Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Where's the Fixie? (Similar to Where's Waldo)

ok, call it an obsession. spotting fixies is fun! especially when you aren't looking for them. i found one today on six apart's (movable type, livejournal, etc...) website. i am pretty sure it's one even though you can only see the handlebars sans bartape or brakes!

visual proof! (http://www.sixapart.com/about/jobs) and the office is in sf which gives it a bit more credibility i guess.

have you spotted any in the wild on accident as well?

Haha, that's great.

Wow - strange. And a bit sickening. Oh well.
Paulie Shore sure does look great in that shot (he is the bald guy, right?).

Next thing you know, Lucky Charms will be giving away green lockings, blue crankarms, and purple drops.

Really? Sweet.

I spotted one in a Jose Cuervo ad in the new Maxim. Its the one that says something about Jose controlling the weather, in the background you can see a guy pedaling a bike with no front derailluer and no front brake, the back of the bike is obscured but judging from the front it is a fixie.

it looks like the bike was photoshopped into that six apart picture...

it looks like the bike was photoshopped into that six apart picture...

and they photoshoped the pancakes out from the tops of their heads too...oh well

There was a fixie on the HP.com site homepage but it's not there anymore. It was a guy in the foreground standing with his bike, looking at a big painting in the background (through a window?). the bike was mostly out of the frame but it was a road frame, no brakes on the bars, and sporting one of those weird ergo-saddles (two buttons and no horn) that make sense but are ugly. Also he had a messenger bag on.

Holly and I look for incidental bicycles in the Times, and sometimes I cut 'em out and enlarge them on the zerox for fun. there aren't very many, though...

i was watching some show on the History Channel last night that had turn of the century movie footage of old New York City, and in the foreground of one of the clips, a guy on a brakeless scorcher blows through traffic really quickly.

i liked the STD fixie ad. have the clap? get a fixie.

i liked the STD fixie ad. have the clap? get a fixie.

i was gonna mention that too but i could never really tell if it was a fixie. now that we are talking about it, there is a *possible* fixie in the March/April issue of ReadyMade but I could never make a good enough judgement since it was just the backend. i mean, the guy lives in new york and him and his girlfriend rennovated an entire warehouse into sustainable/green apartments to rent out. no scanner here, so a (crappy) digital picture of it will have to do.


http://www.brandonchalk.com/wp-content/_fixie.jpg

full size imageness (http://www.brandonchalk.com/wp-content/fixie.jpg)

it has flat pedals but i can't see a coaster brake. fixie detectives?

Yeah, it's either fixed or SS. Look at the hub body, that's not a coaster. You can go fixed without clips or clipless. People did it for many years.

Yeah, it's either fixed or SS. Look at the hub body, that's not a coaster. You can go fixed without clips or clipless. People did it for many years.

yea, but i wouldn't want to ride fixed without clips/clipless. i've done it before but it's far harder to control and i don't like that. but most times, it is when i am riding very slow and don't care about bombing through the city so it is fine.

I did it for about a year and I've got a friend who's still riding without. It worked fine, about as well as any other bike without a foot retension system.

i was gonna mention that too but i could never really tell if it was a fixie. now that we are talking about it, there is a *possible* fixie in the March/April issue of ReadyMade but I could never make a good enough judgement since it was just the backend. i mean, the guy lives in new york and him and his girlfriend rennovated an entire warehouse into sustainable/green apartments to rent out. no scanner here, so a (crappy) digital picture of it will have to do.

I read that article several times. That place was amazing.

I did it for about a year and I've got a friend who's still riding without. It worked fine, about as well as any other bike without a foot retension system.

i tip my hat to thee.

i just don't like knowing i can't slowdown as effectively as i can with toestraps/clipless. there is a messenger i met in copenhagen riding flats too. just like learning to ride fixed, you probably adapt to it and just learn how to gauge things even better.

I did it for about 4 yrs and ride like that now or with one clip. Depending on my bike.

S/F<
CEYA!

i just don't like knowing i can't slowdown as effectively as i can with toestraps/clipless.

