A Conversation About Fixies.
I had an idea a few weeks ago where I would have a conversation about fixies with my good friend Rhys Coren, explaining in depth what we don’t like about them. And so we started working on it with a lot of enthusiasm, but then quickly the time gap between our responses grew larger and our responses became less coherent. Maybe it’s a cultural thing since I’m a New Hampshire born Brooklyn resident and Rhys is an Englishman who could drink me under the table despite weighing half what I do. I don’t necessarily think this piece will win us any literary awards, but I do think it’ll create an interesting response in the comments and perhaps explain exactly what our issues with the fixed gear freestyle scene are. Read on…
Adam: So Rhys, we’ve been brought together here to discuss a topic that I know both of us have very strong feelings towards, and that is fixed gear bicycles. So I suppose I’ll just clarify this off the bat so nobody is confused, I don’t have a problem with the fixie in and of itself. It’s only when tricks come into play that I start to take offense. I’m sure you and I can, and will, come up with a laundry list of reasons why but I figure I’ll just ask you to go first, what is the most basic, singular reasoning you have for your hatred of fixies?
Rhys: Well, I have the utmost respect for all bicycles… except unicycles, but by it’s very definition and nature, it ain’t bi, it’s uni, so I guess I never really had to mention that. Maybe add hoppies, aka trials riders, too.
But my point: I love ragging around on a bike, switching between my BMX for the streets and single speed racer for the longer distance in-and-out traffic city rag. And, if I am honest, I would probably really enjoy mountabike downhilling, but on hills and on an actual mountainbike. Come to think if it, mountainbiking is probably as old as BMX. It must really wind up some of the die hard mountainbikers when they see little twats trying to ride them like BMXes!?. Anyway, back to my point: I was happy to get on with things and let everyone else enjoy their specific niche of bike riding. Problem is, my world was invaded by people riding what I rode, doing the things I did, but on a bike designed for something else. Some say it is all about progression. But how do you explain that, by regressing to a former evolutionary state, forced to desecrate the element of style, twisting around on a vehicle far too big for it’s use and obstacle, is in anyway progressing?
I just feel that it is the purity of each of individual strands of bike evolution that suffers, ultimately. So many fixie riders and mountabikers are drawn into bikes by seeing people do below average bmx tricks on on a large bike. Unable to cut it as skaters or bmxers in early teens, they can obtain some status by simply buying what they need and doing a roll back or wheelie with the right bag across one shoulder.
Adam: Yeah, I mean there’s no doubt that even the top dudes in the fixie ghey scene are really making names for themselves doing what you or I would consider beginner/intermediate level BMX tricks. Which is sort of understandable since all that stuff is fairly new. What really kills me though is the pretense behind it. I’m sure you’re used to seeing Razor scooters at the skatepark just like I am, but as far as I can tell, scooterers don’t seem to have the same dilusion that they’re better than BMXers, while a lot of fixie gheys seem to think that they’re somehow above us. And even then, I’d say that while scooters are a worse form of transportation, they’re dramatically more suited for doing tricks than fixies are. Would you rather share a flat ledge with a fixie or a scooter and why?
Rhys: In all honesty, a lot of my friends have fixies. None of my friends have scooters. I wouldn’t ride a ledge with either, but I’d be least embarrassed by a mate on a fixed gear. Thing is, I wouldn’t really want to ride that with that many people anyway, that shit gets chipped up before you get a chance to do anything. Most BMXers would fuck me off, relentlessly landing heavy and taking lads of turns, and you are asking me choose between the twin spawns of satan? Motherfucker.
But, you asked me, so my answer is: If it was a coped ledge, one that couldn’t get broke, I’d ride it with a handful of BMXers, maybe a skater or two at best, but I would move away from it if a fixed gear, scooter or mountainbike started riding it. If it was a breakable ledge I’d ride it with a few other BMXers but tell the scooter, fixie and mountainbike to fuck off, I guess the same way a skater would tell a naive BMXer smashing their shit to fuck off.
