# Trying to understand the "fixie" culture...



## jeffgothro (Mar 10, 2007)

I just saw that movie Premium Rush and really liked it...but what I just havent been able to grasp or wrap my head around is the lead character said serveral times in the movie "brakes are death". Now, I dont know about you, but I personally have never ridden without brakes unless they were broke, and when they were broke, I had more accidents and crashed more then when they worked properly. 

I guess I'm trying to understand why a person might choose to ride a bike thats potentually less safe then it could be riding without brakes - or be happy with the equivelent of a coaster brake (that bike messenger race in NY doesnt allow you to use brakes as per there requirement - and no gears of course) , I ride a single speed myself, not to be confused with a fixie, I have a freewheel and brakes. And I found that rather odd, that someone can host a race and yet ban a bike from compition because it has brakes and is by popular opinion a safer bike. So, I'm not really looking for a debate, I'm not trying to troll or ruffle anyones feathers, I dig you fixie guys I meet from time to time, you guys are cool, and got your own little bicycle subculture, I think thats cool, I'm just trying to understand the mindset of the whole brakeless fixie thing?

Thanks, -J


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## heyitsmebob (Apr 7, 2011)

Funny story; he escapes from police impound on a mountain bike with disc brakes.


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## Cygnus (Jan 7, 2004)

hard to describe in words if you haven't tried riding fixed w/o brakes. 

engaged.

committed.


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## STSBADL (Mar 16, 2011)

heyitsmebob said:


> Funny story; he escapes from police impound on a mountain bike with disc brakes.


I think it was a trials bike but yes it had brakes.

The no brakes thing I think comes from the whole idea of keeping the bike as simple as possible no gears ratcheting mechanism or brakes to fail. Some fixie riders run a front brake just in case but use there legs for stopping 99.9% of the time. I think what they where getting at was that trying to stop using a method you are not well practiced in will get you "killed". In reality it's just like in the world of BMX where kids where too lazy to true their wheels and tune their brakes and so they took them off and it became the trend and so now it is justified with things like "it forces you to ride better" and "brakes are death".

Personally I thought the movie was cheesy.


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## jeffgothro (Mar 10, 2007)

Cool...I gotcha, thanks...yeah, the movie had some cheese going on, I really enjoyed the chase/riding scence though and the clever editing.


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## Igoreha (Feb 20, 2010)

You are right that riding brakeless fixie can be more dangerous than SS with brakes. But it's not the bike but the rider who makes riding more or less dangerous. Riding brakeless fixie is hard at first and you ride very slow so you can control the situation around you - much slower than you would go with brakes. When you brake power is limited you don't accelerate when there is no opportunity to slow down and you have to think of your way and moves before.

To sum it up - if you ride carefully and in proper way brakeless fixie is not so dangerous as smbd can think. Though riding such bike is different to riding a bike with brakes.

Another question is to have brakes on your fixie or not to have them. I didn't use the brakes on my fixedgear so I removed them (did'nt work in winter). Some people always use brakes on their fixies, some use them in emergency situations. I really can't find any reason for not having at least one or both brakes even if you normally don't use them. Different things can happen - chain drop, cog being unscrewed, being unclipped from clipless pedals while backpedal braking (which I have experienced for several times) and in those situations you will be glad that you have brakes because any of those situation (and I'm not kidding) can cause death or severe injury. Of course all these may not happen but I'm going to put the brakes back to my fixie.

One more question is how safe and efficient you are going to brake if you normally don't use your brakes. Maybe you need to practise using the brakes sometimes - I don't know. 

However I advise you to ride a fixedgear with brakes and try not to use them - so you can feel the fixed thing for yourself. Riding fixed greatly improved all my bicycle skills (power, spin, balance, handling, the vision and timing of the traffic).


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## Cotharyus (Jun 21, 2012)

The argument is that "it takes time to reach for your brakes" - the pedals are connected all the time, if you want to stop, stop. Now look, before you go "this dude is either crazy, stupid, or a little of both" - let me clear that up, I'm crazy, not stupid. But for the record, I'm not crazy enough to ride a fixie. Watch the documentary Fixated (I think? Maybe it's Fixation?) about fixies on the west coast.


