Fixed gears and consumerism
 

It is unfortunate that my life, as I'm sure many of yours, is spent a great deal browsing bicycles and parts, completely absorbed in the capitalistic powers of the cycling industry. Too much money is spent on the newest, lightest, fastest bicycle; money that could be going to a more worthy cause.

But though it doesn't completely justify this overindulgence, I think fixed gears bicycles are the far end of the consumerist spectrum. At a base level, there are simply less parts and, theoretically, less money spent. Also, there is a huge interest in steel bikes, which are traditional, cheaper, and put comfort and practicality ahead of speed. It's also cool that most people's non-ss/fg bikes are old steel road bikes.

Anyway, I guess I'm trying to say that we spend a lot of money on bikes, but because they are minimal and have a clean aesthetic they start to blur the boundary between consumerism and art, which to me, makes all the difference.

In before "cool story bro".

I'm not so sure about that. There are many different people that ride for different reasons with very different bikes.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/700C-Men-s...-Bike/13398142

kitsch

Everyone rationalizes their purchases in different ways. I'm glad you found yours.

Also clean & minimalistic DNE art. Gosh

No need to be a slave, think for yourself instead of blaming someone else.

I have fixies cuz I wanna be like Scrod.

You know it, Double T!

Well put.

I certainly could see myself hanging my favorite bike up in my mancave one day just because it is art in my eyes.

Anybody smell patchouli?

"capitalistic powers of the cycling industry"

lolwut?

There is no major capitalistic power in the cycling industry. Name one person (non-athlete) of the Bicycle Industrial Complex that is a Billionaire. Millionaire? Ok, there has to be a few Thousandaires...right?

It's a bike, not a statement against consumerism. It's your fault that you feel guilty about spending money. Excuse me, *thinking* about spending money.

The same Taiwanese worker that built your Kilo TT also built Andy Schleck's Trek.

http://allanti.com/articles/where-wa...made-pg328.htm

Sig'd.

Oh, that must have been Gary Fisher

Newest? pfft, my favorite bike is 3 years older than I am.

I have bikes hanging in my man cave.

My man cave likes ponzas.

I dont own a car. havent in almost 5 years. The money I would have spent on insurance, maintenance, payments and gas would have been far more than what I have spent on bikes. Yea I buy too much bike stuff. But hobbies cost money and mine happens to keep me fit to boot.

Miss those huge $399 for your CUSTOM FIXED GEAR?
 

Man I hate everyone riding around on those super bright bikes with the ****tiest components. Now that's consumerism at it's best

If you feel guitly about buying a bicycle you might as well go chop down some trees, build your house in the woods, and turn your back on civilized life. Unless you hoard bicycles (and some certainly do) I think you have no reason to feel any guilt about buying and riding any bike. Buying a new 150$ crankset has exponentially less impact on the environment, global economy, and any REAL concerns that we are dealing with today than say, buying a turbocharger for your honda civic... Seriously don't chastise yourself for looking at shiny chunks of metal/carbon on the internet and occasionally buying some of them. If you really want to be a more conscious consumer of the bike industry, you can buy only US-made frames and serviceable components which is going to be a b**** if you're not comfortable spending lots and lots of money...

Consumerism is buying for the sake of buying, or buying simply to have rather than to use. Buying something because it works significantly better or because you're going to use it for the useful life of whatever it is you're buying is not consumerism.

One aspect of avoiding consumerism is to buy quality and longevity when you spend money, rather than fuling a culture of disposable possessions.

Haha, minimal equates to artsy?

cool story bro

buy that trispoke you want used and notice that cycling is still an alternative form of transportation. /thread

Wonder what P&R would think of this.

That's part of it.

I think, as a whole, consumerism is the general societal phenomena whereby previous spheres of social importance, i.e. church, family, community, are replaced by capitalist spheres of sociality, i.e. the boardwalk, mall, Amazon.com, even spaces of fetishized lifestyle like bikeforums.