Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Fixie Bike Index

blog.priceonomics.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 89 posts

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#71

Post by izak30 »

hack_edu wrote: post #37
pitdesi wrote: post #36

This analysis is interesting but deeply flawed, as you're just using one variable. I don't think anyone would refer to OC as the most hipster place in America. Weather is a huge missing component. Another is hilliness/other bike-friendliness (bike lanes, etc). The top 12 cities in the analysis are warm-weather cities (mostly California/Hawaii). For example, no-one is buying bikes in Chicago at the moment, because it'…

Chicago has been a main hub of the fixie/track scene for years, way before the big fixie boom.

Are you saying, that in Chicago, you were riding Fixies before they were cool?

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#72

Post by xp84 »

Ogre wrote: post #50
jerrya wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in LA, and have lived behind the Orange Curtain, and that's my point. The area is way too large in geographic area and demographics for me to believe the folks there are buying fixies in ways that exceed the mean. It's far easier for me to wonder if they mixed up the data. Almost by definition, a very large place with a very large population should have regressed to the mean, not far exceed it.

I live in San Clemente (a city of ~60,000 in Orange County) now, and was born in Pasadena. I was starting to get annoyed at OC being treated as one "city" here too, then I realized I should probably just be happy that a distinction between LA and OC was made at all. All too often, "LA" is used to mean everything south of Santa Barbara and north of Oceanside.

That's us Northern Californians doing that to you ;)

> OC

Also, don't call it that.

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#73

Post by bch »

redsparrow wrote: post #27

I'm surprised that Allentown, PA has the fewest fixies for sale per capita as there is a velodrome there. http://www.thevelodrome.com/contact-us/directions/

Also note that fixie != track bike. Fixies are often some converted something-or-other (one of mine is a road frame, the other an MTB frame), where a true track bike has a track-frame, which has a specific geometry and BB height (BB== bottom bracket, where the axle between your cranks goes), and may not even be drilled for accepting brakes, and certainly not fenders, etc. I don't know the people using the velodrome, nor the rules for it's use, but it may require track bikes. Investigating, at least one velodrome[1] says road bikes may be used, but not during track bike sessions. Point is, the subtle differences you do (not) observe between the bikes on the street and the bikes in the velodrome may be a cultural world apart from each other.

[1] Oregon Bicycle Racing Association http://www.obra.org/track/information/

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#74

Post by atourgates »

erickhill wrote: post #61

Wow - according to this, Spokane (#30) has more hipsters per capita than Seattle (#33). That's a bit difficult to process. Seattle is literally built around biking. I guess the actual bikes are more practical in nature and less hipsterish? As in, an actual means of transportation rather than personal branding. Still pretty hard to believe. UW alone should tip the scales.

Nail on the head. Also - hills. Seattle has lots and lots of them, and fixies are particularly impractical for hills.

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#75

Post by utunga »

midas wrote: post #9
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.

not only that but surely 'per capita' is a terrible measure to use for normalizing a place like manhattan where the population during the day (aka the size of market for bike shops) is such a large multiple of the 'per capita' population (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/8efea7...) .. surely a better normalization statistic would be sales of fixies / sales of all bikes

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#77

Post by tadfisher »

bch wrote: post #73
redsparrow wrote: post #27

I'm surprised that Allentown, PA has the fewest fixies for sale per capita as there is a velodrome there. http://www.thevelodrome.com/contact-us/directions/

Also note that fixie != track bike. Fixies are often some converted something-or-other (one of mine is a road frame, the other an MTB frame), where a true track bike has a track-frame, which has a specific geometry and BB height (BB== bottom bracket, where the axle between your cranks goes), and may not even be drilled for accepting brakes, and certainly not fenders, etc. I don't know the people using the velodrome,…

Correct. Track bikes have a super-steep geometry (sometimes a 90 degree seat tube!) and tall gearing, both of which are very impractical in traffic.

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#78

Post by tedunangst »

jerrya wrote: post #16

Orange County is a county, with a 3,000,000 population twice that of Manhattan (a borough.) Orange, CA is a city, with a population of 150,000 Why is Orange County listed in the chart when all other entrants seem to be cities (or boroughs).

Manhattan is a county, New York county to be exact.

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#79

Post by spike918 »

is the metric of bicycles for sale a good indicator of anything but people giving up? That says to me a large population are bailing rather than riding. Are hipsters known for giving up when the pedaling gets tough?

Re: The Fixie Bike Index

#80

Post by jerrya »

tedunangst wrote: post #78
jerrya wrote: post #16

Orange County is a county, with a 3,000,000 population twice that of Manhattan (a borough.) Orange, CA is a city, with a population of 150,000 Why is Orange County listed in the chart when all other entrants seem to be cities (or boroughs).

Manhattan is a county, New York county to be exact.

Very interesting. I figured you were crazy, luckily the wiki is still up, and lo! You're right!

So thank you for the education, although I actually don't think that changes my point terribly much.

Orange County with 3,000,000 people over 1000 sq. miles dwarfs most of the other entities, including Manhattan.

I would think that without an explanation of why they are an outlier, a population this size, this diverse, over a diverse geography (flatland, hills, mountains) would regress towards the mean. If they are dramatically outside the mean (and here they are far and away in the lead), there needs to be an explanation.

(I liked two explanations: one is that they are counting surfer's beach cruisers would could be a very real effect down in OC which has great surfing and lots of trends toward surfing style. And the other that suggests these bikes or similar may be very popular among latino populations for some unknown reason.)

Post reply on HN