awkward hipster moment..

[Lichee]

A £500 bike with no gears, fucking practical.

it is practical, in fact, it's very fucking practical because the people who use them properly don't need gears, hence why they buy them. I don't know if you read what i said before but fixies are faster, lighter and last longer. Also you can get one second hand for under £100.

I can see this turning int oa mac - pc debate style pretty quickly

[Mr Hyde]

thing is, the ones ive seen aren't any lighter because the frames and wheels tend to be pretty shit compared to modern racing bikes (and breaks and gears don't weigh much anyway).

they aren't faster- otherwise people would do the tour de france on them! (even town riding they aren't faster- not as quick accelerating or top speed without gears)

loads of people don't even have them fixed, which is the only advantage i can see if using clip ins and having better control for trackstanding at lights and stuff.

they were used by NY couriers because they needed to get them on their shoulders into buildings- dont want cables and gears getting all caught up, and wanted them as light as possible and used use decent frame and wheels....for a courier somewhere flat like manhatten they are quite practical. for 99% of the uses people have of them they aren't.

[hugh]

thing is, the ones ive seen aren't any lighter because the frames and wheels tend to be pretty shit compared to modern racing bikes (and breaks and gears don't weigh much anyway).

they aren't faster- otherwise people would do the tour de france on them! (even town riding they aren't faster- not as quick accelerating or top speed without gears)

loads of people don't even have them fixed, which is the only advantage i can see if using clip ins and having better control for trackstanding at lights and stuff.

they were used by NY couriers because they needed to get them on their shoulders into buildings- dont want cables and gears getting all caught up, and wanted them as light as possible and used use decent frame and wheels....for a courier somewhere flat like manhatten they are quite practical. for 99% of the uses people have of them they aren't.

People don't do the tour de france on them because cycling up a 25 degree inclination for 4 hours on a fixie is somewhat difficult. But nice try
Flat riding route = fixie is more efficient
Hills = don't use a fixie. Its a fixie.

[Lichee]

thing is, the ones ive seen aren't any lighter because the frames and wheels tend to be pretty shit compared to modern racing bikes (and breaks and gears don't weigh much anyway).

they aren't faster- otherwise people would do the tour de france on them! (even town riding they aren't faster- not as quick accelerating or top speed without gears)

loads of people don't even have them fixed, which is the only advantage i can see if using clip ins and having better control for trackstanding at lights and stuff.

they were used by NY couriers because they needed to get them on their shoulders into buildings- dont want cables and gears getting all caught up, and wanted them as light as possible and used use decent frame and wheels....for a courier somewhere flat like manhatten they are quite practical. for 99% of the uses people have of them they aren't.

if you had two identical bikes and one had gears and one was a fixie, the fixie would be lighter.

they are faster - that's why the Olympic track cyclists use them, the same cyclists that go faster than those in the tour de france

then it's not a fixie??

you're just saying that good fixies in the right environment are better, which is my exact point?

[fluents]

fixies are the worst hipster trend by far, why would you want a bike if the only way to stop is to make yourself crash or jam your foot in the peddles.

do you actually know anything about bikes? The fixie is THE standard bike of most heavily bike dependant countries like Holland for example, it's lighter, cheaper, easier to maintain and very very rarely breaks. I guarantee more people have bought bmx's since their creation because of their look than people have bought fixies for that same reason. Also the entire idea of the fixie is that you pedal backwards to brake? And wtf are you on about jam your foot in the pedals?

hahaha settle, maybe in a bike dependent country where it's alot flatter then maybe yea a fixie could be practical, where I live not so much lots of hills, lots of hipsters, lots of crashes, lots an lots of fixies and in Australia you'll be lucky to find one for under $900 so isn't really a cheap bike here.

[slothrop]

they aren't faster- otherwise people would do the tour de france on them! (even town riding they aren't faster- not as quick accelerating or top speed without gears)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_bicycle

Most of the people I know who ride fixed wheel aren't hipsters (because I know almost no hipsters), they're generally roadies or general bike nerds who ride them because they're a) fun and b) good training. I had a go on a mate's one and concur on point a) and hence am considering getting one.

The basic fun comes from the very direct feedback between your feet and the road - pedal faster, go faster, pedal slower, go slower. It sounds a bit wanky but it's actually really fun and intuitive.

Re stopping, you're legally obliged to have at least a front brake, and personally I'd consider sticking a back brake on as well until I was convinced I didn't need it rather than finding out the hard way that I did...

