Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - dumbest thing you've ever done to a bike...

when I was a kid I took a bmx and put a road bike fork on the front with a 700Xcc wheel, then road it around, seriously a bad idea. I couldn't stear, couldn't stand up on the pedals without falling. and it looked dumb as hell! I rode it for about 2 months.

another genious one was me and my dad building a custom low-rider bike, by chopping the top tube and shortenning the rear triangle, looked cool as hell, but I think we should have measured for crank length, cause one day while riding it I was going around a turn, slammed the pedal into the road throwing me over the bars and sliding on my knee, still have the scar.

then there was the backwards cruiser, flipped the rear wheel around, flipped the cranks, turned the seat around and the handle bars. did you know that bikes aren't designed to operate backwards? I do now...

oh and they were all singlespeeds, so yeah.... oh and the lowriders free wheel eventually locked up so against my will it was a fixed gear (not the best thing for a bike with bad pedal clearance).

When I was very young, 6 I think, I was already taking my bike apart and putting it back together. I decided to take my coaster brake hub apart. When I put it back together it only pedaled backwards.

Thats it, thats all I got.

At age 8, my coaster brake quit working when I was going down a hill. Not thinking clearly, I felt that my only two choices were to either ride the bike into a blind intersection or ram the bike into a tree to stop. I rammed the tree. It hurt. Now I realize I could have just jumped off. Duh...

Surly singulator on a giant ocr3. Bad idea was not making it a ss the bad idea was buying it in the first place.

WTF was i thinking?

Found an old cruiser in the trash in New York and rehabilitated it for about $40, feeling like a champ. At the LBS, they said, "you might want to replace this stem," but, being cheap and wary of advice from people who stood to profit from my taking said advice, I said, "whatever." Two month later, booking along 23rd street to meet someone for a movie, I pulled up on the bars a little, and the stem just cracked right off. Luckily, the brake cable was still attached so I got it under control without incident, but I felt really disgusted at myself for ignoring an easy fix and ending up having to schlepp a busted bike home to Brooklyn on the train.

Another time, I had a head-on collision with a cop who was riding a motorized scooter - that was more of a dumb thing I did *on* a bike, not to a bike, but still, it was really dumb.

Before I ever knew anything about bikes, I was trying to make some minnor repairs to a GT crusier I bought new - I don't know what was wrong with it now and I didn't know at the time either.

When I was checking it out I noticed some screws coming out of my brakes that looked like they were about to fall out. I tightened them down as far as they would go thinking that I had just prevented a serious accident. When I got on the bike to take it for a spin, the brakes were clamped down on the wheels and wouldn't budge.

I carried it on my shoulder to the LBS that sold it to me and showed the mechanic what was happening. He got a screw driver and loosened the screws I had just tightened. That's how I learned how to adjust brakes. I hope that guy is still telling that story at conventions.

I was 5 years old. I had a flat tire. I couldn't find the 20"tubes.... turns out that my sister and mom used them for crafts (Fraggin JOY) Well anyways I thought it would be a good idea to use my dad's spare 26" tube since he didn't ride.

Worst thing so far though wasn't by me.... someone brought their bike in to my LBS to get work. IT was clearly one of those CheaPacific dually bikes. The owner of this bike got a hold of some cannondale down tube stickers and put them on it. It was in the LBS to have the cheapo grupo changed out to XT. Oh and he had asked them if he could fit 700cc rims and tires on it for the MS150.

I once completeely dismantled an old old raleigh road bike I found in my dads garage when I was about 10. I then proceeded to put it back together completely wrong and on flat tires, used it as a sled during the winter.
I was just a kid, but looking back, thats a crappy excuse.

Left it neglegted in the garage to rust.

i painted my fixie with a thing of baby blue spray paint.

Im a firm believer in the fact that only profesionals should paint bikes

i learned to ride on a large truck bike without tires, just bare rims, it was like riding on ice!

I sold my MINT (like never got wet or scratched) 1971 Raleigh Super Grand Prix for $75 bucks in the early 1990's. To Make things worse...
The guy immediately took out a pair of vice grips put them on the seat post clamp bolt and spun it around destroying anything in the nearby area. Then he left it somewhere and it was stolen.

I sold my MINT (like never got wet or scratched) 1971 Raleigh Super Grand Prix for $75 bucks in the early 1990's. To Make things worse...
The guy immediately took out a pair of vice grips put them on the seat post clamp bolt and spun it around destroying anything in the nearby area. Then he left it somewhere and it was stolen.

Heartbreaking.

Heartbreaking.

I think the trauma has had a permanent effect on my life! :o

That's some karma to work off for sure.

That's some karma to work off for sure.




I just remembered, the guy still owes me $25 :eek:

One of my nephews called me years ago when he was 17. He had removed the front brake to get the front wheel off to fix a flat because he could not get the wheel off otherwise. He could not find the nut that holds the front brake on, so he slid the bolt in and took it for a ride thinking it was not important.
He could not remember what happened, but would I come and fix it for him. He still has the scar on his head.
Yes he is a fing genius.

once parked my inherited from an uncle ccm path racer-free/fixed hub, hand brakes, track bars, next to some 10 speeds (it was the 70's) and left it unlocked-gone like a lottery win-into the wind.

only positive was it was in fixed gear so on the first curve.....

three in da mowning, five fixies, one keg, race down ashland ave., busted face

well, at my shop i've clamped a derailleur cable while installing a kickstand ooooh one, two, three, four... five... possibly six times. truly stupid, and it sucks when my boss is the one who discovers it.

was biking to work in the rain one morning, not really paying attention, then realized i was in the middle of a 20ft long section of wet metal plating

and i think the best was when i was riding along the (paved) trail when there were workers chopping up trees, and the tree-chopper was taking up half the trail. it was the morning and i was tired, i.e. lacking attention, so the tree-chopping machine was able to really capture my attention -- for some reason it was really cool in my mind. i'm passing it on the left, still staring into it's gaping mouth of tree-eating doom, when i look forward and 5 feet in front of me is an old man walking along. i ended up purposely ditching off to the side, so basically this guy is walking along when out of nowhere some idiot biker crashes right next to him. he just kinda chuckled and said "well, i'm okay." sweet.

One of my nephews called me years ago when he was 17. He had removed the front brake to get the front wheel off to fix a flat because he could not get the wheel off otherwise. He could not find the nut that holds the front brake on, so he slid the bolt in and took it for a ride thinking it was not important.
He could not remember what happened, but would I come and fix it for him. He still has the scar on his head.
Yes he is a fing genius.

that's a funny image: hit the front brake, it just grabs the wheel and keeps going... stupid is as stupid does