Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Firing off at fixed-gears

Firing off at fixed-gears (http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=1734)

An article by Duncan Scott Davidson of the San Francisco Bay Guardian taking issue with fixed gears.

What are your thoughts?

I guess I'll have to take your word for it.

http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=1734

link that should work

I guess I'll have to take your word for it.


here's a working linkie

http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=1734&catid=85&volume_id=147&issue_id=253&volume_num=40&issue_num=52

Classic San Francisco. The hating and slandering of its own citizens and culture. It's even better if you're in a band from there. Like this azzhole has nothing better to write about? Hey, guess what buddy? It's not like everyone doesn't already know that fixed-gear bikes are popular. Does he think he's on the ball with this? The what? 6th article on this topic in the past year? Ah, very fresh indeed! "Trucker hats and PBR"?? It ain't 2001 either bro. What a sorry and embarrassing attempt at social commentary. Truly nauseating.

He claims that since fixies started as track bikes, and that track-standing forced your opponent to ride in front of you so you could draft, and that since no one would want to draft while riding on city streets, therefore fixies must not be suited for city streets. The logic is infalible.

does the average joe schmoe really care? my impression has always been, in a city you either ride a bike or you don't, if you don't you think people who do are crazy. it doesn't matter what kind of bike.

vintage-T-shirt-clad Robespierres

Lolol.

Edit: This guy has a clear bias against fixed gears and is just trolling. Someone should run him over on a fixed gear.

Even if his logic is fallible, what is a reason that fixed gear is suited for city streets? I'm not trying to be a dick, I'm just saying that to me, fixed gear isn't perfectly suited to city riding. That's not to say it's not fun though :).

No, the average joe does not care. Another reason this "article" serves no purpose other than to ruffle feathers and brand this hot-headed, slow-brained, dweeb as a johnny-come-lately, hack. I mean, at least get the basics right ya turkey.

Even if his logic is fallible, what is a reason that fixed gear is suited for city streets?

Mechanical simplicity

Even if his logic is fallible, what is a reason that fixed gear is suited for city streets? I'm not trying to be a dick, I'm just saying that to me, fixed gear isn't perfectly suited to city riding. That's not to say it's not fun though :).

umm, let's see. the geometry is similar to a criterium bike with-out all the expensive parts to get stolen. it's also as reliable as an OX. that's probably why Jamaican messengers started this 'fad' 20+ years ago.

makes sense to me.

Mechanical simplicity


ie. less components to get dirty and ****ed up from the dirt and grime of city riding.

Yeah I hate how freewheels always fail before the teeth are worn down. It's probably the biggest inconvience of riding a single speed.

for all the people who say "fixed gear isn't a logical choice for the streets" i'd like to hear a decent reason WHY it isn't. i've never heard a good one.

well this guy is just pissed at the hipsters and whatever who think this is a fad, but you're just riding a bike, why should someone else care about your setup?
it's none of this guy's busisness what sort of mechanism drives someone's bicycle.

Even if his logic is fallible, what is a reason that fixed gear is suited for city streets? I'm not trying to be a dick, I'm just saying that to me, fixed gear isn't perfectly suited to city riding. That's not to say it's not fun though :).


I'd say I'm about as far away from the "all you need is one" fixed gear or death contingent, but I will say that I think one thing in particular really does make a fixed gear the best choice for city riding and that is the ability to trackstand. I can't remember the last time I had to unclip or take my foot out of my toeclips while riding in the city. It really makes things quicker and more efficient for me everytime I commute throught downtown.

Sounds like this guy doesn't know how to ride a fixed, and has never tried to learn about the pro's of riding fixed gear. Sure there is a downside to fixed gears (I think >.>) like there is a downside to everything else, but bashing something because you don't understand it is simply idiotic. Too bad the majority of people do this kind of bashing all the time :(.

The more articles that bungholes like this write for big-city alternative weekly papers=the ever increasing likelyhood of a Portland style crackdown by the po-po.
All it takes is some concerned mother of three to stand up at a city council meeting and demand that something be done about these brakeless terrorists!
Be warned.

for all the people who say "fixed gear isn't a logical choice for the streets" i'd like to hear a decent reason WHY it isn't. i've never heard a good one.

Take Toronto for example. If your daily commute was north/south (uuup/dooown hill) then fixed might be a painful, sketchy hassle. Operator, you done the 30k commute fixed, yet?

this guy sounds like an angry aging hipster to me. sorry your youth is ending buddy, maybe you shouldn't have spent it being a ******bag.

i'd like to see articles like this from when skateboarding got big. yet another object that is about as unsafe and mechanically inefficient as possible, but damn are they fun. maybe i'm on to something here...