Something that has felt weird throughout all of this is this sense of guilt I feel. So many of friends have beautiful single speed and fixed gear bikes that they ride and have done for many, many years. 98% of them don’t try and ride it like a BMX or hang in packs of gheys, defined in dress sense and even dedicating whole club nights to the fact their bike doesn’t free wheel. But, do you remember the Bicycle Film Festival after party we went to in London? How the courtyard of that party was split in half, BMX on one side, fixed on the other? It was the fixie lot who were the ones propping up wood and jumping around the carpark off walls and giving us shit. We are so used to being in these situations, these mass cockfest BMX parties, that we just slip into chill mood and soak up the testosterone and lean on the peak of 30years of evolved BMX culture. The fixie kids at that party felt so threatened they had to ride, at a party, and say things like: ‘grow up, get a proper bike.’ I have a proper bike, twat. I have the proper bike for riding as transport, and I have the proper bike for stunts. If, by ‘get a proper’ bike you mean, ‘get a bike that can be worn as part of your look’ then why?
It is funny, and often winds me up. The other end of the scale of fixie gheys that night was the ‘we should all just ride together’ kind of ghey. Why? I won’t even ride through town on a street ride with a weiner with an illuminus BMX, squeaky brake, tight all-over-print hoodie and a straightened fringe poking out of their ghastly New Era.
But, anyway, it is a bit different here. In NYC, everyone’s fixie bikes were more street looking and less like mantle piece bikes. I guess because New York’s tougher than the middle class suburbs in the UK.
Adam: So it’s been 10 days since I last replied in this conversation just due to being really busy, but a thought has occurred to me. Who are we writing this article for? It’s not so much for the BMXers since we are just writing out thoughts that they already know, whether they have verbalized them or not. It’s not for the bulk of the fixie riding population, since I think it goes without saying that the majority of fixie riders are decent human beings who, while they might occasionally throw up a wheelie, don’t give their barspinning bredren any kind of serious respect. Really publicizing our exchange here is being done for the purpose of those who ride fixies and do tricks on them. To sort of explain to them what is wrong with what they’ve chosen to do, and to help them understand why the majority of BMXers consider them so undesirable. And I feel like all others, the non-barspinning fixie riders and the BMXers, will read along and nod their head in agreement.
So I guess what I’d like to approach next is what exactly is so wrong about fixie gheys doing tricks on their bikes. What irks me for the most part is simply the grotesque nature of having to pedal before and after every trick. The beauty of the most basic of BMX movement is that you start and end with a good amount of speed. Now Josh Stricker blasting a table over a hip obviously starts with a ton of speed, and ends with a similar amount of speed. There are exceptions that deviate from this, like if a rider grinds up a large handrail, he will most likely land without much speed to speak of at the top. But that’s a rare exception. If the rider were to grind down the same handrail, he would land with more speed than he started with. The sub-box experience is one in which you ride up the banks with quite a bit of speed, you stall on your peg or your wheels and you land into the bank or tranny still maintaining your speed. This is why we ride bank to ledges and you won’t see a BMXer icepick stalling a tall ledge from flat and landing back on flat. As BMXers, it is an unwritten law that you begin and end most tricks with a good amount of speed. Now the critical BMX rider might read this and say, what about the Animal videos? There, you’ll find riders doing complicated ledge tricks without much speed. But they are still going fast if you consider the technical nature of what they’re doing, and you’ll rarely find a clip in a legitimate video that ends with no momentum.
What irks me the second most is that in BMX, we look down upon pedaling in many ways. Now of course we don’t look down on pedaling down the street, or pedaling when approaching a trick. But even a slight tap of the pedal renders any manual not pulled in the minds of most riders. A lot of emphasis in skatepark riding and trails is put on not pedaling in between obstacles. Remember how much shit Nyquist used to get for throwing in a pedal in between jumps at dirt contests? As riders, we all embrace the fact that in order to be done properly, a trick must be done with no pedal pressure, or in some cases very little pedal pressure (example: a brakeless tiretap on a quarter uses pedal pressure but your cranks rarely actually move forward, they stay centered), and that’s a good thing. Pedaling is inherently uglier than not pedaling when you include it in a trick.
