General: What got you into fixed? **FIRST discussion**

I want to know what got people into riding fixed gear

some older people have been riding years before it became popular

while others just started out

regardless of how long you have been riding

Who or what got you into riding fixed gear?

Because we all know we didn't start on our own

and if that is what you claim then you are a liar


hehe


anyways GO!

Simplicity.

Your right greg, the maintenance is very simple,
I got into fixed because bmx bikes were too small for me and they hurt my knees.

HOPE: your right about the tricks, its always fun to learn new things.

Gone:you an og fixed head hehe

nice

you de rosa and samson are tip top

I was shocked to see so many nice fixed bike last summer in Montreal, I guess I can say where on the map!

Fixed is fun, plain and simple.

Plus, I can take care of 90% of repairs with 5 tools.

One of my homeboy's has a Bianchi Pista Concept, he always told me I was gonna start riding, I always told him I wouldn't, until I took a stroll on his.......then I was hooked, it's fun buildin', it's fun ridin', and it's exercise, haha.........

Cris.

watching messenger's have fun on them started it. then i started riding one and loved it.

comes down to i needed a better way to get around then city transportation, but it needed to be fast. So i needed a fast bike. And i reeally just liked the simplicity of fixed gear and just seeing how you can customize it to your own. and also like said above sacramento has no hills, so 1 gear is fine. also once i tired it it was just so fun

i have been riding,commuting,racing,etc. for over 20 years. always with old campy SR and C-record on my 20 year old Serotta Nova. well last year my derailleurs and shifters had given me my last fit and i got fed up with tweaking and had seen fixies around sacramento and santa cruz and decided what the hell ( if it aint fixed, its broke). i am now even more in love with how perfect my serotta fits me and handles and i ride as much or more than when i used to race crits. at 48 i am in the best shape i have been in years and cant wait to ride my bike. that my friends , is what its about ! go out and hammer !

Pretty much all been said, and very well.... I raced a lot in the late 70's through the 80's both distance and triathalons on Schiwinn Pelatons mostly [what an incredible bike] and Motobecane's. Never had to spend much on maintenance with the local Schiwinn Shop sponsoring me, but the down time was always excruciating. Drifted away from cycling and then had a wonderful offer on my car this past June and tok it. Called my local bike shop [there's only 1 close] who carries Trek and ordered a new SoHo S [single speed and a wonderful bike] not even thinking about fixed gear, just wanted a very simple set of pedals to get around. Living in Titusville, Fl [out the back gate of Kennedy Space Center and a very, very small little town], no hills, little traffic, gorgeous weather year round and everything within 5 to 10 miles, a single speed is perfect. The, began researching gearing and a few changes I wanted to make, got hooked up researching "fixes" stumbled onto VelpSpace.Com via WikiPedia [thank you very much] and am ready to flip the rear wheel, loose the rear brake [one at a time guys], change out a few other components [that will work well on my planned for new frame] and keep on keepin' on. At 57 years old, I'm called a maniac!!!

id never heard of it until a friend of mine built one and let me try it. i thought he was nuts, and forgot about it. fastforward about 7 months and im living in boston with no car and a Motobecane Super Mirage with busted derailleurs. I remembered my friends bike and converted it. havent looked back once, and just bought a Bianchi Pista to have a bike that actually fits me. love it

I love the simplicity of it all. There's only so many moving parts so I can feel when something's "not right". Its a great feeling when I'm pedaling along effortlessly..it feels so natural. I guess its also the perfect contrast to my sanitary office job and it gives me something to look forward to during the week

Friends got me into fixed gear riding.
Good way of exercising and being healthy, and as others have already mentioned it's very easy to maintain one.

