I've been watching this thread a bunch. With essentially no actual knowledge other than what I see on this forum, I'd say Philly or Minneapolis and maybe Chicago. The communities seem stronger in these two cities than elsewhere.

Absolutely Boston. Boston was the intellectual capital of America for a great while. The earliest revolutionary events happened here in the Hub (the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, etc.)

The opening shots of the revolution were fired on Lexington green (I believe--I may be wrong about the exact location, but it was Lexington and Concord at any rate).

Without any braggadocio, Boston was the most important colonial city at the time (and for some time into the 19th century), it was the focal point of British attention, and a hotbed of revolutionary activism. Sort of like Paris in the late 1700s or Petrograd in the early 20th century.

Philadelphia saw the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution, not unimportant obviously but after Charlestown had burned in retribution for the Battle of Bunker Hill. And of course Philly served as the US Capitol, also important and something Boston never did but even the Continental Congress didn't meet in Philly until 1774, 4 years after the Massacre and a year after the Tea Party.

What the hell does this have to do with fixed gear bicycles?

Nothing. It was in response to a question asked in this thread.

I didn't realize the topic police were on patrol, my bad.

Ah yes, the Boston Brahmins.
I remember I was going to the Upstairs once and this trickster from Southie was standing in the middle of the facking street with a busted leg (cast and all), waving his crutch at cabs as for a ride to "Southie, yi fukin bahhstids." Dude, this guy used every racial epithet on everyone, regardless of race. For some reason, I was the man from India that rode a camel that evening according to this enlightened individual.
By no means is this a solid characteristic inherent in all Bostonians - I was just sharing.
Pho Republique had wicked cheap soup. Winters suck.

Dallas, TX

Mostly flat. A little hilly on the outskirts. I ride a 48x16. Ride 12 months out of the year. Plenty of "Country roads." Plenty of Club rides and world class bike shops. And we have a velodrome.

I've been considering a move for a few years now and the itch has started to get stronger. We all live in different cities and countries and considering that riding a bike is pretty essential to me, I wonder: what city is catered to riding fixed and why? What other factors such as theft, climate, etc. also contribute to this? What is your favourite city for riding fixed or why do you love where you ride now?

I really like Minneapolis because it's pretty flat and there are a lot of really good bike shops with lots of fixed gear stuff. But I haven't ridden anywhere else since I went fixed, so I can't compare.... Winters are pretty evil sometimes, though.

Nyc!

S/f<
Ceya!

chicago!

if you moved, you would have to change your avatar.

I haven't had the chance to ride my fixed there yet, but Fargo, ND would be near the top of my list.

1. There are no hills. Whatsoever. The only elevation gain is when a road goes over a highway.

2. The winters are nasty. That really lets a fixed gear show it's strength.

3. Thriving downtown area with wide-ass sidewalks. I'd prefer to ride in the road, but with sidewalks so wide and deserted, why not ride on them?

4. No sophisticated bicycle theives, and a (relatively) small town. My sister's bike got stolen there (she left it locked up with a cable at a bar overnight). She found it two weeks later, locked up with a chain. My dad cut the chain and they stole her bike back. Fargo rocks.

check out this thread entitled "best city in the u.s. for fixed?".

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...highlight=city

Damnit I knew we'd done this before. But I'm curious to hear from the London crew and the peeps abroad.

i don't like snow or heat, la sucks for bikes, portland rains, go to sf, or amsterdam.

absntr -
having lived in both Chicago and NYC (and cycling most everywhere), and having been to many other major/capital cities in both the US and abroad, I must say that Chicago is an AMAZING city for cycling. Mayor Daley has done good on this one. I haven't seen it yet, but I head that Millenium PArk has a showering/changing/parking facility for downtown communters (for a modest fee). That is innovative and unheard of. In Chicago there are more bike lanes, the drivers are less crazy and you get to pass a chocolate factory on your way into the city.
I love NYC. I'm grew up here, I have family here. But... I definitely miss Chicago. It's cleaner, cheaper, more bike friendly, more people friendly. I don't want to turn this into a what city is the best thread. Every city and place has its own rewards. I guess I'm just saying that, as far as bike-friendly, large metropolises go, IMHO that you already live in the best... any move i/r/t to the biking criteria, will, I think, be disappointing.

