HandsomeRyan

I just got my first fixed gear bike, a Motobecane Messenger, a few weeks ago. I'd been curious about fixed gears since reading some of Sheldon Brown's articles and after reading some of the posts here I took the plunge. After riding for a little while, I've determined that a fixed gear bike is a mistress.

I have 2 other bikes, a hardtail mountain bike and a hybrid/greenway bike. I look at both of these bikes like I look at my wife. They are dependable, versitile, and always there for me. Sure they have their quarks, but over the long term these bikes are great companions for a lifelong commitment. My new fixed gear bike on the other hand, makes me feel like I'm haiving an affair. This bike isn't marriage material; it's not practical, it's expensive to maintain [tires], and based on the number of close calls I've had with it, this bike doesn't even love me. Still, there's something about that orange paint, that steel frame, the twitchiness of the geometry that keeps calling me back.

The other bikes know... I come home at all hours, wearing bike shorts, sweating profusely. I try to play it off like I just needed to "test some adjustments I made to the handlebar angle or tire pressure", but we all know the truth. They never complain but I know it hurts them to be neglected and left in the basment while I pedal all over town on a newer bike. I want to ride all the bikes equally but I just can't stop myself.

Hello, my name is HandsomeRyan, and I am a compulsive fixie rider.

KFL2006

This is one scary post.

ZiP0082

haha, great post -- good stuff

kander

Of course bikes have their quarks: they are made of hadronic matter.

Zum1

I dont know if i feel more sorry for this dudes Motobecane... or for his wife... (backing away slowly)

Zum1

oh... and HAHAHAHAHA!!!! hilarious!

Killypants

Hahaha this made my day

jaggd

It's only been a few weeks, buddy. The lust will fade away. You'll come to realize that your relationship with your fixed gear was purely physical. The orange paint is just a shell. And underneath that shell is nothing. Nothing! You hear me! And you'll crawl back to the ones who were there for you. Only they won't be there for you anymore.

[Sorry, I got doored yesterday, so I'm still venting.]

b-ride

i wouldn't tell your wife you compare her to a "hardtail", unless she's really into working out. also, i married a fixed gear- it's just like marrying a woman ten years younger than you. (which i also did)

jet sanchEz

At night, when everyone is asleep, I rub my p-due along the chain and seat-tube of my bike

2new2this

Sounds like you aren't running a brake, or you aren't using it. Maybe this could help in taking that relationship to the next level. Sometimes you just have to take things slow, you know?

daybreak

awesome awesome post.

RetroRoller

This reminds me of my buddies SS 29er for some reason. He describes it as: I'm 29and Single, like it Dirty and rough, and I like to be ridden.

iwegian

i ride my fixed gear hard and put it away wet. but that's assuming i'm riding in the rain.

lns55

Don't worry you're normal - two fixed and one ss probably never run gears again.