Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Should Fixed Gear Bikes Be Allowed....

I hope this isn't a repost:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/survey_should_f.php

I am a fan of passive eugenics. so yeah fixed gears bikes belong on the roads.

plus it keeps the lines at starbucks short

I don't think that article was well thought out. Fixed gear bikes aren't any more dangerous than a mountain bike. Its the person riding that you need to worry about. Don't ride without a brake until you know how to. If you are smart as a rider, then safety will follow.

I am a fan of passive eugenics. so yeah fixed gears bikes belong on the roads.

plus it keeps the lines at starbucks short



lol

They started with couriers...

Is this in fact, a fact?


...but like courier bags, they are finding their way into the mainstream

This is in fact, not a fact. "courier bags" had been used for many decades by postmen (also known as couriers but that is not what the article is talking about).

fixies got no brakes yo!!!

that poll was absolute bull****.

the article wasn't much better, but that poll made me angry. all the dumbass opinions represented, nothing resembling the right one.

you can easily ride a bike at 5 mph without clips or brakes or hell, even a saddle, and be just as safe as any other bike transportation.

i agree with jdeane.

fwiw I went with: If you want to ride a bike move to Amsterdam.

fwiw I went with: If you want to ride a bike move to Amsterdam.

Haha, I was wondering about that...

yeah, they geared that twards car drivers that don't think bikers should be allowed on the road.

fwiw i went with: every bike should be required to have a brake.

doesn't mean you have to use it, just have it. it's not that ugly.

A better question is: should CARS be allowed on the road.

treehugger is a joke, unfortunately

bikes suck, I prefer my H2. They kick ass... especially without brakes.


I'm starting to think sarcasm... especially the amsterdam thing.

is anyone else sick of the assumption that fixed=no brakes?

is anyone else sick of the assumption that fixed=no brakes?

Absolutely.

i agree with jdeane.

Actually, thats jdeane4, yo!! :)

it is funny, the fixed gear group in my home town actually requires you to have brakes to ride with them.

so i ride with the roadies

..they actually require you to have a brake huh.

this made me sad...

i used to be a big ****** who stay home all day all week, but not until i found fixie that encourage me to go outside and ride bikes for miles...

looks like im gonna be a ****** again :(

fwiw I went with: If you want to ride a bike move to Amsterdam.

****ing word. Be there monday con mi bike and a raging ***** in tow.

this made me sad...

i used to be a big ****** who stay home all day all week, but not until i found fixie that encourage me to go outside and ride bikes for miles...

looks like im gonna be a ****** again :(

i don't know if that's serious or a joke, regardless don't take it that way. i wouldn't be nearly as into bikes if i couldn't ride a fixed gear. as has been mentioned that article / poll was about a joke. regardless, 71% selected the only option that essentially says they're fine. keep riding your bike. :)

this made me sad...

i used to be a big ****** who stay home all day all week, but not until i found fixie that encourage me to go outside and ride bikes for miles...

looks like im gonna be a ****** again :(

get a brake ******

is anyone else sick of the assumption that fixed=no brakes?

Yes, though I dont have much room to talk because my brake fell off the other day, and lacking a replacement bolt, I ride brakeless for now. Well, the handle is still on the bars...

..they actually require you to have a brake huh.

ummm yeah. you will be instructed not to attend their group rides if you show up without a helmet and a brake. or if it is after dark with out front and rear lights

Hey guys, I've got an idea! Let's all make a poll and argue about **** we have no real knowledge of as though we actually know what we're talking about! It'll be great!

Hey guys, I've got an idea! Let's all make a poll and argue about **** we have no real knowledge of as though we actually know what we're talking about! It'll be great!

See also: group buy threads

is anyone else sick of the assumption that fixed=no brakes?

totally. I've had a couple people tell me my bike cant be fixed because it has a front brake. It's one of the few times that I really can bask in my superior knowledge.

totally. I've had a couple people tell me my bike cant be fixed because it has a front brake. It's one of the few times that I really can bask in my superior knowledge.

