Mongoose! Posted April 23, 2011 Share Seems like a lot of hubbers have fixies. Even the new Bicycling / Ride magazines had some nice pictures of cool people with fixies. My Questions : Is it just a fashion statement or nice to have, or do you really use it? If you use it, When? I never ever saw a person riding a fixie on the road...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witkop Posted April 23, 2011 Share Okay, some reality here: On the extreme (towards the simplicity) on one side is the sigle speed rigid fixie (either road or mtb). THe unicycle is another story for another time. People that go this far are either on the fringe of sanity or too poor to afford gears AND brakes. Somewhere near the edge are the single speeders who can still afford brakes and what the save they spend on steel frames and senseless bling for their children (ie SS HT bikes). In the middle, there is the mainstream which is either 26" 27 speed HT mtb or standard 10x2 speed campy road bikes. On the other extreme are the coach potatoes that pretend to mountain bike on their dual suspension carbon 29" Sram XX bicycles that have almost merged to the tailgates of the BMW X6 or Audi 4x4 vehicles. If you think having a fixie will make you cool, and you want to make a fashion statement then buy one and weld it to the book of your car. All your friends will be impressed. However, if you want to be cool in a Bohemian way, buy one and commute with it, read Das Capital, join the Communist party, move into a commune and donate your car to charity. Starting a marxist cycling club and running for parliment on the bike and planet awareness ticket is not mandatory, but will make you ubercool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Drongo Posted April 23, 2011 Share Okay, some reality here: On the extreme (towards the simplicity) on one side is the sigle speed rigid fixie (either road or mtb). THe unicycle is another story for another time. People that go this far are either on the fringe of sanity or too poor to afford gears AND brakes. Somewhere near the edge are the single speeders who can still afford brakes and what the save they spend on steel frames and senseless bling for their children (ie SS HT bikes). In the middle, there is the mainstream which is either 26" 27 speed HT mtb or standard 10x2 speed campy road bikes. On the other extreme are the coach potatoes that pretend to mountain bike on their dual suspension carbon 29" Sram XX bicycles that have almost merged to the tailgates of the BMW X6 or Audi 4x4 vehicles. If you think having a fixie will make you cool, and you want to make a fashion statement then buy one and weld it to the book of your car. All your friends will be impressed. However, if you want to be cool in a Bohemian way, buy one and commute with it, read Das Capital, join the Communist party, move into a commune and donate your car to charity. Starting a marxist cycling club and running for parliment on the bike and planet awareness ticket is not mandatory, but will make you ubercool. Viva Oranje dude! Edited April 23, 2011 by The Drongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Drongo Posted April 23, 2011 Share Seems like a lot of hubbers have fixies. Even the new Bicycling / Ride magazines had some nice pictures of cool people with fixies. My Questions : Is it just a fashion statement or nice to have, or do you really use it? If you use it, When? I never ever saw a person riding a fixie on the road...... Those Uber Cool dudes in the Bicycling mag ALL ride their Single Speed FIXIES. But then they are ALL Slaapstaders. And those Narrow Bars are awesome. They just need some spikey bar ends for sorting stuck up Fortuner Drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJR Posted April 23, 2011 Share Now, wait a minute, I know I don't have a fixie, but I sometimes dream of one and I can afford to have one, so, may I also answer? I love the beauty of a road fixie with clean, simple lines and nothing superfluous on it. I would love to build one around a classic steel frame purely for the aesthetics, to look at it and to enjoy owning a thing of such pure simplicity and beauty rolled into one. Perhaps the joy of owning something like a Jaguar E-Type, a Purdey shotgun or a handmade bamboo flyrod, is the same thing? Why haven't I done it yet? Perhaps because deep down I know that I'll hardly ever ride it. At most I'll take it out a few times a year on a perfect windless Sunday morning to have coffee and a muffin somewhere flat. The rest of the time I'll ride my totally overdesigned, overly complicated, but incredibly functional mountain bike to stay fit. O, and my ten speed carbon/aluminium/titanium road wonder to get me from A to B via the real world roads, hills and all. Am I ever going to stop dreaming about that fixie? Yes, when I've built it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongoose! Posted April 23, 2011 Share Why haven't I done it yet? Perhaps because deep down I know that I'll hardly ever ride it The same here. Also have a most of the parts to build one (Just need a rear wheel - not sure how those fixed hubs work ... , but when will I use it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted April 24, 2011 Share A Fixie is great to improve your cadence skills. Use it in the winter months on shorter rides. You will be amazed how it improves your pedal stoke once you get back onto your bike after winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EigerSA Posted April 24, 2011 Share I love my fixie, honestly it feels more like riding than my ss and even more than more my originally geared bike. I only get to ride it over the weekend on a Sunday morning to breakfast since it's pretty hilly around me and I haven't quite got the hang of skidding to slow down. As soon as the legs are strong enough and I've mastered that skidding stop, I'll commute with it when I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongoose! Posted April 24, 2011 Share mmmmmm.... sounds nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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