3bikes

OK, I haven't been on the Bike Forums for a while. I wanted to voice a concern and see what sort of replies come from it.

Kids... I mean kids like 12 years old, on Fixie bikes their parents gave them... no brakes, feet strapped in with wide velcro straps, usually no helmets or gloves. Their parents have no idea about how difficult it is for a person to stop on a fixie?

I've got 6800+ miles on my latest commuter bike that has saved my ass many times from cars/trucks cutting in front of me, pedestrians stepping in front, car doors swinging out, animals.... because I have good front and rear BRAKES. Not having brakes and the ability to coast may work well for stunt/shot bikes, track bikes or for ADULTS who decide to ride Fixies, but I don't get where parents really think their kid is the least bit safe on those things. Let alone, the stresses on legs from that sort of riding. One of my coworkers developed bad knee problems and had to give up his fixie.

OK, I've opened myself to the wrath of this forum. Have at me... but remember, I'm just a bike commuter in LA that has been doored, lost control on greasy pavement, had close calls so many times I've lost count. I have learned over several years of bike commuting how important it is to have control and quick reactions to avoid problems. Please enlighten me for or against kids on Fixies.

Thanks-

Titmawz

I am with you on that ! I commute on a fixed bicycle myself but I have been doing it steadily for about 6 months, including two century rides. Fixed gears bicycles are fun but they are not toys.

zeppinger

I have never seen anyone who looked under 18 years old riding a fixed gear in any of the major cities I have lived. Do you have a link to a childrens fixed gear bike for sale or even just a really small frame fix gear bike?

Titmawz

I have seen them here in Miami.

Seattle Forrest

I used to have a fixie when I was 11. Hell, everyone I know did. We called 'em BMX bikes, or just dirt bikes. I'm pretty sure we had hand-brakes, too, but that's not a detail I remember. I do remember locking the rear wheel and skidding down hills...

Going without brakes is another story. I wound up riding next to someone on a fixie one day at the top of Queen Anne Hill, and we wound up going down the hill together. At the bottom - we're talking 15 % grades - he looked at me and said "I don't think I could have stopped if I wanted." I told him that's why I had disc brakes. ( Although I have to admit I stepped down to regular ones. ) I can't imagine why anyone would go brakeless in an urban area.

In before the lock.

Sirrus Rider

I've got but one thing to say: If the parents are fool enough to put their kids on fixies then Darwin is our friend. Let's hope that after the kid is killed or incapacitated that the parents will not breed again..

tjspiel

Just to make sure we're all talking about the same thing... Fixies don't freewheel, there's no coasting. What it sounds like you're talking about is a single speed.

Cyclaholic

are these 12 year old kids also commuting every day through that crazy LA traffic?

Timber_8

one could say the same thing about skate boards, I was under the impression that stunt bikes at the very least had front brakes. I have seen some very impressive stunt riders and I am sure they start learning at a very young age. I wouldn't have a problem with a kid having one anymore than some of the many other dangerous things they can get involved in. I had horses as 8 year old & it is a whole lot easier to get seriously hurt or killed around one of them

interested

Brakeless bikes are stupid, dangerous and shallow fashion statements. However, fixed gear bikes, or "fixies" have historically never meant "brakeless" unless they where track bikes.
So, "fixies" = fun bikes
"brakeless bikes in the traffic" = monumental stupidity, ridden by sheepish fashion slaves.

--
Regards

wolfchild

Why don't you just leave those kids alone, and let them have fun. I would much rather see teenagers having fun on stunt bikes and fixies and skateboards ,then see them doing drugs and sniffing glue and getting involved in gangs. It's very difficult to be a teenager in this modern world and stay on the right path, whenever I see young people having fun on bicycles I praise them for it. When I was 13 years old I never used a helmet when riding a bike or skateboarding. Let's ask a question ? What about adults who go downhill mountain biking and freeriding ? Isn't that dangerous ? Yes it is even with a helmet and all the protective gear. I am over 40 now and I ride a fixed gear, but I also have brakes which almost never get used, it's not that difficult to stop on a fixie by backpeddaling.

