every impact (usually fitted with a light weight hard seat). You get buttsore faster than a gun controll lobbiest who thinks this tragedy will be the one to turn the tide.
Yup. Fixies are dead. Trends come here to die, and I saw one downtown today.
As a fixed gear city commuter cyclist, I feel I must pipe up. Obviously I know that you all know that we are not all pretentious hipsters, but I felt compelled to remind everyone.
I like riding fixed gear because it makes me feel very connected to the motion of the bike. A bit like running vs. rollerskating. They are also easy to maintain, being that the drivetrain is very simple. Here is my favorite thing about it though: it's very easy to ride very slowly. I know that seems stupid or counter-intuitive to riding at all, but if you ride in the city with a lot of pedestrians and traffic, being able to control yourself at low speed is pretty handy.
To comment directly on this bike: I also ride with a front brake. And narrow handlebars help you fit in narrow spaces.
@ Tam: Don't be afraid to ride a fixed gear bike. There is nothing difficult about them (assuming they have a brake), and you might find yourself liking it. Forget the fashion, it's fun!
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