Fixed: predestined or personal change?
 

With a lot of the underlying commonality that fixed seems to have..

Fixed: predestined or personal change?

I don't believe in predestination, but I wouldn't be surprised if we found some personality traits that would render someone predisposed to riding fixed.

As soon as I discovered fixed gears, I knew it was for me.

so yea. predisposition not predestination.

i just fell in love with fixed gear riding, everything about it, the style, the feel, the control and the DIY mindset a lot of people have about it. personal change i would have to say.

same for me. i guess i went and invented a 3rd option (an explanation maybe?) when "personal change" fits.

metacognition, made of steel. Checked by flesh.

It fit me before I rode one. The concept clicked from the start.

I was riding mountain bikes before I went ss then fixed. I did actually go off-road riding so it felt right at the time. There came a long period when I started to commute and the mountain started to feel sluggish. I noticed messengers more around this time and met one or two.

Around the same time, al5 started showed me a photo of the 01 Pista. It was slick, and I was already thinking about getting a road bike for the speed and whatnot. But it clicked when I saw that Pista and started noticing the one gear thing with messengers. Found this site in '01 (damn I've been on here a while) as well before there was a SS/Fixed forum and was haunting the road forum for trips and whatnot. I got my first road bike then and started converting her into an SS.

Like most things in my life, I like them clean, simple and to work well. It's been that way ever since.

The first bike I ever put together, when I was 16 was a steel mountain/road hybrid which I built as an 8speed (one ring up front) for speedy riding around town and I guess this was at the beginning of my obsession with a simple, functional ride. I was definitely attracted to the DIY aesthetic of fixed gear riding and now its just who I am.
This thinking extends to all aspects of my life. Since I was about 16 I have sought to minimalise and simplify my life. Nothing useless can ever be truly beautiful. I can't remember who said that but its true!
So I guess I was predisposed to riding fixed.....

For me it was all about Lois Vuitton messenger bags.

I like the challenge of riding hills with only one gear....it's do or die
I like the noise free divetrain........can't gear there with gears
I like the simple look.......no cables
I never dreamed I'd be riding one at my age.......51 and counting
I think it's probally destiny with a hint of perhaps a rebel personality

Necessity....like fenders.
Riding through 8" of snow is 'muy mal' for components.

It's all about the dyslexic KISS principle: Keep It Stupid, Simple

I did a fixed conversion for two reasons...

1) Training. I wanted to improve my pedalling form. It is, in fact, true that riding fixed helps with pedalling form.

2) I liked the idea of doing something interesting with an otherwise very boring bike.

I would have to say that there are some side benefits of riding fixed too. It seems to remove some of the psychological barriers about what gear "I need" for a particular incline.

Does that answer the original question?
(13, 12, 11, 9............

I started mountain biking on a 24-speed rigid Rockhopper in November '03, and in May '04 I bought myself a big squishy 27-speed trailbike, so I gave my Rockhopper the SS treatment and used it mostly for commuting. I loved it because it was so simple, I never had indexing problems like with my FS bike, it was light and it looked cool. Then, when school started back up, I had to head across the country without my bikes, which made me so sad that I decided to purchase a new one. I didn't want another MTB, but I wanted to be able to ride with the school's Cycling Club, and use it as a commuter, so I decided that a fixed gear road bike would be cost-effective and fast enough for club rides. I ordered an IRO Jamie Roy, and rode 30 miles on it the day after receiving it with some guys from the club. I was instantly hooked. Now I try to convince my friends to ride fixed or at least singlespeeds. I feel weird using two brake levers, even weirder coasting, and shifting gears is seriously disorienting. I think that I was actually destined to ride fixed because when I'm climbing seated on a geared bike, I feel like I'm spinning too much and moving too slow, so I quickly get impatient, shift to a hard hard gear and stand and hammer my way up. I guess it just fits my riding style.

Sorry....

My answer is "personal change." I started riding a fixed gear bike because I wanted to be cool. And now I find out I'm a geek. Well, there's a waste of three years.

wow, just three? Don't sell yourself short here bud...

Let me clarify. Three years wasted on the fixed gear=cool thing. I've wasted many more years trying to be cool in other ways.

But we love you with out condition, so don't worry to much about it. :)

Predestination-- to the extent that most cyclists give it try at one time or another (at least for training purposes).

Personal style-- if someone decides to ride fixed to the exclusion of all other forms.

I am a BMXer who wanted a big bike to go fast/cruise around town on and not have to worry about it.

So, personal style.

Pssshhh. Get a job....

oh, wait....

I'm not answering any more of your silly questions until you furnish us with pix of your pimped out Yellow Terror.

Oh, and Louis is spelt Louis, I believe.

A little of both. I got tired of hucking myself off of high places and just wanted more flow. Evoloution eventually took place.