I really hate the term "Fixie".
07-01-15, 08:14 PM
#1
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I really hate the term "Fixie".
Recently I came upon a nice Miele SLX frame and I thought I would set it up as a "Fixie" but I hate that term. Eventually I want to do it up with full Dura Ace but the prices are high and my funds are low.
Would it be wrong if I called it a Path Racer instead of a "Fixie"?
Would it be wrong if I called it a Path Racer instead of a "Fixie"?
07-01-15, 08:34 PM
#3
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You can call it whatever you want... but it will still be a fixie.
07-01-15, 08:41 PM
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To me, it's not a fixie if it doesn't have at least one of these things:
Deep V's
rattle-canned flat black paint
flop&chopped bars or risers
colored chain
Ourys
clown car color scheme
Aerospoke
Deep V's
rattle-canned flat black paint
flop&chopped bars or risers
colored chain
Ourys
clown car color scheme
Aerospoke
07-01-15, 08:48 PM
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You could always call it a ... Miele.
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A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
07-01-15, 10:19 PM
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You forgot...hipster dressed in tight black jeans, t-shirt and converse sneakers who knows and cares nothing about bikes riding it.
07-01-15, 10:58 PM
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I've been calling them fixies a long time. Probably longer than most of the hipsters have been alive. The only of the "qualifiers" mine have are Velocity Aero rear rims. In recent years I standardized on those for a braking surface that is deep enough that I can slide the wheel forward and back almost two inches without playing with the brake blocks.
Ben
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07-01-15, 11:01 PM
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07-01-15, 11:32 PM
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Funny, the college I was at in the early 70's had a technical rock climbing instructor who rode his ah, bike daily to the school.
A buddy said, "Yeah, he's an animal, it's a track bike, one gear, fixed"
"What do you mean fixed?"
"Rear cog direct hub mount, no freewheel.....no brakes either"
"Oh"
FTFY
A buddy said, "Yeah, he's an animal, it's a track bike, one gear, fixed"
"What do you mean fixed?"
"Rear cog direct hub mount, no freewheel.....no brakes either"
"Oh"
FTFY
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07-01-15, 11:39 PM
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considering "hipsters" have been around since the '40s I'm not so sure about that. too often people lazily refer to the younger generation, or simply a group of folks they don't care for as "hipsters".
hipsters are merely people that keep up with current lifestyle trends. the term isn't tied to a specific era.
that's my nitpick for the week. besides, all the cool kids ride CX bikes these days. 'fixies' are so 2006.
hipsters are merely people that keep up with current lifestyle trends. the term isn't tied to a specific era.
that's my nitpick for the week. besides, all the cool kids ride CX bikes these days. 'fixies' are so 2006.
07-01-15, 11:52 PM
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considering "hipsters" have been around since the '40s I'm not so sure about that. too often people lazily refer to the younger generation, or simply a group of folks they don't care for as "hipsters".
hipsters are merely people that keep up with current lifestyle trends. the term isn't tied to a specific era.
that's my nitpick for the week. besides, all the cool kids ride CX bikes these days. 'fixies' are so 2006.
hipsters are merely people that keep up with current lifestyle trends. the term isn't tied to a specific era.
that's my nitpick for the week. besides, all the cool kids ride CX bikes these days. 'fixies' are so 2006.
Ben
07-01-15, 11:55 PM
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A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
07-02-15, 03:52 AM
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I thought the monthly "fixie" rants were over....
The fixed gear craze of ten years ago never went away here in the Twin Cities.
Still are everywhere.
Of course so are every other type of bikes known to mankind.
The fixed gear craze of ten years ago never went away here in the Twin Cities.
Still are everywhere.
Of course so are every other type of bikes known to mankind.
07-02-15, 03:55 AM
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My son grabbed my Technium PRE frame off the wall and built a fixie. Heavy tires/wheels, it comes in at 22lbs. He loves it but still wants a geared bike for all the hills.
07-02-15, 04:39 AM
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Actually, I was over thirty years ago.
Had a nice old Colnago track bike that I rode everywhere until it was stolen from my Jeep.
Nowadays, I can't.
I have had three major knee surgeries on my left knee and I am risk adverse.
Otherwise I would love to.......
Had a nice old Colnago track bike that I rode everywhere until it was stolen from my Jeep.
Nowadays, I can't.
I have had three major knee surgeries on my left knee and I am risk adverse.
Otherwise I would love to.......
07-02-15, 04:59 AM
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Slightly off topic, but I have seen local frame builder Chris Kvale riding on river road on his way to work.
Riding fixed and fast at that!
A little blurb about this is at the end of his bio.
A real source of inspiration I would say.
About Chris
07-02-15, 05:23 AM
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07-02-15, 05:32 AM
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"fixie"? I don't much like the term either, but what's the point in calling it something else? It could be a track bike, but I don't ride it on the track, I don't aspire to riding it on the track, and I'm not about to pretend I do. People who understand bikes understand the term 'fixie.' If I'm going to the bother of talking to them, I might as well use terms they understand.
"Path racer"? No.
"Path racer"? No.
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07-02-15, 05:46 AM
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We could be utter pedants and go archly British and insist they be called "Fixed-Wheel" bicycles ... though from what I read a few years back in my rambles through vintage cycling books, "fixed-gear" has been the dominant term in the U.S. for many many decades.
I understand the use of the term "fixie," though I have mixed feelings about it. It is the common term currently, though I rather suspect if you called it a fixed-gear in their presence they would understand what you were talking about.
It could be worse. There are those people who insist on referring to a Gibson guitar as a "Gibby," or even worse those who talk of how something will "impact" something else, rather than have an impact. There are even those who cannot simply "head a committee" but must instead "head UP a committee ..."
I understand the use of the term "fixie," though I have mixed feelings about it. It is the common term currently, though I rather suspect if you called it a fixed-gear in their presence they would understand what you were talking about.
It could be worse. There are those people who insist on referring to a Gibson guitar as a "Gibby," or even worse those who talk of how something will "impact" something else, rather than have an impact. There are even those who cannot simply "head a committee" but must instead "head UP a committee ..."