FORUMS > Cycling Forum Rules

I remember seeing these bikes in the city mostly but, recently a lot of the younger crowed opts for these type of bikes!!! I feel this is a hype and will eventually fade away.

I dont get why the cards between the wheels, why the fixed gear, why the heavy and old frames, and why the leather saddles! I forgot to mention why the short handle bars.

Why why why??? lol. I also noticed lots of people trying to do tricks with these bikes. For tricks I prefer BMX.

I do like the bikes dont get me wrong (without the hideous cards and white rims)

The need for SIMPLICITY in an overly complicated world is the basis for this. How often do you use the 20.. some gears? The fad was in copying tour de france engineering for everyday bike riding.

I started to build a bike this week that I have been planning for years but was two embarrassed to put out on the street. The gear hub is a 1960's two speed bendix with coaster brake, No cables, no controls but it will have an aluminum frame and two speeds..you shift by backpedaling a bit.

There just happens to be something in the NYT today about bike trends.
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/10/09/fashion/20081009_BIKES_index.html

Bikes are designed for different purposes. Along the flat beach drives here in Florida, single-speed Schwinn-like cruisers work fine. I wouldn't want to ride a beach cruiser the 165 miles I'll be pedaling next month down to Key West. And I've lived in hilly parts of the US where I needed the full range of my derailleur gears.

The thing that gets me is when people will see my bike at the bar or whatever and critique it, followed by something like "Of course, I could never go back to riding a geared bike. I'm fixie for life now." I then ask where their bike is, and oddly, it's always at home. I think any bike that actually sees pavement on a regular basis is better than a bike sitting at home getting rusty.

Well even retro cruisers can have up to 8 speeds now, with internal hub gearing like Shimano makes. And the external appearance looks about the same as a single-speed coaster brake hub.

Trek also makes a "comfort" line of bikes with 3-speed internal coaster brake hubs that shift electrically, based on road speed. Again, very discreet in appearance, with nothing on the handlebar you have to operate.

I see no reason to struggle with single speed when there are alternatives, if it's the external derailleur shifters that are what people actually dislike.

I agree that your location determines whether a fixed gear bike would be practical. In NYC, yeah, I can see it - the only mountains in Manhattan are the skyscrapers. But where I live, the terrain varies from flat desert to the steepest vertical rise mountains in California. There isn't any conceivable way that fixed gear bikes would be practical here. And yes, I work through ALL the gears on my Trek.

I agree with PSCali.

I do switch gears oftenly and my bike sits at home only when im back from work ( I bike to work and on weekends ) The only dust it gets is from the roads.

Thank you all for contributing with your thoughts in this thread . Bottom line is Keep biking for you own health and the enviroment (Hey even lighter on your pocket)

Keep it real people!