A Newbie's View Of Fixed Gear Riding
06-23-10 | 09:19 PM
#1
Thread Starter
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A Newbie's View Of Fixed Gear Riding
Veloria of Lovely Bicycle fame has a very nice round up of what its like to ride a fixed gear bike. The bike (without brakes!) she was given to try out was once owned by Austrian champion Kurt Schneider. Anyway, this probably sums up a newbie's feelings about the pleasure of FG riding:
"The bike felt completely "normal" to ride. I expected to have trouble getting used to the inability to coast, but that was not the case. It was not in any way difficult or strange, just felt natural."
"In general, I feel that the idea of "not being able to coast" is misleading, in that it suggests that the fixed gear cyclist is hard at work the entire time, always pedaling. That is not so, because the time you'd spend coasting on a regular bike, you still spend relaxing your legs on a fixed gear. Effort-wise it is no more strenuous than coasting, only the pedals are rotating your legs for you. Just relax and let it happen.
The rest is here:
https://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2010/...off-track.html
"The bike felt completely "normal" to ride. I expected to have trouble getting used to the inability to coast, but that was not the case. It was not in any way difficult or strange, just felt natural."
"In general, I feel that the idea of "not being able to coast" is misleading, in that it suggests that the fixed gear cyclist is hard at work the entire time, always pedaling. That is not so, because the time you'd spend coasting on a regular bike, you still spend relaxing your legs on a fixed gear. Effort-wise it is no more strenuous than coasting, only the pedals are rotating your legs for you. Just relax and let it happen.
The rest is here:
https://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2010/...off-track.html
Last edited by NormanF; 06-23-10 at 09:30 PM.
06-23-10 | 10:10 PM
#3
Thread Starter
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No but as she said the best thing about it is:
"I do not yet understand the mechanics of this, but the fixed gear did make me feel far more in control than did any other bike I have ridden."
The conclusion I happen to agree with. FG riding is a religious experience!
"I do not yet understand the mechanics of this, but the fixed gear did make me feel far more in control than did any other bike I have ridden."
The conclusion I happen to agree with. FG riding is a religious experience!
06-24-10 | 12:20 AM
#6
Ths Hipstr Kills Masheenz
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,542
Likes: 4
From: seattle
Bikes: tirove
This one time, I was riding my fixed gear, and all of a sudden I began to levitate.
My wheels were still turning and of course I was still pedalling, but I was lifted through the Clouds to the top of Mt. Sinai, where the Buddha appeared to me.
He said, "Cool story Bro."
And I said "Tell me - what is the secret to dodging traffic like a messenger?"
and he answered, "He who tarcks like the bear, knocks trash cans with greatest respect."
Then I woke up and the paramedics were bandaging up some of my deeper lacerations with this weird goo stuff. I noticed the cab driver talking to the squad car across the street but then I remembered what the Buddha had said, so I turned back to the paramedics and I asked if I could borrow some of their arterial mending gunk because I needed to glue up a tubular to my zipp disc that I just got from my bike mechanic friend.
That was my first week riding fixed and it was totally religious, bro.
My wheels were still turning and of course I was still pedalling, but I was lifted through the Clouds to the top of Mt. Sinai, where the Buddha appeared to me.
He said, "Cool story Bro."
And I said "Tell me - what is the secret to dodging traffic like a messenger?"
and he answered, "He who tarcks like the bear, knocks trash cans with greatest respect."
Then I woke up and the paramedics were bandaging up some of my deeper lacerations with this weird goo stuff. I noticed the cab driver talking to the squad car across the street but then I remembered what the Buddha had said, so I turned back to the paramedics and I asked if I could borrow some of their arterial mending gunk because I needed to glue up a tubular to my zipp disc that I just got from my bike mechanic friend.
That was my first week riding fixed and it was totally religious, bro.
06-24-10 | 08:47 AM
#8
danke
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 821
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From: nyc
This one time, I was riding my fixed gear, and all of a sudden I began to levitate.
My wheels were still turning and of course I was still pedalling, but I was lifted through the Clouds to the top of Mt. Sinai, where the Buddha appeared to me.
He said, "Cool story Bro."
