Fixed wheel/gears.........why ??

[Venod]

Fixie has only been around as a term since the 90's. It really was used to describe a different type of fixed wheel bike to the more traditional fixed wheel. The only thing in common being the fixed wheel aspect of gearing.

 

[Tim Hall]

I've always wondered what "humble" means in 2018

Wikipedia says of the etymology of humble pie

The expression derives from umble pie, a pie filled with the chopped or minced parts of a beast's 'pluck' – the heart, liver, lungs or 'lights' and kidneys, especially of deer but often other meats. Umble evolved from numble, (after the French nomble) meaning 'deer's innards'.

However I don't think this advances the debate, in my humble opinion.

 

[woodbutcher]

Eeee wen l were a lad , nearly 60 years previous , all of us lads had fixed wheel bikes (not poncy "fixes") . We had cow horns and no brakes, if you needed to slow down you stood on the pedal with one foot and jammed the other on top of the rear wheel so that it made contact , rather rapidly with the frame at the brake bridge. Lovely smell of hot rubber and skidding tyre. Mind you this was rural Lincolnshire and hills were like hens teeth.

 

[jonnysnorocket]

 

[Tim Hall]

Eeee wen l were a lad , nearly 60 years previous , all of us lads had fixed wheel bikes (not poncy "fixes") . We had cow horns and no brakes, if you needed to slow down you stood on the pedal with one foot and jammed the other on top of the rear wheel so that it made contact , rather rapidly with the frame at the brake bridge. Lovely smell of hot rubber and skidding tyre. Mind you this was rural Lincolnshire and hills were like hens teeth.

Sounds like a Po Valley bicycle.

City people's bicycles are utterly laughable. With gleam¬ing metal gadgets, electric batteries, gears, baskets, chain-guards, speedometers and so on, they are mere toys and leg-exercisers. A genuine bicycle should weigh at least sixty-five pounds; it should have lost most of its paint and at least one pedal. All that should be left of the remaining pedal is the shaft, rubbed smooth and shiny by the sole of the rider's shoe. Indeed, this should be its only shiny feature. The handlebars (with no rubber tips to them) should not be at the conventional right angle to the wheels, but inclined at least twelve degrees one way or the other. A genuine bicycle has no mudguard over the rear wheel, and hanging before the front mudguard there should be a piece of automobile tire, preferably red, to ward off splashes of water. A rear mud¬guard may be allowed when the rider is excessively disturbed by the streak of mud that accumulates on his back during a rainstorm. But in this case the mudguard must be split open
in such a way that the rider can brake in so-called "American style," that is by pressing his trouser turn-up against the rear wheel.

 

[arch684]

My fixie/fixed gear bike has 2 brakes, bull horn bars and i have a beard but i'm no hipster.Some time i call it my fixie some times i call it my fixed gear bike and some times i call it my bastard bike

 

[tyred]

Fixed wheel is cycling in it's purest form and so long as you're not dealing with crazy mountainous terrain, a fixed wheeler with an appropriate gear ratio is a joy to ride and once you develop the smooth pedal strokes required you will be amazed what you can climb and be amazed how you can comfortably maintain high RPM cadence on the descents.

 

[ChrisEyles]

amazed how you can comfortably maintain high RPM cadence on the descents.

Haha, yes, I would certainly be amazed if I ever manage this!

 

[Drago]

They never did it for me, but if they tug peoples rug then go for it.

I never got singlespeed either, although i do have one. Just stay in the same gear and pretend it's an SS!

 

[tyred]

Haha, yes, I would certainly be amazed if I ever manage this!

Keep practising.

 

[Tim Hall]

They never did it for me, but if they tug peoples rug then go for it.

I never got singlespeed either, although i do have one. Just stay in the same gear and pretend it's an SS!

The next step is to skip a bit of maintenance and wait for the pawls in the freehub to sieze up. Voila, a pretend fixie/ fixer/fixed wheel bike.

 

[Ian H]

British is 'fixed-wheel'; American is 'fixed-gear'. Both can be shortened to 'fixed'.

Re cadence, I used to be able to get over 200, but max is about 170/80 now. Comfortable max is around 120.

 

[midlife]

British is 'fixed-wheel'; American is 'fixed-gear'. Both can be shortened to 'fixed'.

Re cadence, I used to be able to get over 200, but max is about 170/80 now. Comfortable max is around 120.

BITD it was called "twiddling" lol

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Rode 50 fixed wheel miles this morning, I ride fixed in winter and gears in summer and have done so for years. When I was working I rode fixed when commuting a lot of the time, they're great fun to ride.

 

[swee'pea99]

I was thinking about this t'other day following an incident where in a split second I had to be there, and a split second later, I was.

It brought to mind something I was told once by my good friend Bruce, who'd been a jackaroo (aka cowboy) in Australia. He said that if you had a good horse, it would be really sensitive and responsive and quick to the reins and/or feet; but when you rode a good horse all day every day for weeks or months, you didn't need him to 'be responsive' - you & the horse were as one. The horse knew, at all times, exactly what you wanted to do and where you wanted to go, and would do it/move there instantly, without you (consciously) giving any indication. Riding my fixie is a bit like that.

It is, I think, something to do with the lack of any intermediation. In a sense, your mind is not involved. You don't have to think about gears. Or, mostly, about braking. You want to accelerate; your legs push harder. You want to slow down; they drag. No decision-making, no delay, no 'in between'; it's instant, and direct in a way no geared bike can ever be.

I'm not knocking geared bikes. Far from it. I have two, and ride them. For distances, for touring, and for timed events. But for the kind of riding I do, which is five mile urban trips for the most part, the fixie is my first choice every time. They are low maintenance, and quiet, and less likely to get nicked, but that's not why I ride fixed. I ride fixed simply because I enjoy it more. Much more. And I live on a hill!