pirate

I had a funny interaction on my bike today. I bought a new gatorskin today (yeah baby) and went out as soon as I got it to 110 psi. Anyhow, I ran out of water about halfway through my route, so I stopped at a library to fill up the bottle. as I was unlocking my whip on the way out, a little girl and her mom walked up. The girl said "What is that man doing mommy?" or something to that effect, and her mom said "Yes honey, the man is unlocking his bike." Then she turned to me and said "Not that anyone would steal a singlespeed, anyway." I was like "It's a fixed-gear lady", to which she responded "Oh, even worse." It was good for a couple chuckles as I skidded across the library lawn.

Does anyone else get guff from random bystanders on account of their SS/fixed gear?

d2create

I'm just shocked that some soccer milf payed enough attention to notice it only had one gear!!!

pirate

meh, she wasn't all that milfy

eMwolB

Any woman that knows the difference between SS & FG must be HOT! (or really Butchy )

kwhord

I think there is a large percentage of the population who associate the number of gears on a bike with it's value.

oktokrewl

anyone that notices my bike is a fixed gear tend to be pretty cool to me about it... most people just know that it is a bike...

FlatFender

xelevendybillion

3Lph

Well, a geared bike would cost more than a ss/fg of comparable quality.

But you are right, many folks see all geared bikes as better than all ss bikes.

mykrrrr

OP - Yer a vile vile person for riding one of those "fixed" gear monstrocities.

the pope

Evidently, your bicycle is horrendous.

blickblocks

They're probably making some kind of association to cruiser bikes rather than track bikes. Lots of people remember riding cruisers, fewer have rode track.

genericbikedude

sounds pretty rude.

WakeUpOnFire

what did the tire have to do with it? Your story confused me

Boss Moniker

Wait, your bike only has one gear? What the hell, man!

BoSoxYacht

My mother is neither, but she is pretty for her age.

I was talking with my 69 year old mother the other day, telling her about the new addition to my quiver(the Group Buy IRO). I showed her a few photos from the website, and she says "oh, you're building what we used to call a fixie".

My jaw dropped. She explained that all the bikes she had while growing up were fixed gear bikes.

She's been talking about riding her bike more when the heat mellows some. Maybe I'll get her a new fixie for her next birthday. She seemed very excited when I told her about the idea

SkyeC

I was unlocking my bike outside a bar last night and some random dude comes up to me and asks, "Hey, is that a singlespeed?" I reply that, no, it's fixed. "That's too bad," he says to me. Que le ****?

Igneous Faction

I was on the train once and a deaf guy motioned to me that my bike was thumbs up. He then motioned, inquisitively, if it was fast. I tried to explain without words that it was fixed gear and was really only as fast as I was able to get it; kind of complex...

He spun his hands around in a fast circle and I laughed and nodded. I also had a guy at a train station try to buy my bike off me, straight up, for $500.00. I was like, "sorry buddy, I love this bike". He gave me his phone number and told me to call him if I ever changed my mind. My point is, most of my experiences with those not in the know have been positive ones.

But I do know people who are like, "Dude! I got a new bike today! It's got 27 speeds! That's fast!"

jpearl

This is why I use a bike with quadruple chainrings up front and 30 gears on the back for trips to the library or the bar.

But seriously, the whole "wow, you only have one gear" thing is somewhat common from people who see a serious roadie and look down to inspect the bike and see only one gear. I've gotten everything from "hey, it's just like the old bikes" to "how do you get up hills", but hey, it's always cool to be able to picque the public's interest in these machines and educate them a little.

Viva la singlespeed revolution!

oktokrewl

you should totally do an alleycat with her.. I bet she'd kick your a$$

Surferbruce

you got pwned.

Astronomical

Gears != Expensive.

oktokrewl

hey surferbruce.. I surf at this place called castle bruce.. heh

shogun17

Get it a lot. 'WTF don't you want gears for?'.....everything....

And I also get 'how many gears does your good (road) bike have?' ...'20'.....'well my mtb has 21'....'**** off'

dueL_

I call shenanigans on this story.

apeter

I get a lot of **** from middle aged cycling folks for how dangerous fixed gears are. "Oh you're bike is a fixed gear! Don't kill yourself on that thing!"

I had my frist fixie holla the other day. Keep in mind this is Auburn, Alabama very small, no one knows what a fixed gear is. I was riding down one of the main roads and this car slows down as he's passing me and a guy yells out the window "HEEEEYY FIXIE!!" I gave him a thumbs up. It definatly made my day. Unforuntatly he had an Atlanta tag on his car.

A few weeks ago, a guy came up to me and goes 'You're bike is awesome! It only has one gear and one break, what does that mean?" I pretty much almost proposed. Around here its impossible to find anyone who knows about bikes and improbable to find anyone remotely interested in learning about them. sigh.