[dngr]

Those look nice! I rode with the founder of that company once on a fun trail in Grand Junction, Co. Dude can ride!

Oh right on!

[Arn]

Seen in Santa Monica

[Paul Pheiffer]

Seen in Santa Monica

How on earth do you start and stop on one of those...?

[mattb123]

How on earth do you start and stop on one of those...?

There are a couple of pegs on the frame above the rear wheel to accommodate starts and stops. You can push like a scooter to start on the pegs and then move to the seat and pedals. To stop just step back to the pegs and then to the ground at low speed. Looks like this model has a single step back there instead of pegs but the process is the same.
A college friend of mine's dad used to build these.

[Paul Pheiffer]

Thanks Matt.
It must be fun riding on it. Did you ever try one out yourself?

[mattb123]

Thanks Matt.
It must be fun riding on it. Did you ever try one out yourself?

Yes, my friend had one and I rode it around campus a couple of times. Kind of scary but I managed to avoid crashing. Besides the geometry of the bike one of the harder things to get used to was that it's fixed gear, meaning there is no coasting. That was my first time on a fixed gear bike and it can be alarming when you expect to coast but the pedals keep turning! Now my daily commuter is a fixed gear (but traditional geometry) so I'm used to it.

[clackers]

Yes, my friend had one and I rode it around campus a couple of times. Kind of scary but I managed to avoid crashing. Besides the geometry of the bike one of the harder things to get used to was that it's fixed gear, meaning there is no coasting. That was my first time on a fixed gear bike and it can be alarming when you expect to coast but the pedals keep turning! Now my daily commuter is a fixed gear (but traditional geometry) so I'm used to it.

Ever had to do a steep descent on the fixie, Matt?

[mattb123]

Ever had to do a steep descent on the fixie, Matt?

Yes! The key is to not get going too fast! Or better yet avoid them.
I have a "cheater" front brake on my commuter fixie. I like to pretend I don't have it unless I really need it. Our town is surrounded by mountains but is actually pretty flat so for my needs it just adds a little more fun to my commute but not too much danger, hopefully.

[stevebrot]

I have a "cheater" front brake on my commuter fixie.

That "cheater" brake is required in Portland. Too many messengers riding fixies...


Steve

[mattb123]

That "cheater" brake is required in Portland. Too many messengers riding fixies...


Steve

It's not a bad idea but the "purists" don't like them. I'm not really a purist at anything.

[RichardS]

I was riding around the local outdoor velodrome (the Hawthorn velo, Clackers, if you know it) on my road bike a few years ago when a young guy debuted his new track bike. Fixie of course. He wound it up to something around 50kmh in an out-of-the-saddle sprint and then stopped pedaling. Oops.

Regards,
Richard.

[mattb123]

I secretly hope a thief does that on my bike sometime.

[MarkJerling]

Here's my ride. Not a fixie, sorry!

[clackers]

I was riding around the local outdoor velodrome (the Hawthorn velo, Clackers, if you know it) .

Yeah, I do the fun Melburn Roobaix event each year and it begins from there, Richard, finishing at the Brunswick one.

on my road bike a few years ago when a young guy debuted his new track bike. Fixie of course. He wound it up to something around 50kmh in an out-of-the-saddle sprint and then stopped pedaling. Oops.

And naturally instead of helping the poor gentleman you congratulated yourself on the phone footage you took for your 'Bike Fails' YouTube channel.

[clackers]

Here's my ride. Not a fixie, sorry!

Very nice, Mark, but no Di2, so how do you hold your head high at the latte session afterwards with the rest of the bunch?