Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Why did you "get fixed"

When I was in college about six years ago, i rode my gary fisher mountain bike to parties. Inevitably, some drunk frat boy would ask if he could ride it. I usually relented, but on many occasions it would result in a pinch flat or a broken spoke. I wanted a bike that most people can't ride.
I had read about track bikes somewhere and decided I wanted one. I went to a local bike shop in my hometown in Maryland and asked if they had any. they happened to have a 56cm viner from the 70's with a bent handlebar (standard steel track drop). I guess someone had a really bad fall and decided track bikes weren't for them.I rode it around the block, forgot about the nonfreewheeling nature, and promply got thrown from the saddle. I regained control and decided the bike was for me. $250 later it was mine, plus another $120 for a clincher wheelset.
I started riding it to parties. When someone asked me to ride it, I would say "Sure, but it doesn't have any brakes and you can't stop pedalling" I don't think people grasped this concept when they were inebriated. I got an severe case of schiendfreud ( german for "happiness at the misfortune of others". leave it to the germans to have a word for that) when I would see someone bust their ass or ride into a parked car or curb. I even say an old black guy steal it and when he tried to ride away, he clipped his pedal going around a curve. I walked up to him as he was laying on the ground bleeding, took the bike, and said " You dumb prick, you got what you deserved".
I had the only track bike in my college, and it commanded respect. Even the bmx'ers gave me props when i took it to their track ( no jumps, just rolled with it). One asked me if he could give it a try. He rode it through the track and said "dude, you're nuts for riding this thing".
Track bikes are for me. A true 1 percenter I am.

Why did you "get fixed"?

i have never driven (never got a liscense or anything) and i eventually started realizing a mountain bike wasn't the best way to get around so i started looking into road bikes. i started browsing thrift stores and pawn shops and bought some road bikes that i thought were decent but the components sucked @ss and i eventually just stripped them off and started riding single speed. one of my friends moved down from milwaukee and had a fixed and it just made so much sense to me. i built up a conversion and then got a track'ish bike. no looking back since then.

A friend of mine had this bike, it looked like *****. The frame was like 4 different colors, it had these weird bars that pointed forwards, and only one brake. He took his wheel off and spun it, and that Phil Wood hub just spun and spun, so smoothly you could feel the weight shift when the valve went by. I thought it was awesome. I didn't ever think I could afford something like that. A year or two later I asked a different friend (who was my upstairs neighbor) if I could ride his fixed gear to the meeting we were going to. He said I could if I would clean the chain first. I said sure, he hopped in the shower, and I proceeded to cut the end of my index finger off. I told him we had to go to the hospital, he called a friend who had just been over, who graciously drove me to the ER. I lost my job (I couldn't lift boxes). I spent $80 on a Van Dessel wheel, another 40-50 on a cog/lockring, $20 on the cheapest (performance) tires I could find. Once the wheel finally came in (a month? two months later?) I put it on and started riding and LOVED it. My girlfriend and I got serious because she wanted to take care of me and my jacked up finger. We'd have broken up long ago if it hadn't been for that. I got a job at a bike co-op, then at a bike shop. I lost the bike co-op job, and now I'm a full time mechanic at the bike shop. I have other bikes, and I ride them, but there's just something special about the sort of bike that can change your life so drastically in 1 second or less.

He said I could if I would clean the chain first. I said sure, he hopped in the shower, and I proceeded to cut the end of my index finger off.

nice.

So I could ride a beautiful simple machine... after riding for the first time, I was in. That was 5 years and three fixed/track bikes ago...

How do you cut the end of your finger off cleaning a chain? Were you using a really sharp rag, or did you spin your finger into the chainring?

Oh, those old black guys. When will they realize that fixies are not for them?

How do you cut the end of your finger off cleaning a chain? Were you using a really sharp rag, or did you spin your finger into the chainring?


Sharp rag... heh. that made me chuckle. Actually, it was the cog what done it. I had the bike upside down, the wheel was spinning pretty quick, and the rag just got sucked into the cog and so did my finger. REALLY FAST. You don't even have time to think about it.

schadenfreude

Because it narrows my anger down.

....because no one else rode fixed in my bario.

... so I wouldn't pass on my genes.

...because i'm a hipster.

Cuz they're easier to maintain! Oh, and they look cool and give you "hardcore" cred with your non-riding friends.

Because I needed a bike for commuting and it was cheaper than a road bike. Before I rode it out of the store I had never been on a track bike and I didn't really know anything about them.

