Maybe I was just lucky that day, but when I was riding street in Baltimore last July I saw like 5 FG's.

Being from small town ND, I was pretty excited to actually see some in person.

I actually returned a wheel/cog/lockring so I could afford to go on that trip.

baltimore has a few, the norm seems to be a solid road bike, not expensive mind you, just solid. oh and I have seen a good number of single speeds...

i dont know where you are in baltimore but there are many fixie riders in baltimore, and not just couriers. most of the bike shops in the city sell complete track bikes (broadway bikes, fleet st cycles, light st cycles). go visit one, youre bound to run into someone to talk to there.

Track bikes are main stream. Everybody has one where I live. Nothing is trendy about a Track bike anymore.

SOMEONE SHOOT THIS THREAD UNTIL IT IS NO LONGER BREATHING...PLEASE

It'll probably take a silver bullet.

/sadistic satisfaction of moving this thread back to the top

Well I'll be one of the many to say fixed gear should go mainstream, baseball stadium size. After all, when surfing went huge Hollywood hit us with Point Break and Baywatch. And I would donate a kidney to see the likes of Keanu Reeves or Hasselhoff on a fixed gear. That would make my day.

'I'm a BBBBBIKKKKKKEEEEE CCCCCOOOOUUURRRRIIIEEERRR.'

Imagine the box office returns on the film!

There are a bunch of nice track bikes in baltimore, whether from Marathon(RIP) or from Sam's place in pigtown or from the college park/mt airy bicycles *******.

Eh I'm sure a good number of the bunch would switch up to SA 3 speeds or maybe shaft drives. There are a few genuine articles around here though

Dammit! You tipped my hand. I have a scheme to build up an SA AW into a 700c or 26" wheel in a few months. I guess that makes me a trendsetting poseur.

Ah well.

I would totally stop. Actually, unicycles are the new track bike. That's what everyone is messengering on these days anyway.

Whatchu talkin bout "If"? foo? I bet most major manufacturers will have a fixed or flip/flop model with 1 or 2 brakes made for street available in the 2006 lineup, 2007 at the latest.

So you are the sum total of your reactions to everything around you? You don't really like riding fixed? You just do it because you perceive it as not being mainstream? I suppose you still think tattoos are non-mainstream...?

I'm sure I'm one of the guys you all love to hate.

As far as I know there are only 3 of us in my town, me being one, and I know the other two guys. They have KHS's and I have a road conversion. I think if it did ever go mainstream it would become a bit watered down, like both brakes for example, more modern looking designs. One of the things I like about the fixed gear set is the ingenuity and individuality that goes into people's bikes and I think you would see less of that with mainstream popularity. Not that there is anything wrong with buying off the shelf bikes, I would have if I had the money. But I think people coming into it for trend wouldn't be the people converting old bikes or seeking out used frames and parts and piecing their bikes together.

Personally I don't think it will ever hit the way mtb did or bmx, just my opinion. I mean what do you guys consider mainstream, I consider it to mean like back in the day when everyone and their mom off the street was coming into the bike shop to buy mtbs. If you mean mainstream within the bike community then I think it is well on its way if not there. Could you even imagine if it hit mainstream america, I would love to see the Huffy track bikes.

Actually huffy did make track bikes. They were very good, if I remember, and built by serotta.

Do it!
I want to start doing some short touring this summer, 2-3 day trips at first, and am not sure that I want to deal with derailleurs, gears, dishing, etc., so am thinking about building a SA into a 700c rim. We can start a club to rival the People Named Jason With Merciers Club.

Man, I for one would like fixed gear bikes to even become a little popular in Glasgow. There are two shops that I know of within a 20 mile radius of where i live that sell fg stuff and even then its by order only. The only people I have EVER seen riding fixed here are the messengers and it would be cool to have somebody to ride with...

The rising popularity of fg definitely has plus points - I just wish it would cross the pond. Even just a little.

sbeatonNJ, fixed gear doesn't have the corner on the weirdo market.

I'm gonna build a 3-speed internally geared mountain bike (assuming the axles on my hub are wide enough). Sheldon Brown has a 63 gear bike. Build a chopper. Ride a unicycle. There's nothing special about fixed, it's just a different type of bike. If you're really getting off on trying something unique (nothing wrong with that), try branching out.

Just be careful what kind of hub you use. A friend of mine did that with a SRAM hub and it didn't hold up at all off-road so he turned it back into a SS.

As for fixed gear going mainstream, it's not gonna happen. I'm still waiting for bicycling to go mainstream!

It's a Sturmey-Archer. I'll beat it till it breaks (hey now), whatever that may be. I'm into the freakshow aspect. The same hub can give me a road-worthy 70", an offroading 52", and a granny 39". Seems awesome enough, eh?

I ride fixed because I want to.

fixed gear isn't "Aggresive" enough to become main stream, no tricks, no jumps.

No that would make you a follower.
I've loved English 3 speeds for years. Been searching high and low for a properly sized Raliegh Robin Hood for the last few years .

As far as I can discover, there are three (adult sized) fixed gear bikes in Saint John, NB and two single speed road bikes, all in my shed.

However, I am one of the few at my work who doesn't have a tattoo. (no intention of getting one either)

Would love to be able to buy track parts here, the LBS's don't even want to order parts.


By the way, I thought when surfing hit big it brought us the Beach Boys and Annette and Frankie, oh well, tempos fugit.

What!?!? do shaft driven bikes actually exist? That is my next project if it's possible, my dad and I have been working on BMW cafe racers for as long as I can remember, and now he has an '03 BMW 1100s oh man drive shafts rule!!! hahah that would be so cool to put a black shaft driven bicycle up next to an old beemer! Post pics PLEASE