Well for me it was after my road bike was stolen from my garage, 2 years ago. I bought that bike (Specialized Sirrus Comp $1300) so I could ride it to work instead of taking the fucking bus. I was crushed. Demolished. Forced back on the goddamned bus once again, which turned a beautiful 30 minute bike ride into a grueling hour and twenty minute, standing the whole effing way, bus ride. Blechh! So I endured, crumbling through the whole winter. Saving up all winter, thinking I would buy pretty much the same thing as I used to have. Then a work friend, who was all about fixed and single speed, started nudging me towards his way of thinking and I checked out a few of his rides. When I started showing interest, he introduced me to Sheldon Brown and FGG and from there it was all downhill. He said he would help me build something up, but I am all about instant gratification and I had been saving up. I went to the "cool" bike shop to buy a wheelset and rode out with my Steamroller. I love all the things about riding fixed that everyone else has written. Simplicity, trackstands, silent drivetrain, lightweight and I could go on and on. One thing I appreciate that surprised me was that I found a new use for the internet, other than porn! I was able to edjucate myself in the repair and maintenance of my bicycle. I cannot express the happiness of learning something comletely new and entirely unknown to me. It has opened my mind, learning things that are of interest to me and perhaps only me. Something that school never even came close to doing. It has changed my entire outlook on life, all because some asshole stole my bike. I guess I should be thankfull and look at the glass as half full, but I would still set that douche on fire if I caught him. Death to all bike theives!

I burn more calories that having the option of coasting. More fun, keeps you more aware, MASH was rad, and IRO's aren't corporate.

I started by riding a "geared bike" that my goodly wife got for me as a birthday present. I really enjoyed it, and made good use of it. It really helped get my legs stronger, and improve my overall fitness. I was looking for a bigger challenge. A friend of mine told me about fixed gear cycling. I did some research and purchased a LeMond Fillmore back in 2005. I was walking funny for around three weeks getting used to riding fixed. Very sore. It was orders of magnitude more challenging than geared bikes, and a great adrenaline rush. This spring I went "brakeless." I removed the traditional brakes from my LeMond, and replaced them with just a front "suicide brake." Another three week period of adjustment and again I was very sore. The adrenaline rush of riding brakeless is intense, and the feeling of freedom that you get is indescribable. Well, now I'm hooked on fixies. I recently had a Soma Rush based fixie built up for me by the good folks at Spokes, Etc. It is a sick ride. One gear, one cog, one God.

Years ago, I was on the internet looking up how to service my bike. NOT THAT KIND OF SERVICE!!!! Ha, I had the front wheel shakes at high speed. Went to Sheldon Brown's page and it was all over. All over...

Posted By: jayohachen

quote

Years ago, I was on the int

Sheldon Brown got me hooked too, i was just tryin to make my gears shift smoother, he convinced me to tear em off. If it wasn't for him i probably wouldn't still be riding.


R.I.P. Sheldon Brown

Always mountain biked on trails in my area since being a young boy. Then I moved to Boston and would see people riding around on these really clean bikes. In a way my first exposure to track bikes and fixed gears. Two car crashes, a motorcycle accident, and going to school in a city with no need for cars, I still needed something to feed my need for speed. Enter track bikes. Headed into my lbs. Great people+Great Bikes=Fun Times. Voila.

Im all for fixed gear riding. Its making me lose more weight and have a smoother form than I ever thought possible, but I dont do it for simplicity. Its not that hard to adjust the gears on my many bikes. Once I have them dialed in, they are ok for months upon months until the cable stretches or I have to replace a chain.

i wanted to get into riding bikes again. i had not ridden since i was younger. my bike as a kid was a mongoose bmx bike. i was looking for something easy and similar to that and i wanted to put it together myself. i saw some guys riding around on fixed gears, the idea seem novel and easy to do. so i did it and i am now just getting into the fixed gears and loving it.

I loved riding bikes when I was younger, I stopped all together after I started driving.

What got me to ride again and why fixed gear...

First and foremost I wanted to work on my lowe rbody as I plan to step things up next snow season, and fixed gear seemed like a good way to do that.

Next I'd recently quit smoking after years of doing so and my endurance hasn't came back just yet, Taking a breather during sex isn't something I'm exactly proud of, and fixed constant peddling appealed in that manner.

Starting my car to go anywhere that isn't highway driving seems ridiculous and excessive, I'm really not that lazy. Running hurts my back, as I have a birth defect in my spine and a herniated disc, so I try to take it easy on that unless I'm snowboarding.

Lastly... bikes are fun, the wind blowing over my body calms me down, and lots of speed with minimal machine makes it better. Euphoria for me is sliding down a hill on a stick, biking is not far behind, it just feels good.

I wanted to fuck more chicks, drink more sparks, and own a gigantic fucking bag.