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Photo du Jour 501
The August 11th issue of VeloNews, a venerable journal much beloved of bike-racing geeks, has just published a debate on fixed-gear subculture.
The debate between columnist Maynard Hershon and editor Ben Delaney. Hershon, generally known as an advocate of law-abiding behavior, takes the con position:
You cringe when you see them blowing by pedestrians on sidewalks, and running stop signs. It's not that they're so much different from other problem cyclists, but there are lots of them and they're visible. You hope they don't provoke more anti-cyclist sentiment from the public.
Delaney takes the promoting-bike-culture perspective:
At the Tour of California's San Francisco prologue last year, I ended up chatting course-side with some guys who were leaned up against their fixed-gear bikes. They were in street clothes, smoking cigarettes. They were psyched about the race, and the speeds at which the riders were tackling the hills. They knew what it felt like to pedal around San Francisco. Who knows if they'll ever buy a geared machine and pin on a race number? If they're riding fixed to the bar to talk up the race, I say score one for bike culture.
Middle-aged people in the Midwest* are now aware of the craze for fixed-gear bikes. We hope this means that we'll soon find the track bike of our dreams for next to nothing at a Mission sidewalk sale. That phrase of Hershon's -- problem cyclist -- brings out the delinquent in us.
* The Midwest is here defined as we once heard Bucky Sinister define it: that vast swath that begins at the easternmost BART stop (Pittsburg/Bay Point) and ends at the PATH station in Newark, New Jersey.
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What debate? Fixies are idiotic.
This doesn't address the question: Why are fixies so popular in one of the most hilly cities in the world? I don't the answer, but I think it relates to the fact that they tend to be problem cyclists. Now, non-cyclists, begin your diatribe!
It's not the bike, it's the person on them.
That said, you better be a damned skilled and courteous cyclist on a bike with essentially no fucking brakes in this town.
Fixies are all over now. I saw some in rural Japan a few weeks ago.
Are fixies like, bicyclists that have been 'fixed', i.e. done the doube-Lance Armstrong?
that should be double. Bah, back to work
a venerable journal much beloved of bike-racing geeks
Did something change at VeloNews in the past couple of years? Last I checked it was all about reviews of equipment made by Lance's sponsors and advertisements for fatty Fred half-centuries in Byron.
jacksevanroo, how can you logically relate a fixed-gear bicycle to problem cyclists?
Are you expressing that somehow a fixed-gear bike has an allure that is particular to socially aberrant people? Me no comprende.
Since when is the prevailing readership of VeloNews comprised of middle-aged midwesterners? I don't get it.
Easily.
Mr. Sinister's snark smacks of an NY transplant.
Anyway, this leaves out LA, San Diego, DC, and Philly.
Motherfuck this definition!
Why are fixies so popular in one of the most hilly cities in the world? I don't the answer, but I think it relates to the fact that they tend to be problem cyclists.
Nah, non-sequitur. Besides, there are many more fixies on Valencia than on the Haight Waggle. Evidence just does not bear out your point (the way you make it). Of course, this doesn't mean that fixies *don't* appeal to people who are inveterate whiners, just as much as it doesn't mean they do, either.
zippy, so owning a fixie alters ones neuropathways to be a miscreant? Perhaps they should be under DEA regulation.
Problem cyclists or not, with no brakes they are a safety hazard and should be banned from the streets.
OK, let me get this straight: this was a debate between people who ride fixed-gear bikes and people who don't. I think I have just found the thing I care about least in the whole wide world. It edges out, "what moose eat" by a nose.
Has anyone actually seen a fixie at the top of a hill? As far as I call tell they are only ridden downtown and in the East Bay flats, and used as fashion accessories to the bearer can hog two seats on BART.
Same crap, different day... Not all fixed riders are jackasses, I ride fixed, I wear a helmet and obey traffic laws, and it pisses me off when anyone does something dangerous in traffic, this goes for automobiles and pedestrians too!
Any time I've come close to getting into an accident with another person it's always been a pedestrian that attempts to walk into the street without checking to see if there was any bike traffic coming, usually people getting off a bus on Market not looking before crossing the street.
Traffic safety goes both ways, EVERYONE should be respectful of traffic laws whether they are behind the wheel, on a bike or on foot.
All cyclists are assholes in this town and the fixies are the cream of the butt crop. Assholes and hypocrites to be exact.
Cyclists have no problem with their holier than thou attitude toward cars and assume the one on the bike occupies the moral high ground.
Meanwhile cyclists don't give a flying fuck about us pedestrians. I've had more than one of you cocksuckers try to squeeze between me and the baby stroller I'm pushing. Next time I tell you fuck off pedal back so I can smash up that pussy face of yours. Im in the lower haight, make sure to stay the fuck out of my way.
NotSoSavvyMike: Maybe that's because you're supposed to not run red lights, yield to pedestrians, pass buses on the LEFT (and not on the right, you shouldn't even come close to clobbering passengers disembarking from a bus), and so-on.
Thanks for confirming my beliefs about fixie riders tho.
SF Joe: moose eat lots of interesting things.
Did you know they eat moose wood?
http://www.xyz.net/~khltkbr/projects/moose/eat.html
SweetCharles: It's not that all cyclists are assholes; all San Franciscans are assholes - except for me... and my cat... and sometimes my b.f.
Actually, my cat is a total asshole.
I read about this in "Who Cares" magazine at the dentist.
zippy monster: a moose once bit my sister
And SavvyMike - if you come close to hitting a pedestrian, YOU are at fault. They have the right of way, especially if they are getting off the bus. That may slow you down a bit, and yes some of them should be a lot more attentive, but you are the one moving much faster with more mass, it's up to you to not smash into them.
I suspect what SavvyMike is talking about is passengers who alight from MUNI on one of the islands all along Market St and step right from the island into traffic - be it auto and bicycle - without so much as a sidelong glance (and often against a red light).
As a cyclist, it's annoying - though I know to watch for it and yield to the pedestrians... Though I tend to mutter to myself, "Hit him, hit him, hit him..." when I see someone step out in front of a moving automobile. Just thinning the herd and keepin' the gene pool safe...
sweet_charles: sorry to hear you've reproduced.
Actually, since he's pushing the baby stroller in the Lower Haight, it seems pretty unlikely its got a kid in it... Maybe empty soda bottles; pigeons; a tattered Raggedy Ann; garbage; syringes and toilet paper; a boombox playing "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks; or a cinder block.
But a baby? Farfetched...
what: sorry to hear you ride a bike.
Cats ARE assholes.
I thought fixies gained a foothold in SF because in an uber-hilly environment, when you're pedaling up a 35-degree climb, every ounce counts. Hence the lighter fixed-gear. Probably BS, but as good an explanation as any.
When I first moved to New York, I emailed a friend of mine who is/was a working bike messenger. I was all excited about Critical Mass and asked him if he wanted to go.
He said that Critical Mass rides are super slow and only serve to further piss off motorists and worsen relations. He said that real rides are fast, share the road and help promote bicycling to all.
It gave me a bit of perspective.
*snaps!* to weissadam's bike messenger friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
seriously, please give him a hug for me one day
if you really want to effect change, try critical manners on the second fridays of the month. they OBEY the laws, and still ride as group up market. safe, fun and....omg....LEGAL!
bornandraised: surely this was founded by the same guys that have the bigfoot corpse in their freezer, no?
zippy_monster: if i use your inference and project the analogy i am coming up with this:
people who have fun on bikes and peacefully coexist with other modes of transportation are crazy
could you please let me know if im correct?
AFAIK fixies took hold because they were favored by messengers who ride in generally flat areas and tend to know what they're doing. Like many other things hipsters find bike messengers to be cool and started to pick them up from there. This is a pretty standard habit: someone is using something for professional reasons that make sense, other people think it's cool, idiots start using something that doesn't make sense for their purposes because they want to imitate.
Of course, I'm not a bike messenger, I've never known any bike messengers, and I don't own or know anyone who owns a fixie, but this is what I've gathered over time from the Internet. It all makes sense even if it might not necessarily be entirely true.