And I said "Tell me - what is the secret to dodging traffic like a messenger?"
and he answered, "He who tarcks like the bear, knocks trash cans with greatest respect."
Then I woke up and the paramedics were bandaging up some of my deeper lacerations with this weird goo stuff. I noticed the cab driver talking to the squad car across the street but then I remembered what the Buddha had said, so I turned back to the paramedics and I asked if I could borrow some of their arterial mending gunk because I needed to glue up a tubular to my zipp disc that I just got from my bike mechanic friend.
That was my first week riding fixed and it was totally religious, bro.
My wheels were still turning and of course I was still pedalling, but I was lifted through the Clouds to the top of Mt. Sinai, where the Buddha appeared to me.
He said, "Cool story Bro."
And I said "Tell me - what is the secret to dodging traffic like a messenger?"
and he answered, "He who tarcks like the bear, knocks trash cans with greatest respect."
Then I woke up and the paramedics were bandaging up some of my deeper lacerations with this weird goo stuff. I noticed the cab driver talking to the squad car across the street but then I remembered what the Buddha had said, so I turned back to the paramedics and I asked if I could borrow some of their arterial mending gunk because I needed to glue up a tubular to my zipp disc that I just got from my bike mechanic friend.
That was my first week riding fixed and it was totally religious, bro.
06-24-10 | 08:58 AM
#9
Nü-Fred
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,517
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From: Brooklyn, NY
Bikes: Torelli Tipo Uno (stolen), Peugeot Nice, Mercier Kilo TT
06-24-10 | 09:27 AM
#10
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,666
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From: Brooklyn, NY
This one time, I was riding my fixed gear, and all of a sudden I began to levitate.
My wheels were still turning and of course I was still pedalling, but I was lifted through the Clouds to the top of Mt. Sinai, where the Buddha appeared to me.
He said, "Cool story Bro."
And I said "Tell me - what is the secret to dodging traffic like a messenger?"
and he answered, "He who tarcks like the bear, knocks trash cans with greatest respect."
Then I woke up and the paramedics were bandaging up some of my deeper lacerations with this weird goo stuff. I noticed the cab driver talking to the squad car across the street but then I remembered what the Buddha had said, so I turned back to the paramedics and I asked if I could borrow some of their arterial mending gunk because I needed to glue up a tubular to my zipp disc that I just got from my bike mechanic friend.
That was my first week riding fixed and it was totally religious, bro.
My wheels were still turning and of course I was still pedalling, but I was lifted through the Clouds to the top of Mt. Sinai, where the Buddha appeared to me.
He said, "Cool story Bro."
And I said "Tell me - what is the secret to dodging traffic like a messenger?"
and he answered, "He who tarcks like the bear, knocks trash cans with greatest respect."
Then I woke up and the paramedics were bandaging up some of my deeper lacerations with this weird goo stuff. I noticed the cab driver talking to the squad car across the street but then I remembered what the Buddha had said, so I turned back to the paramedics and I asked if I could borrow some of their arterial mending gunk because I needed to glue up a tubular to my zipp disc that I just got from my bike mechanic friend.
That was my first week riding fixed and it was totally religious, bro.
06-24-10 | 10:29 AM
#12
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,280
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From: Modesto, Ca
Bikes: klein quantum, litespeed tuscany, bianchi pista concept, centurion comp ta, centurion super le mans, traitor ringleader
06-24-10 | 03:57 PM
#15
Live without dead time
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,136
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From: Toronto
I explain to people who haven't ridden a fixed gear that it's like a normal bike except you can't stop pedalling because the rotation of the wheel will keep turning the cranks.
There's a lot of mystical exhilirating **** about riding a bike in the right circumstances, but for a lot of people the type of drive train isn't part of it.
06-25-10 | 02:56 AM
#18
Ths Hipstr Kills Masheenz
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,542
Likes: 4
From: seattle
Bikes: tirove
We miss him too. Doesn't mean you have to call us mortals...
Every time someone asks me about my bike, I feel like I have to be extra scientific and demystify it so they don't read blogs like that and get the wrong idea.
1. you get used to it
2. it's simple and direct, and i just like it because it requires less maintenance.
