Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Riding brakeless could save your marriage

http://www.dirtragmag.com/web/article.php?ID=744

Interesting interpretation... that's not what I took from that article at all.

Yeah, nothing about brakeless, and he switched to a geared MTB after the divorce...

Interesting interpretation... that's not what I took from that article at all.


agreed---indeed, it would seem that riding brakeless COST him his marriage

the moral of the story was learn to use gears or else you will get lost in the monotony of the single speed and lose everything you love. so, an anti-fixed gear article, though more just for metaphorical reasons

What a ridiculous article.

What a ridiculous article.

agreed--sounds to me like his wife $crewed him over and that his fixed gear kept him sane through the ordeal

I think this is pretty spot on.

"There is only one problem with the fixed gear bike—you have only one gear, and its possible to get lulled into a hypnotic trance. Here's how my ride goes—jump on the bike. Mindlessly turn the crank. Move forward. Balance. Steer a little to the left. Compensate. Steer a little to the right. Push a little harder on the hills. Pull back a little on the descents. Day in and day out, the ride is pretty much the same."

The ex got the dream house.
"If you aint no punk holla 'We Want Prenup!'"

Strange article. It kind of hit home, because my wife is on my case because I haven't adjusted her brakes yet.

to push as hard as you can against the world, and yet to be always pushed back at with the overwhelming force that the world is capable of, is to remind us of what we really are. the mind wills us to go faster and longer, denying our limits and denying our fallibility; only the body bows to the real. the mind rejects the world when we are wronged, the body is beyond good and evil. we are unceasingly reminded that our will is infinitesimally small compared to the insurmountable force of the real.

I think this is pretty spot on.

"There is only one problem with the fixed gear bike—you have only one gear, and its possible to get lulled into a hypnotic trance. Here's how my ride goes—jump on the bike. Mindlessly turn the crank. Move forward. Balance. Steer a little to the left. Compensate. Steer a little to the right. Push a little harder on the hills. Pull back a little on the descents. Day in and day out, the ride is pretty much the same."


It sounds like this 'problem' is just perspective. When you have a level of control that allows you to 'fly on autopilot' or to have your muscle memory 'ride' for your mind it sounds more like zen (and I'm no philosopher or 'deep' individual) than a problem.


LOL 'lulled into a hypnotic trance'. Bottle it and sell it as a pill instead of a cheap fixie so people don't have to get off the couch and you will gain access to the 'real' marketplace.

...his fixed gear kept him sane through the ordeal...

Really.
I didn't agree with everything the author wrote, and, in fact disagreed with much.
Nonetheless, the article served the purpose of making me think.

My daughter got married this last Saturday afternoon.
What an emotional ordeal.
Wait until you have a grown daughter and you'll understand.

Anyway, I got up that morning and told my wife I needed a sanity ride and I'd try to get back before the wedding.
So, I went and did THE HILL on my fixed gear bike.

Later that day, after the wedding and in the quiet of our home, my wife described my morning sanity ride as "a very smart thing to do."
Yes.

A few days or weeks ago, I flew several patients from an automobile accident that killed an entire family.
I can't talk too much about it because of patient confidentiality, but I identified very much with one of the patients, who died on the helicopter.
That night I rode home in the dark against a vicious wind.
What a blessing.

At least in my personal experience, riding fixed helps me keep sane---No smaller gears to fall back on--no excuses--just me, my bike, the hill, the ride. Simple, yes, mindnumbing--thats the point. If i dont make it, i have no one to blame but myself---so long as i can take the hill, i can face the job the next day. No matter how bad it burns, it is solely an issue of willpower to make it. The simplicitly of the ride is what keeps me sane. The toll on my willpower means that if i possess the fortitude to make it up the hill, i can handle the a-holes at work.

It sounds to me that the author would have gone off his rocker were it not for his "sanity rides"

Monotonous and unchanging. Interesting perspective. Albeit wrong. Gears allow the bike to adapt to the rider. Therefore the bike is what adapts and is flexible. If the bike doesn't change it forces the rider to adapt and be resilient. Just another way to look at it.

Gears allow the bike to adapt to the rider. Therefore the bike is what adapts and is flexible. If the bike doesn't change it forces the rider to adapt and be resilient.

What a delicious challenge.
I learn something everytime I ride my fixed gear bike.
I revel in the intimacy, the inescapable effortless concentration.

My wife says a kite cannot fly unless a string attaches it to the ground.
Somehow, my one fixed gear keeps me grounded, and I fly.

DUH, the original poster is implying that the marriage fell apart because, as you can clearly see in the picture, the author is NOT riding brakeless.

Can someone older than myself explain to me why marriages end like that? Is boredom really a *****?

If someone marries because his or her life partner has a nice body or face, that soon fades.

I mean, we all look beautiful to someone at some point in our lives, if only for two weeks or two years.

