Every morning before I head to school I roll up my right pant leg. This isn't my way of recognizing a gang but instead is an indicator of lifestyle: my mode of transportation to be exact. I ride a bicycle, a fixed-gear bicycle. In the past year, fixed-gear bicycles have become the newest fashion, and one that doesn't appear to be letting up anytime soon. So what is it about these bicycles that has caught the attention of everyone?
The idea of a fixed-gear bicycle isn't new, but instead is the oldest form of bicycle. When this mode of transportation was first created, bicycles were made a direct-drive system (the pedals moving the wheels themselves as opposed to gearing), creating the iconic penny-farthing bicycles for transportation. When gears were introduced, the bicycles were fixed-gear. That simply means that the pedal and rear wheel are directly associated so that when the pedals move, the rear wheel moves and vice versa.
While these bicycles may seem illogical to ride around on, they have two main advantages: simplicity and control. The most obvious advantage of these bicycles is the simplicity, making it easier to work on, and the subsequent advantage of being more lightweight. The difference in control between a fixed-gear and any form of freewheel bicycle is not noticeable until one rides the fixed-gear bicycle. At first the fixed-gear bicycle seems more difficult to ride and more dangerous to stop, since it doesn't have the traditional brake mechanism, but as riders get used to the new system, they are able to control the speed much easier than using a brake lever, since the rider's legs control the speed.
Those who ride fixed-gear bicycles aren't defined by a single image; they are anyone who loves riding bicycles. There are those who ride their fixed-gear bicycles so much they are continually smelly and can never get the stench of sweat off their bodies. Conversely there are those who simply have the fixed-gear bicycles as a fashion icon and, while they ride them, tend to smell of cologne as if they have barely ridden bicycles. Despite these two seemingly diverse groups there is a special bond between these people since they ride fixed-gear bicycles. It seems that those who ride fixed-gear care about bicycles and the bicycling community regardless of how much, or little, they ride; even those who have the bicycles as fashion use them to advance a more car-free society. As hot rod cars were once the fashion, fixed-gear bicycles appear to be the upcoming fashion within the counter-culture movement. Since counter-culture eventually becomes culture, the oncoming wave of bicycling awareness can only bode well for those who ride, and love, fixed-gear bicycles.
— Reach the writer at spm@asu.edu
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