Now, you can probably guess what I’m getting at here. EVERY trick in the fixie world involves both a lack of speed, and a shitload of pedaling. If you go watch a video of a fixie rider hitting a hip, you’ll see that they have to pedal every last bit of the way up the hip, and then the second they hit the ground there’s often a split second where they don’t have any momentum before they begin pedaling again. That, to me, is just inexcusable. It’s so horrible looking that it renders the entire activity not worth doing.
And then of course the pedaling is a constant thing throughout any fixie trick and that’s just disgusting as well. I can sort of see how someone without any BMX background might not see what’s wrong with that. But as a rider who finds the style of BMX riding so appealing, I can’t ignore that. Fixie tricks certainly have their own style but it’s not the kind of style that I have any interest in.
Rhys: Holy shit, Adam, that’s a well constructed point that needs very little added to it. Now, I am a man who likes to chip in my 2 cents worth, so well done. It is like watching the worst pedal pecker on a bike that’s too big, ever.
That reminds me, did you see the fix-push video on youtube? Oh man, the best quote in that is this:
“If I’m going to ride 20 miles, I’m going to push 20 miles.”
But, again, who are we writing this for? Who exactly IS our audience? And, do you know what? I honestly think, for a second there, I thought fixy gheys were our audience and that we could put such a strong point across that they’d all see the light and quit. They aren’t the audience, though. Which sucks. Are we write-fighting a loosing battle? I’m not sure we are. Like most fads it’ll come and go. Let’s just hope it doesn’t ruin the good bits of riding road bikes for the people who originated that shit. Maybe it is them we are writing too? The irked old school fixie rider, irked about as much as we are at the mindless bastardisation of a thing they held so dear themselves. Just imagine if it was fashionable to ride brakeless street BMXes at the Tour de France, Adam, just imagine it! We’d be mortified; embarrassed; angry. Maybe it is ourselves in the future we are writing to. Maybe, if we are fighting a loosing battle, we’d have this piece of cross-Atlantic prose to prove we tried something GOD DAMN IT!!!
Adam: I hear you loud and clear my friend. Now in the interest of keeping this relatively short I’ll end our conversation here and let the comments do the talking. Thanks for your thoughts, let’s see what the people have to say!
New Eastern Trailer.
The Primo Scrap-O-licious Edit
Peg Leg/Dig Exclusive Fall Edit.
Troy Merkle - NOS
Lee Dennis In BMXFU's "FUTU".
I’m not reading that shit.
I never thought or cared about this too much, but it is true that all the pedaling looks UGLY
^^^^^ 12345. Way too much shit to say about fucking fixed gear bikes. If your gonna find someone to talk shit about fixed geared bikes at least find a person who knows something about bicycles. I don’t personally like trials mountain biking but that shit is fucking impressive and that guy has no place talking shit about them. You could have put everything he said in one short paragraph.
Just because it’s impressive doesn’t make it cool. Is it hard? Sure, I’m willing to believe that. Does it look cool? If you ask me, no. I hate trials, have always hated it since I first saw it at a GT Air Show in ‘97. The same criticisms of the whole fixie freestyle aesthetic could be applied to trials too. The hopping, the back wheel bouncing, pedaling in wheelies… it doesn’t do it for me. If you’re into that stuff, that’s fine, but it is VERY different from BMX and putting the two in the same boat is insulting to what we do.
STOP FUCKING COMPLAINING ABOUT THEM
adam who the fuck are you to say whats cool? to each his own quit bitching. theres just as many trends in bmx so why dont you go rant about those? or are they too cool?
natural non street trials is a little different.
OMG, this his his website, you dont have to read it. personally, i like fixies, but i hate them if someone is gonna try to barspin one or something. they are good for riding, they arent suited for doing tricks, thats why we have bmx bikes.