3. i use a brake. see? look at it. it's there. it's a brake.
Every time someone asks me about my bike, I feel like I have to be extra scientific and demystify it so they don't read blogs like that and get the wrong idea.
1. you get used to it
2. it's simple and direct, and i just like it because it requires less maintenance.
3. i use a brake. see? look at it. it's there. it's a brake.
06-26-10 | 12:56 AM
#19
King of the Hipsters
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,128
Likes: 2
From: Bend, Oregon
Bikes: Realm Cycles Custom
I've asked myself all day why I would want to respond to this thread.
I should know better.
Regarding the Zen thing, or, the religious aspect of riding a fixed gear bike...think of a fish.
If you talk to a fish about water he might laugh at you.
"Water?"
"What water?"
If you explain to the fish how he lives and swims in water, he will laugh at you.
Your words will not reveal the water to the fish.
The fish must discover the water for himself.
The young woman to whom the original poster referred, who said "the fixed gear did make me feel far more in control than did any other bike I have ridden," has discovered the water for herself.
Riding a fixed gear bike, for some people, reveals the relentless immediacy of reality...which in turn corresponds to a religious experience for some people.
The fixed gear bike, for some people, provides a physical, non-verbal analogy to our relationship with reality.
Sometimes a simple discipline, a constraint, can give us a greater freedom than we had without the constraint.
A kite needs the constraint of a string in order to fly.
No string, no constraint, no fly.
If a fish can't see the water, then the water doesn't exist for that particular fish.
However, for some other fish the water exists.
I should know better.
Regarding the Zen thing, or, the religious aspect of riding a fixed gear bike...think of a fish.
If you talk to a fish about water he might laugh at you.
"Water?"
"What water?"
If you explain to the fish how he lives and swims in water, he will laugh at you.
Your words will not reveal the water to the fish.
The fish must discover the water for himself.
The young woman to whom the original poster referred, who said "the fixed gear did make me feel far more in control than did any other bike I have ridden," has discovered the water for herself.
Riding a fixed gear bike, for some people, reveals the relentless immediacy of reality...which in turn corresponds to a religious experience for some people.
The fixed gear bike, for some people, provides a physical, non-verbal analogy to our relationship with reality.
Sometimes a simple discipline, a constraint, can give us a greater freedom than we had without the constraint.
A kite needs the constraint of a string in order to fly.
No string, no constraint, no fly.
If a fish can't see the water, then the water doesn't exist for that particular fish.
However, for some other fish the water exists.
06-26-10 | 02:00 AM
#20
Ths Hipstr Kills Masheenz
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,542
Likes: 4
From: seattle
Bikes: tirove
King of the Hipsters, you have defended your rightful crown.
I maintain my disbelief. It's just a machine. It's a beautiful, simple, direct machine with two bearings around each of four axises (wheels, crank, and headtube) making a rolling conglomerate of metal and rubber.
A single blade of grass is as much testament to our relationship with reality as the most expertly crafted NJS, hand-drawn chromoly steel, scandium septuple butted aluminum, carbon injection hydroformed sex panther doused bike will ever be. Sure as salt, it's easier to recognize and assign meaning to certain objects over others when confronted with such a feeling of connection... but easier don't make right. it don't make better. it don't make meaningful.
to convey such a meaning to others and to attribute it to the ideal of a fixed gear bike is doing a disservice to reality, fixed gear bikes and yourself.
I maintain my disbelief. It's just a machine. It's a beautiful, simple, direct machine with two bearings around each of four axises (wheels, crank, and headtube) making a rolling conglomerate of metal and rubber.
A single blade of grass is as much testament to our relationship with reality as the most expertly crafted NJS, hand-drawn chromoly steel, scandium septuple butted aluminum, carbon injection hydroformed sex panther doused bike will ever be. Sure as salt, it's easier to recognize and assign meaning to certain objects over others when confronted with such a feeling of connection... but easier don't make right. it don't make better. it don't make meaningful.
to convey such a meaning to others and to attribute it to the ideal of a fixed gear bike is doing a disservice to reality, fixed gear bikes and yourself.
