"Ohhh not a real one" with a bit of disappointment
We have some visitors in today and our PR guy was walking them around. They get to me, my PR guy points out my bike and the fact that I ride everyday, and one of the individuals perks up and says "ohhh it's a fixie!!"
He then asked if it was a true fixie with a brake on it. We talked for a second, nice guy.
He said he saw the recent Washington Post video/article...

I'm not really sure how to take interactions as such sometimes. On one hand it's was pretty cool that he knew to some extent what he was looking at, on the other hand it was a little frustrating too with the impression thereof "fixie".
Either way...

I would have punched him in the throat.

fixie is related to drive train & nothing else.

Wait, so the basic idea is that you have a fixie, but not a "real" one because it has a brake on it? *sigh*

i had no idea what the differences were between fixed and SS until I rode a few of them. can't blame the guy for not fully understanding

I had a similar experience yesterday. Riding the elevator up from my 57km ride this couple gets in after me and the one guy says: "Is that a fixie?" Me: Yes. Second guy: "I don't know why people ride fixies on the street."

Remained silent until the third floor and got off.

Hearing the word "fixie" drives me to a special type of insanity. Is it really that hard to say two words?

Fixie is more widely used in the limited media exposure our bikes get so to the uninvolved group or people, fixie is what the bike is. Its not a track bike, its a fixie yo!!

Fixie:



Fixed Gear:



that's just how I see it.

I work in a bike shop and every single other mechanic there called my Pinarello Pista a fixie....

I get "fixie" a lot when I'm with my geared road bike, and I just let them figure out that it's not a track bike. I do that to myself I guess.

I hate when people think a "fixie" has all to do with the physical appearance of a bike..

*Driving down the street with friends and see a bike with road/track geo or deep v's*
"Look! Fixie!"
*Rider starts to coast*
"It's not a fixed gear, he's coasting."
"But look at the rims and colors!"

And I also hate:

"That's not a true fixie, he has brakes." or "LOL what a poser, you can't ride a fixie wearing a helmet! He's not a true fixie rider."

And when people call them "fixie bikes."

Ok, I'm done.

I kind of like living in a place where people think my fixed gear is just an overgrown BMX bike and they refer to my 27 speed road bike as a "10 speed".

We are pilgrims in an unholy land.

People are dumb. Whats new?

A similar experience to this one is, I got into a tiny accident a couple months ago when a car brushed me (not important). Since I had to make a couple of calls in the office regarding police reports and insurance, a coworker overheard I was in an accident and he said to me, "You got into an accident?"
me "Yeah."
"It's because u're riding a fixie"

srsly, wtf?! That's like telling someone who tripped "it's coz u're wearing sandals and not sneakers."

Drops instead of risers, brakes, non deep v's, and compact geo.

People hate me.

I guess i'm weird.. the term 'fixie' doesn't bother me.. *shrug

How do you pull that one off?
I for one am shocked and appalled.

Frankly I don't know that I've ever experienced a "sweet fixie bro!" moment, except from people I know saying it in jest.
Once I had a guy in full kit coming the opposite way on a trail yell "SPIIIINNN" at me he passed. That's about close as I've gotten.

...which is a real shame because when I first built up the fixed gear I was under the impression everyone would ooh and ahh every time I rolled down the street. I was lied to.

With a track stand.

Just roll by a high school or elementary school

I don't care I say fixie and fixed gear. What gets me though are the people who call it fixte like its a mixte, or when people spell Fuji as Fugi.

I had my Tiemeyer (with SRM and full race wheels) at the shop one day and a lady customer was like, "That's a NICE looking bike. What kind of bike is it?" "It's a track bike." "Ohhh! It's a Fixie!"

No sh*t. She said those exact words, too.

__

Tiemeyer "fixie".

Ouch.

I'm surprised they didn't ask if you were a messenger.