Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - If FG went mainstream . . .

Would you still be into it? I know many of us are drawn to FG because it is decidedly NOT mainstream. If one day every other bike on the road was fixed, would you be any less likely to ride one? Is it even possible that FG could go mainstream? (Define "mainstream" however you wish.)

umm...well, considering that i have a little over two grand invested in my track bikes, i probably wouldn't give it up just because everyone and their mother decided to ride track too....oh, wait....

I could give a ***** less. I ride.

I thought that it already did. A good portion of the bikes I see every day are either fixed or SS...

Screw the eletist small-crowd mentality. I don't care if overnight 90% of the human population decides to ride fixies. I will always ride fixed because it fits me. I like it. That's all the reason I need and I see no reason why I would stop.

I ride fixed because it is inexpensive and easy to maintain and is vastly superior to any other form of cycling, not really because it is "not mainstream". If you ask me fixed is already pretty mainstream around Boston but I'm still ridin'.

I know many of us are drawn to FG because it is decidedly NOT mainstream.I feel sad for those people...

What do you mean "if". Every one and their mother is already riding fixes here. Works out great for me. More parts to go around! More people having fun! If a fix is what it takes to get people to stop driving then I'm all for it.

while i enjoy the novelty of the fixie sometimes, i doubt i would give it up. i still ride mountain and everyone and their dog has a mountain bike.

I'd rejoice in my ability to walk in to any store and pick up track parts.

i would definately still ride fixed. i've been riding fixed gear bikes for a couple of years and i'll probably never ride a geared bike again, just can't see myself doing it. i don't know how it is in other parts of the country, but here in atlanta, its definately making inroads into "mainstream" bike culture. i was talking about this to a guy that works at one of the larger bike shops here. two years ago you couldn't hardly get track or fixed components at this shop, now they have a whole area devoted to track, or fixed bikes (bianchi, khs, lemond, specialized). he was telling me folks come in there that ride department store bikes want to know about fixed gear bikes and all. its kinda interesting when you think about it.

already happened here too. now we have trackstar. it's great.

if it became popular i would throw my bikes in the garbage...

...and buy a segway scooter

I wouldn't give it up, but I would ride backwards exclusively just to be different.

I like it for it's quiet, smooth simplicity, and it's all weather durability, not its bad-ass street cred or because it's looked down upon by the mainstream.

WTF! you either RIDE or you don't such a question is not relevant if you do.

When you can get cogs at Wally-World it's mainstream

i think that it's perfectly normal (in this "society") for someone to feel a little resentment/disappointment/confusion if something (i.e., riding fixed) is appropriated by a community to which this person does not identify. if this person does in fact, for example, identify first as "a biker" and second as "a fixed rider" then i don't think that person would feel bad about riding fixed becoming more "mainstream." however, for a person who identifies as a "fixed rider" first, and in some way identifies her/himself in constrast to people who ride bikes that are not fixed, i think, perhaps unconsciously, that they would not be completely enthusiastic about the appropriation of riding fixed by those people.

we all create identities that are in some way a resistance to something.

Look what getting big did for BMX...

Way more parts, better parts, more places to ride, better videos, better magazines.

More people = more money in the industry...and the enthusiasts reap the benefits.

next thing you know everyone will be wearing trucker hats with slogans refering to stash pockets and pie.

I'd keep riding but I'd get some tattoos to diferentiate myself from the crowd..

Oh.. wait.. ;)

man in florida it hasn't caught on at all..there are a few cities where there are small groups but it isn't a signifigant amount. florida in general is pretty lame for biking because everything is so spread out and the public transportation sucks so everyone just asumes that cars are the only logical option. however, i wish that fixies would get mainstream because my days would be much better if i saw everyone skidding all over the place!

stop thinking.....just ride!

Real men ride Coasties

I've seen maybe 6 in the last year in Sacramento... too popular for my blood! I'm switching to "gearless"! (¿wtf?)

Look what getting big did for BMX...

Way more parts, better parts, more places to ride, better videos, better magazines.

More people = more money in the industry...and the enthusiasts reap the benefits.

No doubt. I've been wanting to get into track cycling since I rode my first bike, but the huge price tags have always kept me from considering it. Now that I can buy a full track setup for less than my tax return and there's a nice shiny new velodrome down the street, I think I can finally realize one of my childhood dreams. :D

I've seen maybe 6 in the last year in Sacramento... too popular for my blood! I'm switching to "gearless"! (¿wtf?)