I'm thinking of putting shifters hooked to nothing on mine, just to fool people and avoid the drama all together. :P

wow I never knew that if your bike had brakes it was no longer a fixed gear. and I feel that their description of stopping is spot on "you stop by fighting with the pedals." every-time I slow down it is a real battle especially at low speeds. These guys really know their stuff and raise a valid point indeed. I just put my bike up for sale because of the convictions I found in this article, but I think that destroying it would be better for the world by reducing the amount of these death traps on the road. Down with fixed gears and especially "fixies" (thats the cool way to say it right?)

i love thecomment where the person says ...and they are bad for your knees, apparently... that sounds like a qualified source

See also: group buy threads


hahaha

Ohhhh - and they link to the highly inaccurate and erroneous "report" The Stranger (not even a real newspaper) wrote about my friend's death to prove fixies are dangerous. Because, apparently according to The Stranger, it wasn't getting run over by a dump truck that failed to yield that killed him - it was that darned fixed gear on the bicycle hub that mortally wounded him.

What a piece of feces article.

i love thecomment where the person says ...and they are bad for your knees, apparently... that sounds like a qualified source

I'd sure like to know if that's true. When I attempted to go fixed, the sensation in the knees was altogether too unpleasant for me. I gave up on FG, but I don't say it's bad for knees in general, because I don't know. I was just worried it was bad for mine.

i love thecomment where the person says ...and they are bad for your knees, apparently... that sounds like a qualified source

it is funny, mine has been harder on my shoulder than my knees.

it is funny, the fixed gear group in my home town actually requires you to have brakes to ride with them.

so i ride with the roadies

they probably do that because if you guys are pacelining something with a brake would be more efficient to avoid some sort of a pile up. just riding with a group of people is more safe with a brake.
not to start a debate or anything.... do your own thing

Thank God most people are being smart about it. Imagine if that 71% was for banning them.

(City Hall, Anytown, USA)

Minister's Aid: Sir, take a look at this poll. It says 71% of people are in favour of banning fixed gear bikes!

Transportation Minister: What's a fixed gear bike?

Minister's Aid: Well basically... (an explanation of the drivetrain that he doesn't understand)... brakeless... (blah blah blah)... can be dangerous.

Transportation Minister: 71% you said?

Minister's Aid: 71%.

Transportation Minister: Okay then, get started on the paperwork.

You think this emerging "anti-fixie" trend will make the fixed thing even MORE popular now that it's associated with danger and whatnot?

Fixed gear bikes definitely should not be allowed on the road. C'mon guys, we all know the sidewalk is where its at.

You think this emerging "anti-fixie" trend will make the fixed thing even MORE popular now that it's associated with danger and whatnot?

I'm hoping for the exact opposite. That way we can all say we were down with fixed gear bikes even when they weren't cool anymore, then in 10 years when they are cool again we will look sooooo rad.

well banning fixies would only promote the hipsters out there. what would draw more punks to the family than telling them they cant do something. that would be a natural challenge

Running into pedestrians is the new skidding. Who needs brakes?

I didn't see a valid choice in the poll.

He could have asked, "Do you still beat your wife?

a) Yes

b) No

Please note in the first distractor:

"... safe with a bit of practice."

If you know how to ride a bike, you know how to ride a bike.

Does anyone know of a fixed gear rider dying because he didn't have a front brake?

Or because he couldn't coast?

I consider my fixed gear bikes infinitely safer than my geared bikes.

Does anyone see an e-mail address for the author of this...article?

I intend to write to him.

Does anyone know of a fixed gear rider dying because he didn't have a front brake?

Uh oh. Here we go again...

This thread sucked big fat sweaty balls: http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=377054

Does anyone see an e-mail address for the author of this...article?

I intend to write to him.

Please.... don't.

You have GOT to be kidding me. The people that ride fixies are experienced cyclists and besides, these "dangerous" bikes are loads safer than the piss-poor excuses for bikes that come out of mass merchants (Wally World) that are assembled (very poorly) by a guy that just got done bringing in the shopping carts from the parking lot. You are more likely to get hurt riding a mass merchant bike that wasn't properly assembled because something is likely to seize or come loose.
Secondly, what IS dangerous about the bike in that picture is that it doesn't have a headlight and taillight. Not having those items is more likely to get you killed than having to use your legs as brakes.
Finally, if there is anything that should be illegal about riding a bicycle it is riding without a helmet. Riding a fixie might cause you to fall, but riding without a helmet almost guarantees head injury.

worst response EVAR

"they started with couriers."

"they started with couriers."

Generations of shop rats and struggling cat-4 racers cry out in outrage and are silenced by revisionism.

:D he put a note on my post.


Even if it were a survey with no article (which it does contain) the possible answers for the survey are equally as bad as the article itself.


LA: Fine. I screwed up. I apologise.