[Chunk]

I was reading the current edition of the Santa Fe Reporter (Yikes Bikes!) issue, and one of the writers, Zane Fischer took the time to (inaccurately) describe the different styles of bikes and biking. Particularly upsetting was his description of fixed gear bikes and fixed gear riders.


The UnBike

Finding the ride that’s right for you.
By Zane Fischer
[email protected]

STYLE: Fixed Gear. Single speed bicycles with no freewheel and no brakes. Used by racers to practice their cadence and adopted first by urban bicycle messengers and now by the more common urban bicycle posenger.
PLUS: A better workout in a minimal, no
nonsense, street-cred package.
MINUS: You never get to take a break from pedaling or change gears. Stopping means literally pedaling backward.
WHAT YOU NEED TO PULL IT OFF: Shortened cranks, strong knees and a healthy disregard for traffic and rules. A messenger bag and a shot of whiskey can’t hurt."


I ride my vintage fixie because I love the ride. I ride with a messenger bag because its the best way to carry my stuff around town. I DO NOT ride while drinking whiskey nor do I have a healthy disregard for traffic and rules. Anyone else find this inappropriate? Or did I just need to rant a bit?

 

[jtferraro]

Yes, this article is inappropriate and Zane seems like a jackass.

 

[FatTireFred]

somebody needs to tell the writer that fixies can have brakes... and "posenger"? what is that? like poser? writer has obviously never ridder one... the big missing plus- fun!

 

[boroef]

the author is just generalizing his statements. but whatever, any generalization will be subjected to stereotypical views. dont let it bother you.

if you dont fit what he described then it's all dandy, isnt it?

 

[Cerddwyr]

Hmmm... Journalist in America circa 2006. Entertainment Creator, NOT Reporter of Fact. At least the SF Reporter isn't The Weekly World News, cause then that fixie rider also would have been the two headed love child of Elvis and a space alien.

Gordon

 

[PeanutButterBreath]

WHAT YOU NEED TO PULL IT OFF: Shortened cranks, strong knees and a healthy disregard for traffic and rules. A messenger bag and a shot of whiskey can’t hurt."

New Mexico traffic law:

66-3-707. Lamps and other equipment on bicycles.
. . .

C. Every bicycle shall be equipped with a brake which will enable the operator to make the brake wheels skid on dry, level, clean pavement.

Many people, myself included, would not count back pressure on a fixed gear bike as a brake (no more so than the sole of your foot on a tire). So it would seem that riding brakeless in Santa Fe does exhibit a disregard for traffic laws and rules.

Short cranks? Fair enough generalization. Strong knees? Fair enough recommendation. Messenger bag? Common enough accesory.

The shot of whiskey crack is silly.

 

[Kram]

Umm. Maybe he is just being silly? Maybe we shouldn't pay too much attention to newspaper articles?

 

[Spinfinity]

Is this what's called hyperbole?

I don't ride brakeless, drink whiskey or stop if I don't have to. I have a bag but wear a helmet on most of my downtown errands so I don't think one could call me a "posenger". The term is clever and fits some riders around Hartford. Can you realistically expect a few sentences to fully describe the spectrum of fixed gear riders?

 

[ampastoral]

well, i do ride brakeless (have been doing so for years) and have had plenty of whiskey at times. iffin i need to carry stuff, i have a bag for it. at times i'll roll stop lights or signs, as smart agressive riding can be safer than following all the rules (because cars tend to not respect those very same rules). i do this on my geared bike, too. i could care less what messengers do. never had the desire to look like one either. i like my job. i wouldn't put anything but a baseball card in my spokes (and then only to sound like a motorcycle). but sometimes, form does follow function.

do we really care what this guy says? posenger...eh, not even all that clever. i think he does hit on a small set of fixie riders. i saw a guy the other day that looked like he had put the cardboard from a six pack in his spokes. and it didn't look to be ironic. though, maybe he wanted something akin to an aero disc wheel. regardless, i guess we'd have to call messengers prack riders and this fellow a priter or a pournalist.

 

[blackhat]

nothing to see here.

I didn't see anything to get worked up about. neither the posenger or the whiskey comment are innovative. go to any metropolitan uptown area and you'll find lots of posengers on fixies, they're not really riding them as much as wearing them. nothing wrong with that either. the whiskey things pretty tame too, surly sells a flask and I don't imagine they intended it to carry strawberry milk. just part of the scene that is often associated with fixies. just like recumbents are all piloted by goofy beard wearing mathematics professors that are way into linux.

 

[BianchiJoe]

STYLE: Fixed Gear. Single speed bicycles with no freewheel and no brakes. Used by racers to practice their cadence and adopted first by urban bicycle messengers and now by the more common urban bicycle posenger.

