As I look through the posts and see pictures of folk's bikes and the "Malachi" post, I see a lot of fixed gear bikes. Not having ridden one since I was 12 (45 yrs ago) I am having trouble understanding the attraction. Can someone explain it to me?
It's retro, but then a car with a stick shift and no synchromesh would be as well, until you miss a shift and drop the tranny in the middle of the street.
Pros: Simpler mechanically, cleaner look.
Cons: Hard on the knees, no breaks from pedalling, much easier to turn your shin in hamburger if you slip off a pedal. No ability to downshift on hills.
I can see it having a big attraction for a teen to 20 something wanting to train for either professional racing, or Olympic cycling events. For an over weight, 40 something with questionable knees (like me), I can't really see it, unless the orthopaedic surgeon who is going to do your knee replacement is "hot".
If you have an old bicycle frame, then I could see doing a fixed gear, as parts would be cheaper, as you can skip the cassette, RD, FD, shifters, rear brake. Although a Single speed with a rear coaster brake would have much the same benefits, without giving quite as much knee trouble.... As for me, I like having multiple gears, being able to down-shift for ascents and up-shift for descents. Which I like to do for rollers, shift into a high gear, and pedal like mad going downhill, and let momentum carry you most of the way up the next one. Except in this city, some idiot traffic planner usually put an all way stop sign at the bottom, so you need to ride the rear brake all the way down, then use your 17 gear inch double granny, on the way up.