I had the only track bike in my college, and it commanded respect. Even the bmx'ers gave me props when i took it to their track ( no jumps, just rolled with it). One asked me if he could give it a try. He rode it through the track and said "dude, you're nuts for riding this thing".
Track bikes are for me. A true 1 percenter I am.

Why did you "get fixed"?

Hahaha...damn dude it's just a bike.

because I already had 2 children.

Oh and I got a fixed BIKE because the simplicity appealed to me. I'm a bike nut, and I was looking for something different. Ever since I tried it I've been hooked.

I wanted a simple bike for commuting around campus and it looked like something that would fit the bill. I started with the idea of a conversion but then I realized I couldn't build anything for the price I could get a KHS complete through my school team. I just decided to buy it on the spot since it was so cheap. I had never ridden a track bike before I got my KHS. What a good decision.

Two years later, I like to pimp out my fixed more than I do my road bike. And it has really helped out my road game which is probably since I was riding fixed for a year in Copenhagen and not switching between the two. I like the feeling of riding a fixed gear since you can totally control it all through your legs and actually feel all the power rather than the derailleur and other parts taking away power.

It's one of my most favorite displines of cycling because you got to learn how to ride a bike all over again but this time I was fully aware of everything going on and can recall it all. I do remember riding in my childhood in the neighborhood but have no idea when things like the training wheels coming off occurred.

it made sense.

Oh, those old black guys. When will they realize that fixies are not for them?

Yeah, those old black guys, always with the bike stealing.

For me it all started with a singlespeed mountain bike. After getting addicted to that I decided I wanted the same simplicity and ease of maintenance in a bike dedicated to commuting, running errands around town, and just generally bumming around on.

Built a beater conversion from an old steel Nishiki frame, rode it for a while before upgrading the frame to an IRO Jamie Roy 'cause the Nishiki wasn't really comfortable enough for a 30 mi. r/t commute.

Recently re-built the Nishiki and it's back in its original role as a beater, around-town bike. Due to upgradeitis I wasn't comfortable leaving the IRO locked and unattended at various places around town for long periods of time, so it's been relegated to commuting/recreational riding.

-Trevor

I rode my friends track bike and had far too much fun to not get a fixie of my own.

Between Sheldon Brown & this forum, I thought getting fixed would be fun. My Fuji frame broke where the chainstay welds to the rear dropout. I was commuting a lot on the Fuji and getting ready to take a LCI seminar. Before I even contacted Fuji, I shopped Ebay and found an old Bianchi frame (that even fit me) to replace the Fuji. Got it for $40, including shipping.

However, Fuji came through and provided a new frame (lifetime warranty on steel frames), even though it took them three tries to get an intact frame shipped to me. You would think bike company would know how to package a frame for shipping.

So the old Fuji components went on the new Fuji frame, leaving me with the Bianchi frame still bare. I used parts I had on hand and bought others, building up the Bianchi frame as a fixed gear. I'm not totally pure of heart, since I run a front brake and have a dummy brake lever on the right.

The fixie is the bike I use for my short (5 mile one way) commute, using the Fuji for the longer (17 miles one way) commute (I work out of several different facilities). The fixie is also the ride of choice for shorter solo rides, rides with my younger son & parades.

The wife calls it 'Half a Bike', since it lacks many components in her eyes. I call it a fun ride.

schadenfreude
The peasant's prayer:

Lord, my family has been starving all winter. We toiled in the fields all summer and fall, and brought in as much food as we could. We rationed carefully throughout the snow storms and blizzards, and still we find ourselves running out of food with spring nowhere in sight. Our neighbors have suffered a similar fate; but they have a large pig. When their food runs out, they can kill the pig and eat well for the rest of the winter. My family has no livestock to slaughter.

Lord, if you would please... kill my neighbors' pig.

simplicity

Cuz they're easier to maintain! Oh, and they look cool and give you "hardcore" cred with your non-riding friends.

right on dog! your buds give you serious 'core dap for ridin' fixed. and chicks dig it.

I was in the market for a bike as a mode of transportation and exercise, and then I saw fixedgeargallery.com, and I instantly knew I wanted a fixie.

My buddy game me an old Varsity from his garage, I converted it, and yeah.

I rode bmx for a few years.. I saw kids riding around the city on road bikes with no brakes and I set out to figure out how they did it.. I found out and I met Chris (cripiter) who goes to my school and he explained it further and I saw his beyond amazing circle a and I knew I needed to ride a fixed gear bike. Still learning everything as far as sizes and spacing and all that on road bike parts but I'm having a good time. Painting a bike up hot style pretty soon.