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## A1an (Jun 3, 2007)

This is the Hollywood bicycling equivalent of Torreto living his life a quarter mile at a time.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

I think it's about the same as geared mountain bikers trying to understand the single speed culture.


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## asphaltdude (Sep 17, 2008)

Cygnus said:


> hard to describe in words if you haven't tried riding fixed w/o brakes.
> 
> engaged.
> 
> committed.


_Zen._ :ihih: :ihih: :ihih: :ihih: :ihih:


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## Cornfield (Apr 15, 2012)

Fixie don't care.

http://forums.mtbr.com/general-discussion/post-your-craigslist-wtfs-here-590685-48.html#post9389486

:lol:


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## p4nh4ndle (Oct 11, 2012)

pfft, don't bother. fixed gear without brakes is dumb unless you're on a track where everyone is going the same direction and you don't have to take any 90º turns. i won't begrudge anyone a little brakeless experimentation, but using a front brake lets you go sooooo much faster. anyone who says otherwise is lying.


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## teamdicky (Jan 12, 2004)

Messenger since 1996.

Fixed gear rider since 2004.

I hated the movie on so many levels.

Bad Idea Racing: Going all Siskel and Ebert on ****

I woulda posted the original link to my thoughts, but MTBR doesn't like the word "s*!t"

The whole "fixie culture" thing?

I can't stand it, but it's there like a giant festering pimple on my chin. Can't do anything about it. Just hope it goes away eventually and everybody forgets about it for another decade.

At least he wasn't wearing his kid sister's jeans.


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## asphaltdude (Sep 17, 2008)

p4nh4ndle said:


> pfft, don't bother. fixed gear without brakes is dumb unless you're on a track where everyone is going the same direction


Even though I fully agree with the above, I do have to admit that I own 1 brakeless fixed gear bike and yes, I enjoy riding it. :blush:


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## michaelscott (May 23, 2011)

My road SS bike has a flip flop (or at least that is what the cool kids call it). I normally have it set up freewheel side but a few years ago I thought I would be all cool and put it on the fixed side.

I've got some pretty gnarly hills where I live so I prepared to hate myself going down them because I had some impression that I would have to pedal as fast as the hill demanded. It wasn't the case though I could just relax my legs and slowly make my way down the hill. Emphasis on the "slowly".

What really pissed me off about riding fixed was trying to turn a corner. I had to take turns like a fat old lady wearing a moo moo because of pedal strike. I flipped back to a freewheel and never looked back. Some people might like fixie because of the "connection" to the bike, but for me it just means riding _way _too slow everywhere.

I liked Premium Rush.


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## disgustipated (Apr 29, 2006)

I rode a fixed gear road bike for a while. Sold it because I'm not a roadie, just wanted to experiment with fixed gear. Now I ride a fixed gear MTB (my current "road" bike is a coaster). I find fixed road bikes to be nearly pointless. Fixed with no brakes is completely pointless in my opinion. I suppose one could make the argument from a purist standpoint, but whatever. My fixed MTB has a front brake, and my feet do the rear braking. Where it really shines is on loose ground. I'm always surprised by the amount of feedback I get from the rear end, which results in control. I have always been big on mechanical simplicity which is why I gravitated towards single speeds, and I guess fixed is just the next level. Also, You have to be skilled, and extremely confident with your skills. It demands 150% focus and concentration. I like the challenge and the simplicity. Again, this is from a MTB stand point. As I said I find fixed road to be kind of silly, and the "fixie culture" to be 10000% retarded. The one big detractor to riding fixed gear, in my opinion, isn't the lack of coasting, but rather being associated with that crap. 

In the end, for serious riders, not these hipster queers, it's yet another variant on what we do and love. I know after umpteen years of riding, it was a nice refresher. It completely changed what had become kind of a stale game for me. 

Oh and I haven't seen the movie. It looked super lame.


