anything that smooths out your pedal stroke is ok in my book.

Thta's exactly what I meant by it (note the use of two words to distinguish from "freerider" which is a corporate / magazine term)

I don't think singlespeed/fixed is all hype. It's just a return to a simple, utilitarian machine.

As someone that started riding before suspension, indexed shifting and 99,999 rear cogs, I'd have to say that most of the 'modern' or 'high tech' bike gizmos is hype.

While I enjoy the convienence of shifting from the brake levers (STI), there certainly is negligable if any performance increase (and there certainly is an increase in weight with STI). About the only development in the past 30 years that I really value is the clipless pedal.

Dave

Singlespeeds are a plot by knee surgeons.

if not for the hype...

I would've stopped riding a bike at the age of 7

the hype is what made me realize that I love to ride

W00t 7 year old thread! You really gravedug an old one this time!

good god i was going to reply with something like "youre a few years late" but then i looked at the other peoples' replies and saw the date.

Seems we got us a necromancer on our hands.

Some thought-provoking stuff in here. Myself, I grew up on a Sears singlespeed bike back in the '60s. It was all that I knew. When the '70s came along, I spraypainted the bike in flourescent green and pink and switched out the front tire for a super narrow slick and thought I was so cool. None of my friends had geared bikes.

Then one day, a friend rode up on a Raleigh with a stick shift! Wow, that was cool. I think it had three speeds, not sure, might have been five. At any rate, changing gears was a totally new concept for me.

Then the bike boom happened and it seemed everyone was riding Peugeots, Raleighs, Schwinns, etc. My family couldn't afford anything like that so I rode my old singlespeed bike until it didn't fit and/or I lost interest.

Not to get into psychobabble or anything, but I think the reason I get such a kick out of buying and fixing vintage bikes is related to the fact that I was riding when they were new and just couldn't afford them. Now I can and it makes me feel good.

I am currently working on a nice singlespeed. I have a mountain bike, five geared road bikes I take turns on and now will have a singlespeed. I'll probably ride it more often than any of the others I bet.

Hype or no hype, I just love bikes.

If the OP thought there was too much hype in 2003...

is the necromancer dude wearing a corset?

He's a necromancer. He can wear whatever the hell he wants.

yay for hype

Back when I was 12, and this thread was created I only rode for the pure joy of riding.

Now I just ride for the hype. Good thing this thread is back, I've felt lost without it.

It was kinda cool reading through here, amazing the attitude on here hasn't changed much.

I didn't like riding when I was 13, shoulda got me a fixie like all the cool kids today

Ok: so which is it? Do we chastise people for not using the "search" function or deride them for resurrecting ancient threads?

I didn't look at the original post dates until just now and was very confused by the apparent sudden influx of posts from members with really old accounts. I thought this thread was moved here from C&V or something.

When this thread was created I would have been in the 8th grade (I'm now a senior in college).

Assuming the time is correct, I would have probably been in the bed (as it was a Sunday night, so the next morning was a school night...I had a bedtime up until that year).

My first class the next morning would have been Photography (a 0-period class..meaning it met before school started). 1st period was geometry. 2nd Period was biology. 3rd was French. 4th was lunch. 5th was English. 6th was civics. I'm pretty sure I had a 7th period but it escapes me.