Fifty Plus (50+) - Skinny little hippie/goth/punk girls on fixies -- got to hand it to them!

They are all over South Austin, Texas. You are beside her at a stoplight. Light turns green and you leave her way behind on your geared bike. Eventually she gets up to working cadence and she passes your sorry 65 year old ass like you are standing still!

More power to them.

Are they plentiful in your town? Equally fit?

Don in Austin

If you don't post pix I can't believe you.

Pixies on Fixies, indeed!

I saw a couple of them in training last fall while traveling through Oberlin OH. Their stopping skills needed more development as the two of them attempted to slow down while passing to the right of a pickup truck that was already stopped and turning right with blinker on. The truck collected both of the Oberlin College students in one fell swoop. It was an ugly scene seeing the two young ladies laid out in the corner still attached to their single speeds' by the pedals. In the end all were well and continued on their way. If you have ever been to Oberlin seeing college students doing something strange is almost expected.

I carry this chart so that I can understand them better:

http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/derekmarkham/qAqIzsojctealciCrnaxfumJnFJgJDswGtCeoHesheJrapGkvGwtcgwICdAo/media_http1bpblogspot_gmJtj.jpg.scaled1000.jpg [Moderator warning: Some NSFW text.]

It seems more regional than one would expect. I think they are more plentiful in big urban areas than smaller towns and the suburbs. The only fixies I see are trainers for roadies. The closer I get to LA the better the chances are that I will see a hipster on a fixie with short little bars that make it look like they are holding onto the stem. Here in Southern California the hot chicks tend to be on Beach cruisers riding by the beach. In Palm Springs I saw many good looking female roadies and even some on Hybrids but no Pixies on fixies.

I saw a couple of them in training last while traveling through Oberlin OH. Their stopping skills needed more development as the two of them attempted to slow down while passing to the right of a pickup truck that was already stopped and turning right with blinker on. The truck collected both of the Oberlin College students in one fell swoop. It was an ugly scene seeing the two young ladies laid out in the corner still attached to their single speeds' by the pedals. In the end all were well and continued on their way. If you have ever been to Oberlin seeing college students doing something strange is almost expected.

HA!!! Funny you should talk about Oberlin College! I grew up in Oberlin. Maybe that's why I am strange also. My mom and dad were professors. It was not mainstream in the 50s or 60s either. Haven't been there in years.

Don in Austin

My granddaughter is one of those pixies on a fixie. 5'4", 105 lbs, cute as a bug, tougher than nails. We got her on a multi-speed hybrid now, but she still likes riding the fixie sometimes.

I see lots of kids (girls and boys) on fixed gear bikes, most of which were 70's-80's multi-speed bikes converted to fixed. Most of them show lots of talent and ride safe within their definition of same.

I went on a ride with a group of them one night; wonderful experience even though I was twice the age of any one of them and had neither tatoos nor piercings (whereas they had plenty of one, the other or both).

Good news is we all got along great, no worries that I was some Old Guy on a fixed gear bike. I was also the only one with lycra cycling shorts and and one of only a few with a helmet. Then, a few days later, someone sent me a link to a YouTube video of the ride . . . and there I was, some Old Guy on a fixed gear bike riding with a bunch of "kids!"

Rick / OCRR

I carry this chart so that I can understand them better:

http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/derekmarkham/qAqIzsojctealciCrnaxfumJnFJgJDswGtCeoHesheJrapGkvGwtcgwICdAo/media_http1bpblogspot_gmJtj.jpg.scaled1000.jpg [Moderator warning: Some NSFW text.]

Too funny!

We have them by the hundreds in Chicago. Even in winter, they are out there, getting around.

Michael

Post script: Almost none of the hipsters riding SS or FS (male or female) can hang on my wheel (unless I want her to ;-))

No pixies on fixies that I have seen in Los Angeles. Decades ago I saw a far to skinny female while climbing Old Topanga Canyon. She might as well been on a fixie,her gearing was way too high, she was going up and down like a meruygoround. I picked things up bit then slowed to chat. The first words out of her mouth was a snide comment about not being able to maintain the speed I used to catch her.

I said nothing, just kicked it up and speed away even faster. One of the very few rude women I have ever met on a bike. (also one of very few people I've passed going uphill).

