Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Is there any interest in a special sticky thread for 50+ SSFG aficionados?

Since I started posting in SSFG, it has occured to me that there may be different generations of SSFG aficionados. For example, when I first began riding FG on the road 30+ years ago the culture was very different than it is today. There was no bike hipster culture and the people that rode FG bikes were mostly road racers who wanted to get some low gear high spin training miles in the winter to get back their leg speed and a good workout in a short period of time in frigid conditions. Our FG bikes were beaters made by stripping down cheap geared bikes and making suicide FG hubs. The total cost of one of these beaters rarely exceeded $100 and paint jobs were strictly rattle can.

Anyways, I was wondering if there are enough of you "oldsters" out there to post experiences from those days and provide a different perspective to the SSFG culture. I have arbitrarily set the minimum age at 50, however, anyone slightly younger who feels they can make a relevant contribution is welcome. If there is sufficient interest, I'll request that this thread be stickied.

I think it's a great idea if there's enough interest. Hell, I'm almost there myself. :lol:

Ask me again in about 12 years!

Well, I'm an old fogey FG rider.

If you set the bar at 40 the place would have some traction.

If you set the bar at 40 the place would have some traction.

Yes or even 30...if for no other reason than to get away from the immature banter from college-age kids on occasion.

I'm always interested in FG stuff-- and at almost 56, have done some interesting rides. Only 6 years of fixed gear experience, but it includes going over Independence Pass in Colorado, going up to see the Maroon Bells outside of Aspen (both of these last 2 as part of Ride the Rockies in 2007), doing Skyline Drive in Virginiia, and commuting regularly on it.

train safe-

I know there are many more 50+ SSFG folks out there, including major contributors such as Ken Cox and John D Thompson, and was hoping some of them would chime in as well. As to lowering the bar below 50, I'm trying to go back to the pre-hipster fixie culture that existed in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, so I think it would defeat this goal to lower it very much below 50. I'm trying to get away from the bicycle as a style accessory concept along with endless discussions of cool but completely impractical setups.

I'd be all for it. I have to admit there is a huge generation gap between myself and some younger SS/FG riders. TJ I can totally relate to your post above "I'm trying to get away from the bicycle as a style accessory concept along with endless discussions of cool but completely impractical setups."

I'm trying to go back to the pre-hipster fixie culture that existed in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s...

No one in their 40s was a hipster. There are plenty of us 40-50 that remember the 70s and 80s. Good luck with your quest to find 100+ people to keep a sub forum decently populated. You'll have to recruit and campaign aggressively.

I'm over 50. I have a fixed gear bike too. In fact, I am thinking of building one up for winter riding, so I may have 2 before long.

So what will we talk about, bikes or things like Depends, Viagra, hair pieces?

So basically FG riders who aren't hipsters? :eek:

im 25 and would want to hang out in this subforum. i already spend a lot of time in C&V

give me 10yrs and by then i hope the internet has been folded into my daily supplemental vitamins.

srsly tho. besides "omfg we're too old and we can't figur out gears" are there any age specific things that a ssfg rider would need to chat about (im srs)

http://cultureandcommunication.org/f09/tdm/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/seriouscat.jpg

TT, I'm "only" 27 right now but I totally get where you are going with this. And I must have been born in the wrong era. My bike is pretty much exactly what you describe: used to be a mountain bike, rattle can paint job, and suicide hub. Plus some brake modification to make it work with my 700c wheels. I wouldn't consider myself a hipster, though many may disagree by appearance alone. I would definitely lurk in this thread as I love hearing about the good 'ol days, so to speak!
I say sticky it for sure!

Well, I'm an old fogey FG rider.

Me too-- I'm 69 yrs. Old and lovinit' 179518

No one in their 40s was a hipster. There are plenty of us 40-50 that remember the 70s and 80s. Good luck with your quest to find 100+ people to keep a sub forum decently populated. You'll have to recruit and campaign aggressively.

this.

i'm in, if you set the cutoff a bit lower.

Yes or even 30...if for no other reason than to get away from the immature banter from college-age kids on occasion.
I came to be a mature contributor and add a cat picture to the thread, but I see I've already been beaten to that. :lol:

Don't let any damn kids in.

^ great attitude.

Old enough, not sure what topics should be hit, and wondering how a single sticky thread can handle multiple topics. If it's a sub-forum, you might get enough warm bodies by not restricting yourself to FG.

If it's a sub-forum, you might get enough warm bodies by not restricting yourself to FG.

here you go then:

http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?220-Fifty-Plus-%2850-%29

I think it would be more fun to say old people stuff and chase the kids out.

OK. First off, I had nothing so grandiose in mind as a subforum, just a sticky. Second, my only intention was to provide a focal point for older folks who've been involved in SSFG for a while and who began prior to the 1990s when it became a "culture fad" thing. I've never thought of myself as a SSFG person, just a cycling enthusiast who's used these types of bikes for specific purposes such as velodrome racing and winter training. Also, as I've become older and seen so many of my peers become unfit and unhealthy, I see cycling as a means of enjoying life, whereas youger people take this for granted. I think I've probably made a mistake in setting the age basis at 50, since apparently many 40+ riders are of similar mindset. So, I propose a thread entitled "Forty Plus (40+) SSFG" that I will request be stickied, which I will start in a couple of days if there is enough interest posted in this thread. Feel free to PM me if you have an opinion that you don't wish to post.

Start it. I'll sticky it and see how it goes.

Criswell predicts a bunch of teenage lime-green-deep-v brakeless fixie riding hipsters will crash the party.
http://htmlgiant.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/criswell.jpg

Looks like I'll be busy deleting a lot of posts.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbc28dKuhQ1qav6f6.png


:innocent: