Comments on: How To Enrage A Fixed Gear Riding Hipster

By: tarckx

tarckx — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:10:57 +0000

tarck(trick track), and fixed freestyle is here to stay, trendy indeed but the roots are set. simmilar “hipster” jokes were made by the surf community about skateboards when they hit the scene. riding brakeless isnt such an obscure attention getting method of cycling when you take away the youtube videos of distance skids, stem humping, and leg over cuteness. complete cadence control, small lockups that require a total awareness of your bike, your balance, and your mind. its the intensity of keirin even when you are riding to the corner store in your hometown. bright colours and tight jeans are in, but to generalize a community that is growing with force, and stimulating your shops economy, is just as ignorant as not checking your own lockkring before an alleycat.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:15:34 +0000

Who is being snobby by demanding that everyone know who Eddy Merckx is? Why is it that no one give car drivers a hard time for know nothing about their car when something goes wrong? People should be applauded for riding bikes, even for not so holy reasons. Trend or not, its good for the industry as a whole. Bikes of all kinds.

By: JAVS

JAVS — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:06:10 +0000

HAHAHAHA I agree with a lot of what you say man, but for those of which who actually know what the hells up with a fixie knows clearly about the danger their up against.

And in response to the guy who said “Coasting is one of the most advantage and pleasurable thing you can do on a bike. Why would anyone take that away? Biking with no brakes is just asking for trouble.” One of the main reasons for this being,is that riding a fixie gives you a load more stamina no doubt about it. Therefore making it so that girls love you that much more. BAAAH!!!

By: dontcoast

dontcoast — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:48:21 +0000

i love riding brakeless fixed. and i agree with your post wholeheartedly anyways.

it seems that the fancier the bike is, the less the hipster know how to work on it (most of the time) and the more they ride outside of their abilities – or at 2mph only (both extremes seem about equally common)

also, I always install my own cogs.rotafix them if you ride brakeless on the street. if you dont want to learn the insanely simple mechanics of a brakeless bike you have no buisness riding one, because if ANYTHING goes wrong you are screwed and responsible. or at the very fucken least diagnose the problem and know when not to ride your broken bike.

but most of all…I would add to the top of the list…i want to shoot every idiot who rides brakeless without toe clips (unless they never leave the parking lot theye freestyling in ever). you. cannot. skidtop. quickly. without. toeclips.

By: Bighitryda

Bighitryda — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:05:19 +0000

You cant get down on fixie riders. Certainly it is turning into a trendy bike. I have many bikes a hardtail mountain bike, a downhill bike, a cruiser and a fixie. That guy is a fool for riding without brakes.

I do agree with the shop comments. It is sad that the first year i owned my mountain bike i could do better work than repair shops. Shops dont give a shit about your bike unless you are a friend of the mechanic. That is stupid. People who work in shops are almost just as trendy as fixed gear hipsters.

By: Bikefag

Bikefag — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 04:07:05 +0000

I’ve gotta take issue with the cog slipping thing. I’ve only ever had a cog slip when I had a shop put it on (at this point shops ought to understand that the demands of a fixed cog being ridden on the street are a little higher than a fixed cog on a track (then again, working at a shop and stripping a cheapo hub by over tightening it is a major bummer too..)). A cog will NOT slip if you tighten it properly with anti-seize or grease before you tighten the lockring (also with grease or anti-seize). Patrick is right, and I was myself very angry when my cog slipped because of some dipshit at a shop (to be fair, I’ve worked at a shop and been a dipshit in many respects).

-Bikefag

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:41:39 +0000

you can get a cog on tight with the right torque every time. There are a few ways at home without a chain whip that work really well, but if you are working in a shop there is no excuse. If you knew that the cog commonly slipped, why didn’t you take the extra i don’t know… ten seconds to make sure that it tightened properly and with enough force? I would be mad if my cog slipped after going to a shop too. At home my cogs never slip when I do it, so why wouldn’t you expect someone with the proper tool to be able to do it right? Would you have laughed if he got hurt because he expected to be able to stop a certain way? He came to your shop because he wanted that guarantee and in his own way(even if it wasn’t the smartest) was taking a precaution and you failed that. You could have at least said sorry no matter how he acted, and no matter where you should think he should ride his bike.

By: roo roo

roo roo — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:32:55 +0000

Thank you. One of them, the bad skillz one, tried to suicide on my fender while blowing through a red. No lights. No way to see the dude as he was doing 30ish. No shirt. No helmet. Stupid.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:40:36 +0000

I’m a “Fixed Gear Hipster” and I would absolutely love to participate in velodrome races. The only problem is that there isn’t a track in my state. I would have to fly to another state to race.

Don’t let one or even a few fixed riders skew your opinion on it. Not everyone rides fixed because it is “hip”.

By: Atlatl

Atlatl — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:10:34 +0000

Well, I meet all but requirement number 9–can I still ride my fixed-gear (which has a front brake btw)? But seriously, I think that story was pretty funny and definitely that guys fault. Why the hell would you race on a track bike unless it was on flat ground anyway?