A recent New York Times article explores the word of "fixies," fixed-gear bicycles. It's an interesting article, if a bit behind the curve (a quick Google search show they were beaten by the Washington Post, Wired, and -- I'm sure -- countless blogs and alt-weeklies around Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, etc. etc. etc. I have a few friends who tinker with bikes, and I had -- I guess -- assumed that fixed-gear bikes were always a part of the bike subculture.
Anyway (getting back on track), while I've always appreciated the simplicity behind fixies, I've never felt a need to ride or own one. Simply put, I enjoy gears. For a long time, my bike (singular, I don't tinker) was a powder-blue Raleigh Technium road bike that dated back to the late '80s. An aluminum-framed 12 speed, it had a particularly old-school look that gave me street cred. It also had a rigid frame and frame-mounted gear shifts that made it a death trap on wheels on Boston's city streets.
Now I own an Iron Horse mountain bike. Nothing fancy, but it has front shocks, handlebar-mounted gear shift levers, brakes. Standard 21st century stuff. It's a comfortable ride. It's not punk. But I don't mind.
1 comment:
wait wait wait ... there's street cred to be had in Manitowoc?
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