Fixed Gear ?

schmuzzy said:

ooohhh yeah. the high and mighty "SCIENTIFIC" route eh?

well the basis of the scientific method is what? not sitting on your ass spouting out stupid ideas (accept maybe, theoretical astro-physics😉 )... but TESTING those ideas and seeing what is true and what is completely unfounded. that's why EVERY science class since Francis Bacon has LABORATORIES and FIELD RESEARCH

you've got all sorts of high and lofty ideas as to why fixies are unsafe and counter productive... and you've not a lick of personal experience with them.

youre just pissing in the well.

How is this contributing to the discussion? His position is clear that his observations do not support fixed gear. Observation counts as field testing. If you disagree, that's fine. But your contributions only back up my contention about the ultimate fate of all threads.

schmuzzy said:

well the basis of the scientific method is what? not sitting on your ass spouting out stupid ideas (accept maybe, theoretical astro-physics😉 )... but TESTING those ideas and seeing what is true and what is completely unfounded.

I am afraid that you're not addressing your advice to the right person. I am not a scientist... just a coach.

Therefore I don't conduct scientific studies myself, I only read and learn from them whenever they're available (sitting on my ass as I find this position more comfortable for reading).

I tend to learn from what I read, even though some information goes against previous pre-formatted thoughts that I had.

You wrote :

schmuzzy said:

all you need is an old bike, a hub, and a bike shop to lace it up (providing you dont do it yerself)

I couldn't agree until I read :

EoinC said:

There are techniques for cornering on a fixie. Mine has a high BB and I'm using 165mm cranks (which is like pedaling a circus bike). My tires give out before my pedals touch.

Conclusion : you did provide unexperimented riders with incomplete information on how to set up a secure fixy.

See? I haven't been riding a fixy in the last couple of days (since the begining of this thread), and yet, I learned stuff.

shmuzzy
I hope I didn't [censored] you off so much that you'd quit the forum. Not everyone is as stubburn as I am 😉

So please, keep enjoying your forum experience and just forget about me, I am a total loss :o
Enjoy !

just for the record, i was never really [censored] at the thread and never meant any will towards anyone i was debating with. i didnt mean to make it seem like i was "arguing" with you SE. i was just reading your points, considering, and replying. i strongly believe in equal respect and never meant ill will.

i think the root of the problem here is our love of bicycles. also, the fact that you are obviously far more technical in many ways than your casual rider. for me, i dont race on a team, im not whole heartedly concerned with my times, and i dont ever get on a velodrome. For me, the serious but non professional biker, i found switching to fixie to be a whole new experience for me that i absolutely fell in love with. its a Bike, above all, and i want everyone on bikes.

the reason fixies are outlawd without brakes is because of the difficulty in changing laws in this country, which i wont get into. if you do some research on the actual cases that have been put out on it, they are almost all against bike messenger Alleycat racers as another charge to slap on them. an old law that fails to die. an experienced fixed gear rider can stop quicker than a traditional coaster bike rear brake, easily. there is actual video proof and documentation done by several NYC messenger groups on this. the official NYC state law suggested that "if a messenger were equipped with a stick to put in their tire to act as a brake then it would not be illegal". now many messengers carry sticks with the words "brake stick" written on it, no lie. dont you just love government?

im young, maybe im reckless, maybe im stupid. im a bike messenger after all arent i? but i love my bike, and i love it because its my fixie and its damn near spiritual when i ride it. just me, directly linked to my bike. i suggest everyone to try it, decide for yourself. try it with 2 brakes if you want.

i dunno, fixed gear bike riding is the only thing that makes me really happy lately, i dont like it having a bad name.

There's always been a strange juxtaposition between science and cycling. What's striking is that the majority of world-class cyclists were basically, simple, working-class folk whose main understanding of science was limited to what information they got in their local bike club.
I just heard this amusing story about Lance Armstrong's technicians showing Miguel Indurain a pic of Lance on a new, prototype T.T. bike and asking what he thought about the aerodynamics of Lance's position on the bike.
Miguel responded, "No se olvide de las piernas" (Don't forget the legs) and slapped his own legs with a grin.
Lance is a minority in as much as he did take the science route but I don't think riders such as Indurain, Merckx or Bahamontes gave it much thought. They all had their own ideas as well. I mean, nobody told big Mig that riding in the mountains with a weight hung round him was scientifically illogical. Nobody told Tyler Hamilton not to ride a fixed gear bike on his own training runs.
The point of my post?: I think the case is science has always been critical of the things many of the pro-riders do but cycling has always been populated by simple, working-class folk who believe all sorts of weird things.
Lance has been the main exception but in France he wasn't so popular for maybe being a bit too technical, organized and not showing enough pain.

schmuzzy said:

ooohhh yeah. the high and mighty "SCIENTIFIC" route eh?

well the basis of the scientific method is what? not sitting on your ass spouting out stupid ideas (accept maybe, theoretical astro-physics😉 )... but TESTING those ideas and seeing what is true and what is completely unfounded. that's why EVERY science class since Francis Bacon has LABORATORIES and FIELD RESEARCH

you've got all sorts of high and lofty ideas as to why fixies are unsafe and counter productive... and you've not a lick of personal experience with them.

youre just pissing in the well.

This is something Hamilton does. I never tried this myself - I prefer to race tractors up hills. Anyway......:
http://www.tylerhamilton.com/jundec2005230.html

"The fixed-gear bike means the Toughest Guy in the World can never stop pedaling. His legs must perpetually trace perfect circles; straining so hard on the uphill it looks like grapefruits have been sewn into his calves, whirling so fast on the downhill it seems as if any minute they might spontaneously combust.
He will do this for 6 1/2 punishing hours, for 120 leg-pounding, back-screaming, butt-throbbing miles. He will do this today just as he did it yesterday. As he will do it tomorrow and the day after that.
Some days he will do it on the fixed-gear. On others, he will ride his more conventional, 20-gear bike. But he will ride. He will ride to train his muscles, to forge his lungs, to flog himself into an ever higher realm of fitness, the realm of Olympic gold medalists and the even more rarefied realm of those who refuse to let shattered bones prevent them from triumphing in the most boiling crucible in all of sport."

Jenkins said:

just for the record, i was never really [censored] at the thread and never meant any will towards anyone i was debating with. i didnt mean to make it seem like i was "arguing" with you SE. i was just reading your points, considering, and replying. i strongly believe in equal respect and never meant ill will.

i think the root of the problem here is our love of bicycles. also, the fact that you are obviously far more technical in many ways than your casual rider. for me, i dont race on a team, im not whole heartedly concerned with my times, and i dont ever get on a velodrome. For me, the serious but non professional biker, i found switching to fixie to be a whole new experience for me that i absolutely fell in love with. its a Bike, above all, and i want everyone on bikes.

the reason fixies are outlawd without brakes is because of the difficulty in changing laws in this country, which i wont get into. if you do some research on the actual cases that have been put out on it, they are almost all against bike messenger Alleycat racers as another charge to slap on them. an old law that fails to die. an experienced fixed gear rider can stop quicker than a traditional coaster bike rear brake, easily. there is actual video proof and documentation done by several NYC messenger groups on this. the official NYC state law suggested that "if a messenger were equipped with a stick to put in their tire to act as a brake then it would not be illegal". now many messengers carry sticks with the words "brake stick" written on it, no lie. dont you just love government?

im young, maybe im reckless, maybe im stupid. im a bike messenger after all arent i? but i love my bike, and i love it because its my fixie and its damn near spiritual when i ride it. just me, directly linked to my bike. i suggest everyone to try it, decide for yourself. try it with 2 brakes if you want.

i dunno, fixed gear bike riding is the only thing that makes me really happy lately, i dont like it having a bad name.