Sheldon Brown (not a hipster) on the subject:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

[Mr Hyde]

thing is, the ones ive seen aren't any lighter because the frames and wheels tend to be pretty shit compared to modern racing bikes (and breaks and gears don't weigh much anyway).

they aren't faster- otherwise people would do the tour de france on them! (even town riding they aren't faster- not as quick accelerating or top speed without gears)

loads of people don't even have them fixed, which is the only advantage i can see if using clip ins and having better control for trackstanding at lights and stuff.

they were used by NY couriers because they needed to get them on their shoulders into buildings- dont want cables and gears getting all caught up, and wanted them as light as possible and used use decent frame and wheels....for a courier somewhere flat like manhatten they are quite practical. for 99% of the uses people have of them they aren't.

People don't do the tour de france on them because cycling up a 25 degree inclination for 4 hours on a fixie is somewhat difficult. But nice try
Flat riding route = fixie is more efficient
Hills = don't use a fixie. Its a fixie.

I did qualify that saying that even town riding they aren't faster- not as good for top speeds or acceleration, especially not if there are any hills.

[Lichee]

i know i seem like a fixie purist right now but i only got back from Holland a week ago and had so much fun riding around on a fixie and it just felt better than any bike i've ever ridden before. I think everyone in here should go and see how the Dutch do it with fixies and it will change your mind on practicality

[capo ultra]

I'm more confused than when I entered this thread, I need to see one of these things in real life

[Mr Hyde]

thing is, the ones ive seen aren't any lighter because the frames and wheels tend to be pretty shit compared to modern racing bikes (and breaks and gears don't weigh much anyway).

they aren't faster- otherwise people would do the tour de france on them! (even town riding they aren't faster- not as quick accelerating or top speed without gears)

loads of people don't even have them fixed, which is the only advantage i can see if using clip ins and having better control for trackstanding at lights and stuff.

they were used by NY couriers because they needed to get them on their shoulders into buildings- dont want cables and gears getting all caught up, and wanted them as light as possible and used use decent frame and wheels....for a courier somewhere flat like manhatten they are quite practical. for 99% of the uses people have of them they aren't.

if you had two identical bikes and one had gears and one was a fixie, the fixie would be lighter.

they are faster - that's why the Olympic track cyclists use them, the same cyclists that go faster than those in the tour de france

then it's not a fixie??

you're just saying that good fixies in the right environment are better, which is my exact point?

well, for starters i don't know why you took what i said as some personal attack on something you said...and yeah, that is what im saying!

im not completely against fixies, where did i say i was?!? just saying that the majority of them are'nt even any lighter than racing bikes because they are fashion items (saw one with a copper frame the other day) and the savings in gear/break weight dosn't add up to much, for general town riding they are gonna be slower than the equivilant bike with gears and breaks (perhaps 1kg heavier at most but the ability to go loads faster up/down hills and accelerating) and modern gears don't really need much more maintainance than one that is fixed.

yep, velodrome type cycling im sure is better fixed, as is manhatten riding/carying your bike in buildings if you are a courier.

99% of the bikes and uses that people have for them are not as practical as alternatives though.

but shit, people ride unicycles, not saying people shouldn't be on fixies if thats what they wanna do, just that they aren't generally faster or more practical than bikes with gears

[Mr Hyde]

i know i seem like a fixie purist right now but i only got back from Holland a week ago and had so much fun riding around on a fixie and it just felt better than any bike i've ever ridden before. I think everyone in here should go and see how the Dutch do it with fixies and it will change your mind on practicality

they're not fixed though, just town bikes with one gear that you can break on by peddling backwards, practical for riding short distances around a flat city where bikes get nicked all the time

[sigbowls]

ive seen someone with a trailer on there bike with a boom box in it playing hip hop, thats a good idea

[deadly_habit]

ive seen someone with a trailer on there bike with a boom box in it playing hip hop, thats a good idea

[capo ultra]

ive seen someone with a trailer on there bike with a boom box in it playing hip hop, thats a good idea

music played through i-gadget I see, much better with a vinyl player strapped on etc

[frank grimes jr.]

I ride fixed gear, it's fun, gives me energy and it's a great way to stay in shape.

[magma]

I ride a bicycle, it's fun, gives me energy and it's a great way to stay in shape.

I took out the needless specification.

This is turning very Mac Vs PC.

[mks]

ive seen someone with a trailer on there bike with a boom box in it playing hip hop, thats a good idea

I have a sound system on my bike. Not as big as this one though. It's an old school Schwinn Cruiser with a springer front fork. I love riding around with the sound system on it.

[youthful_implants]

Not a fan of fixies or hipsters, who have blighted so many urban areas of previous social reknown. they are a bit of a plague IMHO with their bad dress sense and lack of personal hygiene.

I like this website, look at this fucking hipster.com http://www.latfh.com/

[noam]

I ride a bicycle, it's fun, gives me energy and it's a great way to stay in shape.

I took out the needless specification.

This is turning very Mac Vs PC.

some of my friends drive cars they're fun too

some of them drive better more fun cars

see what im gettin at

[frank grimes jr.]

I'm also too fat to be a hipster.