Fixies are quickly going mainstream. One stroll down any Main Street is all it takes to see that: singlespeed and fixed-gear bikes are to 2007 what cruisers were to the early 2000s.
At that time, non-cyclists saw pretty people out and about on seductive retro and shiny new cruisers and thought, “That looks fun! Wouldn’t it be great if you and I had pretty bikes to ride around on?” Hordes then went out and purchased $500 cruisers, rode them twice, and found them to be ill-fitting, inefficient, and inconvenient for more than the occasional Seawall Social.
Those poor bikes then spend the next few years sitting in a garage or storage locker, gathering dust and oxidation, until the owners put up a reduced-price posting on Craigslist. Today’s popular, elegant track machines, and their reasonable facsimiles, are in danger of becoming the new cruisers.
I’ll admit, though, that I ride a fixie. I built it to withstand my daily abuse mashing the pedals in some vain attempt to prove my superiority over car culture. Also, doing the shifter dance after every light was getting to me. I like the connection to the road that a fixie provides. It makes every kilometre that much more real if I can’t just stop and let it coast by.
I had a hard time finding a 1/8-inch track cog when I built up my first. I went to every shop in town and was eventually sent to my favourite bike shop, where a skeptical mechanic sold me my first cog, inquiring how I was going to lock it on.
The first danger of DIY lies in the fact that some are converting their freewheel bikes to fixed-gear simply by removing stock parts and adding a track cog, building themselves in effect what is called a “suicide hub.” This system can allow the cog to quickly unscrew itself in the event of hard emergency braking, leaving the pedals of the bike useless. A proper track-specific hub has a reverse-threaded lock ring so that in the event that the cog loosens under backpressure – as a lot of fixed-gear braking is done with your legs – the lock ring and cog will tighten themselves together.
Some also might go too far with the stripped-down look, and toss out their only brake, whereas most wiser street-use fixie riders have a front brake. What does a “noob” riding brakeless with a suicide hub spell? Catastrophe in waiting. Learning to control a fixed gear bicycle shouldn’t be one’s first goal when returning to cycling for the first time since adolescence.
The commodification of the fixed gear image has gone a little too far for some fixie aficionados, now that select advertisements and fashion magazine spreads are shilling this year’s newest slacks and shoes by propping chic-looking models next to track bikes and singlespeeds.
The downtown bicycle messenger crowd – a good number of whom ride fixed, some brakeless – are some of those most upset about the new trendiness. First, they had to deal with the appearance of “messenger” bags on the backs of non-cyclists. Now, they cannot even tell who is or isn’t a messenger when they see other cyclists on the downtown streets.
Until they see how they handle their bikes, of course. Couriers ride daily in some of the most nerve-racking conditions possible. When they see someone clumsily poking a fixie conversion through traffic, they just shake their heads.
The good folks at the Burnaby Velodrome in Burnaby BC, however, couldn’t be happier about the rise in fixed-gear popularity. The limited spaces in their four-session Learn To Race classes are quickly filling up, pumping much-needed cash into Western Canada’s only indoor velodrome.
For the first time, the velodrome added special “courier class” races to accommodate the street riders at this year’s Six Day series in January. Well-received by spectators and trackies alike, the new street-bred blood brought a palpable new energy and unexpected feasts of bike handling to the track.
Fixed-gear riding can be artful, fun, and can be a way to flaunt your consumer savvy – you can upgrade and mix-and-match expensive Japanese parts to your heart’s content. But reasonably priced fixed-gears are accessible too. The Bianchi Pista and the KHS Flite 100 are off-the-shelf, track-ready machines and happen to be selling like hotcakes this year in the $600 range, which means that I’ll likely be joined by hosts of fellow fixie-commuters once the weather warms up this summer.
Has the fixed gear fad reached its peak? Will they be out of vogue by this summer? Will recumbents, perhaps, be the new hotness?
Only time will tell. But during that time I’ll be watching Craigslist, looking for a deal on that pretty, twice-ridden then garaged track bike.
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