Kiwisaver

Being an older thread coupled with being a newbie I feel I may have a different perspective. In and around 2004 or 05 I was introduced to fg by an odd guy at an lbs. I'd never seen or ridden a fg and found myself intrigued.

So, I did my due diligence and discovered the general consensus was 'bike boom' bikes made the best, most consistent conversions. Found one at a garage sale. Stripped it and got a 46t Rocket Ring, 1/8" chain, 16t freewheel and built myself a ss. Having already learned how to re-dish a wheel it was pretty straight ahead.

Fg was a little more involved as I had to obtain a flip-flop hub. Other than that everything else was similar except the actual riding. Adjusting to fg took a bit, but as an experienced cyclist the time it took was pretty fluid. The main thing is that riding fixed is just one of many cycling disciplines I enjoy. Having gotten into it by chance I believe I was already far into it before it became any kind of hipster connection.

It's not my opinion the best days of fg are behind us. They're as relevant today as they were back in the day. My bike collection includes a rb, off rb, fg, ss, touring, utility and a tandem. Riding fg is usually my 1st choice, but lately I built a ss I find it to be my 1st choice. Prolly because it's my latest build and it turned out real well.

Fg around 2010ish

This is my latest. It's a Pac'Rim utility/fun ss that's my current favorite. Circa 2024.

downtube42

I was a cyclist in Indianapolis when Nelson Vails and Mark Gorski were racing at the Major Taylor Velodrome on the west side, and the fixie scene exploded. The cool kids were walking around wearing Lycra, with flabby calves and no tan lines.

Meanwhile we could go watch the Jamaican National team, the Canadian national team, Nelson and Mark, Connie Young, and Curt Harnett put on a world class cycling show for about $12 on a Friday night.

Chasing cool usually means missing out on the substance.

hellodude

I rebuilt mine into a 16 speed frankenbike

jack pot

Grant's right and you be consumN too many bikes ...but all in all you're good for the bike business which is better than being good for nothing

veganbikes

Grant is not right. Grant is a pot stirrer he wants to create controversy. There is no warring factions like that. There are always going to be a few oddballs that is always the case but to say it is a massive exodus and fight is completely wrong.

I do consume a lot of bikes and bicycles news and such. I enjoy bicycles and I work in the industry and have worked in the industry for over a decade and now own my own shop so I see a lot of stuff and talk with a lot of people from other shops and all of that. I do understand gravel is a growing trend it is very visible and known but the way Grant describes is false.

I am good for a lot of things but I do on occasion jump into the good for nothing pool just to make sure the water is still a cool comfortable 73˚ LOL

mrv 

….between fixed gear kids & tiny pebble people

EJM73

I still like fixed gear riding. I ride mine 2 times a week for short 10-12 mile rides after work

'80's Viner
. Great workout and improves bike handling too.

downhillmaster

The best days are behind because not all top tubes are horizontal?
I must have misinterpreted something because that is just plain goofy

Trakhak

If you're commenting on the title and the first post, read posts 4 and 5. If you're commenting on later posts, never mind.

rustystrings61 

I dunno. I have been having some pretty good fixed-gear days lately ... as far as the fixed/SS vs. gravel divide goes, I don't see it. The purple Mercian (on 28 mm tires) was my first choice for mixed pavement & gravel surface rides from when it was new in 2003 until fairly recently, and it still holds its own pretty well so long as I remember to flip the rear wheel around to the 18T cog. The black Raleigh with 35 mm tires and a 60-in fixed option is slightly better optimized for gravel, but it's not a dealbreaker either way ...

guy153

My theory is that every time Shimagnolosram add another cog to their cassettes a few more thousand people switch to fixed gear. With a 48/19 I can get up all the hills near where I live and I get about the same average speed over a typical 50-mile ride or so as I do on the 2x10 road bike. Quite eye-opening. The bike also ends up being very light and saves hundreds of £££. Not sure if I am ready for fixed off-roading though.

Trakhak

Fixed gear was far more popular 15 years ago than it is now. I don't get the impression that people are particularly scared of cog proliferation. Neither the ease of use nor the reliability of indexed shifting varies with the number of speeds, so there's nothing to be scared about, in any event.

I've been using 48/18 (or the equivalent, e.g., 51/19) for all my fixed-gear riding since 1964, including on many hills that have me temporarily wondering whether I should change the gearing. But I've learned to configure my routes such that the tough hills mostly happen in the first half of the ride.

downhillmaster

No

drlogik 

crypticlineage,

Well, I'm late to this thread! Single-speed and Fixie popularity is definitely waning. However, they have come and gone, then come and gone again over the decades. We called them "Track bikes" back in the 1970's. Us young bike mechanics back then built our "track bike" from a hodge-podge of parts. These Frankenbikes functioned and most were re-purposed "10-speeds".

I built one from an old Peugeot back in 1974-ish. I was in high school and worked after school in a local shop. Can't recall what happened to that bike but it was fun to ride. The head mech helped me put it together with parts blessed upon me by the shop owner. Track bikes never really took off past us bike mechs back then. Then there was a lonnnnnng lull....

