2!!

^Not for about two years. I live in Durham these days, and the scene there features very few hipstermobiles. I spend a fair amount of the summers in NYC and Boston, though, and the streets there are just jammed with poseurs on their fixies.

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 2:40 PM. Reason : 2!]

6/5/2008 2:40:22 PM

Quote :

"Then there's the whole issue of pedals -- do you want to roll with a clipless system that requires cleats and funky cycling shoes, or would you prefer a platform pedal that has no shoe requirements?"

You don't have to choose. I installed clipless platforms on one of my road bikes. I'm able to wear my cycling shoes or regular shoes depending on what i'm doing.

something like this:


On another note, i just got back from Holland and you were weird there if you drove a car. The roads literally had wider bike lanes and sidewalks than space for cars. I never saw a parking lot for cars, just bikes:


Oh and this was interesting in the red light district in Amsterdam. Wish we could have a few of these around state. See the bartender and driver?:

They just rode around drinkin.

6/5/2008 2:54:15 PM

What is the strong point of a single speed bike? Seems to me that you can get around faster and easier with a multi speed bike, and that the only benefit to a single speed is no chance of your derailer/gears messing up or getting out of tune (which doesn't even happen often anyway).

I will be needing a new bike in the near future, and if possible will try to commute to work with said bike.

6/6/2008 12:40:01 PM

^fun, simplicity, being able to brag about how hardcore you are, you get into better shape

6/6/2008 12:44:25 PM

How's it more fun? Also I don't see how it'd get you in much better shape. I mean you have the potential to go much faster top end wise with a multi speed bike. If its not an extreme urban setting that'd seem more ideal for commuting imo.

6/6/2008 12:45:54 PM

You can maintain an ideal cadence a lot easier with a multi speed bike and get a better work out. In terms of training a single gear bike is used to get the rider used to changing cadence based upon terrain. Back in the day trainers would put riders on single speed bikes to get them back into the grove of things after a break. A single speed/fixed bike would give a less experienced person more of a work out than a multi-speed bike because they are forced to maintain cadence based upon terrain but the ideal work out comes from a multi-speed bike with knowledge of how to effectively switch gears.

Fixed gear bikes are more dangerous because you're forced to maintain that rpm no matter the slope you're on. Plus on a single gear bike you can't downshift on hills which some say will give you a great work out, but maintaining a good 90-100rpm will give you a better work out because you can control your heart rate a lot easier.

Quote :

"fun, simplicity, being able to brag about how hardcore you are, you get into better shape "

Yeah they're easier to maintain, and you can RIDE BACKWARDS on a fixed gear. This is always fun to do and it's alot easier to balance stopped on a fixed gear. But yeah it's a myth you get in better shape. If you truely know how to use a multi-speed bike you can get a much better work out. They are fun though.

6/6/2008 1:11:21 PM

^Yeah, using gears to maintain a high cadence is best for cardio fitness. I myself don't own a single speed, but everyone I've known that rides one has HUGE calves and the ability to dominate the steepest of hills.

I used to occasionally stay in a middle gear for mountain rides. It was a nice change of pace and it helped me improve my fitness level. I was riding 2-3 times a week for 2 hours at a time and I would single speed it once every week or 2.

I AGREE THAT MAINTAINING A HIGH CADENCE ON A BIKE WITH GEARS IS BEST FOR CARDIO.

[Edited on June 6, 2008 at 1:26 PM. Reason : Its just fun to do something different.]

6/6/2008 1:24:36 PM

Quote :

"but everyone I've known that rides one has HUGE calves and the ability to dominate the steepest of hills."

Yeah but if you know how to effectively use a multi-gear bike you can get the EXACT same work out as a single speed bike. A multi-speed bike magically turns into a single speed when you don't shift!!! As long as you have the same gear ratio.

There's really no actual benefit from a single gear bike in terms of a work out other than a mental block. If you wanna do cardio than maintain a good cadence by shifting. If you wanna get some big ass calves than stick to a gear and ride up some hills. You just have to keep yourself from shifting, however hard that may be.

Instead of quoting some website i'll tell you what my dad told me. He's 62 years old and has a 8-5 as a computer programmer, but he rides 6.1 days a week (he loves excel) and puts about 13k on his 6 bikes every year. He wakes up at 3:15-3:30 every morning to get in a few hours before work and sleeps in till 5-5:30am to go on the long rides on the weekends. He bought a single speed fixed gear a while back and after riding it for a while he told me you can get the exact same work out from a multi-speed bike.

Aside from that, yeah they're different and fun to ride. If you're considering a fixed gear single speed the best are the ones where you can flip the wheel and convert to fixed or not. Plus you can ride backwards!!

6/6/2008 2:27:00 PM

What do you do on a single speed bike going down a big ass hill?

6/6/2008 2:53:23 PM

^On a single speed bike, you coast.

On a fixed gear bike, you destroy your knees (or so I've heard).

6/6/2008 2:57:47 PM

exactly... fixed gears are more effective on long flat terrain.

6/6/2008 3:06:09 PM

I meant fixed-gear, durr me.