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## providence (Feb 5, 2013)

My dad put me on a fixed gear when I was 10. Fast forward 18 years and I still own and regularly ride 3 (track, road, and townie) while thoroughly enjoy the simplicity of it all. Relaxing and engaging at the same time. Nothing better than strolling through town with the wife and kids at their pace on a bike that can keep you interested. 

As for the brake or no brake conversation; I'd say it all depends on your application. I've done multiple centuries with my roadie buddies and I haven't seen much of a use for a brake on the open and relatively quiet routes we take. I don't utilize one on a townie either. And of course track bikes, where most have no mounts to begin with. In my experience with fixed gear, I wouldn't feel comfortable riding congested city streets without a brake. Too much can go wrong with uncontrollable aspects around you. But truthfully, again in my experience, I'd tend to avoid a fixed gear in that type of environment. Props to those who are more skilled than I who do it, though. 

I'm making my first foray into mountain biking right now and likely will eventually attempt SS and fixed. But for now I'm probably going to attempt to cope with all these weird dangly bits on my bike...


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## disgustipated (Apr 29, 2006)

LOL "weird dangly bits"


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## stremf (Dec 7, 2012)

I regularly ride my fixed gear roadie and have been for the last 5 years. I love the bike and since about 2 years ago, road in several centuries with 5-10k in elevation gain. Eek my way up and spaz my way down. Fun times.

While I love riding fixed, I do not get the culture. Nor do I care. They're riding bikes, so cool with me. You do get the idiots (like on YouTube and movies like "To Live and Ride in L.A." and "Fixation" which are available on Netflix) that really give cyclists a bad name. But same goes for a lot of cyclists in general. (See this thread for instance, which happens to be the OP).

Riding brakless is idiotic. I laughed so hard when that dude on "Fixation" said something about brakes are dangerous, because it takes more time to reach for that brake lever than backpedal. Unless you're in a velodrome, please ride with a brake. Although if you're out in the middle of nowhere, I guess it's not that big of a deal.

I find more common ground with more of the distance fixed riders. Hope to do the Furnace 508 one day.

Furnace Creek 508: Fixed Gear Ultra Cycling at its Finest

Bickett∙y: 2010 Furnace Creek 508 - Rock Rabbit's Fixed Gear Report


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## GTscoob (Apr 27, 2009)

Some of those NYC alleycats like Monster Track are all about racing brakeless track bikes on the street. You make the race, you make the rules. There are tons of SS races as well that dont allow gears . . .

I echo the sentiment that riding fixed just felt like I was riding slow everywhere. Or rather you feel like you're going faster than the timer actually shows.

It's fun, I kinda want another one. Put a track cog onto my flipflop Eno hub on my SS but havent swapped the chain yet to handle the 1/8th cog. At least fixie culture has moved beyond cartoonish crazy colored bikes, now everything is at least classy looking, if not just completely black. Seems like the hiphop community is picking up fixed gears now, have started seeing a completely different demographic on fixed gears on large rides these days.

Case in point:


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## asphaltdude (Sep 17, 2008)

michaelscott said:


> What really pissed me off about riding fixed was trying to turn a corner. I had to take turns like a fat old lady wearing a moo moo because of pedal strike.


Shorter cranks :thumbsup:



goldencalf said:


> As I said I find fixed road to be kind of silly, and the "fixie culture" to be 10000% retarded. The one big detractor to riding fixed gear, in my opinion, isn't the lack of coasting, but rather being associated with that crap.


When I ride my fixed road bike (not my brakeless 'fixie' but my normal old steel road bike with front and rear brake, SPD-SL pedals and a fixed rear wheel) in the countryside hardly anyone even notices I'm riding fixed.


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## p4nh4ndle (Oct 11, 2012)

asphaltdude said:


> Shorter cranks :thumbsup:
> 
> When I ride my fixed road bike (not my brakeless 'fixie' but my normal old steel road bike with front and rear brake, SPD-SL pedals and a fixed rear wheel) in the countryside hardly anyone even notices I'm riding fixed.


yeah, the trick is: just don't make a big deal out of it. and if anybody notices and starts asking you questions, just shrug, mumble something non-comital and don't make a big deal out of it.