This last SS/Fixie craze was kind of a game changer in that technology progressed on the bike scene and these anachronism bikes appeared out of nowhere and soared in popularity among a select set of riders. The difference this time is that they were new bikes purpose-built. They really didn't go "main-stream" among all riders and I think that is why the SS/fixie scene comes and goes over the years.

Heck 20 years from now they will probably be built from FrankenCarbon parts of today and will look like an anachronism in 2044!

As a side note, I own a Wabi Special and a Wabi Classic. Both bikes are the most comfortable riding bikes I have ever owned. Yes, the Wabi web site doesn't do them justice but rest assured they make a VERY high quality product. Wabi was started by Richard Snook. His brother Gary started Performance Bike. Richard sold to the current owners a few years ago. I'll admit both of my Wabi's are "Richard's Wabi's" as I call them, but the current owners are very responsive and helpful and are carrying on the Wabi brand quite well, I think.


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swissycle

I hope the best days of this thread aren’t behind us, or where will we able to lament that the best days of SS are behind us?

For me, the best days of singlespeed are always ahead—I experience them whenever I hop on my bike for a ride!

There still seems to be a decent selection new SS-specific models available, and of course, conversion of older bikes is often an option, too. If singlespeed is a niche within cycling (or even within cycling disciplines), that’s fine—it’s not for everyone, and I’m sure there were people swept up in the hipster-fixie craze who discovered mono-cog riding wasn’t for them. If SS/fixed is the hidden back room at the cycling pub, then one needs to hear about it through the grapevine or stumble across it on one’s own (when one’s trying to find the restroom and accidentally opens the wrong door), and then the chances of liking what one finds and sticking with it are probably higher. That might mean fewer SS riders but a higher dedication/enthusiasm quotient.

Steel Monkey

Just recently bequeathed a Schwinn with semi horizontal drop outs. Converted it into a single speed and really enjoy the difference in ride quality. It's like having an exotic girlfriend that my other two mistresses (geared bikes) don't mind. Recently hit a bike shop flea market where I got a flip/flop wheel set and am flirting with the fixed gear side.


One of the co-op shop chiefs is a dedicated fixed gear rider in his (I'm gonna guess) late forties/early fifties and still does deliveries. I think the perception of whether or not single/fixed is popular depends on geography. Flatter urban landscapes lend themselves well to the advantages of fixed.

SM

jfmckenna

When asked if Jazz is dead Frank Zappa replied, "Jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny." Point being things ebb and flow and sometimes go viral and catch on and then they go back to normal again. The first nice bike I ever had was a Panasonic track bike that a roommate of mine gave me when he upgraded his. He was a messenger in NYC and track bikes as we all know have always been their tool of choice. That was 1989. The bike got stolen and I was track bikeless till about 2000 or so when they started gaining in popularity. I got myself an old road frame and made a fixed out of it and then some years later got a proper track bike that reminded me of my Panasonic. I have lived and worked in the same college town since then and have seen the changes. It probably peaked in about 2007 I'd say and pretty much went away with the advent of electric scooters, bikes and skateboards. I rarely see a college kid on a bike anymore nevermind a track bike. So is it dead? Nah it just smells funny.

It had been years since I took the old girl for a ride but inspired by this thread I oiled up the chain and commuted this morning. I really should make a habit out of riding once or twice a week.

drlogik 

jfmckenna,

I agree, they just smell funny! Hahaha, I can picture Frank Zappa saying that.

There will always be a cadre of people who like to ride fixed or single-speed. Their popularity has come and gone many times over the years. My previous post above explains my experiences since 1974-ish.

jfmckenna

Just re-reading your post it looks like you said about basically the same thing with a decade or more experience. I forgot to mention that as a road bike racer back in the day we used track bikes for winter training. I still think there's something to be said for it but times have changed and training regimens for modern racers are much more science based. But I can say this, I commute ten miles a day each way by bike and I have not ridden my track bike in two years, hence I'm back in this subforum, and just two days of riding 40 miles and I have soar spots I forgot that existed.

drlogik 

Hahaha... Oh yeah. I gave up my fixed gear for my single-speed because of a bad crash in 2020. Shattered my arm while riding the fixed. I rode the single-speed once I recovered but it didn't give me the same workout. Then I bought a Surly Disk Trucker because I want to start bike touring. I've been riding that for a year and last weekend took my single-speed for a 20 mile out-N-back. Woah boy, yep, a couple of days later I was sore.

​​​​​​​I'm still gun-shy about taking the fixed gear out. I'm also afraid it will tell me how far I have to go. One step at a time, maybe I'll take it out this weekend for my 7 mile loop and see how it feels. Even when I go for the 7 mile loop with my single-speed, I notice how much more I have to work for the same given loop than the geared Surly.

swissycle

I can understand the appeal of fixed, but I don’t see myself flipping or flopping my hub. The ability to coast down a long or steep hill is too important for me.
I’ve mostly been riding SS for almost a year and recently sold my geared bikes, so now the best (I hope) days of singlespeed are only ahead for me!
Where I live, the landscape is quite undulating. Daily utility riding is generally flatish terrain; recreational riding is whatever I’m in the mood for.
But what I have noticed is how much my perception of the terrain has changed in the past months. Stuff I thought was off-limits at the beginning is now routinely part of my riding. For me, that’s one of the best parts of singlespeeding—an ever-expanding sense of what I am capable of.