Originally Posted by
operator
Which really begs the question. Are you riding fixed just to be a hipster then? Because if you need more than one gear, why the hell aren't you riding a road bike. Which was made for that specific purpose?
Besides the novelty factor, I can't really tell why you would need a 3 speed fixed hub.
Heh. I'm pretty sure the only thing hipsterish about me is the fact that I ride a fixed gear.
But still, doesn't the fact that plenty of people have and enjoy both fixed gears and regular road bikes kind of contradict your argument? They're just two different kinds of riding, and if I can take things I like about both and combine them into one bike, am I "selling out" in some way or merely exploring another way to enjoy cycling?
Since you seem to want me to justify my reason for thinking the S3X is cool, here goes: I started out commuting to class on a janky Wal-Mart MTB but discovered that I really enjoyed riding. My biggest love was going fast on pavement, so I decided that when I got a proper bike I would get a road bike. Furthermore, I pretty much never shifted on my old bike, I just threw it in top gear and left it there, so I figured why not try a ss/fg so I'd have fewer extraneous parts to worry about and/or maintain. So I decided to get a fixed gear road bike, which... see signature.
Now that I'm doing a lot of riding, I've started to see now how multiple gears would be useful in some situations, especially now that I'm getting ready to start trying to hang with my university's cycling club who frequently ride faster than I'm able to pull off right now on the fixed gear. Still, I do love the feel of the fixed drivetrain, the fact that it gives me a backup option in case something goes wrong with the brakes and the fact that it makes me keep pedaling at all times (I ride a lot for exercise), so if there were a product that would let me retain that while giving me a couple more gearing options for performance, wouldn't that be a pretty cool thing?