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## Possum Jones (Aug 27, 2011)

GTscoob said:


> Case in point:


Is this real life?


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## p4nh4ndle (Oct 11, 2012)

no, this is:


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## Possum Jones (Aug 27, 2011)

Haha!

I've never rode fixed. I did just buy a wabi classic fixed. It should be here next week. The plan is to commute with it (40 miles) three or four days a week in order to better analate my competition in the local SS class this fall.


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## stremf (Dec 7, 2012)

Possum Jones said:


> Haha!
> 
> I've never rode fixed. I did just buy a wabi classic fixed. It should be here next week. The plan is to commute with it (40 miles) three or four days a week in order to better analate my competition in the local SS class this fall.


Nice. I ride a Wabi classic as well. Great bikes.


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## p4nh4ndle (Oct 11, 2012)

if you want to "analate" your competition, better make sure your chain is lubed.


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## SCOOTERINSLC (Jan 14, 2004)

Last time I was analated, I couldn't ride for days........


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## Possum Jones (Aug 27, 2011)

SCOOTERINSLC said:


> Last time I was analated, I couldn't ride for days........


You were obviously on the wrong end of the analation


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## SCOOTERINSLC (Jan 14, 2004)

*Lol!*

I'd rather be the analator than the analatee.. Anyway, Wabi Classic is a great bike. Mine...


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## Xavonseine (Nov 1, 2012)

I’m not part of the fixie culture, but I like the show, great street culture (“FIXED: global fixed-gear bike culture” by Andrew Edwards is a nice book if you’re interested). BTW, Premium rush was good fun, a bit like a Disney movie (but I guess you have to be a bike addict, I would not even dare to suggest such movie to Madame).

Still, I’m hooked to my fixed gear for commuting in the city – with a front brake though:

- I enjoy it like a game: committed, focused, strategizing next moves (this red light, this blind big truck etc.). When it’s really raining I feel gloomy to use my comfy old Dutch bike with mudguards (or I’m just depressed by metro).

- A fixed gear is still relaxing as I am slower than with a freewheel bike. No quick cornering as mentioned by michaelscott but this is part of the constant riding strategy? And as reckoned by providence, a fixed is ideal to ride with the family and keep enjoying the slow pace.

- As to the front brake, it saved me several times. First because I’m unable to skid (partial excuse: my fixie is a mtb with balloon tires). Second, I am commuting in central Paris and this city is IMHO more dangerous for bikers than NY and London where I did ride too (cf. huge cobblestoned boulevards with angry French truck and bus drivers coming from everywhere etc.). A safety brake is great. As well as a helmet. Funny to say that I tried to ride – not even fixed – in Moscow some years ago and quickly sold my wonderful Trek bike as it was then purely suicidal to commute downtown


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## hoolie (Sep 17, 2010)

*I liked that movie.*

I also liked Star Wars. It is all made up, so who cares. I kind of thought "bad image for bikes", but it is Hollywood. I like zombies too, not many of them wandering around. I like the best performance I can get out of a technology, so I only ride freewheel hubs, and disc brakes front and rear. I also use super wide handlebars for best leverage. The "fixie" thing seems inefficient to me. I will never ride without brakes on a public street. Never. I would not cut my handlebars down, as I have never had a problem next to cars since 1975 when I started riding. Very silly, unless that is the image you are going for. Sort of like pants down to your knees I guess.


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## Bro (Dec 20, 2010)

I use a fixed gear as my commuter. It's also got brakes and fenders and platform pedals. I don't tend to use the brakes very much, but one section of my commute does force me to use my brakes -- narrow, winding downhill path that crosses a sidewalk at the bottom.

I mostly commute to class, so I'm usually riding across a crowded college campus, so speed isn't my #1 priority. It's still faster than walking, though, and spending just 20 miles a week on my fixed gear at lower speeds helps me develop power and balance skills, especially during weeks when I simply don't have the time to ride a bike otherwise. 

