My Fixie Is Awesome and a Good Deal, Alright?
I have a fixed-gear bike—a bike with only one gear and no brakes—and I love it. But some people don’t get it. “Why would you ride a bike with no brakes in and out of traffic everyday?” they ask. “Because it’s a gorgeous bike” is a universally unacceptable explanation, I’ve found. “Because I love it” doesn’t generally work either (since when does that not count as a reasonable answer?).
No, they want cold, hard facts. I have a couple of ideas I always toss out there. First, it’s fun to learn how to ride. And it provides more of a workout than a regular bike, which helps me combat my fear of sitting disease. And of course I can always use it for its intended purpose—racing around a velodrome at warp speeds.
But I also see my fixie as a good investment, for these reasons:
1. It’s a quality bike that’s also (relatively) inexpensive. When I went shopping for grown-up bikes for the first time in my life, I almost peed my pants when I realized a bike would set me back $500, minimum. The one I really wanted was $700. (My childhood bike had cost $100, streamers included). But grown-up bikes are a different beast. A brand new fixie, all parts included, is about $400. Cheap! (“Oh but dude, I’ll just go on Craigslist and get a bike for $100.” Obviously here we are talking about proper road bikes and not beater Craigslist bikes. Two totally different things. And your $100 Craigslist bike almost never turns out to be $100 after you figure out it’s been Frankensteined together.)
2. Fixies are harder to steal by virtue of the hilarious fact that the thief may not be able to ride away on it. Adjusting to the way the pedals rotate takes a bit of practice, and if you haven’t ridden one it would be extremely difficult to make a quick getaway. I’ve had a bike pried off a parking meter, only to find it discarded in the bushes a block away. Best day ever! Awesome karmic ROI!
3. They are cheaper to fix. You only have one chainring, as opposed to several. Without multiple chainrings, you no longer need a front derailleur. Or a back derailluer. The cables and shifters? Don’t need ‘em. The remaining mechanism is so simple, it barely needs to be tuned up, and there is hardly anything left on the bike that can break. Less stuff to break = less stuff to fix = more money for tacos. And that’s really what this is all about.
Eve O’Neill is wheely fun.
You are so much better at sounding non-defensive than I am. “I got it on sale, all right! And yeah, I had to have it shipped and reassembled and I replaced the seat and bars three times, but I took it to a local bike shop so I’m supporting the community. Besides, it has a brake now.”
@wallsdonotfall OH, I get all riled up on the inside. Must. Repress.
I am 100% pro fixie, for all reasons listed above. I am also 0% pro no front break, unless you only ride in a velodrome. In which case, onward!
You can do even better than $400. I bought my bike on bikesdirect.com for I think $260. It has a flip-flop hub so you can ride free wheel (as I do) or fixed.
Caveat: I’ve never ridden a fixie, but up here in Seattle they sure do have a bad rap for gettin’ folks killed. Also: hills. I would drop dead halfway up.
As a bike commuter and avid cyclist, you shouldn’t be so defensive – you’re giving the haters fodder. That being said, I find it ironic when people claim fixes are cheaper as they buy their third or fourth rear tire of the season. Just admit you like the lifestyle and what it says, or what you think it says to others. Haters to the left, and all that.
I’m not much of a bike person. I got a Capital Bikeshare membership and rode it all of four times, mostly around parking lots, shrieking as my girlfriend rolled her eyes, because I am scared of riding bicycles in an urban environment. However! If nothing else, this article is fantastic by virtue of the phrase “karmic ROI.”
@probs I was totally nervous about getting a Capital Bikeshare account, since I had only ever ridden on-street once, and hated it. However, my one-time experience had been shoulder-riding on a street with no bike lane, what with the moving cars coming over my shoulder and me certain that the parked car doors were going to open any second now.
I still refuse to ride like that, because it still terrifies me. But I love my Cap Bikeshare commute, now, because I’ll ride every other way: I know which streets have bike lanes; I’ll take up a whole lane; or I’ll just ride on the sidewalk (but ONLY on blocks with no/very few pedestrians, or really terrible driving patterns).
I know the last is super-controversial, so I just try to be very curteous about it. And in DC, it’s legal (except between Mass Ave and the mall).
@ThatWench Yeah, I wouldn’t worry too much about riding on the sidewalks as long as you’re being careful/courteous, since it’s legal, as you say, although good to know about that exception! But even with bike lanes and stuff I am kinda scared, haha.
yes but most of these points are also valid for non-fixie single speeds (my ride of choice)! particularly the maintenance one. you can pry my brakes from my cold, dead hands
@dotcommie Brakes and coasting. I love coasting and my 70s Schwinn sports tourer converted to single speed. I got it for $40. It was stolen once and I got it back from a local street drunk the very next day, exactly where it was stolen from. No shit.
I had a fixed gear in San Francisco for a couple years. Let me tell you, I was buff when I had that bike. Pedaling 50 pounds of books up a steep ass hill in the rain will make you one tough dudette. I also learned how to work on bikes with that bike. Now I can build one from scratch and that’s a skill a psyched to have.
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Yeah,fixie is really a very good bike and people who dont have much information about this bike, can only say that it is not a good bike.This bike is really nice from all side from cost to service.
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