Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Maybe this was already postd but I just saw it and thought it was funny!

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/04/five-inexplicab/

For a fixie, though, it is nothing more than posing — if the riders were that worried about safety, they’d buy a front brake.
Funny, because the bike pictures has a front and rear brake.

use these five-spoked wheels so they can more quickly sling a chain through the front wheel. As always, fixie riders took the form but not the function
Waste a sentence explaining a function, then complain about it not having function?

This article is pretty crappy.

"There are many variations on the mindless mutilation of fixie ‘bars. It seems that the less practical and more uncomfortable, the better. Standout mods include handlebar tape (or the lack of — the less the better, especially in winter) and the "flop-and-chop," which means that you flip your drop handlebars in the head and cut the ends off, often resulting in something a matador would be scared to face."

How is the "flop-and-chop" impractical?
I don't get it

I don't think the author of the article has heard of bullhorn handlebars.

I don't think the author of the article has heard of bullhorn handlebars.

he probably has no idea that pursuit cycling is an Olympic sport either. but if fixed gear freestyle ever becomes a "real" sport this guy will be the first write an article about it complaining about fashion....

I liked the article. I hate bike fashion. Always did and always will. When I see a hipster with cards in his spokes I don't see trendy, I see someone wearing parachute pants in the early 90's. The one single thing that attracted me to fixies and SS is their simplicity and function. I ride for the joy of it, not to look cool or fit in.

I liked the article. I hate bike fashion. Always did and always will. When I see a hipster with cards in his spokes I don't see trendy, I see someone wearing parachute pants in the early 90's. The one single thing that attracted me to fixies and SS is their simplicity and function. I ride for the joy of it, not to look cool or fit in.

I mostly agree. But don't forget that fashion, of any sort, is merely a way to feel as though one is part of a group. Yes, it's restrictive and superficial, but it's human nature. So it's forgivable.

One of the benefits of getting beyond youth is the realization that we can free ourselves from this particular bondage. It's liberating.

I ride a SS, but every time I stop at a red light downtown next to another rider, they immediately say, "Hey, is that a fixed gear?!" I tell them, no, it's singlespeed. They usually go from smiling to a disappointed expression. Maybe I should throw a top tube pad on there just to give them something to be happy about. (not gonna happen)

I'm not sure the writer of the article knows what a bicycle is. Or it was a kind of heavy handed attempt at humor. Their particular example of a Brooks saddle was pretty funny, but in a laughing at not laughing with sort of way.

I love Wired, but the people who write on all the bike stuff are idiots. They were saying how the Raleigh One-Way is impractical for riding in a city, purely because it's SS and steel, therefore the enormous weight of the steel would be impossible to ride up inclines w/ no gears.

I mostly agree. But don't forget that fashion, of any sort, is merely a way to feel as though one is part of a group. Yes, it's restrictive and superficial, but it's human nature. So it's forgivable.

One of the benefits of getting beyond youth is the realization that we can free ourselves from this particular bondage. It's liberating.

True. I don't know what the average age of most here are but at the age of 40 I feel comfortable enough in my own skin to not be a part of any fashion group. Simply being a rhetorical part of the overall biking community is enough. And as you intimated, to each his own. :)

"rhetorical part of the overall biking community"

what does that mean?

i hate that hating has become cool.

Stuff like that "article" is idiotic. Yeah, there are a lot of dummies out there riding bikes. There are just as many driving certain cars, eating certain food, wearing certain suits, etc. Who really wants to waste time giving a crap?

"rhetorical part of the overall biking community"

what does that mean?

Just being a fellow bike rider is enough for me.

I'm with you Nigal. At 36, just being me is enough for me.

I ride a SS, but every time I stop at a red light downtown next to another rider, they immediately say, "Hey, is that a fixed gear?!" I tell them, no, it's singlespeed. They usually go from smiling to a disappointed expression. Maybe I should throw a top tube pad on there just to give them something to be happy about. (not gonna happen)

During one of my rare trips to the LBS, I stopped to look at a single speed commuter, with the Gates Carbon Drive. As I was walking away from it, this dopey fat guy walks up and says (out loud, to himself) "Sweet fixed gear". Since he failed to acknowledge his own comment, he repeated it. Then his wife, Orca, rolled over, and he said "Look at this sweet fixed gear, with a belt". My guess is that a lot of people (cyclists and non-cyclists) don't even know what a fixed gear is.

I really love when people ask how fixed riders climb hills and ride down hills.

I really love when people ask how fixed riders climb hills and ride down hills.

Duh! They turn their bikes around and ride up hills backwards. Everyone knows reverse is the lowest gear.