Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.jasonyates
06-02-03, 07:17 AM
I have had one for about six months now, my first bike in quite a while, and I love it. I wanted something to get around on, but the bulk and clunkiness of road and mountain bikes wasn't very appealing to me. The last time I really rode was when I was 14 or so (I'm 22 now); I wanted the simplicity of my old BMX, but I thought I might feel a little ridiculous riding around on one now. That is when a friend introduced me to track bikes/fixed gears. I was intrigued by the idea of being able to control my speed entirely with my legs, so I decided to pick one up.
I got the Bianchi because it was inexpensive. At the time I had really only looked at bikes in passing at such places as Wal Mart or Target, so $500 seemed like a lot for a bike. Now I realize that I could build a crazy track bike and spend much more, but I think that would kind of go against the simple concept that I enjoy about riding a fixie. At any rate, the quality of the Pista seems very adequate for me.
As far as riding goes, there is a lot of talk about the dangers of riding fixed, especially without brakes, and I was a little worried about this since I had not ridden fixed or otherwise in quite some time. A lot of people recommend starting out with brakes, if not using them all the time, but since the bike didn't come with one I just decided to learn the hard way. To me putting your legs into it and paying attention is the whole point anyways. Well, I now ride all around downtown Chicago and the north side on a pretty regular basis, and I am totally comfortable with no brakes. I just look ahead, and make sure not to get carried away going too fast for the conditions. (I have clipless pedals, so I can yank backward pretty hard if I have to.)
Anyways, this is my first post here, so I guess I just wanted to introduce myself and talk about how I feel about riding and whatnot. Didn't mean for it to turn out to be so long.. Here is a picture of the bike:
http://www.ameritech.net/users/jasonyates/bianchi1.jpg
-Jason
I got the Bianchi because it was inexpensive. At the time I had really only looked at bikes in passing at such places as Wal Mart or Target, so $500 seemed like a lot for a bike. Now I realize that I could build a crazy track bike and spend much more, but I think that would kind of go against the simple concept that I enjoy about riding a fixie. At any rate, the quality of the Pista seems very adequate for me.
As far as riding goes, there is a lot of talk about the dangers of riding fixed, especially without brakes, and I was a little worried about this since I had not ridden fixed or otherwise in quite some time. A lot of people recommend starting out with brakes, if not using them all the time, but since the bike didn't come with one I just decided to learn the hard way. To me putting your legs into it and paying attention is the whole point anyways. Well, I now ride all around downtown Chicago and the north side on a pretty regular basis, and I am totally comfortable with no brakes. I just look ahead, and make sure not to get carried away going too fast for the conditions. (I have clipless pedals, so I can yank backward pretty hard if I have to.)
Anyways, this is my first post here, so I guess I just wanted to introduce myself and talk about how I feel about riding and whatnot. Didn't mean for it to turn out to be so long.. Here is a picture of the bike:
http://www.ameritech.net/users/jasonyates/bianchi1.jpg
-Jason