"You've got kids in the Mission with the left leg of their jeans rolled up, a little biker hat on crooked, slip-on Vans, and a brand-new fixed-gear Bianchi; and they don't know their ass from a light socket."
-who, with the exception of a very small few, rides with a left sided drivetrain?

"You've got kids in the Mission with the left leg of their jeans rolled up, a little biker hat on crooked, slip-on Vans, and a brand-new fixed-gear Bianchi; and they don't know their ass from a light socket."
-who, with the exception of a very small few, rides with a left sided drivetrain?


Haha, nice.

And of the things to hate on, the rolling up of a pant leg is so purely functional but it always seems to be brought up as a "hipster" thing.

I completely buy the entire mechanic simplicity thing, but singlespeed with brakes is the best compromise of safety, speed, and utilitarian simplicity.

You have to weigh the pros and cons of any mode of transportation:

This comparison is specifically for a brakeless fixed gear bike versus a singlespeed with brakes. I apologize if I misunderstood you all and you were discussing braked fixed gear bikes, in which case you could possibly argue they are superior. I am also not mentioning geometry differences that occur between track bikes and other road bikes, as I'm just comparing drivetrains. I am of course comparing bikes of similar parts quality spec, and a rider that wouldn't change their awareness, or safety priority. Sorry for all the qualifying statements, I just don't want to sound like a ****** by stating all my assumptions of the discussion.

Speed:
You can push a lot harder if you have brakes and can coast. You don't have to slow down as early for turns. Simply being able to slow more quickly makes you faster. Elimination of pedal strike allows increased speed through corners. The trackstand argument amounts to bunk because anyone with a decent amount of road experience can do a trackstand on a freewheeling bike as well. Half the time fixed gear riders are riding with clips and straps, and depending on how tight they run the straps, trackstanding doesn't really save time. Downhills.

Theft Prevention:
The elimination of derailleurs takes care of a major theft target, as well as tamper and damage-likely component. The brakes are the only addition of course, and I'd unfortunately have to assume these would be likely to be stolen, but like I said it is a weight of the pros and cons. Edit: Unfortunately fixed gear bikes are now probably more sought after than a lot of other bikes.

Reliability and Simplicity:
Just because a fixed gear cog is simpler, it doesn't inherently lend itself to higher reliability. Someone made a statement concerning that freewheels wear out before the internals fail, most freewheels are cheaper than cogs, and therefore I'd assume the total cost/mile would eventually even out.

Safety:
Brakes.

As I said, I'm not saying that Fixed gears aren't good on the street, I'm just saying when you do the math, a singlespeed wins out based out on all the factors that we judge a good city bike on: speed, reliability, and safety.

-who, with the exception of a very small few, rides with a left sided drivetrain?

Doppelgangers.

And of the things to hate on, the rolling up of a pant leg is so purely functional but it always seems to be brought up as a "hipster" thing.

I lost a few pair of jeans on my 24 speed mountain bike back in the day before I "got hip"...

I lost a few pair of jeans on my 24 speed mountain bike back in the day before I "got hip"...

For some reason my imagination wants to make the occurence funnier than it actually is. I pictured someone having the jeans ripped completely off of them when I read that.

If your daily commute was north/south (uuup/dooown hill) then fixed might be a painful, sketchy hassle. Operator, you done the 30k commute fixed, yet?

Yup. Even at 76 gear inches it's not a problem. Total elevation gain around 250meters. But it's all rolling. Worse being a 5-10% grade at York Mills/Lawrence down Yonge st.

"Since you're not likely to be drafting anyone on city streets, a track bike is a highly impractical choice of wheels."

Since you're not likely to be crossing any boulder-strewn rivers, or waging desert freaking warfare while in San Francisco, SUVs and Hummers are highly impractical choices of vehicles.

What a pud.

Speaking of ripping pants, a while ago I didn't have much selection in the gearing department and ended up using 55x14. I was riding through campus, everyone walking around, and all of the sudden my pant leg, which wasn't rolled up, got stuck in the chainring. It ripped my pants from about the knees all the way to the bottom and ripped it into 4 long strands. I was moving pretty good at the time and there was nothing I could do, it just kept ripping and ripping until I got stopped. By that time I was wearing tattered jeans and a stupid look on my face and people were just kind of looking at me wondering what the hell I was doing.

when i was reading the article and he mention steve hamilton, i was wondering if it was the steve hamilton that i know of via bmx...and it was. weeeee.
i was riding a bmx last year and i just began riding a fixed and it's fun...that's all. but i still ride my bmx.