It's also more fun than riding with a freewheel.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

jeffgothro said:


> I just saw that movie Premium Rush and really liked it...but what I just havent been able to grasp or wrap my head around is the lead character said serveral times in the movie "brakes are death". Now, I dont know about you, but I personally have never ridden without brakes unless they were broke, and when they were broke, I had more accidents and crashed more then when they worked properly.
> 
> I guess I'm trying to understand why a person might choose to ride a bike thats potentually less safe then it could be riding without brakes - or be happy with the equivelent of a coaster brake (that bike messenger race in NY doesnt allow you to use brakes as per there requirement - and no gears of course) , I ride a single speed myself, not to be confused with a fixie, I have a freewheel and brakes. And I found that rather odd, that someone can host a race and yet ban a bike from compition because it has brakes and is by popular opinion a safer bike. So, I'm not really looking for a debate, I'm not trying to troll or ruffle anyones feathers, I dig you fixie guys I meet from time to time, you guys are cool, and got your own little bicycle subculture, I think thats cool, I'm just trying to understand the mindset of the whole brakeless fixie thing?
> 
> Thanks, -J


That movie is made for 9 yr olds.


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## friz (Dec 2, 2012)

I enjoyed the movie. Much the way I enjoyed Quicksilver and American flyers back in the day. I also got a kick out out of The Fast and the Furious, but I hate what it did to the import scene. It completely missed the point and brought a lot of people to imports that didn't get it. That said, an accurate movie about either topic, would not sell.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

goldencalf said:


> I rode a fixed gear road bike for a while. Sold it because I'm not a roadie, just wanted to experiment with fixed gear. Now I ride a fixed gear MTB (my current "road" bike is a coaster). I find fixed road bikes to be nearly pointless. Fixed with no brakes is completely pointless in my opinion. I suppose one could make the argument from a purist standpoint, but whatever. My fixed MTB has a front brake, and my feet do the rear braking. Where it really shines is on loose ground. I'm always surprised by the amount of feedback I get from the rear end, which results in control. I have always been big on mechanical simplicity which is why I gravitated towards single speeds, and I guess fixed is just the next level. Also, You have to be skilled, and extremely confident with your skills. It demands 150% focus and concentration. I like the challenge and the simplicity. Again, this is from a MTB stand point. As I said I find fixed road to be kind of silly, and the "fixie culture" to be 10000% retarded. The one big detractor to riding fixed gear, in my opinion, isn't the lack of coasting, but rather being associated with that crap.
> 
> In the end, for serious riders, not these hipster queers, it's yet another variant on what we do and love. I know after umpteen years of riding, it was a nice refresher. It completely changed what had become kind of a stale game for me.
> 
> Oh and I haven't seen the movie. It looked super lame.


 Couldn't have said it better. :thumbsup: I like bikes and can't stand hip people... Couldn't they chose surfing monster waves on shallow rocky beach grounds as their trend?


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

friz said:


> I enjoyed the movie. Much the way I enjoyed Quicksilver and American flyers back in the day. I also got a kick out out of The Fast and the Furious, but I hate what it did to the import scene. It completely missed the point and brought a lot of people to imports that didn't get it. That said, an accurate movie about either topic, would not sell.


Premium rush is as realistic as sex w/ Barbie and Ken.


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## roc865 (Jun 29, 2009)

lots of super slim fit low rise jean wearing hipsters in my area love the fixie.


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## jeffgothro (Mar 10, 2007)

In my area...and I know this is probably a bad steriotype - a lot of the fixie culture here are a lot of these goth-emo kids riding around on fixies...I dont know what its like anywhere else.


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## Igoreha (Feb 20, 2010)

In my area all fixie riders use platforms with toeclips and don't wear helmets. Don't know much about their riding style. I use clipless pedals and wear helmet so don't know if they ban me. Dont care either. I ride for workout and for the fun (and the feeling) of riding a bike (any bike, but SS and fixie is much more fun) and mostly I ride alone.


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## Saddle Up (Jan 30, 2008)

The fixie scene is dead, hipsters just are not aware of it yet.