The same could be said about riding brakeless, y'know..

I did it for about 4 yrs and ride like that now or with one clip. Depending on my bike.

S/F<
CEYA!

I am very curious about this, while I know going brakeless has downsides previously explored, I would like to know how you manage to go up hills?

When things get nasty, I use the method I think is generaly used, which is pull on one side of the handlebars, push one pedal and pull the others, and try to give it a flow. I have found it's a pretty efficient way of grunting the hills, so how does one keep one's feet firmly planted in the optimum position on the pedals?

(while I know this qualifies as a thread hijack, I do not feel remorse has the subject has already derailed)

I prefer to ride with no pedals at all.

Seriously though, its hard to use the argument of 'it would be more practical if you...' with this crowd, since overall practicality rarely plays too big of a role in our choices.

peace,
sam

PS Riding with no pedals is reaaaaly hard, try it sometime. Then when you get good at it, you can be the hardest core messenger/poesenger in town.

Millions of bikes are sold every year in this country. Some of them even go up hills. Most are ridden without clips or clipless pedals.

Is it the best technique for squeezing every last bit of power from your legs? Nope. Will it get you to work and back? Sure.

My fixed mountain bike still has blocks (I forgot about it) because for where and when I ride, it's more important that I be able to get my feet on and off the pedal easily than to have the most efficient bike/rider connection.

http://www.zweknu.org/uploads/fixed_mtb_1024.jpg

You could get one of those early bikes, no pedals, no cranks, no chain.. you just kinda run with it between your legs.

I had BMX Bear Claws on my MTB and I love them. i would never want clips on an MTB. I don't trust myself enough.


Back on subject. If you think about it, well atleast in this section of the forum I think we can all agree that Fixies are the purtiest things on the road. So simple, sexy and elegant.

I would like to think art directors and producers and the sort catch that kinda stuff. Plus they are totally in with the cool crowd!

I would like to think art directors and producers and the sort catch that kinda stuff. Plus they are totally in with the cool crowd!

Which is better than where they were in high school: Getting beat up by the cool crowd.

The same could be said about riding brakeless, y'know..

totally true.

i think ever since i started riding clipless six years ago and fixed about 1.5 years, it's just so natural to me now that riding flat footed feels weird. as someone mentioned, if things got crazy and i was riding flat, i don't know how i would be able to slowdown as quickly. let alone skid if things came to that.

and i can only begin to imagine the damage it would cause if you lost footing and the pedal hit your shin a la bmx style. i think that actually happened to me when i started riding fixed since i didn't want to use toestraps and then found out the hard way.

Ok, I think I found a really good one. I was watching that movie "SWAT" today, as a result of my extreme boredom. It's the one with Samuel Jackson and LadiesLove Cool J amongst others. Anyway, in one of the scenes where there's about to be a shootout, this guy rides through the frame on what appears to be a fixie. I cant be sure because the shot literally last like 2.5 seconds and it was just on tv, but I'm going to download it and see if I can get a screenshot.

Adidas Ad

Ok, I think I found a really good one. I was watching that movie "SWAT" today, as a result of my extreme boredom. It's the one with Samuel Jackson and LadiesLove Cool J amongst others. Anyway, in one of the scenes where there's about to be a shootout, this guy rides through the frame on what appears to be a fixie. I cant be sure because the shot literally last like 2.5 seconds and it was just on tv, but I'm going to download it and see if I can get a screenshot.

BIKE TERRORISTZ!

Adidas Ad

one pant leg up - +3 fixie scene points

i like this game! here is an accompanying pic to an article about living without a car (on an environmental news website!); looks fixed with a front brake:

http://www.grist.org/comments/soapbox/2005/05/26/sainsbury-license/
http://www.grist.org/comments/soapbox/2005/05/26/bicycle_hp.jpg

Freewheel, I think.

i like this game! here is an accompanying pic to an article about living without a car (on an environmental news website!); looks fixed with a front brake:

http://www.grist.org/comments/soapbox/2005/05/26/sainsbury-license/
http://www.grist.org/comments/soapbox/2005/05/26/bicycle_hp.jpg


AHAHAHAHAHA....you just made my day.