I ride a fixe because its more difficult than riding a gearie. I wanted a new challenge.

I'm not doing it to be different. I still wear my regular lycra.

I like the simplicity of the bike, the lines are cleaner, its prettier in my opinion.

I enjoy the challenge of getting up a hill without being able to change gear. Its me vs the hill. Not me and my gears Vs the hill.

I don't recall the writer of the article saying anything about being a rider himself. Most regular riders in my area respect fixie riders as just another facet of this beautiful world of cycling.

I admire the old lady climbing a hill with her groceries in a basket. I like the young kids getting air on their BMX at the skatepark. I enjoy seeing and respect the MTB'ers flying downhill at breakneck speeds... It's all just a different facet of a great sport and this dick doesn't get it. Oh well, I feel sad for him.

A manual transmission snob ("I won't let my car decide when to shift") ripping on fixed gears. Classic. I bet he'll even claim he likes the "connection with the road" offered by a manual.

A manual transmission snob ("I won't let my car decide when to shift") ripping on fixed gears. Classic. I bet he'll even claim he likes the "connection with the road" offered by a manual.


YES. when people ask me to explain why i like riding a FG to them, i analogize it to the difference between driving an automatic or a manual tranny. fixed = direct control. i found it odd that the author mentioned it, using reverse-logic. . .

i just mostly thought it was funny. i laugh at the things i agree with, then i laugh at the things i disagree with. it's a pretty good system.

funny sacramento had an article and a news story on fixies before they did ha ha ahaha

"You've got kids in the Mission with the left leg of their jeans rolled up, a little biker hat on crooked, slip-on Vans, and a brand-new fixed-gear Bianchi; and they don't know their ass from a light socket."
-who, with the exception of a very small few, rides with a left sided drivetrain?


I think that was his point.

"but I will say that I think one thing in particular really does make a fixed gear the best choice for city riding and that is the ability to trackstand."

It's quite easy to trackstand on a derailleur bike as well. Technique is a bit different, that's all.

"Since you're not likely to be crossing any boulder-strewn rivers, or waging desert freaking warfare while in San Francisco, SUVs and Hummers are highly impractical choices of vehicles."

+1 Haha, I like that.

Pretty much any bike is a better urban vehicle than a car, anyhoo. Ride 'em if you got 'em, I say. Don't matter what kind. Even if you can deride your ride as a fashion accessory, it's still a better such accessory than a Hummer (to pick a purely random fashion accessory out of mid air).

hehehhahaha.. That article was hilarious! He obviously has no clue and is just pissed off. Most of his facts are wrong and his conclusions are ridiculous. I never got why anyone was bothered by the supposed "fixed gear fad". Who is allowed to ride a fixed gear and who isn't.. It's stupid to say it's "okay" for messengers or "older" riders to ride them but not for a college student or whoever. Ya know?

Perhaps it isn't a bike fad, but a revolution. ;)

PS. There PLENTY of people who ride road bikes and don't have a clue how they work and wouldn't even know where to begin to fix one. People are so uptight! "Turkey"! I like that.

i actually liked that he gave props in saying, 'Respect to the old-school heads who've been riding them since way back'...of which i am not one.


however, it sounds like he has more of a problem with people jumping on the next big thing rather than fg's specifically - the fg is just an easy target currently. on the surface, fine, be against those who jump on the next best thing if it makes you happy. i think that shows he's reaching the end of his learning curve in life. rather than looking at it that way i would say it's personal exploration of something new. a fg for me is a training tool - spinning, climbing, balance - these are the things i am improving. i am constantly learning every time i set out on a fg ride through suburbia and all that goes with it around atlanta (traffic, narrow roads w/ no shoulders, cyclist-hating punks and rednecks, soccer moms with mobile phone and cigarette in one hand and a yapyaplap dog in the other, etc). of the 4 bikes i regularly ride (fs, mtb ss, roadie, fg), the 4" travel full suspension is my favorite - bombing d/h runs in the n ga mtns after climbing for an hour is what i live for these days. but you know what - i'm not knocking the cat on the recumbent on the local rails-to-trails because he's on something different. i'm not hating on the roadies who thumb their noses at me wearing mtb sidi's and a helmet w/ a visor when i show up for a local road ride.

this guy seemingly suggests he's a cyclist in stating he's, '...done way gnarlier things on wheels' in one breath while in the midst of bashing fellow cyclists in another. that's where i take offense.

