Dude, Fixies Suck

Fixed gear bicycles are all the rage these days. One can’t travel more than half a mile on a warm day without encountering at least one biker riding a brakeless fixie and sporting a Chrome bag and one of those flippy hats. They started with bike messengers and have now filtered down through the bike hipster contingent to anyone who fancies themselves a badass.

For those who have been living under a rock, a fixed-gear is a bicycle which does not allow freewheeling, or coasting. The rider must constantly pedal as the pedals are in motion whenever the bike is. Fixed gears allow the rider to build up a great deal of momentum, which translates into greater speed but dramatically reduced stopping ability. Some riders even do away with brakes entirely, instead relying on a trick called skid-stopping, in which the rider uses his own (fallible) physical strength to stop the pedals and the wheel. If you think this sounds stupid, that’s because it is.

Riding a fixed gear puts pressures on the body that are unnatural. The constant motion can wear out knees and allow acids to build up in leg muscles. If you think you’re going to ride fixed your whole life, I’ve got news for you: your knees are going to wear out after a few years of riding.

But even if personal health isn’t a factor, there are a myriad of others reasons why you shouldn’t choose a fixed gear. Fixed gear bicycles have inherent mechanical properties that make them unsuitable and unsafe for riding in a city. The fact that it is more inconvenient and challenging to stop means that sometimes fixed riders just don’t; it encourages the rider to ignore traffic signals such as street lights and stop signs. I can’t count the times I’ve seen a fixed gear blow through a busy intersection on a red light or run a stop sign right in front of a line of cars.

Additionally, there is an issue of stopping control. Whether on a busy campus or in rush-hour traffic, the ability to stop your movement at a split-second’s notice is pivotal. Relying on fancy tricks to stop when you have less than a second to both perceive and respond to danger is ridiculous. Even for fixed gears with brakes, the sudden application of a brake to a fixed riding system is jarring and has the potential to hurl the rider straight over the handlebars. Imagine if cars weren’t able to stop on a dime; bikers love to bitch about asshole drivers, but it’s possible to be a jerk on a bike too. If bikers want to be able to use roadways, they need to have brakes and they need to be able to stop. Period. If you want to make choices that have negative consequences for you, like not wearing a helmet, fine. But being unable to stop endangers everyone on the road.

Then there is the issue of the constant battle for bike legitimacy. While I would certainly rather someone ride a bike than drive a car and I am happy that people my age are finally seeing a bike as a great way to get around, I think that riding fixed is actually destructive to the bike rights movement. In order for bikes to be considered a legitimate form of transportation by city governments, town planners, and the general populace, the myth that biking is dangerous needs to be overcome. Riding a bike that can’t stop is simply not the way to do this. Again, I honestly have no problem with people making decisions I disagree with if it effects only their reputation, but bad feelings with motorists affects all bikers. For every fixie fool that cuts a car at a stop sign because he doesn’t want to slow down, bike rights is pushed one step back.

Granted, there are a few very narrow situations in which a fixed gear bike may be defensible. During the depths of Minnesota winters, it can get so cold that the pawls that allow a freewheel to coast may become stuck and render the bike useless. Fixed gear cogs have no pawls, so they’re not prone to this particular problem. They also keep constant force on the rear wheel, which is pivotal if you begin to slide on ice.

Fixed gears are a dangerous hip fad that has grown to an epidemic of irresponsibility. I’ll celebrate the day the city makes these illegal.
So, pile on the hate mail.

Re: Dude, Fixies Suck (NOT)

As an avid fixed gear rider I can safely say that the appeal of a fixed gear bike is almost impossible to understand unless you have experienced it first hand. The closest parallel to riding a fixed gear is like walking, but with more grace and much more speed. Fixed riders are in complete control of their speed at all times; if the rider wants to slow down they slow their feet down, as opposed to using a rudimentary tool to apply pressure to the wheel. It is a machine that one can find greater physical and psychological harmony with.

Admittedly, riding a bicycle of this nature has its dangers. But these dangers are only an issue if the rider is inexperienced. I have been riding my fixed gear bike for 6 months now without any brakes. When I first started riding this bike 2 years ago I never would have thought that I would take the brake off. But after riding every day for those 2 years I was confident enough in my riding ability to safely take the brake off. Since that time I have not had any accidents aside from falling on my butt going no more than 2 miles an hour over ice.

The appeal is much more than the thrill of not having an apparatus called a “brake”. My bike frame essentially has nothing more than two wheels, a chain, some pedals, and two cogs. Maintenance is minimal. The most I will ever have to do in any given month is refill my tires, lube the chain and change an occasional flat. On freewheel bikes and especially geared bikes one has to worry about many more things.

As far as stopping power goes, I can stop on a dime. Skid stopping is a tricky maneuver that takes practice and does not come easily. But once you do learn how to do it, it is just as effective if not more so than a brake is. The direct connection between the rider’s feet and the wheel creates a direct connection between the rider and the street. I am aware of many things while I am riding. Because the bike always travels the same distance for every rotation I know exactly what position my feet will be in when I come to an intersection, a pothole or any other obstacle. This allows me to negotiate these obstacles and know when and how I will stop. Because of this awareness it is true that I will often not stop at red lights or blow through stop signs.

Although I cannot speak for all fixed gear riders I know that I am very polite in my disobedience of traffic signals. At stoplights I come to complete stops always and make sure there are no cars coming before I proceed. To say that all cyclists disobeying traffic signals are fixed gear riders is prejudiced and a lie. There have been many times when I am waiting at a traffic light and I will see someone riding a non-fixed gear bike go through the intersection against a red.

I love riding my bike as it is: fixed and brakeless. But there are dangers that come with this that only experienced riders can anticipate and deal with. Again these things are something that may not be readily understood by any way other than first hand experience, but once they are experienced, they are life changing.

Tags: Bikes