Dealing with people who dont understand
 

Well, I've recently gotten into riding a fixed gear, and it so many people don't get it. It's always the same, "You can't even go down hills cause you have to pedal," argument. And then they get into saying why dont you just buy a normal bike with brakes that you can go down a hill on. I ride not because I think its a cool thing (although it is), but because I love to ride bikes in general. It's an amazing workout, its another hobby, and theres always something I can work on if I have spare time. The arguments have gotten to a point where I've just said I'm not going to argue because you guys don't get it, and wont until you've ridden one for a while.

So, what do you all do to deal with them?

Well, if I'm told I can't go down hills, I tell that person that they simply have no idea what they are talking about because I dust most single gear and road bikes coming down the queens or willyburg bridge twice a daily.

"I no speaka da engleesh"

"Although I realize it isn't the most practical choice of bicycle, for me, it is the most interesting, fun, and challenging."

Why do you need other people to justify this for you? If you are capable of riding down a hill on a fixed gear bicycle, then tell your friend so. If you aren't, live with that. It really doesn't matter. Having to reach out to a forum so other peple can help justify a fad to your friends is a bit pathetic, isn't it? If you truly are doing it for "fun" or "fitness" who cares, honestly?

Yah guys! Screw all of you!!11! I'm on the Internets!

Come on, really? Don't take it so personally. Not everything is practical in all applications. Fixed is not practical in all applications, nor is a road bike, or a mtn bike, etc.

Just be realistic about it. Yes, it is DIFFERENT going up or down hills. Hey, not worse, not better, but different. You adapt.

"Hop on and try it" works pretty well.
Most people who ride a lot will find it interesting if not fun once they are in the saddle.

or they'll just take off with your bike, haha

Try to explain it using the phrase "Zen-type thing".

You mean you argue about this with people who you don't even know? Why waste your time?

Those people are not in my life.

dude
 

Makers Mark is one of the best bourbons on the market today,
the color is magnificent, golden brown, honey hues--- oh wait, is this the FGBF, oh
sht, I thought this was the MM forum................................................ fixed is for skids.....:twitchy:

Just ignore it, if they don't understand, they will never learn.

Also, have you tried explaining to them that you can, in fact, go down hills? It's not like the bike explodes into a million pieces the second you hit a negative grade, it's just harder.

I've never had this discussion strangely...


Any cyclist with a shred of experience would understand that personal prefference and comfort is a crucial part of setting a bike up to get the absolute best performance out of it's rider, so someone who would question what you ride is by default, a dumb****

I don't really try to defend or discuss fixed gear riding. I just throw punches.

Who do you people hang around with? They don't "understand"... it's a bike. What don't they understand, pedaling?

I personally don't get it because I found it exponentially easier to do it with gears. Not to mention that my knees would kill me if I had a fixie. Riding a fixie for me would be like driving a car without a transmition or brakes. It doesn't makes sense to me. Sorry....

But it's a free country, you can ride your fixies all you want and I won't compain.

That sounds painful, video or didn't happen.

I don't have this problem since my bike has gears.

I decided to build a fixed gear bike after reading some of the stuff Sheldon Brown wrote...that I stumbled on looking for some info on the kind of road bikes I like....classic steel framed bikes....and the more I read, the more I "got it" in terms of why it was different & why it was a new challenge &...well, why it was ultimately something I wanted to try. I'd been riding bikes basically or 30+ years and this is something I probably hadn't ridden (pursosely, at least) in at least 29 of those years.

Several months before that, a guy who works in my office starting riding his own fixed gear conversion to work & he told me about it. My comment to him was (slightly kidding, actually), "man, you are insane." Even then, I got the appeal of the challenge, the 'feel', and all that, but was commenting more from the 'why would you ever put more effort into it than the bare minimum?" standpoint. Hell, though, even at that, I started asking questions and realized that I was one of those riders who always pedaled even when he could coast....so, well, I guess it made sense even when it didn't look like something I wanted to do. I have to admit that I was surprised riding here in east TN how much terrain I could tackle with a single (and fixed) gear...

I go on a lot of midnight rides where we have a pretty mixed crowd and on several occasions I have had new guys tell me there was no way I would be able to keep up running just one speed.

My response has been to simply tell them to stay out of my way on the climbs and I have even dropped some of those gearheads on some pretty insane descents... I rock a pretty high gear sometimes.

All in all... it is nearly impossible to explain the attraction to riding a fixed gear to anyone who hasn't done it.

I just tell em I have 3 speeds......

Pedaling in the saddle on the flats, standing the pedals on an uphill and spinning really fast on the downhills.....and then I tell em how I actually manage my speed going down a hill. ;)

:lol::thumb: