delay

hmm...does he think that we really don't realize this? Honestly, most of us have ridden road bikes, and even own road bikes, we just kinda like not riding them.

somebodies

is it just me, or is this terror in pink character not really harsh? While I have seen her bike, and sure, its really hot, her audacity for taunting roadies is, to say the least, a bit unwarranted. For example, I ride a road conversion, the department store variety. The other day on Telegraph, I spotted her in the distance and road like a demon to catch up. Of course, I was very concerned about my cadence and whatnot, for fear of what she might think. But I perservered, caught her at a light, and smiled broadly in fixed allegiance. Unfortunately, she spat in my face, pulled her shiv, and stabbed me in my left eye. While I a may never fully recover, my right eye knows true beauty. A woman on a track bike, all messenger style, fearing not traffic, nor noisy chains, nor the brash commuter who might dare pass her. Fear terror. Fear that which is uncool.

TightPants

Hell yeah, oakland represent!

lilHinault

Most people with gears just eventually pick one and keep it in that gear, so it's nice to see more singlespeeds on the market. Bunch of extra stuff on a bike most people won't use most of the time.

H23

Yes, some people, yes. I'm just saying that I get the feeling that some people are, in a sense, becoming fashion victims.

Don't get me wrong, I think everyone should have a fixie, the cycling benfits are super. It just the phony elitist dogma that rubs me the wrong way.

flythebike

I'm a road guy ok. But I ride a fixie almost all the time for two reasons. 1) it is fun. 2) it is the best way I know to maximize the (limited) time that I have to ride.

I finished 3rd in a race this weekend from a field of about 80. It was a fast 25 mphish criterium with lots of speed changes and a fast sprint finish. I don't do much group riding aside from racing right now. I just go fast fixed. I have better leg speed, better efficiency, and much better control.

I had been getting sort of second tier results for awhile, and I got to thinking about how when I used to mess fixed and race on the weekends on the road I was great. So I went back to that and the benefits are undeniable, all my friends notice improvement, and results don't lie.

So it is one of those things that is intrinsically great, but it also has benefits that can apply to other things. One reason I bring it up is that if you are all competitive, go get a road bike, slap some fast wheels on it, and take out your USCF liscense. Or do some alleycats. When people pass me on the trail I don't feel the need to take out their front wheel as I pass them, because my competitive juices are sated - until the next weekend. It is a nice feeling.

legalize_it

on the same note some friends and i all registered to race a time trial in early june, we're all racing on fixed gears and entered under the name 'team shiftless.' hopefully we stomp a few people from..ggrrrr...breakaway bikes.

flythebike

You know if it USCF then you have to run a front brake.

What gearing are you using?

bostontrevor

Do you suppose his inflated sense of self importance also doubles as a flotation device?

Romoni_63

[Mike dee got a problem with that he's gonna get a left hook that he never saw comming.

[/QUOTE]


Hell ya, keep it Gangsta

turd

my main point of contention is this -- when did fixed/track bikes become the sole domain of messengers?
(1) not all ppl who ride fixed are/have-to-be messengers
(2) not all messengers ride fixed

also there's the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" double-standard: if you ride a geared bike, you suck and if you ride a fixed bike and are NOT a messenger, then you doubly suck. wtf.

onelesscar

that is pretty funny

this guy is obviously a bell whacker, maybe we shoud put up a poll to see how much people hate him?

KrisPistofferson

Fixie-puritans are nuts.

turd

omg -- klaus kinski!

turd

see, the thing is i hear mike d's a pretty decent guy in person.. so i was kind of disappointed to read those words.. he may have been in a foul mood. i dunno.

RedMenace

mike d is an alright guy. i only properly met him once but he's not nearly the ******bag that this thread thinks he is.

onelesscar

i cant believe you people say ******bag, do you say it in real life?

hyperRevue

is he as big a "******bag" as he made himself out to be in that blog?

RedMenace

hmm, you know, i think sometimes i DO say "******bag" in real life. i guess just because i think it's funny. i always silently (or audibly) giggle after i say it or type it. doesn't happen very often. i'm not necessarily proud of that.

anyway, i can see how people are turned off by his writing in the blog, but i think also there's an element of perspective to be taken into account. i don't find it odd or even offensive that a messenger would write or think that way. even if i don't consider myself as aggressive (or elitist, in a lot of ways) as mike, i can definitely identify with his position on some specific things, even if it's not universally well-received by cyclists in general. messengers DO have issues, but it's just part of the charm, i think

MKRG

The only part of this discussion that has any worth, are the parts pertaining to Oolong. It would have been cute had Oolong gotten a picture with an old cycling cap, but then he would have been called a poser too.

shot

Wait, are you saying that pointlessly obsessing over bikeys on the Interweb is not "real life"?

Grunk

I was once shooting some skate photos with a guy from Peru who didn't speak English well. I said ****** bag at one point, and he said, "What is ****** bag?"

Try explaining that to someone.

neuron

you ever get that not so fresh feeling?

SD Fixed

People sure jump on a bandwagon about this shi!t, don't they... Does it matter if one person beleives that other people suck?

Is he an elected representative?

Then, no, it doesn't matter. He spoke his mind, kudos. I don't agree with him. But really, this lynching and BS that is up here.. Y'all are a little off kilter.

noumena9

The most recent comment on his blog:

maybe i should take you to task for using the english language and not being an english major. or having a web page set up for you on blogger and not writing a cms yourself from scratch. or any other thing. i think you have some anger issues. bikes are good. people riding them are better yet. your writing a anti hipster screed does nothing.

and just as a side note, Vails excluded, the messengers get their asses beat at the velodrome by old guys in lycra pretty much every time. so a more convincing argument would be that the messengers are wanna be poseur track stars... *if* one were to follow your logic.