Timber_8

+ 1

Mr IGH

When you get as old as you are now, everyone looks young and you start to think you know how to raise other people's kids. Have you seen any crashes? I started riding a fix gear when I was 14, my parents didn't have clue what I was riding, so what?

chandltp

Wow.. I can't believe I just read that. I don't think any amount of emoticons on the end can make that one better. Wishing death on a 12 year old because their parents let them ride a type of bike you don't approve of?

chandltp

+1 I hate it when people tell me how I should be raising my kids different when they have no ideas what my circumstances are, and know very little about my kids outside of the single instance they just witnessed.

josephjhaney

Giving a kid a bicycle with no way to stop it if they need to is stupid. Period. As to the skateboard comparison, yeah, if they are headed down a 15% grade on a skateboard that's pretty stupid too, but at least to get off the board they only have to jump down a few inches, not up over a top tube, then back down to the ground.

Joe

Mr IGH

What's stupid is writing with no experience or knowledge of the subject and pretending to be some kind of expert.

josephjhaney

Really? So, you advocate giving a kid a bicycle without any way of stopping quickly if needed?

3bikes

in Reply to: "are these 12 year old kids also commuting every day through that crazy LA traffic?"

Ok, you make a good point... I didn't really notice this trend until a kid passed me on a Santa Monica Blvd bike lane in W.LA (morning commute around 8:00am). Saw him weave side to side, his rear tire skidding sometimes for no reason. Then I saw his feet strapped in and he never coasted, just locked up his rear each time in short bursts. (He had a skate boarding helmet.) Seen him a few times after that. Since then I've noticed it more in Santa Monica during busy weekend traffic and sometimes in Hollywood neighborhoods and main streets, riders alternating between sidewalks, streets & alleys to avoid stopping. Some of the bikes are adult size fixes. You know, once you get an image in your head, you start noticing things more and more.

Mr IGH

So, you think a fix gear can' be stopped quickly unless it has rim brakes? Like I said, "What's stupid is writing with no experience or knowledge of the subject and pretending to be some kind of expert." Resting my case....

OK, at least you saw he could stop, too bad you can't understand what it is you witnessed. Think hard, you can figure this out....

Pscyclepath

Every child that rides a tricycle, or a Big Wheel, is on a fixie... Likewise a good number of BMX bikes run fixed gear or at least single-speed.

velocycling

I didn't really notice this trend until a kid passed me on a Santa Monica Blvd bike lane in W.LA (morning commute around 8:00am). Saw him weave side to side, his rear tire skidding sometimes for no reason. Then I saw his feet strapped in and he never coasted, just locked up his rear each time in short bursts. (He had a skate boarding helmet.) Seen him a few times after that. Since then I've noticed it more in Santa Monica during busy weekend traffic and sometimes in Hollywood neighborhoods and main streets, riders alternating between sidewalks, streets & alleys to avoid stopping. Some of the bikes are adult size fixes. You know, once you get an image in your head, you start noticing things more and more."

Sounds like he knows what he is doing. And yes there are Hipsters out there.

3bikes

In reply to: "OK, at least you saw he could stop, too bad you can't understand what it is you witnessed. Think hard, you can figure this out..."

Emergency stopping is really my concern. Sliding a locked up rear wheel verses front and rear brakes applied together is different. Most of my braking power comes from the front brake, the position of my body changes to a crouch and my arms brace against the momentum. As a kid, (many years ago), friends and I would lock up rear brakes in contests to see who had the longest skid. It was fun, but it wasn't in LA traffic. BTW that kid did come to a stop at one point, skids and hesitations, crank set moving until stopped. Thanks for making your point.

Mr IGH

Now we're moving on to banning coaster brake bikes, God forbid some stupid parent should try to give their kid one of those. You guys are funny!

himespau 

Up until I was 10 (when I got my first 10-speed which my parents gave all of us at the age of 10 figuring the number was symbolic but also meant we were old enough to understand how to use gears) I rode what we called a dirt bike, but what was essentially a fixie. Sure I lived out in the country where there wasn't much traffic and I think our biggest hill was only something like 9% (or was it 13%) grade, but I loved doing all sorts of stupid stuff with that bike. Riding around our circular dirt driveway as fast as I could and then pedaling backward to lock up the brakes and seeing how much I could skid. Didn't have a way to lock my feet to the wheels, but just used cadence to modulate speed. I'm still alive. At least I think so.