Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - NYC (and other major cities) fixed gear scene...dying down?

So is it just me or is the fixed gear scene on its way out? Seems like a year ago anyone and everyone wanted to buy a fixed gear, but now the market doesn't seem as hot. I was trying to sell a few of my bikes a year ago and got many offers but i finally decided not to sell. I put it up for sale again two weeks ago and didn;t generate as much interest as before...

It's dying down. The hipsters moved on to vintage 10 speeds, Honda Fits and Vespas.

Watch the pistadex.

Meh, does it really matter?

In NYC it does. There are certain rules for being allowed to drink PBR in Williamsburg.

When 40 year old guys like me are seen on fixed gear bikes trying to stay fit it's time to move on to the non-mainstream thing to do.

hahahaha hipsters switching over to 10 speeds? I feel like hipsters already have trouble performing maintenance on their fixed gears, how are they going to deal with different gears and deraileurs?

Every "hipster" I see on Main Street here in Van is on a 1970s ten speed. Non hipsters turn to bmx, become more roadie, get jobs. Everything cycles.

That's quite true for Main street, some of my hipster friends are selling their sweet fixies and looking for a ten speed.

Let me see... Fixed gears, then 10 speeds... are 1980s All Terrain Bicycles going to be the next big thing??

Maybe we could call them... Mountain bikes!!!

i cant wait till everyone gets a trike or tandem bicycle

everyone in this thread joined in 2010. discuss

Touche.

I know the Doc has been active in our local fixed site for awhile though.

i prefer my single speed.

Yeah, remember when this place was full of tarck stars? Yeah, I had no desire to post. I have an old account here that I don't use.

Join date is irrelevant. My cycling background is long enough.

it's true I've been seeing a lot more "hipsters" riding around in old vintage geared bikes. I don't mind, I like my fixed gear and I'm sticking with it.

too many fixies out here. It seems like you can't even get hold of a nice old road bike that hasn't been converted :mad:

let's just be glad and reap the benefits, wheelsets(often with tires, and cogs and lockrings), frames and other parts are showing up cheaper on craigslist, we've been waiting for this for years(the first i remember people talking about it was 2006, maybe 2005), enjoy, in a few years it'll be like no one ever cared about fixed gear and things will be cheaper still

^^^
totally. Time for me to start checking craigslist religiously!
And if anyone owns a vintage Puch moped, wait a few years before u sell it. The value will sky rocket :D

All things fixed gear seem to be just hitting their stride here in flyover country, where we're always a few years behind the trends. Move to the Midwest...it's like some sort of time machine.

All things fixed gear seem to be just hitting their stride here in flyover country, where we're always a few years behind the trends. Move to the Midwest...it's like some sort of time machine.

lol this cannot be more true.

I just got to school, UIUC, last sunday from nyc. and I have never seen so many fixed gears on campus.
i have no idea what happened, i guess the trend finally moved here.

That's quite true for Main street, some of my hipster friends are selling their sweet fixies and looking for a ten speed.

A true hipster wouldn't be caught dead riding on "Main" street. Phonies!

are 1980s All Terrain Bicycles going to be the next big thing??



I want a Bridgestone MB series so bad.

All things fixed gear seem to be just hitting their stride here in flyover country, where we're always a few years behind the trends. Move to the Midwest...it's like some sort of time machine.

True, True. Out here tarck is the new thing. Even seen some brakeless-aerospoke-girlpants-narrowbar-oury-no lights at night because they ruin the aesthetics-abortions riding around. I don't know how they can afford tires in this town without brakes.... Maybe they walk down the hill.

I want a Bridgestone MB series so bad.

Maybe like this?

this is not the case in toronto, track part prices are inflated as ever

Maybe like this?

It never boggles me to see how tiny your bikes are!!!!!

I think it would be pretty cool if touring bikes made some sort of come back. I just bought a used like-new Raleigh Alyseka 64cm for $170 and I'm in love

Maybe like this?

Sure, throw some moustache bars/road levers on it and I'd be stoked.

I still see a lot of fixies around, but like some other commenters, I have been noticing more vintage 10 speeds as well. I also have been noticing what could be the new hipster fad, vintage cafe racer motorcycles. They're all over the place now. I was thinking that the fixie kids are old enough for a motorcycle license now and moving on or something..

Please dear god no. Don't wreck the CB750 scene.

I also have been noticing what could be the new hipster fad, vintage cafe racer motorcycles. They're all over the place now. I was thinking that the fixie kids are old enough for a motorcycle license now and moving on or something..

Good to hear. I'm thinking of throwing my '66 Suzuki T20 on the market.

Please dear god no. Don't wreck the CB750 scene.

Or Triumph/BSA/Norton.

If you're really serious, you'd own a Velocette Thruxton >>> http://www.classic-motorbikes.com/Velocette_Thruxton_FC42.html

Every "hipster" I see on Main Street here in Van is on a 1970s ten speed. Non hipsters turn to bmx, become more roadie, get jobs. Everything cycles.

