Friday I posted about singlespeed bikes. I haven't made it down to my bicycle shop yet but I have been googlin'. And I've been reading and rereading Articles about Fixed Gear Cycling and Equipment by Sheldon "Spin" Brown. I definitely want a fixed-gear bike. There some great pictures of these. Here is one of the first ones I found...

Fixed-gear bikes (also fixies or fixes) are so clean. Most don't have a rear brake — you apply back pressure on the pedals and the front brakes do most of the work anyway. The above bike was from a site showing examples of people's fixies...

fixed gear gallery
an incredible collection of fixed gear bicycles from around the world

This fixed gear bike started life as a Sears Free Spirit three speed. I found it abandoned in a ditch, brought it home and gave it a new life as "Queen Anne's Revenge" (named after Blackbeard's flag ship). The lugged frame may or may not be a Fuji from the early 1970's, and has been stripped of all mounting points and tabs, with the dropouts reshaped both front and rear. The 27" x 1" wheels and tires fit nicely in a frame made for 26 inch wheels, and the frame is satin black- with a skull and cross bones on the head tube. The rear hub is a high-flange Campy track, while the front hub is a Japanese Sunshine duplicate. The 69 inch gear is just about pefect for all of my riding (Thank you, Sheldon Brown!) The rear brake mounting hole has been plugged, but a short-throw Diacompe 500 alloy side pull graces the front fork. This bike tips the scales at something just over 22 pounds, and is an absolute joy to ride. The big surprise for me was how easily and quickly a fixed gear bike climbs hills. Just amazing. For anyone cruising through the photos in this glalery, here's proof that you can ride a fixed gear bike with upright bars and platform pedals and still have a blast. Now go build one for yourself!

The site has pictures of 652 fixies. I've looked at them all. They range from exotic track bikes to some really strange things. They all have one thing in common. One thing — get it? No? Well, that's OK. Then I ran across some really hard core fixed-gear riders. These guys ride track bikes sans brakes in downtown New York City.

No Brakes -- or, Zen on Wheels

A track bike, no brakes, riding on the street -- you're one with everything. --Paul Allemby, Graphic Artist It doesn't coast. That's the thing about it. --Kent Peterson, from Sheldon Brown's "Fixed Gear Testimonial" web page No brakes? You'll kill yourself! --Concerned bystander, 5th Avenue, Manhattan [...] What They Are What's so special about a track bike? Bicycle messengers in large cities like them for being simple and ultra low-maintenance. Kevin Bacon rode one all over San Francisco in the movie "Quicksilver." They are used in Olympic velodrome events and the exciting Japanese "keirin" racing, which involves mild jostling and the country's wildest betting. In the early 1900's, track biking was the most popular sport in the U.S. What really makes these bikes special however, is that they have a direct-drive system. The single rear sprocket is fixed to the back axle and doesn't spin freely. This means that the pedals never coast. Whenever the wheels are moving, the pedals are moving, whether forwards or backwards. It is a fixed-gear system with no slippage and no coasting. The the chain is connected to the large chainring on the front and the small cog on the back. The small cog is fixed to the bicycle's back wheel. Track bikes are also special because they are minimalistic. Originally designed for velodrome racing on glassy smooth banked oval tracks, these bikes are very very light -- they've got no cables or levers or shifters. No extra apparatus at all. Track bikes look like sleek racing bikes, with very thin tires and curvy "drop"-style handlebars. And there are no brakes and no derailleurs! The acceleration, speed, deceleration and stopping are all managed by controlling the spin of th e pedals. Experienced racers can pedal at the rate of 3 or 4 revolutions per second.

This site has lots of links and some videos of riders riding backwards...

Old Skool Track

If you make the pedals go backwards the bike goes backwards. This site has videos of riders doing backwards 360s in New York traffic! Do check out the videos. I rode a track bike once. Back in my days of club racing (road) in the early 70s. I looked for some time for a track bike to put a front brake on, for the road, but never had the money. I got out of racing and spent many years commuting on bikes. Since 1998 I've worked at home and haven't ridden, as demonstrated by certain physical attributes that just seemed to appear around my waist. I called my daughter Katie and she brought up one of my ex-commuters tonight. She had ridden it for awhile, but now had another bike. It's a Nishiki Olympic from the 70s. My plan is to turn it into a fixie with a flip-flop double fixed hub.

Now I really need to get down to my local bicycle shop.