Hah, you could consider bicycle where the pedals are directly connected to the wheel as "gearless" (such as tricycles)

Today I saw a guy communting on a low-rider bicycle. Lets all switch to those!

I've seen maybe 6 in the last year in Sacramento... too popular for my blood! I'm switching to "gearless"! (¿wtf?)


Pic of my new coastie http://www.maukilo.com/product+kettler-8716-500.html

Pic of my new coastie http://www.maukilo.com/product+kettler-8716-500.html


-Ergonomic handlebars
-Powder coat finished steel body

Swweeeettt

Stupid question. It's a convenient ride that gets me where I want to go with a minimum of fuss. It even works at temperatures in the single digits and below. That's not going to change.

That is the best answer so far!

Pic of my new coastie http://www.maukilo.com/product+kettler-8716-500.html

I'm stripping the cranks, chain, and gears off my bike today!

This is strange. I expected a large amount of posters in here to confess how they'd drop their fixie if it became popular.

When I was first learning about bikes here, I was suprised at the gabbing and grumbling I heard from the SSFG forum.... how people where trying to be popular by going to fixed. Sure, I know a lot of people here are sarcastic, but seriously- there seems to be a real mentality of frustration that people 'found out' about fixed gear/track bikes.

People like Fugazi Dave, HereNT, 165, Vomitron and others are really helpful!

It is too bad people put out the vibe: "if you weren't here already, you don't belong."

Maybe bikes aren't as big to me as some of the people here (I'm not a messanger, but I have no car and commute everywhere on my bike)

I'd have a hard time enjoying our local fixed midnight ride in LA if people mocked me and called me a poseur.

Props to you all who keep it positive. If you ever need printing or website help, knock on my door.

It is too bad people put out the vibe: "if you weren't here already, you don't belong."



There is nothing to fear anymore, all new comers can now cross the bridge safely, as the troll has been banished

There is nothing to fear anymore, all new comers can now cross the bridge safely, as the troll has been banished

53/11? Did he even ride fixed?

If you ever need printing or website help, knock on my door.

I don't think I'll ever need help with either of those :D

And whatchya doin callin me helpful? Tryin to ruin my rep?

53/11? Did he even ride fixed?

not sure, i guess i just assumed he did.

i don't think any sane person would have a problem if it went mainstream, but i do reckon that there is more to riding fixed than just the feel/simplicity/durability. i admit that since i built my ss up and now my fixed, i get a real kick out of comments i get about my bikes. you know, the whole 'how can you ride that thing' or the uneducated 'your bike is so shiv, look at mine, i've got gears and suspension' the latter i don't feel the need to reply to but it makes me smile inside-if only they knew...

i was involved in a commuter race with one guy on my way home after work, all fun nothing ugly, and we both hit some real **** traffic and so took the time to have a little chat, he was really interested in my ss bike and asked where i got it etc so i pointed him in the sheldon brown and condor direction. if he went away and seriously considered going fixed/ss i am happy to have offered him a little help.

Fixies will never be as popular as freewheeling bicycles simply because of the safety issues involved. In fact, when the freewheel was introduced 100 years ago, bicycles that had them were refered to as "safety bicycles". Lets not kid ourselves. Derailleurs are technological progress and geared bicycles are safer and more efficient when ridden properly.

On the other hand, I think its great that a large number of people are getting into fixed. The training benefits are real, and if some fashion victims feel compelled to try fixed for the cache it offers thats good too-- what else are they going to? At least they'll get into shape unlike the dope smokin' junk-food eatin' punk rockers I remember from the 80's.

can I be a dope smokin' junk-food eatin' punk rocker who rides a fixed gear? cause man o man, I'd be a pioneer!

let us all not forget that none of us discovered fixed, someone had to introduce us to it in some way or another. Most of the ones who want to treat it like a secret society are just insecure people.

fuggit, im for whatever it takes to get people off their lazy a$$es. off of the couch, out of the car, and onto a bicycle. if that means that they ride fixies and feel underground and hip, more power to them. theyll find a more sincere reason to ride once they finally start. we should welcome anyone interested in cycling. the larger our community, the better.

