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The Fixie Bike Index

blog.priceonomics.com

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Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#2

Post by alexleavitt »

Having moved to Los Angeles only 7 months ago, I was really surprised to see fixies as a dominant mode of transport, especially within the Latino community (colored, deep-V rims are a huge trend). And even though LA tops the chart in terms of # bikes for sale, that doesn't mean it's a high percentage of people biking (very unfortunate). LA's trying to add more bike lanes, but it's a pretty dismal situation here.

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#3

Post by schiffern »

>For those unfamiliar, a fixed gear bike requires riding in a single gear and the only way to stop the bike is to pedal backwards to help skid the bike to a halt.

Lack-of-brakes do not a fixed gear make.

All bicycles should have at least two ways to stop. Fixed gear bicycles are no exception.

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#4

Post by tlear »

schiffern wrote: post #3

>For those unfamiliar, a fixed gear bike requires riding in a single gear and the only way to stop the bike is to pedal backwards to help skid the bike to a halt. Lack-of-brakes do not a fixed gear make. All bicycles should have at least two ways to stop. Fixed gear bicycles are no exception.

I guess you can skid and you can use your foot to break the back wheel. If you see messenger races those guys go downhill at 50kmh with pedals spinning free then use foot to break the back wheel, complete insanity if you ask me.

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#5

Post by far33d »

This is a more thorough version of what a popular bike blog "bikesnobnyc" used to call the "pistadex", where he used the average price of a bianchi pista to determine the popularity of the fixie trend.

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#6

Post by pavel_lishin »

tlear wrote: post #4
schiffern wrote: post #3

>For those unfamiliar, a fixed gear bike requires riding in a single gear and the only way to stop the bike is to pedal backwards to help skid the bike to a halt. Lack-of-brakes do not a fixed gear make. All bicycles should have at least two ways to stop. Fixed gear bicycles are no exception.

I guess you can skid and you can use your foot to break the back wheel. If you see messenger races those guys go downhill at 50kmh with pedals spinning free then use foot to break the back wheel, complete insanity if you ask me.

Or you could, you know, use handbrakes. You can still get them on fixies.

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#9

Post by midas »

sequoia wrote: post #7

Wait a second- https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3387895/Screen%20shot%202012-01-17%... There are 100 fixies per capita in Manhattan? So each person in Manhattan owns 100 fixed gear bicycles? No wonder rent is so expensive; I imagine storing 100 bicycles isn't cheap!!

Sorry if that's not clear, it's all indexed to 100. Those are all relative values and not absolute values.

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#10

Post by bjcy »

schiffern wrote: post #3

>For those unfamiliar, a fixed gear bike requires riding in a single gear and the only way to stop the bike is to pedal backwards to help skid the bike to a halt. Lack-of-brakes do not a fixed gear make. All bicycles should have at least two ways to stop. Fixed gear bicycles are no exception.

In fact, it's illegal to not have a front brake in cities like Austin.

Not to mention that it's downright insane. Ever try skid stopping in the rain?

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