Fixies and the Christian Science Monitor
09-23-05, 04:59 PM
#1
Just a Commuter
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: PDX
Posts: 10
Bikes: Trek 520, Breezer, New World Tourist
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Fixies and the Christian Science Monitor
In today's issue, an article is entitled:
For hard-core biking, try one gear, no brakes
(https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0923/p11s03-algn.html)
A selected quote: "This trend won't last."
For hard-core biking, try one gear, no brakes
(https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0923/p11s03-algn.html)
A selected quote: "This trend won't last."
09-23-05, 05:01 PM
#2
griffin_
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: phila
Posts: 728
Bikes: raliegh "too lazy to make my own" rush hour
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
i spotted that earlier but didn't get a chance to read it
thanks for the reminder
thanks for the reminder
09-23-05, 05:15 PM
#3
All mustaches r powerful.
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: SF, CA
Posts: 111
Bikes: 1985 Dawson, IRO Mark V pro
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
dont bother... Im bored as sin and still feel liek I wasted my time reading that.
__________________
my bike: The Green Hornet
Myspace Group: San Francisco Fixed Gear Rides
my Flickr page
my Myspace profile
my bike: The Green Hornet
Myspace Group: San Francisco Fixed Gear Rides
my Flickr page
my Myspace profile
09-23-05, 05:17 PM
#4
PS NOT STOLEN
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 631
Bikes: 57cm NJS Bridgestone
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Interesting to get some sales figures, atleast. I always vote for more pictures.
09-23-05, 05:20 PM
#5
griffin_
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: phila
Posts: 728
Bikes: raliegh "too lazy to make my own" rush hour
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
for some reason internet news sites are always so frugal with photos, it seems so silly to me. the internet is such a great media for picture filled news articles
09-24-05, 03:34 PM
#7
re:member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Cracow, Poland
Posts: 874
Bikes: unknown make TT bike, fixed; Romet Sport, gone; titanium Pinarello gone;Colnago with Campy C-Record/Super Record,on it's way; Funny Gianni Motta; Buehler track, Polrad track chrome; titanium MTB on 28'', fixed; Tri Wheeler, fixed
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Rob_PDX
In today's issue, an article is entitled:
For hard-core biking, try one gear, no brakes
(https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0923/p11s03-algn.html)
A selected quote: "This trend won't last."
For hard-core biking, try one gear, no brakes
(https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0923/p11s03-algn.html)
A selected quote: "This trend won't last."
...The experienced road rider bought a fixie in the spring. Now he's selling it. "I only rode it 24 miles," he laments...
09-24-05, 05:20 PM
#8
Yay!11! I has!!!1
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Eastcoast
Posts: 1,659
Bikes: Cocaine the white stallion, Custom Witcomb pista, (Being restored) 80's Pogliaghi Track, (destroyed) RAP Round Breeze NJS, Cannondale Jekyll 900, 84/5 Pinarello Montello (all italian)
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
damned you boston calling me out like that. He misquoted the **** outta me and I can't email him since i'm in london and my email is all screwy. First of all my name is jack drury, second of all i own one track bike, not three (although you know, that'd be nice), and third of all the only italian parts besides the frame are the bb and headset (again if you wanna hook me up that'd be nice). But ken meant well and the article was definitely meant for people unfamiliar with fixies. He's a nice guy as well, for what that's worth. All love to ken but, you know, phone interviews don't tend to work so well.
__________________
Bloodstains, speed kills, fast bikes, cheap thrills, French girls, fine wine...
Bloodstains, speed kills, fast bikes, cheap thrills, French girls, fine wine...
09-24-05, 07:02 PM
#9
ogre
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: arlington, va
Posts: 399
Bikes: surly steamroller fixie, '90 cannondale SR 800
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
you gotta admit it's interesting when the vice president of a corporation (Sky Yaeger - Bianchi USA) admits that his (edit: by "his" i mean "her") products are "a lawsuit just waiting to happen".
Last edited by drolldurham; 09-25-05 at 05:03 PM.
09-25-05, 02:27 AM
#11
Yay!11! I has!!!1
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Eastcoast
Posts: 1,659
Bikes: Cocaine the white stallion, Custom Witcomb pista, (Being restored) 80's Pogliaghi Track, (destroyed) RAP Round Breeze NJS, Cannondale Jekyll 900, 84/5 Pinarello Montello (all italian)
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
It is a she
__________________
Bloodstains, speed kills, fast bikes, cheap thrills, French girls, fine wine...
Bloodstains, speed kills, fast bikes, cheap thrills, French girls, fine wine...
