hmm!
i wouldve said that "fixed wheel" is more logical.
theres nothing about the term "freewheel" that implies multiple gearing - it simply implies that the wheel is free to spin, as opposed to being fixed with the drivetrain.
"fixed gear", to me, only implies the "gear" is fixed - meaning that the bicycle is set in one gear, whether free or fixed wheel.
"free wheel" = "freewheel" for all practical purposes, though technically the opposite would be "variable gear" (as in "variable hub gears"). in french, "roue libere", eh? of course, theres no "roue fixee"... (its "pignon fixee" or somesuch) so thats probably not the best example entirely :)
these days i consider "fixed wheel" and "fixed gear" interchangeable though - if you talk about a "fixed gear" everyone assumes you mean a "fixed wheel". but some of us occassional pedant-types will call people on it if were feeling especially uppity. :)
"track bike", i agree, though - is yucky, but now part of the common vernacular... as typically used, its inaccurate.
-joel
>Hmmmmmmm...
>
>In England: "fixed wheel" for non coasting wheel? So I presume they
>also have a "free wheel" that is a coasting wheel? Not to be confused
>with the "freewheel" that is a set of cogs that will freewheel on a hub?
>
>Somehow the term "fixed gear" makes wayyyyyy more sense to me!
>
>The terms I don't care for are "track bike" for any fixed gear bike, and
>"straight kicker" which defies description.
>
>Chuck Schmidt
>South Pasadena, Southern California
>
>.
>_______________________________________________
--
joel metz : magpie@messengers.org : http://www.blackbirdsf.org/
bike messengers worldwide : ifbma : http://www.messengers.org/
po box 191443 san francisco california 94119-1443 usa
==
i know what innocence looks like - and it wasn't there,
after she got that bicycle...