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  • Fixed gear bicycles

    Reading today's Advertiser article on "fixies", I am a little unclear on exactly what a modern fixed gear bicycle is. Is it the same basic idea as the old Schwinn banana-seat bike that I rode as a kid in the 1970s? According to the article, fixed gear bikes have:

    Only one gear, no shifting. Check. That sounds like small kid time.

    No brake controls up at the handlebar, you brake by stomping backwards with your feet on the pedals and skidding. Check.

    No way to coast - if the wheels are moving, then the pedals are moving too. So if you're going real fast downhill, then your legs are pumping like crazy to keep up. OK, now this one doesn't sound like what I remember - I remember being able to coast.

  • #2
    Re: Fixed gear bicycles

    I think the gear on the rear wheel is fixed to the wheel, in other words there is no axle so no coasting much like a unicycle...I think>

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    • #3
      Re: Fixed gear bicycles

      Originally posted by Glen Miyashiro View Post
      .No way to coast - if the wheels are moving, then the pedals are moving too. So if you're going real fast downhill, then your legs are pumping like crazy to keep up. OK, now this one doesn't sound like what I remember - I remember being able to coast.
      Then your bike was not a fixed-gear. Simple as that. You just had a single-speed bicycle.

      My older brother had fixed gear. It was one of those BMX bikes that was bought at Sears sometime during the 1960s. Yep, you had to keep pumping the pedals or the bike would simply stop dead in its tracks. My dad ("swell" guy that he was) gave that to me as a "hand-me-down" and tried to teach me to ride with that bike, which wasn't easy as it's obviously not for beginners. He couldn't understand why all the other kids in the neighborhood with their "normal" Schwinns had no problems while I struggled to keep my balance riding in a circle in the driveway. But eventually, I did manage to learn with that fixed-gear and once I gained my confidence,..... I rode circles around all the other kids.

      It is the kind of bike that they use to perform those intertia, hopping, and manuevering tricks.
      This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

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      • #4
        Re: Fixed gear bicycles

        OK, I think I got it. I hadn't realized how many varieties of bikes there were:

        Gears: There are single-speed bikes, there are multiple-speed bikes, and there are fixed-gear bikes.

        Brakes: There are caliper brakes and disc brakes, which you operate with your hands, and coaster brakes, which you operate with your feet.

        So my small kid time Schwinn was a single-speed with coaster brakes, the bikes you see people riding these days are usually multiple-speed with caliper brakes, and these fixed-gear bikes are, well, fixed-gear bikes.

        Is that right?

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        • #5
          Re: Fixed gear bicycles

          Originally posted by Glen Miyashiro View Post
          So my small kid time Schwinn was a single-speed with coaster brakes, the bikes you see people riding these days are usually multiple-speed with caliper brakes, and these fixed-gear bikes are, well, fixed-gear bikes.

          Is that right?
          You got it.
          This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

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          • #6
            Re: Fixed gear bicycles

            hi this is sansei and i rode only a first schwinn fixed up to look like a bmx bike and then i rode those popular one's from the bike shop,not good on name's which were good bmx bike's and then i went on to learn to ride a 10 Speed schwinn and then on to moped's on which my friend's sister's former boyfriend taught me and then my father once saw how i learned to ride moped's,he bought me my first one on iwilei and then my friend's shop who's brother former owner ran and then his brother who now run's it so i've been there also.

            well thank's for your time sorry i remember,it was a bmx mongoose bike and it was awesome.

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            • #7
              Re: Fixed gear bicycles

              Originally posted by Glen Miyashiro View Post
              Reading today's Advertiser article on "fixies", I am a little unclear on exactly what a modern fixed gear bicycle is. According to the article, fixed gear bikes have:

              Only one gear, no shifting. Check. That sounds like small kid time.

              No brake controls up at the handlebar, you brake by stomping backwards with your feet on the pedals and skidding. Check.

              No way to coast - if the wheels are moving, then the pedals are moving too. So if you're going real fast downhill, then your legs are pumping like crazy to keep up. OK, now this one doesn't sound like what I remember - I remember being able to coast.
              OK, so how is this different than a Beach Cruiser? That's the only bike I can work. Not coordinated enough to shift vehicles...

              Oh, Sansei.... I LOVED my Peugeot Moped, and was a fool to ever get rid of it. Great gas mileage, easy parking. Nice little shopping baskets on the sides. Good times.

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