Fixed Gears in the 60's?
09-20-07, 11:17 AM
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Fixed Gears in the 60's?
When I was a kid about 40+ years ago, I rode on what I guess was a fixed gear bike (pedals turned with the back wheel). One of the kids in the neighborhood had it, I think. It was a balloon tire bike like most kids had in those days (before the bike-boom ten speeds). The ony way to stop or slow down was slow your cadence - no hand brakes. That is the only one I ever remember seeing. Were these in common usage then, or was the coaster brake jammed somehow?
09-20-07, 11:32 AM
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I doubt it would have been a jammed coaster brake. You could stop pedaling those and they'd keep going. I'm no older than you, but I don't recall seeing anything like that on a children's bike, and I had no awareness of any such thing as fixed gear back then either.
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09-20-07, 11:43 AM
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My guess would be a modified coaster brake- either the thing all froze up, or somebody "fixed" it so it could be ridden even though the coaster brake wasn't functioning properly.
09-20-07, 11:55 AM
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I had one of those "froze up" coaster brake bikes, too. A few jumps, curb hops and power slides had it freewheeling again, at least for a while. 
09-20-07, 12:09 PM
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I managed to mess up my coaster brake before when I was a kid on my "BMX" like bike and had my dad have a go at fixing it for me, when I got the bike back it was a "fixed" gear so to speak. "Ugh, this doesnt seem right dad.." Yeah he tightened the hub right down as tight as you can get it, smushed bearings and all. After that needless to say I had my foray into the world of learning to fix my own stuff.
09-20-07, 12:18 PM
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I had a small size "kids" bike when I first learned to ride, back in the late 50s', which was "fixed" gear, just like most tricycles still are. It was fun to lift up my feet off the pedals and have them spin at fast speeds! When I moved up to the free-wheeling coaster brake bike, it was quiet a revelation!
09-21-07, 06:44 AM
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Some of the very old bikes built in the 30s or earlier came with fixed hubs.Someone might have laced in one on a balloon rim ,the frame might have been something pulled out of the past too.
09-21-07, 07:03 AM
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A fixed gear is by no means a "new" thing, most if not all of the first bicycles using chain drive were fixed, even kids bikes, and Ive seen plenty a bike from the 20s 30s with a fixed gear 
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You see, their morals, their code...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these...These "civilized" people...they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve
09-21-07, 01:32 PM
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Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
09-21-07, 01:33 PM
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Fixed gear is where it all started, first through direct drive (ordinary, or penny-farthing), later via a chain (safety cycle).
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
09-21-07, 04:48 PM
#12
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
I recently repaired a completely frozen coaster hub at the shop that had turned the bike into a fixed gear..the bike belonged to a fellow who was nearly 80 and had been riding the bike like this on a daily basis for quite some time.
His son had brought the bike in and I told him to tell his dad that he'd might be considered quite the hipster for riding fixed.
I don't think that any kids bikes would have been sold with a fixed hub in the 60's and until recently, fixed gear bikes were pretty much the sole domain of track racers and messengers.
His son had brought the bike in and I told him to tell his dad that he'd might be considered quite the hipster for riding fixed.
I don't think that any kids bikes would have been sold with a fixed hub in the 60's and until recently, fixed gear bikes were pretty much the sole domain of track racers and messengers.
