pjay

Live in a small town-- nobody will give a ***** about your track bike. But they will look at you funny cause you roll up your pants.

brunop

at the risk of repeatin' myself:
we all talk about how "skilled" and ***** ya have to be to be ridin' fixed and all--well ya know what? it ain't really that hard--skiddin', trackstands, skippin', etc. it's just ****in' NOT. as athletic skills go, i repeat, it's just NOT THAT HARD!! it's way fun fo' sho', WAY fun, but don't kid yerselfs that you're doin' anything extraordinary. it's just ridin' bikes. little kids do it every day fer chrissakes!

samal

I guess that's a benefit to living in a small town, I haven't seen any other fixies around (the guys at the lbs used to ride them, but don't anymore). I don't have any of that snobbery or competition. I only see it on BFFG, but it really amuses me... makes me smile

mattface 

I live in a small town too. Maybe that's why I don't roll my pants...

ostro

There is skill involved, but the skill is not exclusive to fixed, the skill is being an attentive rider and knowing how to handle a situtation. Vechicular cycling is not something the kiddies are doing. Fixed or not, if you arent skilled enough or athletically fit, your a$$ will get run over and you will be walking your bike up that hill, and your a$$ will be too sweaty to walk into the office after measly 3mile commute. Anyone can ride a bike and anyone can spell, some just do it poorly!

Matthew A Brown

I wonder if there's a similar thread on the Z Cavaricci board.

nicomachus

Ink1373,

I think you have something interesting to say, to add to this community, and I think you said it rather well. I really appreciate when cyclists and people on this forum take the time to write well about cycling. It shows of level of respect and commitment to the cycling community to take the time to meditate on a topic like this -- and then guts to share it with the rest of us.

The responses that just say "chill out man, you're thinking too hard" hit me as a little empty. I'm not real sure why or what really they're supposed to mean. But I don't think it's a bad thing to think (even to think a lot) about bikes.

Thanks for writing.

spud

i think a few of us are offended at the generalization that people with track bikes hold exclusive attitudes.

Ready to Ruck

I have to say that the majority of people with track bikes is exclusive in my immediate environment. Track bikes are blowin' up big not as big as SF) but all the shop owners are either really supportive (if they ride fixed) or they sneer at the hipsters, and innocent kids like me. The fixie riders that I see on the street aren't so cool but they warm up to you after spending a couple hours in a pit with them at a show.

ink1373

i think that a big part of my point is being over simplified into "better bike = better person"

it's probably my fault.

i just want to clarify that i'm more concerned about what riding track bikes is doing to the accessibility of cycling culture. i'm concerned that the current obsession with brakeless, uncomfortable, fast bikes is repelling a lot of people away from biking period.

i fear that newcomers who try riding fixed, and then find that they need negative rise on their stem and no brakes to really feel comfortable with their peers, will then walk away from bikes altogether. also, i feel bad about all those who want to give it a try, and are intimidated out of it by...well...us.

savvy?

i rode track bikes hard for a few years, loved it, spent tons of money, worried about what parts i needed next, and i'm now finding that i really have more fun on a commuter style bike (still fixed). the whole thing is just too easy to get caught up in.

ink1373

we are the youth culture of cycling right now. we hold all the sway in the world.

rithem

We should save cycling ... it's doomed. BEWARE.

rithem

Honestly I don't see this in my little bubble ... which includes Boston, NYC and Chicago to a lesser extent ... just people riding bikes. I don't know, most people I know ride more than just track bikes with deep drops and NJS cert. components. Everything has it's place and time.

Chopper

Said it before, and I'll say it again.

Townies are the new fixed.

Out is the new in.

Where I end, and you begin.

Matthew A Brown

Big Converted Air Frame

Matthew A Brown

****ing non capslock bastards

Matthew A Brown

Thread is done anyway.

ink1373

agreed.

Nachoman

Good points. I agree with everything everybody said. (How is that for non-confrontational and extremely agreeable!). By the way, bikes are good.

rithem

NO now it's done.

spud

yeah i think you give us way too much credit, look at how popular the Tour de France has become. people don't stay home or go to bars to watch a bunch of city kids race in an alleycat.

marqueemoon

I think I understand what you're getting at, I don't honestly think there's much to worry about on that front. People who get into activities for the wrong reasons usually give up anyway.

Music is a great example of this. Lots of cool kids buy guitars, drumsets, etc... hoping to start the next hip band only to find that it takes practice and commitment to play an instrument. Sure, having a guitar that's set up correctly, intonated, etc... will help it sound better and be easier to play, but you still have to put in the time. I'm not great guitar player by any stretch. I also don't give a damn what anyone else thinks of my playing. If I did I would have given up a long time ago.

I think the hipness factor has put people on bikes that wouldn't be caught dead on them two years ago. If those people give up, I won't feel responsible. It just means they never saw beyond the trendiness and realized what an amazing part of life riding a bike can be, and didn't take the next logical step of finding a bike and a style of riding that works for them if fixed doesn't.

stendhalian

bikes rule!

iBarna

A bike is a thing and nothing more, a tool that you use to do or think whatever you want. There is no one way to view a bike, and it's even more difficult to find the "right" way of seeing the bicycle.

For instance, ink, while your post has a lot of good points....


See, even you try to tell others what bikes "should be". In a sense there's not much difference between your statement and a fixie rider who feels that bikes "should be" ridden without brakes. To me biking has nothing do to with the proletariat or survival. And if someone thinks I'm lame or I don't go all the way because I ride a SS (in fact I'm building a geared bike right now), I don't really care...

Serendipper 

The scenesters judged me harshly until they saw how hard I ride. Everyday. No matter the weather. Messengers and track stars give me much respect now that they see me ride. I earn my respect through riding. The dope ass bikes I ride are just the icing on the proverbial cake.