So if your going to complain about someone complaining on his own website that you read, volentarily, then fuck off.
I share the same oppinions, in fact I may even have more hatred toward gheys than you both. I would never use one to commute either because everytime Id see a nice hill I would throw both feet off and scream “Wahooo!”
wtf does ‘ghey’ mean? and riding fixie freestyle is like flatland minus the crazy balance, skill and dedication.
fucking long but I am willing to bet that this gets picked up by a fixie blog somewhere and a hundred replies get thrown at it because its “ignorant” and its “just bikes” and it should “only be about fun.” This will be countered with our usual level of dialog by reminding them that they are douche milkshakes. ah well. fuck em.
Yeah, probably, but none of those statements actually mean anything. It’s not ignorant, if anything I’d say Rhys and I are both quite well informed, we just don’t like what they’re doing and provide numerous reasons why. Yes, it is “just bikes” but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t deserve some sort of analysis. Whatever the responses are, when they start to pour in, it will be funny because they always take on the tone of the victim as if we are aggressively berating them when really we’re just discussing something we don’t care for.
I already sent this to one of the top fixie blogs.
You guys are fucking idiots.
I think you guys are not real cyclists either, you wear vans and hats and profile, odyssey, GT all these bmx brands. You blog, you post videos, you shoot on skateborads. You run around and do your shit and upset the establishment and get kicked out by cops… all in the name of bmx being king of all trick 2-wheeled riding.
No one is picking a fight was bmxing, mainly because the sport has been dignified by society. Being a bmx rider wasn’t “cool” in the 80s and now it is. I’m sorry fixed gear freestyle hasn’t been around for 20 years, but if it was it would be getting the same treatment as bmx did in its beginning.
I’m sorry but you guys are idiots. You think that you belong in a safe haven clique of bmxing and that insulates you from all criticism. Your not ignorant, your just being an asshole.
I should make a post about hunting with guns. You know bows and arrows focuses on not shooting until your sure you make the shot (ala coasting through tricks), cause gun hunting is not legitimate because of the existence of bows and arrows. same fucking argument as you idiots against fixed gears
Gun hunting analogy is just awful, did you even read his post? BMX bikes are designed to make tricks easier, just like guns make hunting easier. And the concept is the same flow for guns, follow through and a smooth trigger, squeeze(not pull/jerk). If you really wanted to understand what this is about you’d see that bmx and guns both win; they are capable of more complicated/complex tasks(tricks for bmx, distance for guns).
Mr. Lian you call us idiots yet you “Fixie riders” are the ones doing wheelie barspins thinking that they are remotely cool, thats ironic.
you both seem to be missing the fact that people have been doing tricks on fixed gear bicycles for at least 100 years. if you stated this point i guess ignore this cuz im never going to read all that bullshit
well if this is true, then its pretty funny that the other guy mentioned how bmx was around for over 20 years… and fixies have not, thats why they dont get the same kind of worldwide respect. I find that quite hilarious, that after 100 years they still are an “underground society, still trying to flourish” I dont see them going anywhere soon as fixie are meant for track racing and other modes but the whole jumping this is what irks me, take a look at this and tell me you didnt throw up in your mouth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5Qbanf6MbM
jesus christ he fucking does a super fail nose case and they tell him to do it again. How fucking lame, just keep your faggot asses on the god damn ground and we wont have a problem!
instead of writing a bunch of bullshit that no one will ever read why dont you fix the board?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjd9pBmLoU
oh my fucking god the loop at the end is insane! what the fuck! who knew a fucking fix gear did the first bike loop more than 100 years ago! Crazy!!!!!
well if that was 1901, fixed gears havnt come very far in over 100 years.
exactly my point above. haha
Fookin’ great. Of course I did not read ALL of it but it was a healthy skim. Thing about fixies is it’s a trend and we are already seeing its decline really. At least I have. I live in LA and all these kids wanted to get fixies, but before they could even save up for one it was less cool. I had already made fun of enough local kids to stop it in my town.