Can't really complain about this; it's pretty accurate. A posenger is someone who pretends to be a messenger; we've all seen 'em.

PLUS: A better workout in a minimal, no nonsense, street-cred package. MINUS: You never get to take a break from pedaling or change gears. Stopping means literally pedaling backward.

Nothing too bad here, except the minuses are really plusses!

WHAT YOU NEED TO PULL IT OFF: Shortened cranks, strong knees and a healthy disregard for traffic and rules. A messenger bag and a shot of whiskey can’t hurt."

OK, maybe not a "disregard" for traffic laws, but certainly a looser interpretation of them. Messenger bag, absolutely. Shot of Whisky, every now and then, sure why not?

Anyone else find this inappropriate? Or did I just need to rant a bit?

I dunno, I can see why you might not want to get lumped into someone else's thumbnail sketch of a stereotypical fixie rider, but I don't see much here that isn't at least partly true. The writer wants to write about something edgy and hip, and if he can come off as edgy and hip in the process, so much the better. It sure isn't going to change anything about my next ride, or my next hundred.

 

[Dropped]

Lighten up, Francis.

I thought it was pretty funny.

 

[Mr. Shadow]

I was reading the current edition of the Santa Fe Reporter (Yikes Bikes!) issue, and one of the writers, Zane Fischer took the time to (inaccurately) describe the different styles of bikes and biking. Particularly upsetting was his description of fixed gear bikes and fixed gear riders.


The UnBike

Finding the ride that’s right for you.
By Zane Fischer
[email protected]

STYLE: Fixed Gear. Single speed bicycles with no freewheel and no brakes. Used by racers to practice their cadence and adopted first by urban bicycle messengers and now by the more common urban bicycle posenger.
PLUS: A better workout in a minimal, no
nonsense, street-cred package.
MINUS: You never get to take a break from pedaling or change gears. Stopping means literally pedaling backward.
WHAT YOU NEED TO PULL IT OFF: Shortened cranks, strong knees and a healthy disregard for traffic and rules. A messenger bag and a shot of whiskey can’t hurt."


I ride my vintage fixie because I love the ride. I ride with a messenger bag because its the best way to carry my stuff around town. I DO NOT ride while drinking whiskey nor do I have a healthy disregard for traffic and rules. Anyone else find this inappropriate? Or did I just need to rant a bit?

The way to resolve that is for us to ride our fixies/single-speeds respectfully.

 

[Jamieshankland]

The way to resolve this is to igor that Jar-head writer and ride your effing bike. Honestly....why whine about it.

 

[Pablo]

The horror.

I think that I, as much as anyone, am shocked and dismayed by the lack of expertise normally displayed by the Santa Fe Reporter.

Where will I get my bike culture updates from now?

 

[dagger]

Good for fixed gearheads

I think the article gives fixedheads a bit of machismo. You should distribute the article to all your friends so they will understand you in a "new light" of understanding.

 

[redxj]

-snip- surly sells a flask and I don't imagine they intended it to carry strawberry milk. -snip-

I have a Surly flask and the Aherne Cycles flask holder, but it is mounted on my SS MTB and not either of my fixed rides. It is used to warm myself during cold winter rides.

 

[Fixed]

send stories?

I was reading the current edition of the Santa Fe Reporter (Yikes Bikes!) issue, and one of the writers, Zane Fischer took the time to (inaccurately) describe the different styles of bikes and biking. Particularly upsetting was his description of fixed gear bikes and fixed gear riders.


The UnBike

Finding the ride that’s right for you.
By Zane Fischer
[email protected]

STYLE: Fixed Gear. Single speed bicycles with no freewheel and no brakes. Used by racers to practice their cadence and adopted first by urban bicycle messengers and now by the more common urban bicycle posenger.
PLUS: A better workout in a minimal, no
nonsense, street-cred package.
MINUS: You never get to take a break from pedaling or change gears. Stopping means literally pedaling backward.
WHAT YOU NEED TO PULL IT OFF: Shortened cranks, strong knees and a healthy disregard for traffic and rules. A messenger bag and a shot of whiskey can’t hurt."


I ride my vintage fixie because I love the ride. I ride with a messenger bag because its the best way to carry my stuff around town. I DO NOT ride while drinking whiskey nor do I have a healthy disregard for traffic and rules. Anyone else find this inappropriate? Or did I just need to rant a bit?

Maybe we all should send him a few stories like this: http://www.midcalracing.com/kaiser2004.htm That might clue him in that messengers aren't the only fixed riders.