Originally Posted by polobear
As far as having "messenger' on it, that would come off before the bike ever saw daylight. There would be no way I'd ever ride around with that on it...even though nobody around the Chicago burbs would ever know the difference. I'd more likely be ridiculed because I wasn't running at least 21 speeds. I can just hear 'em..."awww, how sad that he has to ride a bike with only one "speed" like that".....
Dude, the other day on the train these three guys that must work together or near each other were standing with their bikes by the door, and when I got on with my bike, one guy says "oh, look at this showoff with one gear." I told him I wasn't a showoff, but yes, he was correct, I had only one gear.
At this, he and his 21 to 27 speed mountain bike riding cronies launched into all sorts of questions on how and why and why bother and there's no way I could get up the hills THEY ride to work. I told them "Yes, I could" and tried explaining some points, but then they noticed I had only one brake and started cracking jokes like I was some kind of idiot with thrill issues.
I muttered something about not knowing why they felt the need to hate on me and my ride when I was not hating on them despite the abundance of material and walked away. I then proceeded to stare at them while silently mouthing the words "f*ck you f*ck you" like that girl in the movie "Welcome To The Dollhouse."
It was the first time I ever got bashed for riding fixed - everyone else who asks me about it wishes they had one after seeing it.