I wish the streets were full of some like shown in TromboneAl's example. That wouldn't be a bad thing at all. :)

We have a few fixed bike riders around town, mostly college kids and rarely wearing helmets. But most of the college kids here are on cheap wallyworld bikes which they ride on the sidewalks, occasionally hopping out into the street, often as not going against traffic and ignoring stop signs and traffic lights.

The only fixies I've seen in Phoenix have been on club rides - people using them for training.

But my younger sister (youngest of 9 siblings) is a hipster chick in San Jose, married to a hipster dude - the two of them own an upscale coffee roaster and coffee shop, and she is also a Palo Alto policewoman. Yes, my baby sister can kick my ass. Most of the people working for them (all quirky hipster types) ride bikes to work, and ALL of those are fixies. I think anyone bringing a multi-geared bike to their office/roaster would have the derailleurs removed and nailed to a wall or something. All the fixies are old: classic steel frames converted to fixie status. Lots of tat's and piercings - nothing wrong with that!

The only fixies I've seen in Phoenix have been on club rides - people using them for training.



Do you belong to a West Valley club, AzTallRider?

I see lots of kids (girls and boys) on fixed gear bikes, most of which were 70's-80's multi-speed bikes converted to fixed. Most of them show lots of talent and ride safe within their definition of same.

I went on a ride with a group of them one night; wonderful experience even though I was twice the age of any one of them and had neither tatoos nor piercings (whereas they had plenty of one, the other or both).

Good news is we all got along great, no worries that I was some Old Guy on a fixed gear bike. I was also the only one with lycra cycling shorts and and one of only a few with a helmet. Then, a few days later, someone sent me a link to a YouTube video of the ride . . . and there I was, some Old Guy on a fixed gear bike riding with a bunch of "kids!"

Rick / OCRR

Oh! Can you please post the YouTube link? Sounds like it'd be a lot of fun to see :)

When I was still employed and bike commuting I saw these types all the time.
Now that I'm retired I never go into downtown Atlanta (except by car with the doors locked). You couldn't pay me enough.

Oh! Can you please post the YouTube link? Sounds like it'd be a lot of fun to see :)

Sorry Bare Feet, That was a couple of years ago, and I had the link at the time, even posted it on our club's website. I'll do a YouTube "search" and see if I can find it . . .

Rick / OCRR

Edit: Did YouTube search and found a lot of videos by that group, but not the one I'm in. The area code for Whittier is 562, so the name of the group is 5FIX2. Do a search with "5FIX2" and you'll see lots of similar videos. The one I'm in may have been deleted since it's two or three years old.

If they are that fast w/ fixed gear and poor traffic skills, think what they could do with a good multispeed transmission and a little effective cycling training.

Meet Ashley from Austin.
I rode 4200 miles with her on The 42 Ride.
190228

If you don't post pix I can't believe you.

Pixies on Fixies, indeed!

Plenty of them to see here http://www.thefixfixfix.com But don't do it at work

This has been posted on a couple of other forums here but if you haven't seen it it's worth a look. From the new show Portlandia
http://www.hulu.com/watch/210889/portlandia-bike-rider

Plenty of them to see here http://www.thefixfixfix.com But don't do it at work

Oh my,my,my , I saw why the not suitible for work warning.

Well, I'm 54 and I love my Gunnar fixie. But, I have brakes on both wheels, so I'm not "cool". Of course, being over 50 has several advantages. Among these are that I don't have to care what the cool crowd thinks. This brakeless trend is absurd, but that is another topic altogether. I'd hate to think that any of these young women are going brakeless because some boyfriend with the IQ of a jelly donut told them to.

Uh, yes, I know about the FixFixFix website. Definitely NSFW. (Not safe for work. Hate those acronyms.) Yep, the girls are pretty, but I suspect some of them are not actual cyclists. A few maybe. Some have the "I want to break into modeling" look.

We do have them around the Cambridge / Boston area. Seen them in Brookline along Beacon street as well. I would not say we have a lot of them. Enough to make an urban ride "interesting". :D

C'mon Spring, C'mon hot weather. :D

Uh, yes, I know about the FixFixFix website. Definitely NSFW. (Not safe for work. Hate those acronyms.) Yep, the girls are pretty, but I suspect some of them are not actual cyclists. A few maybe. Some have the "I want to break into modeling" look.

Some of those girls look like they might be SuicideGirls.

No fixie riders here. Hell, there are few riders at all. A few drunks ride bikes, but that is probably court ordered. You'll see some that give the impression they can't afford anything else. Occasionally, a guy in spandex and fancy helmet flies by on his Giant like he's on fire to get nowhere. But he's too busy looking serious.

