Re: [CR]Fixies: a form of prepubescent art

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme:2002)

Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 17:55:17 -0500
From: "Edward Albert" <Edward.H.Albert@hofstra.edu>
To: <ehbusch@bellsouth.net>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, <nicbordeaux@yahoo.fr>
Subject: Re: [CR]Fixies: a form of prepubescent art


We rode all winter on a fixed when I lived in Toronto in the mid 70's. I Used a converted PX10 that I had since I was 15, although I didn't saw off the derailleur hanger. At the time, that would not have been to me such a bad thing but I guess I would not do it today. On the other hand, I have seen 50's track bikes with derailleur hangers retro - brazed on in the early sixties by guys who could not afford two bikes so they made them do double duty. Edward Albert Chappaqua, NY, USA

Edward Albert, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Sociology Hofstra University
>>> "ehbusch" <ehbusch@bellsouth.net> 12/02/07 5:47 PM >>> Gotta jump in here. It doesn't really matter who's riding around on a fixed gear bike as to how they are doing it. Cars and bikes will always have their moments. If I had a dollar for every time someone in a car told me to GET UP ON THE SIDEWALK WHERE I BELONG. Well I'm sure we've all heard that one. Must admit I did actually have to take action one day. Dealing with a driver that not only went verbal but tried to force me off the road. I Caught up with him at a red traffic light, him beeing in a convertable and not realizing I had caught back up, he ended up with a bottle full of Gatorade in his lap. I blew through the traffic light and through a few back streets and watched him drive by looking for me. Must admit it fealt real good. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do..... As for the advantages of fixed gear riding. As a member of a race club in N.J. We would put a fixed gear on our road bikes in Jan. Feb. and try to get in a thousand miles before we would change over to geared riding. Sometimes Sunday club rides would have 20 riders on fixed gear bikes riding 30-40 miles. Gearing would be(42x16) (42x15). Trying to ride around 100 rpms. in a paceline situation. After that a fifty miler with gears was a

breeeeeeeze...

Ed Busch
Vonore Tennessee USA


----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Albert
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 4:52 PM
Subject: Re: [CR]Fixies: a form of prepubescent art



> Really not worth a reply but....Your self-important condescension makes
> me queasy.
> Edward Albert
> Chappaqua, NY, USA
>
> Edward Albert, Ph.D.
> Professor Emeritus of Sociology
>>>> Nick March <nicbordeaux@yahoo.fr> 12/02/07 4:20 PM >>>
> Fixies in themselves as tools for riding on anything other than constant
> incline routes that they are optimally geared for are utterly and
> totally totally useless. For the ideal course conditions, they are the
> optimal concept over short distances, but as the distance increases,
> rider fatigue sets in, wattage drops, and the gearing becomes too high:
> the fixie becomes a sick joke in performance terms.
>
> As training tools, I will take the word of people who express the
> opinion that they teach you how to be smoother and more efficient when
> you return to riding a proper bike.
>
> There has always been and always will be a generation gap: things I
> did (and do) were (are) as incomprehensible to the previous generation
> as a lot of what the present generation does is to me. The "generation
> gap disparoval factor" is usually caused by differently expressed
> values, and expression of identity. This latter factor includes
> clothing, haircut, self harm in different forms, and transportation.
> Fixies are a form of statement of cultural identity expressed through
> transportation. That is a complicated way of saying they are a
> peer-pressure fad: "everybody I know has a fixie, I need a fixie to be
> part of the tribe". They are also a part of self endagerment, or
> potential self harm. (Somebody here stated that a lot of fixie riders
> could "bunny-hop" to a stop over a surprisingly short distance. You bet.
> If they have the bunny-hop stunt prepared. Facing the unexpected, brutal
> reality of a head-on collision, a fixie rider won't bunny-hop, he'll
> widen his eyes and
> squeeze his buttocks and crash at full speed). Finally, fixies are a
> form of art, art is just expression after all.
>
> Some of the art is wonderful, most of it reinforces me in my belief
> that "artists" should have to pass a test before expressing any artistic
> tendancies which leave any trace to offend people with taste. This
> applies to would-be potters, painters, poets and others, as well as
> fixie "builders".
>
> The only points worth debating are: should both front and back brakes
> be law (I believe they should, no bike without brakes is safe on an open
> road); should something be done to stop people, whether tatooed, drugged
> or neither, from irrevrsribly maiming bicycles in transforming them into
> fixies. Realistically, no law will ever be promoted to stop bike hacking
> and mangling, so it is down to the individual to make his choice as to
> whether he aims to stop the fixie thing, and determine what means he is
> prepared to use to attain his purpose. Griping never attains results,
> only action does. I can imagine many effective forms of action, but to
> avoid potential lawsuits, I will refrain from mentionning them onlist.
>
> If I ever see a fixie-botch rider on the roads here, I shall daily
> humiliate him by freewheeling past him. My choice of action.
>
> Any fixie enthusiast writing me on or offlist that he can take me on
> with a fixed gear bike over a distance with me riding a geared bike with
> freewheel is either a megalomaniac, or has a severe case of victim
> syndrome.
>
> Peace and love or whatever to the fixie community,
>
> Nick March, Mont de Marsan, France
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Ne gardez plus qu'une seule adresse mail ! Copiez vos mails vers
Yahoo!

> Mail