When I was in college about six years ago, ... Inevitably, some drunk frat boy would ask if he could ride it. I usually relented, but on many occasions it would result in a pinch flat or a broken spoke. I wanted a bike that most people can't ride.

awwwww.....poor baby


I got an severe case of schiendfreud ( german for "happiness at the misfortune of others". leave it to the germans to have a word for that) when I would see someone bust their ass or ride into a parked car or curb. I even say an old black guy steal it and when he tried to ride away, he clipped his pedal going around a curve. I walked up to him as he was laying on the ground bleeding, took the bike, and said " You dumb prick, you got what you deserved".

*smh*


when i took it to their track ( no jumps, just rolled with it). One asked me if he could give it a try. He rode it through the track and said "dude, you're nuts for riding this thing".
Track bikes are for me. A true 1 percenter I am.


excuse my reaction, but you sound like a little biatch with a little **** complex...
you got into fixed riding so you could be a little prick yourself and so that all the bad guys (frat boys; bLacK people...oh no!) wouldn't fuk with you?

that's sad

way too much judging of others going on. it's just bicycles, guys.

started off with a new mountain bike and was going to upgrade all of the drivetrain but I'm a graduate student so funds are tight so in the meantime I just converted it to a single speed to save weight and money.....then I took it out and rode some trails on it and it is awesome...

After riding the singlespeed and looking around on fgg and here I decided to buy a fixed gear and now thats the only bike I ride unless I am going to the trails for mountain biking

I started riding single speeds after watching my 4 year old son ride the s*** out of his bike. Up hills & down hills he needed only one gear - why did I need 16?

Fixed was the next step.

My daughter also rides a single speed.

awwwww.....poor baby



*smh*



excuse my reaction, but you sound like a little biatch with a little **** complex...
you got into fixed riding so you could be a little prick yourself and so that all the bad guys (frat boys; bLacK people...oh no!) wouldn't fuk with you?

that's sad

:rolleyes: I am a nice guy. I always lets other ride my bikes if they ask. I just got tired of people ****ing up my bikes while they were in an altered state of consciousness. It's amusing that fixed gear bikes gave me an alpha wave state of altered consciousness that bikes with deraileurs didn't.
My guess is that you weren't in the most teriffic of moods when you read my post, and launched into ad hominim attacks as a way to compensate for the things that happened during your day. We all have done it, and I understand. I also know that most of us ride fixed as a way to reduce maintainence, broken spokes, chain gouges, or deraileus out of wack. I just explained it in a slightly different way.
I also used to teach in a school right across from the housing projects( granted, probably not as rough as NYC) that was filled with many underprivleged children, so I might be throwing a proverbial wrench in your cog ( or a frame pump in your spokes).
I wish you the best. I hope tomorrow will be better than today for you.

:rolleyes: I am a nice guy. I always lets other ride my bikes if they ask. I just got tired of people ****ing up my bikes while they were in an altered state of consciousness. It's amusing that fixed gear bikes gave me an alpha wave state of altered consciousness that bikes with deraileurs didn't.
My guess is that you weren't in the most teriffic of moods when you read my post, and launched into ad hominim attacks as a way to compensate for the things that happened during your day. We all have done it, and I understand. I also know that most of us ride fixed as a way to reduce maintainence, broken spokes, chain gouges, or deraileus out of wack. I just explained it in a slightly different way.
I also used to teach in a school right across from the housing projects( granted, probably not as rough as NYC) that was filled with many underprivleged children, so I might be throwing a proverbial wrench in your cog ( or a frame pump in your spokes).
I wish you the best. I hope tomorrow will be better than today for you.

I'm sure you're a "nice guy". Whatever the fuk that means. A lot of people are. I was just displaying to you how crude your seemingly simple story appears to, say....someone like me. Yes I read into things...
and 's pretty evident that you thought you were talkin' to a bunch of your white boy peeps (which for the most part, you were)... but the fact that you had to distinguish that it was a black guy who tried to steal your bike , and then proceed to flaunt how you chastized him by calling him a "dumb prick" while you relished in the joy of watching his pain subtly shows something about your character...which you openly seem to admit is pretty rough and reactionary

btw...my mood had nothing to do with my response...
and so what you used to teach at a school across from the projects?...and?

you're still a little prick (...and from your response, I confirm my suspicions) ;)

oh..and...no...I wish YOU the best

i just watched crash. this is weird.