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## blackgriffen_1 (May 18, 2010)

Saddle Up said:


> The fixie scene is dead, hipsters just are not aware of it yet.


Completely agree, and I'll add that people have sneered "hipster" at me many times before when they discover I ride fixed-gear bikes. If it does become know that the "fixie scene" is dead, I'll finally be able to go back to just being a bike geek that loves any type of bicycle, as long as I can have fun on it.

To address the earlier section of this thread: I ride a brakeless track bike in heavy (downtown) traffic and do so because it is a challenge and a natural evolution (or devolution) of my riding style. I rode fixed for a year and a half before taking my front brake off, and I'm thankful I took the time to learn how to ride before jumping into something I wasn't ready for. Between a SS mtb, geared cx bike, brakeless track, and front-brake flat-bar fixed utility bike, I hit all the bases I need to in cycling and constantly have fun, and isn't that what it's all about? :thumbsup:
Besides, doing 50 mile road rides in full kit on a brakeless track bike gets odd looks, and since this is the SS forum, you all know how much we LOVE odd looks.
RE "not being able to make sharp corners"-->high bottom bracket + pedal timing + time spent combining the previous two wonderful things = no problems.


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## mongol777 (May 26, 2011)

deanhooper said:


> Hey Jeff,
> 
> You can never realize or grasp the fun that is there in riding a gear-less bike. Its a different fun and most of an adventurous moment. Personally I too love riding bikes in speed and its my passion. I have always been riding bikes without gears. Currently I have POS that I bought from Fixie bikes custom tailored to your style at an affordable price and its POS. It has features that includes FGFS straps (removable), Kenda Kwest Commuter tires, integrated seat post, free headlight, bike tools included, and awesome double-wall super deep-v Stars rims.
> 
> ...


So you have 3 posts in total, all in old threads and all recommending retrospec bikes (and they all sound like infomercial). Hmm....


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## phsycle (Apr 14, 2011)

mongol777 said:


> So you have 3 posts in total, all in old threads and all recommending retrospec bikes (and they all sound like infomercial). Hmm....


I was about to say that. Looking at the site, they're not even that great. POS HiTen frame with crap parts. Dean, please shill somewhere else, like bf.net.


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## mongol777 (May 26, 2011)

That was quick - all cleaned up! I edited my post so link and name is not there anymore in the quote


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## phsycle (Apr 14, 2011)

mongol777 said:


> That was quick - all cleaned up! I edited my post so link and name is not there anymore in the quote


Good move. They must have not filled their holiday quota.


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## serious (Jan 25, 2005)

Cygnus said:


> hard to describe in words if you haven't tried riding fixed w/o brakes.
> 
> engaged.
> 
> committed.


If riding without brakes is "engaged and committed" then you are doing it all wrong.  Remember that many of us have spent years racing and riding bikes. Dependency on rear brakes only is guaranteed to result in holding back and that is hardly the recipe for being more committed.


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## Possum Jones (Aug 27, 2011)

Fixed is fun. Hill repeats fixed allow me to take the SS into the mountains and climb out of the saddle all day long.


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## Hairnet (Jul 23, 2013)

mongol777 said:


> That was quick - all cleaned up! I edited my post so link and name is not there anymore in the quote


Reporting shill/spam posts, ftw!


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## TenSpeed (Feb 14, 2012)

I picked up one of those cheap internet fixed/singlespeed bikes to try out as a commuter for work. Brakes that came on it were absolute garbage. Decided to yank the rear brake all together, ride freewheel, and depend on the front brake. Still garbage. Flipped it, and rode to work fixed, once. That wasn't going to work for my style of riding and the commute. Picked up a coaster brake wheel, pulled the front brake, and haven't looked back. For my ride, it is absolutely perfect. A mix of bike path and bike lane, with minimal actual traffic riding. No heavy congestion, in fact my ride home is late at night since I work second shift, so hardly any traffic. If I was riding in a large city, this would not be ideal for me I don't think. My first bike was a BMX with a coaster brake, and this really takes me back to those days, where things were a bit simple. I appreciate the simplicity of the bike, the clean lines, and the low maintenance.