"The Danes -- who, in contrast to the Cubans, are neither communists nor particularly good dancers"

a. my friend laughed at me in poland when i was in the grocery store because i was so excited. everything was so cheap. he said he swore i had been living in a communist country. i am living in denmark right now.
b. this past weekend at a club i was at. there was this danish lady doing some pseudo-rave techno dance that involved looking at an imaginary ball she had in her hands. we got there at midnight. we left at 3:30 am and she was still doing it. maybe she was a good dancer in her mind?

i can't tell but it looks like it might be a flip/flop hub?

']Wow - strange. And a bit sickening. Oh well.
Paulie Shore sure does look great in that shot (he is the bald guy, right?).

Next thing you know, Lucky Charms will be giving away green lockings, blue crankarms, and purple drops.

Have ta find some for myself first. . .

Yeah, it's either fixed or SS. Look at the hub body, that's not a coaster. You can go fixed without clips or clipless. People did it for many years.

Saw a kid in Portland with brand-new-lookin' Pista-- no brakes, no clips. Platforms. I said to myself: "deathtrap!"

I spent my first year of "urban" riding on ancient 80s LOOK clipless pedals and Chuck Taylors (it was an early 80s chrome Mongoose MTB frame). Not only did my feet hurt, but rain / ice / snow was totally awful. I eventually learned to grab a bit with my toes (flexible converse sole allowed this) to stay on. I eventually got some BMX platforms--a world of difference those made.

I like the clips / straps on my fix but some eggbeaters would be way preferable. Problem is, though, that I use the bike for commuting and casual purposes-- I don't wanna wear cleats to the bar. Clip / strap setups allow me more power/control in regular street shoes.

Body Worlds Scammers!

Got another one and it's pretty good. There's this "Know HIV/AIDS" campaign running on MTV and various other places where an ad with two good looking and hip twenty somethings on fixies/SS might be effective. They ride their bikes down the block while Common (rapper...DCC kids should know him well) speaks some rhymes of wisdom about how knowing if you have HIV/AIDS is "beautiful". So go get tested and ride your fixies home...

here's an unintentional fixie from a dance review in a recent New Yorker. Looks like the illustrator just didn't want to bother with derailleurs, but who knows? a fixie would certainly be the most elegant bike to use in a dance performance.

http://www.pdbd.com/otherimgs/nyerfix.jpg

I like the clips / straps on my fix but some eggbeaters would be way preferable. Problem is, though, that I use the bike for commuting and casual purposes-- I don't wanna wear cleats to the bar. Clip / strap setups allow me more power/control in regular street shoes.

shimano 324s, or their many knockoffs, have platforms one side, SPDs the other. toeclips would be impractical on the flatside, but maybe you could pull off powergrips. anyway, check em out, great for the occasional street-shoe ride (or learning how to trackstand!).

http://www.brandonchalk.com/images/fixed_gear.jpg

a new find and definitely a fixie!

I prefer to ride with no pedals at all.

Seriously though, its hard to use the argument of 'it would be more practical if you...' with this crowd, since overall practicality rarely plays too big of a role in our choices.

peace,
sam

PS Riding with no pedals is reaaaaly hard, try it sometime. Then when you get good at it, you can be the hardest core messenger/poesenger in town.

back when i had a working mountain bike, i replaced my pedals with an adjustable wrench. i was all smug from having successfully swapped them out, until my ride home. the pedals fell off on the manhattan bridge climb -- my clips stayed on my shoes, and i of course ate it.

it takes an excruciatingly long time to cross the manhattan bridge on foot. i finally got to the crest and coasted down the other side, and got it in my head to jam the pedals into the cranks and pedal the rest of the way home. that worked for about a block.

lesson learned: don't strip the threads on your pedals and crank arms, or you'll have a bad day. and you'll have to buy new stuff. i'm just glad i learned that on my beater bike.

yeah there's a messenger downtown that rides brakeless, no straps, no clips..... I just cringe every time I think about it, can't quite wrap my head around it yet.