Gotta go with teiaperigosa on that one dude. Why was it necessary to describe your foiled bike thief in terms of race, or age for that matter? I guess "fat drunk phrat boy" isn't much better in that it denigrates fat people, drunk people, phrat people and boy people. But then again there's not really a long and storied history of descrimination against and oppression of fat drunk phrat boys. Black folks tend to be a little more sensitive to things like that you know, so ya just might want to be a little more aware of your word choice in the future is all.

Oh, and I think all you mofos who ride fixed are crazy and a menace to society and whatever, but it's cool that you do it anyway.

I owned a fixed gear that a neighbor sold to me, long ago and far away, and I liked it. Nothing particular to it or anything. Then I started reading about fixed gears and how they help with the spinning technique and converted one. Now I like it better than my multispeed bike. It is lighter, it climbs better, and it is just as fast as my multigeared commuter on flats. It is pretty theft proof, and there is not very attractive when parked next to other newer, more expensive, mountain bikes. I let other people ride it and they think that I am from another planet for being able to ride this thing. I like the slow speed control that the fixed gear provides, thing that I learned from my first fixed gear, and the simple looks of the thing makes me very happy.
I dig my gears, but I love my fixed.

While I agree with your statements, GrandCrew, considering my word choice may have not been the best, i feel that it was descriptive, while not necessary. I probably would have described a white teenager in the same terms. it just happened to be a black man. If I would have seen the person who stole my old Trek 720 hybrid, i would have relished seeing them crash as well. I just feel that instant karma is enjoyable to see in person, whether it be for a person who has done something good to be immediately rewarded, or to see a ne'erdowell punished by the hands of fate.
As for the other person who shall remain nameless, What have you done to help the African American community? I have done some, but maybe considering my above statements, I need to do more.
We all probably need to do more to help our community, Black, White, Phrat, or boy.
And I thank you for wishing me the best.

I also found it interesting that you didn't launch into ad m=hominim attacks when someone suggested you "go ghetto" with a half link chain in one of your previous posts. To me, that seems to be just as politically incorrect as my above statement. It seems as if that poster was inferring a figure of speech that most people, myself included, would find offensive. you just thanked him.

to all I have offended, I'm sorry. I will choose my words more carefully in the future.

1. I got into bikes at college. I could ride somewhere in 10 minutes that took 30 minutes to walk.

2. I bought a decent mountain bike.

3. I bought a nice mountain bike. Actually took it off road.

4. Ran into a single speed mtb somewhere online. Liked the idea. Converted an old frame.

5. Saw messenger bikes around town. Puzzled at their brakelessness.

6. Stumbled into this forum, looking for a couple answers about SS parts. Found that nobody gave a **** about mountain bikes here, only fixed road bikes. Figured out #5.

7. Got tired of riding my 32x16 mtb around town. Bought a nice old road bike.

8. Got tired of maintaining / worrying about theft of the road bike.

9. Utilized a couple of the 20+ frames in my basement to build a fix. Worked great. New challenge. Fun. Promise of finding people to ride with.

and so on...

Because I wanted to be just like you, all of you. You are all so.....punk rock.

Jeese, ride your ****ing bike and shut up. Or don't ride your bike, and just shut up.

The cute cashier at Urban Outfitters wouldn't date me because I rode a freewheel. So I bought a Pista and went brakeless. The rest is history ...

The cute cashier at Urban Outfitters wouldn't date me because I rode a freewheel. So I bought a Pista and went brakeless. The rest is history ...

heck yeah now that's what i'm talking about ;)

although my story was kinda the opposite...

i needed a way to release my stress from school work and crap.. so i got a Raleigh old road bike and converted it... from that.. i compeletly forgot about the following things:
1.Girls
2.Girls
3.Girls
4.Alcohol and parties

:D
fixed gear has saved my life

Fixie envy every time I saw one of those damn things. So fresh so clean.

Anticipated freedom from mid-winter derailleur adjustments.

An undying love for fast shiny new things that I can get dirty.

Chixdiggit.

i'm converting a bike into fixed gear because i never used the gears on my road bike regardless of the situation.

The cute cashier at Urban Outfitters wouldn't date me because I rode a freewheel. So I bought a Pista and went brakeless. The rest is history ...

I love the picture under your name, truly old school.

I have had girls that wouldn't date be because I didn't have a car, but never because of a freewheel.

so i could sleep until 5 minutes before class started and be early...

teiaperigosa, if you're in Ithaca, you must ride about 150 gear inches. Nothin but steep hills there (Buffalo Street!!!!!)

Best,
rlh

Because I love bikes!!!!!!