At least they aren't trying to file off the braze-ons now?

I still see a lot of fixies around, but like some other commenters, I have been noticing more vintage 10 speeds as well. I also have been noticing what could be the new hipster fad, vintage cafe racer motorcycles. They're all over the place now. I was thinking that the fixie kids are old enough for a motorcycle license now and moving on or something..

Same thing in NYC. I've seen more Triumphs, BSA's etc. on the streets in the past year than I saw in the previous ten years combined.

I've wanted a vintage cafe racer for the best 3 years. Couldnt afford one so I spent all my money on Bikes.

whats kinda funny is i was looking for a somewhat cheapo ROAD wheelset with some deep V-ish rims, and going off weinman 18s (i forget the two letters before the numbers....the 30mm tall rims like velo. deep vs) the fixed/singlespeed wheelsets were pretty much always 20 to 30 bucks more expensive than the road ones. i would think track hubs would be slightly cheaper than road, maybe im wrong....or maybe its just that there is a MUCH bigger demand for fixed weinmann wheelsets than road weinmann wheelsets (same rims, same front hub, just different back hub)

anywho i will admit i sort of jumped onto the fixed gear bandwagon because i found the bikes aesthetically pretty, but i really like riding fixed now and cant wait till its not so popular so components will be cheaper and ex-fixie hipsters start selling off their builds/frames/components for cheap because they are going onto the next "it" thing.....

im guessing its recumbant unicycles. or 29er mountain trikes.

or perhaps the next big hipster bike will be THIS!

http://www.skycycle.info/images/Skycycle_3.jpg

V-necks will be traded in for capes and aviator goggles.

^ That looks like a super messed up version of this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-akkbNyiXE

Because this one is clearly so much cooler.

It's all about the Cushman!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3609238264_d98e938520.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lesterofpuppets/3609238264/)

Bump. (http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/17/news/companies/american_apparel/index.htm)

^^^
old news. And what does AA have to do with bikes?

The fixie thing never quite took hold here in Fort Worth. There's that pierced/tattooed, smoking, PBR-drinking element, but they ride whatever they ride, which includes lots of vintage bikes but only a few are fixie. The rest are ss or multi-geared. As far as keeping them running, two or three of the bike shops in town are excellent when it comes to vintage equipment.

I ride almost all vintage stuff because I find it to be more durable. It's not so much that the quality is worse on new products, but that they are optimized for speed, weight, and a bazillion gears. Stuff from 15 or more years ago have more durable chains and gears becuase they aren't trying to fit 10 gears in space originally designed for 5, so they are made with thicker chains, sprockets, etc. Might not be as smooth as more modern stuff, but it never breaks.

whats kinda funny is i was looking for a somewhat cheapo ROAD wheelset with some deep V-ish rims, and going off weinman 18s (i forget the two letters before the numbers....the 30mm tall rims like velo. deep vs) the fixed/singlespeed wheelsets were pretty much always 20 to 30 bucks more expensive than the road ones. i would think track hubs would be slightly cheaper than road, maybe im wrong....or maybe its just that there is a MUCH bigger demand for fixed weinmann wheelsets than road weinmann wheelsets (same rims, same front hub, just different back hub)

I've wondered about this as well, and I think the answer is this: Geared bikes tend to see lower torques; if you have to pedal that hard, you can shift down and ease the load. On a fixie if you're climbing a hill, you have just that one gear so you have to stand on the pedals more often. On my single speed, I busted a fairly new bottom bracket simply by climbing an extended 12% grade. I upgraded the BB and all better. But this is an issue with fixies- the torque is higher that on geared bikes a lot of the time, and the components need to be beefier to handle it, at least in theory. So that could be a reason why FG/SS stuff, while simpler, is more expensive than geared stuff- it needs to be more rugged.

At least they aren't trying to file off the braze-ons now?

Now they're trying to glue them back on with JB Weld :rolleyes:

Invest in RD mounting brackets.

On another note, good guitars never go out of style.

Oh... they're also into Kona utility bikes, especially the hipsters with families.

Last semester there were about 10 fixies on a campus of 40,000 students. Now everyone and their mother is rolling on a fixed gear. The midwest is a little late.

Maybe hipsters quit riding fixed after their legs start to get too big and they can't wear skinny jeans anymore.

vintage cafe racer motorcycles

I've seen these all around my way. Can't stand these noisy ass pieces of sh*t, get a real motorcycle.


The midwest is a little late.

The midwest is always late on everything

Maybe hipsters quit riding fixed after their legs start to get too big and they can't wear skinny jeans anymore.

thats why they cut them to shorts now.

[QUOTE=whitekimchee;11441227]I've seen these all around my way. Can't stand these noisy ass pieces of sh*t, get a real motorcycle.

**** cool...give me fast.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs108.snc4/35756_530927130927_31601674_31515761_7314517_n.jpg


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