The Fixed Gear Experience

I’ve always thought that fixed gear bicycles are absurd and ridiculous. Why would people voluntarily limit themselves to a single gear and then compound the difficulties by eliminating the freewheel?

Doing so doesn’t make sense. It’s counter-intuitive.

But for some reason, I wanted one, so I started shopping for something cheap.


This is my “new” funky fixed gear conversion. The frame appears to be from a clunky, old Schwinn. It's kind of sexy, don't you think?



As you can see, it only has one gear. The right side has no freewheel, so you have to keep pedalling. There’s no coasting, even when going down hill. It has what’s called a flip-flop hub, which means you can take the wheel off, flip it around and connect the chain to the freewheel if you so desire.



The biggest “hills” I’ve climbed so far are the Samoa Bridges. They weren't too bad and while climbing I kept the cussing to a minimum.


There’s something addictive about the fixed gear experience that I can’t put my finger on. This will require further meditation before I can explain why someone would want to ride such a bike.