Upon thinking about it for the past couple of minutes, I'm going to ammend my post a little bit. NYC has really great things as far as biking goes. It's also very cool to not have to go too far to arrive at much different scenery/riding, be it out into the Hudson Valley or LI (see NYWeekendRide thread). Also, I got hit a bunch of times in Chicago, but not in NY yet. I almost kind of just want to delete my post. I don't know.

SF seems to have some of the most horrible drivers in the world, aside from that it is great. You can walk into a shop like freewheel and whether you're a novice or a hardened rider you feel welcome. SF!

Places with no hills??

Hills are a requirement for good cycling, damn it, you must have hills. Its not natural to be without hills.

i didn't ride a fixed gear while i was there, but Portland Oregon is the best city for bicycling, period, that I have ever experienced. I sure saw a lot of fixies there, and singlespeeds, and bikes in the midst of conversions. full disclosure is, my partner and I are moving to Portland next year; in part because we live car-free/bike-powered and are planning to raise our kid(s) that way, and Portland seems like the best place to do it.

Portland:
- is relatively flat
- has a very strong bike culture and non-cyclists who respect it
- has a good fixed gear culture (weekly rides, a nearby v-drome, lots of shops)
- has an excellent bike network/bridge access/public transit infrastructure/etc
- enjoys Oregon's state vehicle code (bikes legal on interstates!)
- enjoys mild weather. lots of rain, but not much in the way of snow, long periods of cold, or searing heat (i'm basing this on living in Seattle for ten years, so forgive me if I'm way off the mark).
- is one of the best-designed cities (for humans) in the united states (imho).

here's a post on our blog that covers some bike-related stuff in portland.

https://www.pdbd.com/henwaller/index.php?p=28

I was just in Anchorage with my bike. Now THERE'S some untapped territory. The "city" (an outpost, really) is totally flat until you butt up against the mtns, has a nice wide grid system of roads, a big cycling scene, a few shops (hey an REI!!), miles and miles of bike trails, MOOSE, not much traffic, you get dizzy on all the daylight, and hipsters get run out of town. And in the winter, hook yourself up with some spiked tires, woolen knickers, and you're all set. Can't possibly be worse than Chicago in the winter.

Taqueria Cancun on Mission won my personal burrito tour of america in '00. I ate there at least once a week when I lived in SF. Oh my, how I miss it.

Is El Pelon the place on Mass Ave right near Daddy's Junky Music? That place is pretty good. I had a great burrito in Phoenix, AZ, at a place with the largest salsa bar I'd ever seen. It was really close to Modified.

Slightly more on-topic, google tells me that Denver, CO, is "America's Flattest City." That would make it nice to ride in, I guess.

m.

san francisco. hellyer is a short train ride away. hills and flats. beaches too. downtown is gorgeous. nice bike shops. plenty of friendly folks. good cheap bars.

That's my hood, and I'm drawing a blank here. Was it a for real Mexican place, or an urban yuppie-food emporium? Chico's Tacos, maybe? (It walks the line between the two.) Sorry to aid in a threadjack, but I happen to be an amateur burritologist.

Oh, and back on topic, Phoenix is okay if you don't mind riding dirt paths along the canal or dodging 60mph surface street traffic in the heat. Today's high will reach 107F, according to the friendly man on the radio. Some of the world's best mountain biking all within a 250 mile radius as well.

Move to Boston. I'm moving there in 3 weeks, and I'll need people to ride with. So far I know one person there.

I rode around all weekend on a borrowed conversion, and it was great. Streets are more or less paved, drivers more or less conscious. What more do you need? Hills... I didn't ride enough to see any hills, but I'm sure they are around (and I think they're essential).

netherlands

Seconded... in the sense that this makes 2 of us. But, Yuengling beers are only $0.50, and there's a fixed frame builder only 20 miles away now. Some girl even knew the deal with my bike when I had it outside of the [only] coffeeshop downtown. The insurance adjuster came yesterday after I had been hit by a car last week, and he said that this is only his 4th claim in more than 10 years working in this area that involved any bicycles. There are a couple shops, and I can lock to any parking meter that I like. The supply of old bicycles locally is also astounding. We're only about 3 hours from both Philly and New York too.