For the fixed-gear guys and all bicyclists-I finally found this article again-it is a must read. Guy is gonna ride The Great Divide Race-a self-supported, solo competition following the 2,490-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. They will travel through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, and the route has over 200,000 feet of climbing along it's length. Competitors carry all equipment necessary to negotiate the backcountry, restocking on food and other supplies from the small towns along the route.

http://denver.yourhub.com/Denver/Stories/Sports/General-Sports/Story~282745.aspx

And an insane trick on a fixed-gear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5mxMOGLiRw&feature=related

[Edited on June 6, 2008 at 3:07 PM. Reason : a]

6/6/2008 3:06:29 PM

Quote :

"Back in the day trainers would put riders on single speed bikes to get them back into the grove of things after a break."

They still do this. A few years back (when I rode seriously), a trainer had me log a thousand kilometers on a fixed gear bike before the start of the season and only then set up regular cycling workouts. He claimed it made my pedal stroke smoother. The same guy also had me learn to ride no-hands on a set of Kreitler rollers during the off-season -- sadistic.

These days, the fixed gear hipstermobile is basically just a way for poseurs to pass as truly hardcore. You see guys in NYC who don't know the first fucking thing about a bike struggling to get a Bianchi pista or a Surly Steamroller to maneuver in traffic, all decked out in their hipster finery and trying to look like bike messengers. The best part is when you see these dinks having to walk the precious hipstermobile up a measly 8% grade. Fucking hilarous. For a real laugh, you can read the "bikes" section of craigslist NYC and see people offering up nearly-new track bikes and saying things like "only rode it a few times -- the geometry is just too twitchy for me." Oh, and watching these clowns try to ride at night after one too many PBRs is priceless.

6/6/2008 4:31:46 PM

After recovering from ACL reconstruction, which do you think will be more effective physical therapy for me, fixed gear or multi-gear bike exercise?

6/6/2008 6:05:30 PM

^ Stay far, far away from fixed gear riding. The stresses on the knees from deceleration are very large. Your chance of re-injury is huge if you sign on with the current craze for fixed gear cycling, imho.

6/7/2008 7:16:02 AM

What, Jelly Donut? No singlespeed culture in the Triangle? We've had it for years- alleycats, Critical Mass, etc. I'm also in Durham and there's a bunch of singlespeeds here- I just noticed a lot at CM the other day. The bike scene is small, so the singlespeed folks also commute to work on them, some do centuries on them, and some also fix them.

I wouldn't go hatin' on the track bike-Italian shit-barfly folks necessarily. Yes I agree people ride bikes they have no experience riding (track bikes with no brakes), but at least they're riding their bike to said bar, instead of driving drunk in their gas-burning car. On the other end, I've also seen roadies dorking out about components and carbon-fiber, and obsessing about performance, then driving to work in RTP, and snubbing the mom on the granny gear on the Walmart bike. I've also seen bike mechanics be sexist assholes to me.

I guess there's asshats in every scene, and it all evens out. But, the end goal is more bikes on the road.

A note on fixies- I wouldn't recommend them to anyone wanting to bike hundreds of miles, obviously- that's what gears are for. But they're relatively simple to build up, and it's an educational project- I learned about building wheels from scratch. Also good for the city since Durham has about 3 hills.

6/7/2008 8:21:56 AM

fro the record im about as far from hipster as you can get...i just like the fixie concept for my commute, and it makes sense given the terrain/traffic i negotiate, which is what this thread was about

6/7/2008 8:49:01 AM

^^^I probably wasn't gonna get a fixed gear bike anyway, I love mtn biking. I appreciate the heads up though.

6/7/2008 12:23:58 PM

^^^I'm all for getting people on bikes, and if a fixed gear setup works for you, I don't have an issue. And you're right that there are some highly annoying roadies, like the guys who will spend $10K on a super performance bike -- shaving those last few grams from the bike when they could easily stand to drop 5 kilos in body weight.

I just find the hipster on the fixed gear really annoying, and I eagerly await the decline of this particular craze.

One thing I don't get about using a track frame for commuting is that there are no braze ons for racks, fenders, or even a water bottle. Fine, I suppose, if you never have to bring much of anything to or from work, it never rains, and your commute is only 30 minutes each way.

[Edited on June 7, 2008 at 12:37 PM. Reason : rrrr]

6/7/2008 12:31:56 PM

^ I never got it about track bikes either. They don't usually have drillouts for brake calipers either. That and I'm not too into fucking up my knees- I have an old injury from getting slammed into a fence 10 years ago.

I usually don't ride my fixie to work, but my commuter has a flat and I've been too lazy to fix it. If you see a ridiculous green Varsity fixed gear around town, that would be mine.

6/7/2008 5:06:14 PM

bike spam:
http://brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=529085

6/8/2008 11:29:03 AM

90s and ridding a bike to work......then feel icky the rest of the day, UNLESS, employers start installing showers from employees, talk about the stink!

6/8/2008 1:17:31 PM

if anyone is looking for a road bike, I have one i'm willing to sell for pretty cheap.

6/8/2008 1:30:29 PM

heh I remember those!

I also liked how they had separate stoplights for bicycles in Amsterdam.

6/9/2008 7:48:40 AM

I just got a new job and my employer has showers installed....so, looks like I'll get to commute a few times a week at least. I already had a Trek road bike, but wanted to keep it the way it was, so I picked up a Trek XO 1 and put a rack/pannier on it and did a test run today. It's about 16 miles one way and took about an hour each way. I guess it's not bad with knobby tires and a loaded pannier. The first thing to be swapped out is going to be the kobbies.




I'm psyched about being able to ride to work

[Edited on June 20, 2008 at 11:34 AM. Reason : ]

6/20/2008 11:19:55 AM

very nice man...

6/20/2008 2:26:12 PM