A fast definition: A fixed-gear bicycle (or fixie), just like the very first security bicycles launched in 1885 by John Kemp Starley in Coventry, England, is the only and, some (like me) would argue, the purest type of the bicycle.
A fixie has a direct drivetrain during which a single chainring is related by a sequence to a single sprocket and not using a ratchet system. Which means that the bicycle has a single gear that turns the drive wheel in sync with the pedals with out the choice of freewheeling (a pernicious behavior in any case). In case you’re transferring ahead, your pedals are turning. No exceptions.
And why are they so nice? Let me clarify…
They’re low upkeep and dependable
The pared-down simplicity of a fixie means they want little or no common upkeep. Apart from an annual check-up (you’ll be able to’t be foolish), you simply must pump the tyres and lube the chain.
Fixies usually run a 1/8” chain, chainring and sprocket, so there’s simply extra metallic to take in any put on and tear. A fixie will take a number of neglect (not really useful) earlier than it stops working altogether.
The mechanical simplicity of a fixie additionally interprets into reliability – with no derailers and attendant cables and shifters, there’s simply little or no to go flawed. And with no possibility for shifting gears, there’s additionally zero likelihood of dropping a sequence.
The wheels of a fixie are bolted on. ‘So, how do you repair a flat on the street and not using a fast launch or thru-axle?’ I hear you say. A fast launch or thru-axle is clearly extra handy when a tyre goes squirrelly on you, however carrying a 15 mm spanner turns into second nature as a lot as packing an additional tube or bomb on lengthy geared rides. And a few are simply beautiful, just like the Campagnolo ‘peanut butter’ monitor spanner.
They’re light-weight and environment friendly
Fixies are typically lighter than comparable geared bikes as a result of they’re lacking a number of the same old components: derailers, gear shifters, a chainring, a brake caliper and brake cable (in the event you’re operating a entrance brake solely, as per UK regulation), gear cables and a little bit of chain. This may trim 1 to 1.5kg out of your bike, a weight saving that can value you this facet of an arm and a leg to realize on a geared carbon bike. My Nineteen Eighties steel-frame fixie ideas the scales at simply north of 8kg, which isn’t to be sniffed at.
Lighter weight presents you elevated effectivity, as any hill climber will inform you, however the single-speed setup itself will increase effectivity. The only gear implies that the chain line is all the time useless straight, so that you’re not dropping any power to friction from cross-chaining. Nor are you dropping power from operating the chain by means of two derailers and the accompanying jockey wheels.
Consequently, fixies are amazingly responsive, they usually’re quiet, like a name for volunteers at a Father or mother Instructor Affiliation assembly.
They’re value efficient
A fixie would not require many substitute components through the years
(Picture credit score: Future (Joe Baker))
Fixies are fairly darn low-cost. You’ll be able to splash out on a Cinelli Vigorelli for over a grand, however you can too choose up a good fixie for lower than the restaurant invoice on Valentine’s Day. And the cash you spend will get you extra bike to your buck than a geared equal.
Due to their mechanical simplicity, shopping for second hand is a very viable possibility. The rise in reputation of single-speeds within the 2010s, adopted swiftly by the COVID bike growth, implies that on-line labeled websites are awash with pre-loved choices from manufacturers like Fuji, Quella, On-One, Genesis and extra.
Or (and that is the place I discover the best satisfaction) you’ll be able to construct your personal bike. Beginning with a good monitor/fixie body or a street body with horizontal dropouts (often older steel-frame bikes), you’ll be able to construct a fixie with little or no effort and fewer components, supplied a type of is a rear wheel with a monitor or flip-flop hub.
And fixies simply scream for customisation, particularly in the event you’re constructing one up from scratch, which brings me to the following level.
