Originally Posted by Mark4
Pardon the seeming flame-worthiness of this reply... but I wince a little when I see a bunch of otherwise nice old lugged bikes made less-rideable. On the small scale it doesn't bother me at all... but done in large numbers, it's slightly (if ever so slightly) disturbing. Like the guy who hacks up many old Nishikis, then sells them as fixies on ebay
. Perhaps I'm alone at seeing things this way, but I feel I must speak out against the "Cult of the Fixedgear." This would be a great thread for the Fixed gear section... but in "Classic & Vintage?" To me, this section's more about in-tact bikes... not the neutered variety.
Please do not take this as a personal flamey-attack against you... it's more a build-up of all those unwarranted (in my opinion) "That would make a nice fixie" comments that fixed-gear enthusiasts seem to make when someone post about an older geared-bike.
That said, I think those are otherwise really neat old bikes. I envy your collection.
Mark - You aren't alone. I subscribe to live-and-let-live, so you won't catch me flaming fixies, but it does seem that, with a few exceptions, they're taking them a step backward. I understand the value of a fixie in training, and in certain extreme riding conditions, but having gears has always (and will always) seemed more desireable to me.