However, beauty goes its way, and people find themselves fascinated more by their work and their hobbies than by their partner.

Marry your best friend.
Friendship has its own beauty, and it lasts.

man. this thread got kind of serious. i mean, relationship counseling?
however, i agree with ken cox. seriously, i do.

Can someone older than myself explain to me why marriages end like that? Is boredom really a *****?


because people get married when they are still twitterpated--then when the monotony of family life takes hold they feel cheated: "why arent things the way they used to be--i want excitement, adventure, etc" --this happened to two of my best friends--married right out of HS or while in college, while they were still "in love." The "in love" thing fades fast. Both of my friends had to take 2 jobs to support a family--the wife stayed home and got bored and upset b/c my friends worked all the time. [not that its always the female's fault--another one of my male friends got mad at his wife for spending all of her time with the baby and the fact he couldnt hang out with his beer budies anymore, and left her].

Its much harder to love someone than be "in love" with them.

In contrast, my uncle married his best friend of 10 years in his 30s--both were friends while they dated others-they knew each other inside and out by the time they got hitched--no suprises there--20 years and going strong. he works on his cars while she does her thing--they both respect each other's hobbies and arent trying to change one another
--

That and people are such self-centered egoists today that when they can't achieve instant gratification, encounter problems that require time and committment to work out, they quit and move onto the next flavor of the month.

Part of it is also that marriage doesnt mean what it used to. My grandparents fought constantly, but still found a way to make it work for 60 years. Today, someone in thier shoes would have said the hell with it and moved on
---I guess living through the great depression and a world war puts domestic arguments over a canopener in perspective.


My 2 worthless cents

"If you aint no punk holla 'We Want Prenup!'"

I side with Kanye here...

I agree with Ken Cox. Unfortunately she doesn't.

Marry your best friend.
Friendship has its own beauty, and it lasts.


THAT is the best thing written in this forum in a long time. It wasn't even bike related either. Strange.

I think this is pretty spot on.

"There is only one problem with the fixed gear bike—you have only one gear, and its possible to get lulled into a hypnotic trance. Here's how my ride goes—jump on the bike. Mindlessly turn the crank. Move forward..."

"Which gear am I in? Am I in the right gear? Is my cadence right? What does the computer say? There's a rise coming, but it's also turning downwind a bit. Should I shift up or down? Should I shift now or wait until I slow down? ... O.K. I've shifted gears. Haven't I? I thought I heard something, but it seems the same. Look down. Has the chain moved? Is it about to shift? Did it jump two? ... Am I cross chaining? What's that noise? Does that thing need cleaning again? ..."

I'll take riding "mindlessly" any day of the week. Mindless in this context means paying attention to my body and my surroundings, not some Italian posing gadget.

Yes, I know how gears work, and how to clean drive trains, and how to adjust limit stops and indexing. I'm just not sure it's worth the trouble. To each his own.

"Which gear am I in? Am I in the right gear? Is my cadence right? What does the computer say? There's a rise coming, but it's also turning downwind a bit. Should I shift up or down? Should I shift now or wait until I slow down? ... O.K. I've shifted gears. Haven't I? I thought I heard something, but it seems the same. Look down. Has the chain moved? Is it about to shift? Did it jump two? ... Am I cross chaining? What's that noise? Does that thing need cleaning again? ..."

I'll take riding "mindlessly" any day of the week. Mindless in this context means paying attention to my body and my surroundings, not some Italian posing gadget.

Yes, I know how gears work, and how to clean drive trains, and how to adjust limit stops and indexing. I'm just not sure it's worth the trouble. To each his own.

If all you're trying to do it get from A to B on a bicycle, then a fixed gear is perfect. I love riding my fixed gear and track bikes. I was merely saying that the author of that article makes a valid point. Riding the same (fixed) gearing, on the same route, day after day (such as a commuter does) will lull you into doing just that... getting from A to B, in a very predictable manner. As a result, your training will be stagnant, and you will lack the versatility and explosiveness that can be gained by training on a geared bike under the same circumstances.

I think that the author's point is that on a fixed gear, the bike forces you to conform to itself, regardless of external factors. That includes, you, the terrain, the weather, traffic.

Because of the gears and brakes on a geared bike, the bike conforms to you, the terrain, the weather, and traffic. Hence, the motivation has to come from inside. Only on a steep hill are you forced to ride hard or dismount.

If you never change ratios, you can easily take to a particular pattern on a familiar route. If you try to step outside that pattern, you cannot conform, and you will be beaten. Thus, a geared bike can allow you to expand your capabilities in a way that a fixed gear cannot.

This is the double edged sword of the fixed gear. It's sameness is comforting, yet it can also be limiting. Its strength is its weakness.