I completely buy the entire mechanic simplicity thing, but singlespeed with brakes is the best compromise of safety, speed, and utilitarian simplicity. <long writing about SS with brakes being better than a fix>
Nice, but what if you have a brake on your fix? Then trackstanding is easier. And you get to learn to spin better.

i actually liked that he gave props in saying, 'Respect to the old-school heads who've been riding them since way back'...of which i am not one.


however, it sounds like he has more of a problem with people jumping on the next big thing rather than fg's specifically - the fg is just an easy target currently. on the surface, fine, be against those who jump on the next best thing if it makes you happy. i think that shows he's reaching the end of his learning curve in life. rather than looking at it that way i would say it's personal exploration of something new. a fg for me is a training tool - spinning, climbing, balance - these are the things i am improving. i am constantly learning every time i set out on a fg ride through suburbia and all that goes with it around atlanta (traffic, narrow roads w/ no shoulders, cyclist-hating punks and rednecks, soccer moms with mobile phone and cigarette in one hand and a yapyaplap dog in the other, etc). of the 4 bikes i regularly ride (fs, mtb ss, roadie, fg), the 4" travel full suspension is my favorite - bombing d/h runs in the n ga mtns after climbing for an hour is what i live for these days. but you know what - i'm not knocking the cat on the recumbent on the local rails-to-trails because he's on something different. i'm not hating on the roadies who thumb their noses at me wearing mtb sidi's and a helmet w/ a visor when i show up for a local road ride.

this guy seemingly suggests he's a cyclist in stating he's, '...done way gnarlier things on wheels' in one breath while in the midst of bashing fellow cyclists in another. that's where i take offense.


I hear ya.. I wasn't trying to say "****'em" to all the older people who have been doing it for years.. but I don't know. I think for me it was a simple and cheap bike for riding around the city. A mediocre road bike is way more than what my bike cost me. Plus, I can do repairs and maintenence on my bike easily. That's practical enough for me, and I'm sure lots of people here. I think he should get the pole outta his ass. :D

Um, plus I love my bike.. !!!

I hear ya.. I wasn't trying to say "****'em" to all the older people who have been doing it for years.. but I don't know. I think for me it was a simple and cheap bike for riding around the city. A mediocre road bike is way more than what my bike cost me. Plus, I can do repairs and maintenence on my bike easily. That's practical enough for me, and I'm sure lots of people here. I think he should get the pole outta his ass. :D

Um, plus I love my bike.. !!!

i didn't even see your post until i went back to read mine. but now that i have i'm booking the next flight to PA to kick yer ass 'cuz my bike is way better than yers!

:eek: :D

i didn't even see your post until i went back to read mine. but now that i have i'm booking the next flight to PA to kick yer ass 'cuz my bike is way better than yers!

:eek: :D



hahaha! I actually thought that your post was a little bit of a reaction to mine. I tend to get some "reactions" sometimes. I took it as friendly though. After you beat me up, we'll go to a bar and have a drink. :D

i'm sorry, i can't finish that article and i'm not going to finish reading this thread. somebody woke up on the wrong side of the mattress this morning. guhhh.

deal. or we can cook together (former c.i.a. grad) and drink wine. as for the beat down...i'm sure you can kick my ass.

maybe you could crochet me a steak holder for my eye...

I never got why anyone was bothered by the supposed "fixed gear fad". Who is allowed to ride a fixed gear and who isn't.. It's stupid to say it's "okay" for messengers or "older" riders to ride them but not for a college student or whoever. Ya know?


then you didn't read very carefully. he has two problems.

1. "This effect can be augmented by adding a front caliper brake, but that's frowned upon by fixie fashionistas who do things like cut their handlebars down to a foot and don't run bar tape or grips. ...It looks less cool, however, when one of these lemmings comes screaming down the Haight Street hill unable to keep up with the speed of the pedals and wrecks in the middle of Divisadero"

2."What kills me is the sinking feeling I get when I ride down Valencia and think, "Does anyone in this town ever do anything original?""

Brakeless riding is dangerous for the rider and everyone else and conformist fashion in the name of uniqueness is obnoxious. The later forces the former.

Sweet! My brakeless riding is endangering dutret!!!!!!!

fine everyone you ride around.

Take Toronto for example. If your daily commute was north/south (uuup/dooown hill) then fixed might be a painful, sketchy hassle. Operator, you done the 30k commute fixed, yet?


You think WE got hills? GTA is flat like an ice rink compared to most places!