General: [Sink] Fixed wheel fashion victims

I live in London and have noticed, as I ride through the city on my geared racer of on my motorcycle, the large number of saddo fashion followers riding fixed gear or single speed fashion statement pseudo-track bikes.
I usually shout 'Get some gears you twat' or 'They make gears for bikes nowadays you know'.
Has it not occurred to any of these people that frequently pedalling at the wrong cadence, using excessive pedal pressure and generally straining in thew wrong gear, does serious knee joint, tendon, ligament, cartilage and muscle damage?
I think in a few years we shall see a significant rise in strain injuries leading to damaged joints, early onset arthritis etc.
Yours
a doctor etc

Perhaps someone took your bike cause you acted like such a jerk? They make locks for bikes nowadays you know!

Seriously... shouting obscenities at someone based solely on how they've configured their drive train is ridiculous. Get a life

your a clown.get back on your motorcycle and ride it into a wall.fucking bike facists

just cause they make sneakers doesn't mean sandals are unacceptable. to each his own man.

Well, chalk it up to experience. Someone on here told me they prefer "fashion over function" and that seems to be the scene these days. I have gears and use them all. The reason for knee pain is the grinding in too high a gear. Let them experience it as most of us veteran riders have when we were young and trying to muscle the tall gears.. You know, it hurt. Maybe not today but it did eventually. You can live with the knowledge that you'll probably get there faster in better shape than they do. (but they look so cool) Nothing you will say will make them change, so let them work it out on their own. How much hype has there been on smoking for the past 40 years? How much difference has it made? Folks still smoke.
AT LEAST THEY'RE RIDING.

exactly, i ride my Kilo TT as an all weather 365 day-a-year commuter in MN because one gear holds up a hell of a lot better through a snow drift than any piece of shit road bike or mountain bike that i wouldn't feel bad about riding in the winter or the rain.
not every one who rides fixed is only about fashion, they are great for utility.
i ride 44x17 with a front brake all year long and rarely have joint pain, i am also in far better shape than i ever was riding a geared bike.

Sinking the troll thread

Well Aaron, the deal is that you can pick apart a mtn or road bike because it has some vulnerable pieces hanging off of it, but you don't have to shift. If you want a single, just don't shift. The idea of having a bike that can only run one speed is only experiencing one facet of cycling. Not that that's bad, I'm pretty sure that unless you have cities like LA, NYC, Chicago, you're limiting your own experience. I've commuted year round myself, but that doesn't mean I beat the hell out of my bikes. Here's the scoop; if you're running 44x17 (68") at 90 rpm, you'll be running ~18 mph.. Not bad, but at the same time just on my one road bike the gear inches are from 52" to 116" or 14 to 31 mph for the same 90 rpm. My Colnago is 42x53/12x21. Very versatile. But it's not my commuter by far. That bike has over 70,000 miles on it and has been all over the world. It's a 20" to 107". Couldn't do the same with a single speed.

Good riding to all!

The whole bad for your knees thing is a fucking joke. You people debate things you are clueless about on here sometimes. You need to tell all the pro velodromers to stop racing before they blow out their knees.

Plenty of old retired track racers out there walking around just fine.

Bad bike fit is mostly responsible for knee problems. If you learn how to mash a big gear right, on a well fit bike. your knees will never be effected.

Fixed gear riding is trendy. That can't be debated. More and more people are riding fixed every day. At some point in history, every fucking style of cycling was trendy right?? People like riding fixed for legitement reasons that are deeper than style alone. It is a completely different experience then riding a freewheel. Most people who are willing to try it for more than a couple weeks- the acward stage, are going to continue to ride fixed, and ride them with passion.

i'm wearing green flannel and wayfarers as real glasses right now just so everyone knows

Well, well, aren't we touchy... I ride 20 miles a day across London and Manhattan - when I have a bike that has not been stolen that is. I ride a 1950 Claud Butler fixed wheel in amateur racing (sprints mainly) at Herne Hill (look it up, greatest old track in the world many people feel). I just feel sorry for all the sheep (in London and New York where I ride) who ride fixed wheel because it is a fashion - it will die out and there will be something else for fair weather riders to spend their money on.
As to the medical part, many osteopaths and chiropractors will tell you that 90 revolutions per minute at a reasonable loading is preferable to a much slower cadence at high loadings - work it out. There was a reason that Lance Armstrong (whatever you might think about him) and other top flight riders do not drop below 90 per minute and generally favour 110.
Of course you may all know better...