06-26-10 | 04:18 AM
#21
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2009
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King of the Hipsters, you have defended your rightful crown.
I maintain my disbelief. It's just a machine. It's a beautiful, simple, direct machine with two bearings around each of four axises (wheels, crank, and headtube) making a rolling conglomerate of metal and rubber.
A single blade of grass is as much testament to our relationship with reality as the most expertly crafted NJS, hand-drawn chromoly steel, scandium septuple butted aluminum, carbon injection hydroformed sex panther doused bike will ever be. Sure as salt, it's easier to recognize and assign meaning to certain objects over others when confronted with such a feeling of connection... but easier don't make right. it don't make better. it don't make meaningful.
to convey such a meaning to others and to attribute it to the ideal of a fixed gear bike is doing a disservice to reality, fixed gear bikes and yourself.
I maintain my disbelief. It's just a machine. It's a beautiful, simple, direct machine with two bearings around each of four axises (wheels, crank, and headtube) making a rolling conglomerate of metal and rubber.
A single blade of grass is as much testament to our relationship with reality as the most expertly crafted NJS, hand-drawn chromoly steel, scandium septuple butted aluminum, carbon injection hydroformed sex panther doused bike will ever be. Sure as salt, it's easier to recognize and assign meaning to certain objects over others when confronted with such a feeling of connection... but easier don't make right. it don't make better. it don't make meaningful.
to convey such a meaning to others and to attribute it to the ideal of a fixed gear bike is doing a disservice to reality, fixed gear bikes and yourself.
Define "meaning". You can define it for you but you sure can't define it for me. Anything physical is exactly that - physical. The "meaning" assigned is up to the individual. I think the most common example of this is art. You look at something and see the essence of life. I see a waste of good materials. That type of thing.
I wouldn't go as far as to call my fixed gear experience spiritual. But, I'm happier fixed than I am geared or SS. People can make arguments all day comparing and contrasting features of different types of bicycles. I'll listen and I'll enjoy hearing you out. But, the evidence of my own experience will outweigh even the most well thought out, contrary arguments.
If you've never been touched by something yet I assure you that one day you will be touched. It will make no sense for whatever it is to have such an affect on you but the affect will be there. You will be more alive. The world will be a better place. Pettiness will evaporate - if only for a few moments. You will have arrived. You will be truly human. You'll have no control or choice over what "that" is. Because, it's not a choice.
06-26-10 | 05:27 AM
#22
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 698
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From: Portland, OR
Bikes: Leader 722TS, Surly Cross Check, GT Outpost, Haro Z16, Trek 1000
This one time, I was riding my fixed gear, and all of a sudden I began to levitate.
My wheels were still turning and of course I was still pedalling, but I was lifted through the Clouds to the top of Mt. Sinai, where the Buddha appeared to me.
He said, "Cool story Bro."
And I said "Tell me - what is the secret to dodging traffic like a messenger?"
and he answered, "He who tarcks like the bear, knocks trash cans with greatest respect."
Then I woke up and the paramedics were bandaging up some of my deeper lacerations with this weird goo stuff. I noticed the cab driver talking to the squad car across the street but then I remembered what the Buddha had said, so I turned back to the paramedics and I asked if I could borrow some of their arterial mending gunk because I needed to glue up a tubular to my zipp disc that I just got from my bike mechanic friend.
That was my first week riding fixed and it was totally religious, bro.
My wheels were still turning and of course I was still pedalling, but I was lifted through the Clouds to the top of Mt. Sinai, where the Buddha appeared to me.
He said, "Cool story Bro."
And I said "Tell me - what is the secret to dodging traffic like a messenger?"
and he answered, "He who tarcks like the bear, knocks trash cans with greatest respect."
Then I woke up and the paramedics were bandaging up some of my deeper lacerations with this weird goo stuff. I noticed the cab driver talking to the squad car across the street but then I remembered what the Buddha had said, so I turned back to the paramedics and I asked if I could borrow some of their arterial mending gunk because I needed to glue up a tubular to my zipp disc that I just got from my bike mechanic friend.
That was my first week riding fixed and it was totally religious, bro.
06-26-10 | 09:08 AM
#25
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