Again, there isn’t anything wrong with riding a fixed gear bike. There’s something wrong with wearing a yellow biker boy hat and cut off jean shorts with no socks and vans authentics and cards in spokes and bikes that cost thousands of dollars for god knows what reason. I hate it in the same way I hate BMX riders who try so, so hard to look exactly like Eddie Cleveland or exactly like Aaron Ross.
what the fuck are you trying to say? that im not a fucking badass? go fuck your mother.
oh ya and Aaron Ross can suck my balls.
fuck yeah!
i have a fixed but i mainly use it to keep in shape and cross train not transportation muchhhhhh
although i can say ive done a barspin on a fixed just to see how easy it is fuckkkk i did it first try fuck fixed trixxxxx
oh and i read the whole thing agreed with it alllll
the fact that you actually posted this is so retarded i don’t even know what to say
obviously it retarded enough for you to read and make a post for it, lol
and i completely agree with that conversation about it. santa barbara is overrun by that shit, and im not hating. but the tricks need to go, and doesn’t it suck when all you guys meet for pbr and show up in the same outfit????
I agree with you both, adam and rhys. The simple fact that fixed gear bicycles are meant to ride long distances with minimal stopping, at high rates of speed. But when said fixed gear creeps at a ledge/rail/hip at .2 mph, does a disgusting busdriver with no pinch and even worse style, then slowly creep down the landing, it is appauling towards anyone using a bicycle.
People go slow enough on BMX bikes these days as is, why incorporate a clunky oversized frame and wheelset into the mix.
Lets see these fixie riders “get proper” and start racing and riding trails. If they want to regress the bmx scene, they might as well and start at the roots. Its the only proper thing to do.
“Lets see these fixie riders… start racing”
Hoooooly smokes BMXers are uninformed.
I’m pretty sure he meant at a bmx track, if they can do tricks they might as well clear doubles…
and snap their forks off and die
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5Qbanf6MbM
yup, fuck you faggots jumping road bikes.
yes i meant racing. what else would i mean when i say racing?
fixed gears are modified road bikes. road bikes are meant to stay on the road, on the ground, off the ledge, and out of the skatepark. Tempe has a big scene of fixie kids that didnt exist about a year ago. Its weird. Ive raced since I was 9 and rode street/trails since 13, and all my teachers told me bmx was a fad.
what do their teachers tell them? if they even go to school that is
Amen jimmyjames, thank goodness it’s not as strong in Glendale; I think it’s probably more abundant around large colleges/universities.
i found more inspiring comments on the back of a crisp packet than this insipid bullshit
what crisps are you buying?
I agree with you, but not exactly for the same reasons. The main point of yours that I feel is kinda iffy is the pedalling thing. Sure, it looks completely gross when they do that and one reason why BMX is so great is because we flow and shit, but seeing them pedalling all the time isn’t that big of a deal. What I personally dislike the most is just that they’re doing tricks that should be done on a bike meant for that and they’re not even do the tricks well OR doing difficult tricks. I could potentially begin to accept it if they started doing tricks besides barspins and wheelies. The ONLY place where I can think of a way that fixie tricks are better than BMX tricks is that fixies can pedal backwards. That’s it.
the new gsport freecoaster(how many years coming??) can supposedly go into fixed mode, so soon bmxs will have this option too. not that its a great thing, but it will be interesting to see when a bmx’er starts doing fixie tricks and completely demolishing them on the streets. Id like to see a bmx’er do some gay fixie trick then end it off with a flat whip or a REAL barspin haha
fixie = killed
i ride fixed and i do not call it a fixie i feel the term is basically like calling you bike an accersory
i also ride bmx i have my whole life and probally will contiune to. I love riding fixed because it is transportation my bmx for me won’t cut it. I think the majority of the tricks are really lame but the tricks that you cannot do on a bmx are very cool. and example is that fact that backwards is possible, shure you can get a freecoaster but you can’t pick up speed. Fixed gear tricks will eventually fall in to a catorgy like 26″ bmx (SS mtb) will, almost the rebelious mismatched riding. We take some form our roots, and alittle for what has been developed already.