Fixies will never be as popular as freewheeling bicycles simply because of the safety issues involved. In fact, when the freewheel was introduced 100 years ago, bicycles that had them were refered to as "safety bicycles".

Actually the "safety bicycle" in contrast to the "ordinary" (aka, high wheeler, penny farthing) from which one would often take a dangerous fall. The original safety bike was the Starley Rover Safety in 1885. These were still fixed gear rides.

It wasn't until 1898 that Sachs brought the first commercially successful freewheel to market.

Arguably during the heyday of the bicycle at the end of the 19th century most bikes would have been fixed.

Will FG ever be as popular as freewheeling again? In a general sense it sure seems unlikely (there are some applications for which the answer is already yes, but we're talking the market as a whole). But then there's a big difference between asking if a bicycle will achieve majority market share (or even plurality) and whether it will become "mainstream". Carbon fiber is mainstream even though the overwhelming majority of bicycles sold are steel or aluminum.

Carbon fiber is mainstream even though the overwhelming majority of bicycles sold are steel or aluminum.


thats a good point. if mainstream means that something is accepted for its functionality or style or in fact that 'special something' it brings too a certain field then surely fixed is mainstream. it is just not the 'norm'

...
It wasn't until 1898 that Sachs brought the first commercially successful freewheel to market.
Arguably during the heyday of the bicycle at the end of the 19th century most bikes would have been fixed.
...

Thanks for the historical correction, bostontrevor.

You posers are still riding fixed gears? I think it's obvious that you only get cred these days by riding a unicycle.

i think that it's perfectly normal (in this "society") for someone to feel a little resentment/disappointment/confusion if something (i.e., riding fixed) is appropriated by a community to which this person does not identify. if this person does in fact, for example, identify first as "a biker" and second as "a fixed rider" then i don't think that person would feel bad about riding fixed becoming more "mainstream." however, for a person who identifies as a "fixed rider" first, and in some way identifies her/himself in constrast to people who ride bikes that are not fixed, i think, perhaps unconsciously, that they would not be completely enthusiastic about the appropriation of riding fixed by those people.

we all create identities that are in some way a resistance to something.

Agreed. Obviously the subcultural identification aspect of it is only one part of the reason to ride FG (and not at all for some or most)---of course there is the low maintenance, road feel/fun, etc. I was just curious to see how deeply identification aspect goes with most people, and what would happen should such a subcultural distinctive be erased. What new distinctives would have to be adopted to maintain the subculture.

Maybe the question should have been "has FG gone mainstream." Sounds like it has in places. Not in Baltimore, though, IMO. Hardly anyone I've ever talked to about FG has any idea what it is.

i'll chime in and say that the subcultural identification aspect is insignificant to me. it is interesting to share my particular bicycling obsession with a group that, in some loose fashion, considers itself a subculture. but i have my own identity and my own circle and my own life, and it really couldn't be any other way.

fixed gear is not mainstream in my town, although i do see more of the bikes lately (well, until the weather got bad). certainly there is no shortage of subcultures here! as an aside, i think persons who would drop fixed riding if it got "too popular" are the actual poseurs.

Agreed. Obviously the subcultural identification aspect of it is only one part of the reason to ride FG (and not at all for some or most)---of course there is the low maintenance, road feel/fun, etc. I was just curious to see how deeply identification aspect goes with most people, and what would happen should such a subcultural distinctive be erased. What new distinctives would have to be adopted to maintain the subculture.

Maybe the question should have been "has FG gone mainstream." Sounds like it has in places. Not in Baltimore, though, IMO. Hardly anyone I've ever talked to about FG has any idea what it is.

Not in Baltimore, huh? I did a little courier work in Baltimore (I worked in DC primarily, but my company needed help in Baltimore occasionally) and I saw a few other guys on FGs. This was more than five years ago when I was just starting to get turned on to the idea. But I guess there aren't even that many couriers in Baltimore.

What would be the logical progression for the shallowly style-conscious who give up their fixies? Unicycles? Trikes? Italian wheelchairs?

What would be the logical progression for the shallowly style-conscious who give up their fixies? Unicycles? Trikes? Italian wheelchairs?

Carriage -> Big Wheel -> Schwinn -> Trek -> Moms Car -> College Beater -> Fixed -> Segways -> Ford Excrements -> Cadillacs -> Rascals -> Gurney -> Hearse