tech.ni.color

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Dear hipsters

Please watch Olympic Track Cycling (or any track cycling) before telling me how cool your fixie is.  Because track cyclists are inspiring, and your stick legs and plaid are not.

xoxo,

joanie

I think fixed gears are fantastic creatures.  I just hate hipsters that are bastardizing these bicycles.  Yes, I’m actually still just happy that people are getting out and riding bikes rather than driving, but hipsters on fixies are a very large percentage of shitty cyclists out there because they decide to ride without brakes and blow through stop signs and disregard road rules because they can’t stop fast enough.

This gentleman on reddit said it the best:

“Fixies aren’t inherently bad. But, their popularity perpetuates bad mojo for the rest of us.

No argument about functionality supports riding fixed gears as a commuting bicycle. Not only is it less efficient for the body, ie a lot more effort needed to start/stop (which is the norm of city riding) and no mechanism for adjusting to changes in pitch, it can also tear up the knees. And, the structural “advantages” some proponents say make you more “in tune” with the road perpetuate unsafe cycling practices—ie skid stopping, not stopping at all because it is a bitch to get up to speed again, spinning out of control on downhills. These issues can be conquered with practice but, that means that there are a lot of kids in traffic on bikes they don’t know how to operate practicing. This is dangerous for everyone.

While I speak generally I acknowledge that some very responsible anal-retentive hipsters exist who do follow all rules (even if they do it just to judge people breaking the rules). Typically, however, someone gets a fixie for reasons other than wanting an efficient commuting contraption with all the latest safety features. This interest intuitively contradicts putting brakes on fixies, wearing helmets, or stopping at a light when that girl you dig is watching over her cup of coffee on a sweet Brooklyn morning.

Fixed gear bikes are fun to play on and do tricks with—like a skateboard. Track bikes are fun, especially at the velodrome where their efficiency can actually be used to go fast without having to stop for, say, a pedestrian. But, contrary to the impression of the people who try to justify the use of fixies for commuting purposes with platitudes about simplicity and efficiency, I retort that a single speed offers all the advantages and none of the hazards. Then, regardless of whether or not a fixed gear can be used as a commuter bike, there is no need to, because simplicity and value can be equally accrued elsewhere in a more safe and efficient alternative. But, that free wheel offers no scene points. And I guess that’s why they feel the need to so religiously advocate the ridiculous claim that it’s the best way to travel.”

Notes

  1. hmmmmk reblogged this from candyviolence
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