09-25-05, 09:50 AM
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 1,258
Bikes: Classic lugged-steel road, touring, shopping, semi-recumbent, gravel
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 46 Post(s)
Liked 81 Times
in
32 Posts
The "trend" probably won't last with the unwashed masses, but the true believers will always ride fixies, whether they're trendy or not.
09-25-05, 12:58 PM
#13
無くなった
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Sci-Fi Wasabi
Posts: 5,072
Bikes: I built the Bianchi track bike back up today.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by smurfy
the true believers will always ride fixies, whether they're trendy or not.
09-25-05, 09:50 PM
#14
Member's Only
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: MPLS
Posts: 524
Bikes: Bridgesetone RB-1 fixie, Surly CrossCheck, Surly Instigator, Salsa AlaCarte, Bianchi Timberwolf SS
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Hell NO! once they bring back Razor scooters, this trend is played and I'm OUT!
or
_Yawn_ everyone writes for the Christian Science Monitor these days...
or
_Yawn_ everyone writes for the Christian Science Monitor these days...
09-26-05, 08:38 AM
#16
Rebel Thousandaire
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Hartford, CT
Posts: 733
Bikes: Public D8, Yuba Mundo (cargo), Novara Buzz (1-speed, soon to be 2-speed w/ a kickback hub), Xootr 1-speed folder
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Originally Posted by invisiblah
where is Jesus in all this?
09-26-05, 09:17 AM
#18
aka mattio
i've seen that article before. this time it's just written by somebody else, published in a different paper. hits all the main points though--urban, hardcore, tattoo, crazier than you, how exotic, et cetera. the craze is interesting, but is there really that much to say about fixed gear bikes?
09-26-05, 09:46 AM
#19
no one wants an alien
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 784
Bikes: grandis track bike, cesare track bike, bianchi road bike
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
hey! that's RedMenace in the top photo.
09-26-05, 10:22 AM
#20
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 185
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
As a clarification, Sky Yaeger's comment about "these things are a lawsuit waiting to happen," doesn't in way inidcation that she's talking about her own products. She could be talking about Bianchi bikes, but she could also be talking about fixed gear bikes in general.
09-26-05, 12:20 PM
#21
Banned.
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,416
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Originally Posted by bandregg
As a clarification, Sky Yaeger's comment about "these things are a lawsuit waiting to happen," doesn't in way inidcation that she's talking about her own products. She could be talking about Bianchi bikes, but she could also be talking about fixed gear bikes in general.
09-26-05, 12:46 PM
#22
---------
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 247
Bikes: Bomber Pro, Shorter, Iro MVP, Some old british steel thing
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
the pistas ship sans brakes, no? that lawsuit waiting to happen is probably one of the dumber comments I've ever seen in print. When the lawsuit does drop the plaintiffs now have evidence that Bianchi was aware of the legal risks of selling 'track' bikes for street use without brakes...
09-26-05, 12:54 PM
#23
---------
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 247
Bikes: Bomber Pro, Shorter, Iro MVP, Some old british steel thing
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
also that 10,000 number is surprisingly low, guess the explosion is really just an urban core thing. Even if conversions and imported/dug up used track bikes are factored that's not a huge market at all. Maybe 20-30,000 additional fixies in the US last year? Wonder how many of those get bought and barely ridden too? Judging from CL and some people I know probably a lot...
09-26-05, 12:59 PM
#24
misses the city
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Rockville, MD
Posts: 207
Bikes: 2004 Bianchi Pista
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Bianchi covers their own ass (so does IRO, if I remember correctly) by stating that you should always use a front brake if riding their fixed gear bicycle in the street.
09-26-05, 03:24 PM
#25
---------
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 247
Bikes: Bomber Pro, Shorter, Iro MVP, Some old british steel thing
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
yeah, that helps them, but I don't think it ensures them of any legal victory, not to mention potential bad PR if a suit gets launched... And no matter how you cut it an executive in charge of a product describing it as a lawsuit waiting to happen is not smart.
I wonder if they ever had any internal discussion weighing the benefits of shipping with and without the brakes? At their level what does adding a front brake cost, $5? $10? If they decided not use a brake cause it pushed them out of their target price point and it can be shown they were aware that most people would be using these on the street, that'd be a pretty nasty lawsuit. All hypothetical, but man, if I was a Bianchi exec I'd definitely want those things shipping with a little something more on the front..
I wonder if they ever had any internal discussion weighing the benefits of shipping with and without the brakes? At their level what does adding a front brake cost, $5? $10? If they decided not use a brake cause it pushed them out of their target price point and it can be shown they were aware that most people would be using these on the street, that'd be a pretty nasty lawsuit. All hypothetical, but man, if I was a Bianchi exec I'd definitely want those things shipping with a little something more on the front..