I saw the movie and it was OK, much like Fast N Furious was OK, and I pretty much hate the hipster/fixie scene. I don't do anything in that scene except ride a bike that might be associated with it. I do have a messenger bag to carry my dinner and work clothes with me to work, only because a backpack simply wasn't big enough.


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## bike for days (Nov 25, 2011)

What I don't get is nob rakes riders who have so much chain slack it's comical. Once was behind a kid with so much chain slop it was literally bouncing on the cog. Yeah, I let him stay in front of me even though I could pass him.

If your chain is your braking system at least take care of it? Yikes.


I think a LOT of the "culture" at this point is bastardized and watered down from messengers so much that people are doing stupid dangerous crap like the afore mentioned without realizing how steep the lesson is. Heck I see at least a third of messengers on MTB's anyways.

I commute fixed often and try to be just as conscientious as free wheelin. I've seen an alley catter almost hit a stroller, a noob non messenger knock over an old lady, and I was almost nailed as a ped walking my bike by a brake less ass. Was tempted to give a shove but that would't be "Bike zen" am I rite? 

Also, it takes a lot to not roll my eyes at how tuff some act. Bring that swagger to ride fixed MTB and then we'll talk.


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## friz (Dec 2, 2012)

Just like any thing that youths at large determine as "cool", it becomes corrupted with wannabes not enthusiasts. This is very reminiscent of the tuner thing a few years ago. It was all born of a few guys building their cars into what they thought the car companies should have offered from the factory. They did not have fart can exhaust, anime graphics and big gay wings. They were very factory looking sleepers with JDM junkyard engines and homemade turbo setups. You have probably come across some of these pint sized hot rods and never noticed. Then along comes the F&F movies and every douche bag wants a pimped out civic loaded with aftermarket bolt on bull crap. The first ones were built out of junkyards not the SEMA show. The attraction to these car was simple. There is something cool about an econobox squaring off against the stock Detroit muscle of the day and holding its ground. Much like the tuner scene what we are seeing in the fixie culture is far from its roots or the few enthusiasts that spawned it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## KK89 (May 21, 2013)

I once tried a SS bike.. I was hooked instantly. After riding it 2 years my interest in riding it fixed increased. I tried it, thought it wasn't my thing, and changed back to SS. I was very against fixies because it didn't make any sense.. but I was curious. So I decided to try it again and no matter how odd it would be, I'd keep it for a week to adjust a little. Since then I didn't want to ride it any other way. It's just plain fun! Now I have a trackbike and love it! It's got a front brake on for legal reasons and possible emergencies. Usually I don't use brakes.

I also hate the fixie culture or "the scene". I want to be as far away as I can from all that and all the hipsters. I am just myself and just like to ride my trackbike. That's it! No one else of my friends rides fixed or even SS , no one.

My mtb is also fixed. It's nice in winter commute..


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## vaultbrad (Oct 17, 2007)

^I'm there with you for the fun factor. I enjoy riding fixed gear bikes. I also happen to really like the idea of fixed gear riding. It's most certainly not about the "fixie culture" for me. My fixed bikes are far from fashionable, but they work really well and I like riding them. My bikes are just bikes that happen to have fixed gears.


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## Cygnus (Jan 7, 2004)

serious said:


> If riding without brakes is "engaged and committed" then you are doing it all wrong.  Remember that many of us have spent years racing and riding bikes. Dependency on rear brakes only is guaranteed to result in holding back and that is hardly the recipe for being more committed.


i've been riding my bike 'all wrong' all these years? please explain, in a comprehensible way.


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## Hairnet (Jul 23, 2013)

vaultbrad said:


> ^I'm there with you for the fun factor. I enjoy riding fixed gear bikes. I also happen to really like the idea of fixed gear riding. It's most certainly not about the "fixie culture" for me. My fixed bikes are far from fashionable, but they work really well and I like riding them. My bikes are just bikes that happen to have fixed gears.


This. My fixed gears are set up for me the same way I would any road bike. I don't need to impress anyone or pretend I'm fashionable.


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