Not many goth chicks riding fixies, or anything else, around here.

LOTS of women cyclists here ("Rocketchix"), but mostly roadies (multi-geared) on high-end aluminum and CF. Some of 'em have discreet/tasteful tats but I haven't seen any I'd call "goth".

No fixie riders here. Hell, there are few riders at all. A few drunks ride bikes, but that is probably court ordered. You'll see some that give the impression they can't afford anything else. Occasionally, a guy in spandex and fancy helmet flies by on his Giant like he's on fire to get nowhere. But he's too busy looking serious.

Not many goth chicks riding fixies, or anything else, around here.

sounds like the lyrics of a cross over country song:lol:

sounds like the lyrics of a cross over country song:lol:
Pretty much sums it up.

I watch all this alternative and new age bike culture stuff with intereset - because little, if any of it, filters down to Deep Dixie where I live.

Distances are long here, and "bike friendly" means they have a small bike rack rusting alongside the building, somewhere.

The preferred form of transport has four worn tires and dirt splattered side panels. "Buying local" means shopping at the Family Dollar Store and bikes come from Walmart.

The only LBS within 30 miles has it's collective head far up its own ass.

What about so-called "Cyclists?" Well, those are skinny, white college guys clogging up the roads on weekends. Like a bunch of mad lemmings, they blast through the area, going nowhere fast. Their funny little helmets wink in the sun and they never wave or smile. People here reckon they are:

A. Rude and crazy

B. Suspicious, rude and crazy

(We think of a 'ball cap' as appropriate cycling headgear - and it's usually sporting a "John Deere" logo.)

When you see a "fixie," it's an old Huffy coaster with a broken hub. The nearest place where the New Cycling crowd can be found tooling around on 'fixies' is Greenville, SC, about 2 hours away.

So what about little Emo chickies, climbing pedals and warming their seats with their fit, tender seats? Not happening.

A woman on a bike around here is either a hippie retiree with hairy legs, or a soccer mommy putting along the MUP, "getting in shape."

Here in Vancouver, part of the uniform is the roundish snowboard helmets, usually in combat colors. Also, many are on single-speeds rather than fixed. Body piercings and tattoos are also mandatory. I love to draft behind them, they add so much color!

L.

Here in Vancouver, part of the uniform is the roundish snowboard helmets, usually in combat colors. Also, many are on single-speeds rather than fixed. Body piercings and tattoos are also mandatory. I love to draft behind them, they add so much color!

L.
Nice imagery.
I have a ding-a-ling bell on my handlebars, but the only time I ever use it is for waving at people as I go by. I rode all over town yesterday and only saw two other riders - both kinda down on their luck, scruffy looking black dudes. Drafting behind cute, young girls is only a dream of mine.....

Do you belong to a West Valley club, AzTallRider?

I'm in the Bull Shifters (http://www.bullshifters.org/): the west side of North Central. Meetings are at Chino Bandidos (19th Ave and Greenway); rides atsrta at Exhale Bikes (I17 and Bell).

As much as I hate Chicago winters, I'm starting to think I've got it good!

This is one group I ride with;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/IMG-2612.jpg

This is the C&V crowd I ride with when I'm not training;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/100_0276.jpg

Also, SS & Fixies are becoming less cool as local C/L buyers begin to understand that converting a working drivetrain to SS is taking a step backwards. These two bikes help me fit in with the local C&V crowd;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/HHH2010007.jpg

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/2010bikepictures016.jpg

I'm in the Bull Shifters (http://www.bullshifters.org/): the west side of North Central. Meetings are at Chino Bandidos (19th Ave and Greenway); rides atsrta at Exhale Bikes (I17 and Bell).

You have a message

Meet Ashley from Austin.
I rode 4200 miles with her on The 42 Ride.
190228

Hi Ashley : )

Wish I could've done The 42 Ride! I hope it was a good time.

Bare Feet, I think we need to get you on a fixie, kitted it out in proper attire. You can be our 50+ hipster/goth/punk fixie chick.

Not to many fixies here much less "Pixies on Fixies". The few around are mainly hipster guys that work at one of the LBS. The University is way too far out of town for them to ride the distance in to town. I prefer to ride with my wife and men and women in our age group anyway. Much better view to draft on the women we ride with than some tatooed hippie or goth chick. Just what floats my old boat.

