Just curious..
 

As a 50+ rider I am trying to understand the draw to riding a fixed gear bike. When I was a kid, that is what we had and it seemed pretty much everything new was an advance over the fixed gear bikes.

I lived in a hilly area and it was just a given that some hills would be walked up and if your feet slipped off the pedals coming down, you would be banging the crap out of your feet trying to get them back on. Either that or wait for the speed wobble to take control of the situation and slow you down in the nastiest of ways.

I like my X bike, road bike and MTB and ride them all pretty aggressively but just can't get my head around going back to a fixie.

I am not being a smartass or putting it down. I would just like some insight as to the appeal..

For me, it's a combination of less maintenance to perform, fewer parts to fail when they get encrusted with salt during the Toronto winters, and they are more fun to ride. They are the perfect city bike for me.

It's cheap, it's efficient, it's simple, it looks cool, it's quiet, it feels great to be in complete control of the drivetrain with your feet alone, it's light, etc.

i agree with everything said so far, especially the simplicity/maintenance... that's what got me into it.

that said, to the statement above, clips/straps or clipless pedals are a huge help in your feet not slipping off the pedals. running a brake(s) also makes going down hills incredibly manageable. the majority of us have one or both of these on our fixed gears and are prone to berate those who post their bikes with no brakes and platform pedals (which sounds like the situation you are describing).

Thanks for the responses guys. I didn't have clips or clipless back then (i was lucky just to have a bike)so it would be different with them for sure.

Pretty much what everyone else already said. I initially planned to go single speed because I wanted a bike that would be next to no maintenance and have absolute rock solid reliability. When I picked it up from the bike shop they had left the flip flop hub turned over to the fixed side, so I rode it home that way and discovered it was actually kind of fun. There's no practical benefit, it's just really fun riding fixed.

They'e great for city riding. I get around just as fast as if I were on my geared bike which makes fixed gears perfect for commuting. I can pretty much do everything I do on my geared bike with my fixed gear except climbing and cornering.

I didn't feel climbing got more difficult at all when I switched from the old crappy aluminium hybrid I used for commuting previously to the steel fixed-gear I'm currently using (which isn't that light either), maybe even the opposite, I just go out of the saddle more often. Going downhill is a problem though, it's just not fun on a fixed-gear imo.

People often tell me they had fixed gear bikes when they were kids but it usually turns out they had coaster bikes.

You would have started riding a bike in the early 60's... I have seen no literature to suggest any company was making fixed gear bicycles for kids at this time but a seized up coaster will act much like a fixed gear.

I was born in '65 and all my early bikes were hand me down coaster equipped models.

I had an 80 year old guy bring his bike into the shop and he had been riding it every day for years with a completely seized coaster hub... it was essentially a fixed gear.

He thought that this was how the bike was supposed to be as it had been like this for as long as he could remember and he had owned the bike for 40 years.

Correct on the time frame Sixty Fiver. I don't recall much about the bike but my parents didn't have a lot of money back then as Dad was still a student. The bike was old when I got it but new to me. It rode like a fixie so for all practical purposes, it was one.

It's a good change-up for me. I ride MTB (Ti XC and a SS rigid 29er), road, cruiser, BMX, and fixed gear. On my road loop, I'll bust out the fixed gear every once in awhile. Yesterday, my normal XC MTB loop, I took the full rigid 29'er SS.

On the flats and rollers, I'm actually pretty fast on my fixed gear. Not as fast as on my road bike, but fast enough to make it awesome.

For you, being a person who rides multiple bikes, you can understand that, right?

But then again, I'm the wierdo who can bust flatland BMX moves and ride a road century in bibs the next day... later on that week hit some singletracks, and then do another flatland BMX session a day later. So don't listen to me.

I love riding fixed and my fg bikes are 5 deep in my garage.

It's just a different way to enjoy cycling and their is so much appeal to the raw simplicity of a fixed gear.

I just got my first fixed gear bike a few days ago and I gotta say it was definitely a love-hate relationship the first few times I rode. I live live in a semi-hilly neighborhood as well and going downhill was a *****. I only had the front brake installed and needless to say, I had to learn the hard way how to use that properly. For two consecutive days, I earned my battle scars.
First time I braked to slow down quick for a turn with the brake and ended up making that turn on my right arm and back.
Next day, I tried to brake/skid/backpedal to slow down but the rotating cranks slammed me face first on the ground.
But after a little more practice I basically got the resisting-pedal method and finally nailed a few skids, which was the best feeling ever! and now I love my fixie!! (aside from all the scratches and blood stains on it) :)

Fixed gear bikes suck, almost as much as the people who ride them.

Yes... we suck.

:lol:

When you lock them up only a person with a wrench can steal your wheels.

only an idiot locks up without locking their wheels, even if they don't have QR's.

Well, most fixies nowadays are essentially track bikes being ridden on the road. Track bikes, and so most modern day fixies, are very much made for performance. Even the cheapest bikes direct fixie will offer a decent level of performance, certainly better than an old fixed gear bike. My grandfather used to ride dutch "doortrappers" which is essentialy just an old city bike with a fixed gear rather than the coaster it would have nowadays. My fixie obviously performs better than that old bike. The fixies we all ride do still have certain limitations, but are still very fast bikes that can be ridden quite aggresively. So I can't corner, go as fast or coast downhills... who cares? I get bored quick on a geared bike. And with my little brothers collection of geared bikes I do get to play with some nice gears from time to time, and I still prefer my fixed gear.(If I had the money I would have a fixed gear and a really nice all 105 roadie.) And even then I'd probably prefer the fixie.

That's really ****ing stupid.

eh, if you have brakes and have a couple mile decent, why not?


also, many early bikes had pegs on the forks for this reason.

it looks like his brake cable goes down to the front hub. I wonder what it is.

I spy a drum brake. <3

About every two months some old fart who's been riding for years, like yourself, comes in and asks that same question. Use the search function. It's right next to your geritol and "when I was your age…"

i like how fg's are reaaaaalllly silent! all i hear is the road surface vibrating my frame which makes this "whhrrrr-ing" sound. no offence to anyone that uses a freewheel/single-speed, but i really hate that free-wheel clicky sound. dont know why but i just dont liek the sound... "tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki..." kind of like that eh?