I don't understand people here who act like the fixie is the only game in town. It isn't like you are cheating on your wife if you go and ride a geared bike sometimes.

homeboy should have bought a fixed/fixed flip-flop hub.

With a geared bike, one uses the gears to keep the cadence and the resistance constant.
Only time and distance change with gears.

With a fixed gear bike, the resistance and cadence change much more than on a geared bike, with substantially more resistance than one will ever feel on a geared bike; and with a much broader range of cadence, from slow and deliberate to spinning like crazy.

On a geared bike, I can go faster downhill than I can on a fixed gear bike; but, on a typical trip around town, I get my best times on my fixed gear bike, by a noticeable amount.
On my commute, I average 16.2mph on my geared bike and 20.25mph on my fixed gear bike.

Words that come to mind when contemplating my fixed gear bike: immediate, intense, intimate, Zen, real, personal, dynamic, explosive, refined, subtle, controlled, precise, light, true, silent, pure, simple, complex, constant, relentless, free, independent, strong, flying.

Words that come to mind when contemplating my geared bike: boring, noisy, slow, detached, vague, inexact, imprecise, sloppy, heavy, complicated, obtuse, downhill, chore, weak, busy, dependent, rolling.

When I get very, very old (presently 59 going on 60) I will get a nice old man's geared bike with bullhorns, bar end brake levers and downtube shifters; and I will go uphill slowly and downhill fast.
I pray for another ten years on my fixed gear bike because I would rather go uphill fast and downhill slow.

When i get old I want a sturmey archer 3 speed fixed hub on a path racer with brakes. Until then...

With a geared bike, one uses the gears to keep the cadence and the resistance constant.
Only time and distance change with gears.

With a fixed gear bike, the resistance and cadence change much more than on a geared bike, with substantially more resistance than one will ever feel on a geared bike; and with a much broader range of cadence, from slow and deliberate to spinning like crazy.

On a geared bike, I can go faster downhill than I can on a fixed gear bike; but, on a typical trip around town, I get my best times on my fixed gear bike, by a noticeable amount.
On my commute, I average 16.2mph on my geared bike and 20.25mph on my fixed gear bike.

Words that come to mind when contemplating my fixed gear bike: immediate, intense, intimate, Zen, real, personal, dynamic, explosive, refined, subtle, controlled, precise, light, true, silent, pure, simple, complex, constant, relentless, free, independent, strong, flying.


Words that come to mind when contemplating my geared bike: boring, noisy, slow, detached, vague, inexact, imprecise, sloppy, heavy, complicated, obtuse, downhill, chore, weak, busy, dependent, rolling.

When I get very, very old (presently 59 going on 60) I will get a nice old man's geared bike with bullhorns, bar end brake levers and downtube shifters; and I will go uphill slowly and downhill fast.
I pray for another ten years on my fixed gear bike because I would rather go uphill fast and downhill slow.

Sounds like you have a really crappy road bike, Ken. My road bike is totally sweet, fast as heck, and a total joy to ride. I can ride 17.5 undulating miles to work on my road bike in 54 minutes on a good day. My fixie is typically five minutes slower than that, even with a front brake to help deal with intersections with blind entries at the bottom of hills and such like.

The fixed gear slows me down going down hills, and lugs going up. It is only happy cruising on flat ground. For me it is a great training tool, and fun to ride, and wonderful on the track, but it has limitations, serious limitations.

Yes, I did imply brakels because of the picture, but also, I think that if this poor sap could have gone with a track specific bike, tight geometry, toe overlap the works. The "feeling of hypnoses" would not work. If i where to feel comfortable on my track bike on the streets for even a second I would be dead. Their is no denying, brakes on a fixed gear is a drag. I know this option is not practical for everyone.

Yes, I did imply brakels because of the picture, but also, I think that if this poor sap could have gone with a track specific bike, tight geometry, toe overlap the works. The "feeling of hypnoses" would not work. If i where to feel comfortable on my track bike on the streets for even a second I would be dead. Their is no denying, brakes on a fixed gear is a drag. I know this option is not practical for everyone.

I think you're missing his point. The fact that he has a brake doesn't really matter, ok.

He is talking about the sameness that you get riding the same gear over the same roads day after day. He is comparing that to the seamless rhythym that you can get into in your daily routine, and how that can disconnect you from the people in your life that you are suppossed to be closest to, in this case, his wife. He is saying that in the same way, riding a single gear can lull you into a complacent detachment from the bike.

The fixed gear slows me down going down hills, and lugs going up.

How interesting.
I ride my fixed gear slow downhill but I go fast uphill.





Sounds like you have a really crappy road bike, Ken.

My son says the same thing.
But he also describes my fixed gear bike as fast.
I've put a lot of money into my fixed gear bike, and then one has to take attitude into account.
I certainly don't have as upbeat an attitude when I ride my geared bike.