We have several ride groups and a regular Saturday set of rides an LBS sponsors on the "Rails to Trails" paths we have and many duos and trios out for training rides. I drive a 4X4 and there are lots of big cagers here but not to much friction.

All that said, the state just let a driver that killed a bicyclist, hitting him from behind, doing a coast to coast charity ride, in Bay County off with a 6 month license suspension and a $1600.00 fine. Seems the DPS puts a low price on a bicyclist's life in Florida.

Bill

Bare Feet, I think we need to get you on a fixie, kitted it out in proper attire. You can be our 50+ hipster/goth/punk fixie chick.

Good idea, AzTallRider!

Bare Feet, I think we need to get you on a fixie, kitted it out in proper attire. You can be our 50+ hipster/goth/punk fixie chick.

+1 This may be the idea of 2011.;) Start us off with some pics kitted up in proper attire on any bike.:innocent:

'Pixies on Fixies' - that has so many possibilities.

As for this group:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/100_0276.jpg

I dont think anybody qualifies.

Gentlemen.... I sense danger in these recent posts. :twitchy:

As much as I hate Chicago winters, I'm starting to think I've got it good!

This is one group I ride with;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/IMG-2612.jpg

This is the C&V crowd I ride with when I'm not training;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/100_0276.jpg

Also, SS & Fixies are becoming less cool as local C/L buyers begin to understand that converting a working drivetrain to SS is taking a step backwards. These two bikes help me fit in with the local C&V crowd;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/HHH2010007.jpg

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/2010bikepictures016.jpg

I don't know when you pictures were taken but we don't have it too bad here. Not many of us ride fixies because we have hills. But we get some good winter riding in like we got Saturday.

ASU has lots of them around there campus. Some of them can really go. Nothing like youth.

For those who don't know what ASU is, its Arizona State University. I forgot this is an international forum.

I do have to add that I have tried Fixies and to be honest it reminds me of owning an old model A Ford, Interesting but not much fun. A SS I can see for around town cruising around town but for a daily rider Fixies take away part of the great joy of cycling, the free ride down hill. I have tried riding one and starting and stopping is more challenging. But to me they are interesting much like a Penny Farthing is interesting but a big step backwards as far as Cycling goes. I know they are an offshoot of Track bikes moved to the street cross bred with messenger bikes but doing away with the free wheel just doesn’t do it for me.

As much as I hate Chicago winters, I'm starting to think I've got it good!

This is one group I ride with;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/IMG-2612.jpg

This is the C&V crowd I ride with when I'm not training;
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/100_0276.jpg

Also, SS & Fixies are becoming less cool as local C/L buyers begin to understand that converting a working drivetrain to SS is taking a step backwards. These two bikes help me fit in with the local C&V crowd;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/HHH2010007.jpg

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/2010bikepictures016.jpg

What beautiful bikes. The blue looks like a twin to my 1982, Trek Sport/Tour bike. What is yours?

Bare Feet, I think we need to get you on a fixie, kitted it out in proper attire. You can be our 50+ hipster/goth/punk fixie chick.
Yep I cast my vote for BareFeet to be our hipster fixie chick. What about it BF, you got a fixie?:love:

Gentlemen.... I sense danger in these recent posts. :twitchy:

I certainly meant no sexual innuendo towards Bare Feet or any of the "Pixies on Fixies" whatsoever. I only meant that I like riding with women my age, especially my wife of 34-1/2 years. My apologies if I offended Bare Feet in any way or any other of our female members. A mixed gender ride is more enjoyable for me and generally more relaxed. Besides most of the Pixies, and I imagine Bare Feet, could drop me in a heart beat

Bill

Some of those girls look like they might be SuicideGirls.


uuhhhh,,, I'm old and stupid. What on earth is a "SuicideGirl"???

I just think some of them are, you know, hot.

Those bikes from State Bicycle Co. actually look decent. At that price point, you won't be getting any of the super high-quality tubing though. Still decent if you're on a strict budget.

Ever get the feeling you were "into it" about 30 years too early?

uuhhhh,,, I'm old and stupid. What on earth is a "SuicideGirl"???

Google it, but not at work.

uuhhhh,,, I'm old and stupid. What on earth is a "SuicideGirl"???

Okay, I don't feel so dated now. I'm 56 and knew what a "SuicideGirl" is. Thanks!