here is a videio you can ponder on till your next rant
http://vimeo.com/7677701
it is real you can tell form the car in the backround and how he is ridning
That trick was gay, youre gay
Holy shit not a fakie wheelie ! nothnig against actual fixed gear bikes, but use bikes for their purpose, bmx for tricks fixies for riding or roads or racing whatever lol, btw looks easier than a fakie manual on a bmx and the comments talk about him as if he is the next matt hoffman of the fixie world lol
Yeah, all that talk about this eddie wonka dude and his stuff isn’t even cool enough to show little kids.
you sure invest a lot of time, energy, and typing on something you supposedly dislike. It reminds me of the overly homophobic toughguy jock who eventually gets caught with a cock in his mouth.
dude, you really need to relax and enjoy riding a bike. why do you have to hate on something you aren’t into? nobody is forcing you to like it so why are you trying to force us to feel the way you do?
Where do you get the idea that I’m trying to force you to feel a certain way? I am not, and Rhys isn’t, we’re simply stating our opinions. And I have a feeling Rhys has already been caught with a cock or two in his mouth. On the other hand, I have never been caught.
yep. thats for sure. dude cares a little too much, sounds as if he had tears in his eyes as he was typing that bullshit.
Couldn’t have said it better myself…
would you shut up adam and stop complaining about these things!!!!!!!
I say just keep fixie riders informed and not to worry about it and if some fixie’s come and try riding a spot your hitting up show them whats up in your own way whatever that may be
If you’re going to talk shit on trials and people doing wheelies while pedaling you should talk shit on people who bitch crank in manuals. Like Garrett Reynolds.
yeah, since garrett’s a huge bitch who’s level of riding is completely disregarded by everybody because of the way he manuals.
tldr
Seriously, no one wants to read you shit talking on fixies for half a page.
I did, no one wants to read you shit talking on a post you supposedly didn’t read
All bikes were fixed or direct drive until the late 20’s and then it wasn’t until the early 40’s that many international competitions allowed a freewheel bike to be part of the field. To say that “purer strains” of what “we” do on BMX bikes are being de-valued by the presence of fixie freestyle or trials is in and of itself ignorant. Everything that you do on a bike and everything that this website celebrates is derivative of fixed gear bicycles. Learn some history and don’t be so sensitive to what other people are doing. Or don’t grow up and keep contributing to another division between people that is both arbitrary and irrelevant to your own happiness
I’m officially banned from this site!
Even if fixed gear riders are borrowing from/emulating bmx riders, isn’t the reason that we have bmx as a sport at all because of kids on Sting Rays borrowing from/emulating motor cross? Just sayin’. And ‘gheys’? Not cool.
12345
To devote yourself to a lost cause is a waste of time, when people on the opposite end of the spectrum already have their minds made up. If hip hop has taught us anything, it’s the “beef” that perpetuates progression.
If you want to use hip hop as an example, some of the most inspired, famous songs of all time have been created as a result of beef. Not that I think the comparison has any validity here.
beef perpetuates beef. especially in hip hop. I have heard very few songs, openly bashing another artist, that is actually done well. and in a smart way too.
fixed gear freestyle isnt smart, and when it is done, it is done horribly.
If I want to a race track and do some hot laps, im sure as hell not getting in a station wagon.
is that rhys from ride uk?
ryde a real byke
MONGOOSE DAWG!!!!!!!!!!!
BMX 4 LYFE
DOIN IT ALL FO DA $$$$$$$$$$$$$
FOOL MONGOOSES R GAY ALL BOUT DAT HUFFY YO!
HUFFY LYFE DOG!