They’re lovely
The bike trade is transferring inexorably in direction of making bicycles as ‘clear’ as potential, largely by introducing inner cable routing, which is a good thought till you must change a brake cable/hose. A fixie constructed up from a monitor bike body, for instance, doesn’t even have bottle bosses, which is about as aesthetically clear as a motorcycle will get (and why God made hydration packs).
Whether or not they’re joined by lovely forged lugs, fillet brazing that’s as clean as a carbon monocoque or Taiwan’s neat TIG welding, metal frames have an innate magnificence of their slim metal tubes silhouetted within the double diamond of the standard bike body. And you’ll construct on this spare aesthetic by assembling a fixie from your personal components bin, your native bike store or eBay; or you could find a unicorn Cinelli Lazer body (or equal) and construct it up with deep-section Zipps and drip it with Chris King hubs, Paul brakes and a SRAM Omnium crank (the holy grail).
A steel-frame fixie turns into a canvas for self-expression, but it surely additionally connects you to some fantastic biking traditions.
They have their very own tradition
Fixie tradition is rooted within the messenger scene
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
Fixie tradition is rooted within the bike messengers and couriers of Nineteen Eighties New York. They weren’t the primary to do it – bike messengers have been plying their commerce for the reason that security bicycle was invented – however they have been the primary to make it cool. When a couple of riders rolled their monitor bikes off the velodrome and onto the streets, they sparked a biking tradition that has grown from energetic vocation into unsanctioned city alleycat races and now the Purple Hook Crit collection.
Using fixed-gear bikes on metropolis streets, it appears, has a wider enchantment than quick deliveries. And there’s undoubtedly an affinity with that kind of way of life once you swing a leg over a fixie.
Using fastened introduces adversity which is a pleasure to beat
Henri Degrange, founding father of the Tour de France, mentioned, ‘Is not it higher to triumph by the energy of your muscle tissue than by the artifice of expertise? We have gotten weak. … As for me, give me a hard and fast gear!’ This is similar man who mentioned his very best Tour could be accomplished by just one rider, so take his masochistic views with a pinch of salt, however he highlights a standard trait amongst cyclists – we prefer to endure. And a fixie presents greater than ample alternatives for doing so.
(A sure sort of) biking is about enduring ache for so long as you’ll be able to, or at the least longer than the rider subsequent to you. However whereas beating your buddy Clint in your weekly membership journey is a victory of types, it’s beating your self that actually counts – driving a sooner time, climbing a neighborhood hill a contact faster, pushing a couple of ok’s additional when your quads are screaming. It’s why cyclists are drawn to apps like Strava a lot.
Though it’s uncomfortable, driving fastened is nice train. You might be by no means actually within the ‘proper’ gear, so that you’re all the time compensating by pushing more durable up the hills or spinning sooner on the flats and descents than you’d on a geared bike. And you’ll by no means cease pedalling, so there’s no actual relaxation. Which means that you achieve energy and health fairly shortly.
Why do I journey a fixie?
Pete’s personal fixie, with baggage from his 1300km journey to Inverness
(Picture credit score: Pete van der Woude)
Whereas driving a fixie is probably the head of biking masochism, it’s a pinnacle constructed on the deep foundations of ego.
Biking is a reasonably sincere sport once you get right down to it. In case you don’t put within the time within the saddle, you don’t get the outcomes. There’s nice satisfaction in beating your biking buddies on the weekend membership journey or setting a brand new private greatest, however there’s maybe much more in doing so on a bicycle that strips away the ‘shopping for velocity’ facet of biking – ‘the artifice of expertise’ so despised by Henri Desgranges. The easier the bike, the nearer you get to pure human effort, and the extra the ego is stroked.
Using a fixie is about simplicity, effectivity, cost-effectiveness, aesthetics, tradition and struggling. However there’s quite a bit to be mentioned for the exhilaration of pumping up a hill on a fixie previous a rider on a motorcycle that prices as a lot as a small household automobile. Or the look on an individual’s face once you inform them that you simply rode 1300 km to Inverness. On a fixie (sure, I did that).