Fixed Gear Bicycle
The fact of the matter is simple: I love bikes. I always have. I'm not a bike snob or anything, nor is my stable of bikes fantastic, I only have 4, and none of them are super top notch. However, they are my bikes and I love them. The most interesting of the fleet is definitely the fixed gear which I have aptly named: Fixie.
Fixed Gear: Meaning the rear wheel and the pedals are connected through a single gear anchored to the rear wheel. Unlike standard road bikes, there is no way to coast, there is only one gear and brakes are optional. Simply put, when the wheels are moving, the rider's legs are moving. As with a child's Big Wheel, if you want to stop, you have to use your leg muscles to slow the bike.
About a year or so ago I noticed a lot of videos on youtube that were fixed gear related, I spent some time watching, did a little reading, and decided that I definitely needed one of these contraptions. So, below you can see "fixie" in her current incarnation. The pictures near the bottom are what the bike looked like when I pulled it out of someone's garbage pile.
The bike itself is a 53cm nishiki and weighed nearly 30lbs when I got it, all of the components were rusted and it had a sweet plastic luggage rack on the back :) After discarding most of the components and lacing up a new set of wheels the bike currently weighs 19lbs. I'm sure that some more weigh could be shaved, but to be honest, I like it the way it is so it's probaby going to be a 19lb bike forever. Both Hubs are Surly and the rear is a flip flop, so desired, you can ride it either fixed or as a singlespeed, where you could backpedal/coast. You can also see that I switched the handle bars around. At first i just cut the original drop style road bars into a 'bullhorn" style bar. However, this looked super cheesy and it didn't feel quite right to ride, maybe the cut was uneven or something. The current handlebars are from an old mountainbike (GT branded?) but I trimmed them down about 4" on each side. In retrospect I should have only trimmed them down about 3" on each side because they seem a little narrow to me. I also put on a new saddle a few months ago. Its a little more comfy than the originial Nishiki branded saddle, it weighs less and I think it looks better.
It's a sweet bike to ride and really fun. I keep thinking about putting a brake on it and riding it as a singlespeed but there are two things going against me: I've been pretty busy lately and I really like riding it fixed, although it is a bit dangerous which is why i keep thinking about switching it. Oh well.
Fixed Gear: Meaning the rear wheel and the pedals are connected through a single gear anchored to the rear wheel. Unlike standard road bikes, there is no way to coast, there is only one gear and brakes are optional. Simply put, when the wheels are moving, the rider's legs are moving. As with a child's Big Wheel, if you want to stop, you have to use your leg muscles to slow the bike.
About a year or so ago I noticed a lot of videos on youtube that were fixed gear related, I spent some time watching, did a little reading, and decided that I definitely needed one of these contraptions. So, below you can see "fixie" in her current incarnation. The pictures near the bottom are what the bike looked like when I pulled it out of someone's garbage pile.
The bike itself is a 53cm nishiki and weighed nearly 30lbs when I got it, all of the components were rusted and it had a sweet plastic luggage rack on the back :) After discarding most of the components and lacing up a new set of wheels the bike currently weighs 19lbs. I'm sure that some more weigh could be shaved, but to be honest, I like it the way it is so it's probaby going to be a 19lb bike forever. Both Hubs are Surly and the rear is a flip flop, so desired, you can ride it either fixed or as a singlespeed, where you could backpedal/coast. You can also see that I switched the handle bars around. At first i just cut the original drop style road bars into a 'bullhorn" style bar. However, this looked super cheesy and it didn't feel quite right to ride, maybe the cut was uneven or something. The current handlebars are from an old mountainbike (GT branded?) but I trimmed them down about 4" on each side. In retrospect I should have only trimmed them down about 3" on each side because they seem a little narrow to me. I also put on a new saddle a few months ago. Its a little more comfy than the originial Nishiki branded saddle, it weighs less and I think it looks better.
It's a sweet bike to ride and really fun. I keep thinking about putting a brake on it and riding it as a singlespeed but there are two things going against me: I've been pretty busy lately and I really like riding it fixed, although it is a bit dangerous which is why i keep thinking about switching it. Oh well.
