just curious... not that it matters though.

a background on me:
only a few years ago i was a strict mountain biker. then i bought a touring bike and started commuting to work every day. i fell in love with the bicycle. about 6 months ago i got a beater fixie off e-bay, and got hooked. about 2 months ago i got a surly cross check with flip-flip hub and am completely infatuated. i really only ride the fixed side, and even though i have brakes i never use them.

some more info that might be of use:
~i am an avid beer drinker... being from the nw, i've always had a thing for good micro beers. i still drink them, but find myself ordering pbr occasionally. i'm not sure what's happening here.

~i'm vegan, but have been for 8 years, so i don't think i did it for fixie style reasons.

~my music of choice has mostly become various indie rock bands, and a few odd klezmer or gypsy punk bands. before my fixie-hood, i mostly listened to reggae, psyche, and jazz.

~i have gone from using velcro ankle straps to rolling my right pant leg up.

i'm just confused about all this, as i admit that what i am attracted to is partly the style, but it's mostly about the ride. i don't think i can go back to geared bikes for very many miles. i still do ride my mountain bike and love the singletrack, but it's not the same as it used to be. i still listen to reggae, but would rather put on some boards of canada or something....

as long as you like riding your bike, fixed or not, nobody cares.

Everyone else is a poseur except me! Suckas!

yeah but i'm not sure if that's true. i was at the ups office right after 5:00 the other day and there were a bunch of messengers there dropping off packages. they all looked at me like, "what do you think you're doing, riding a fixie?"

not that i'm dissing them, i'm just curious what's up. the way i see it is like wangster, as long as you're riding your bike, it's all good.

maybe they're the ones trying too hard?

I wouldn't sweat the messers, they are just trying to hang on to thier street cred. If you dig your bike then ride on, that's all that really matters.

Yeah, screw 'em!

I don't care if the messengers think I'm poser, I have better bikes than they do!

i have a tendnecy to feel self-conscious around the messengers too becuase they always give me "that look." but yeah, you just gotta get over it. i ride just as well as those guys and if you don't already you probably will really soon. it's not like you're trying to fly and airplane without being a pilot. and the end of the day, we're all just riding our bikes. . .

Does a defineable fixie culture exist?
I ask that not as a challenge but as a question.

Do I understand that fixed gear riders tend towards vegetarianism and Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer?
I'd like to know more about this.

I use a velcro strap in street clothes, but prefer road bike clothing, tights and such, when possible.
I ride with a messenger bag because I like a minimalist bike and it grates on MY aesthetics to hang anything on MY bike.
My next fixie, my ice bike, will have lights and a battery on it, and possibly full-time fenders, and that just makes it a nice contrast to my naked Pista.

I think about fixed gear bikes all the time.
I find other people's approaches to fixies fascinating, as well; whether they do it on the cheap, and take pride in building a working bike for $50; or whether they order a Vanilla fixie that costs more than my wife's car.

Brakes?
No brakes?
Cool.

The only real trend or quality of the fixie culture I think I've seen, and only from my exposure to fixed gear riders on this forum, involves an unself-consciously examined life (whatever that means) and pretty good writing skills.
Oh yes, double-entendre aside, pie.
I wonder if anyone used my Very Easy World's Best Cherrie Pie recipe.
I have an amazingly easy recipe for an apple pie baked on a cookie or baking sheet, with no pie plate, but I'll wait until and if I see some interest.

Otherwise, I think of this forum as the best forum on the internet, and I especially enjoy coming here when I need a mental health fix.
Kinda scary, huh?

dunno, i'm vegan, like microbrews and red wines, run marathons on the dirt, climb, listen to house and drum 'n' bass, wear spandex when i ride geared, wear shants and t-shirts the rest of the time so i never roll my pant-leg up, rock a crewcut (or whatever the hell it's called these days), am a computer geek, have more invested in my bikes than in my car, and live in the mission district in san francisco.

i don't really care what other people think, i'm pretty happy with my life as it is. if people want to give me attitude about my bike, fine. i just can't be bothered to respond.

lose the PBR, that stuff tastes like ****

drinking it and saying you like it is posing

but it's only a dollar!

Oh crap! I forgot I have a job now. Lose the PBR...but I do need to save for a house or something. Viva la Peebers!

gonesh9, you're fine. i think i'm the one with the real problem: i became a messenger so i could ride a fixie and not feel like a fool

still feel like a fool. oh well

I'm afraid so. Please send your bike to me and await further instructions.

Next time they give you "the look" just throw a bar of soap at them.

this is so stupid

Only people in the NW like microbrews now? You're a beer poseur.

as far as i can tell, yes. almost every fixie rider i know will only drink pabst blue ribbon beer. vegetarianism isn't a necessity, but at least here in portland it seems to make you a little more respectable when it comes to fixie culture.


yeah, it's crap. but it IS only $1.00.


it's not that only nw'ers like microbrews, but it's a way of life here. i've literally got 7 quality micro breweries within a mile from my work.


yes it is.

lol @ Boards of Canada

but yeah, the fact you're acknowlaging all these things means you're "legit", its when you start lieing about your past, then worry

I don't know about poseur but definitely a hipster

Fixie poser eh?

Matte black fixie, stipped and painted by moi? check
Chrome Camo bag? check
Chuck Taylors? check
iPod (that i never use while biking)? check
Rolled up pants? check
Mesh hat? check
Indie rock? check (the constantines and the weakerthans are gods. gods i say!)
Ironic emo moustache? check
Pretentious political philosophy grad student? check (hooray for Nietzsche)
LiveWrong bracelet? check

Messenger? nope
Biking elitist? never - if you're riding, i like you, if you're not, i'll probably still like you
PBR? no dice. i only drink good beer.

I guess I'm a poser. Somebody have a spare face-punch laying around?

Just to make you like me, here's a stupid photo...

pics?

thanks that makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

good point bringing up pretentious philosophical literature. i'm heavy into the beats and such: ginsburg, kerouac, cassady, dostoevski, chomsky, etc.

more fixie poser points for me!

i like this...

o.k., you asked for it....





i don't remember what kind of beer that was in the picture. but i did have longer hair then. now i have much shorter, more fixie appropriate hair.