“All bikes were fixed or direct drive until the late 20’s and then it wasn’t until the early 40’s that many international competitions allowed a freewheel bike to be part of the field. To say that “purer strains” of what “we” do on BMX bikes are being de-valued by the presence of fixie freestyle or trials is in and of itself ignorant. Everything that you do on a bike and everything that this website celebrates is derivative of fixed gear bicycles. Learn some history and don’t be so sensitive to what other people are doing. Or don’t grow up and keep contributing to another division between people that is both arbitrary and irrelevant to your own happiness”
Quoted for truth.
okay. so from the 20s to the 40’s fixed gears were the bees knees. but once people caught onto a freewheeling bicycle, it has gone into popularity since then.
Freewheeled bikes – 1940’s to the present. 70 years and counting
Fixed gear bikes – 1920’s – 1940’s. 2008 – hopefully tomorrow. 20 years.
“It must really wind up some of the die hard mountainbikers when they see little twats trying to ride them like BMXes!?.” It does, fuck mountain bikes in the skate park. I ride downhill and BMX and know that you should ride your bike in the intended environment. Riding fixed gears through traffic and down the SF hills is awe inspiring, flying down a trial and boosting 60 foot gaps on a mountain bike is incredible, and BMXers doing what they do is more than amazing, but when you cross them things can become controversial and you might as well depend on your ass getting beat.
By the way I have seen fixies riding on trails. NOT cool. Their goddamn skids wash out corners and they just get in the way. It’s all about your intended environment.
i think the nigga rhys is a bitch when it comes to ledges
ive been riding bmx for 16 years now and im 22. might seem young but ive seen more than the fair share of change in bmx as well as a lot of other people young or old whove been around for a while. i personally dont like to wear any logos at all unless its a company or crew helping me out. i dont really care about what these fixie kids do on their bikes, tricks or riding whatever.
i look at the person on the bike which im sure adam and the other dude both agree on. the thing is, when the person on the bike is decked out in messenger gear (which is still fine by me, really dont care what another dude has on his body) just like the rest of his or her 16 identical looking friends, and they are talking shit to me on the streets of philly when all im doing is hopping curbs full speed doing tabletops, theres a big fucking problem.
i know i have been around longer than all of these stupid trendy fucks. be who you want to be, fine by me, just keep your fucking mouth shut when i pass you on the street.
what id really like to address is the “gangs” of these kids with patches all over them like their the sons of fucking anarchy. you aint on motorcycles kids, i wish we all were actually. then wed have more of a reason to shoot eachother in the face and take this petty shit talking to a mans level. if you have a collective, or a crew or some shit and you wanna name it, fine by me, but dont act hard to me, or tell me “do a bunnyhop you fuckin 12 year old!” while youre playing BIKE POLO IN A FUCKING TENNIS COURT.
so go ahead, u lock me in the face next time you wanna act hard to some kid minding his own business. just remember, when it comes to riding the streets, NO ONE is tougher than bmxers, and when you fuck with one you fuck with a lot more. i sound like a bitch right now sitting on the internet, but thats what the internets for and ive needed somewhere to get this off my back for a while.
God you are so hard and tough, “hopping curbs full speed doing tabletops” at 6 years old.
22, name theif
you won’t use a ferrari for for off roading, so why use a fixie to do bmx tricks?
or even ride it on the road for that matter
this dude wonka jumped 16 stairs and just kills it on a fixed gear….no circus freestyle..smashes the brooklyn banks too….quit bitching you bitches
bitch
I read the entire conversation. There were some valid points, I guess. I ride both bmx and Fixed Gear freestyle. I got into BMX from FGFS actually, I kept braking parts, wheels, saddles, cranks…ect, until I got fed up and bought my friends BMX bike. Riding both a lot, there is deferentially a huge difference between the two sports, visually and physically. Theres things I can do on a fixed gear bike that I can’t yet on a bmx … and the same the other way. It’s definitely different. And no one who legitimately is in the FGFS scene compares, or thinks they are better or our sport is better than BMX. There’s always going to be little kids talking shit, weather tis bikes or Halo.
As for “doing tricks on bikes that there not meant for”. There’re frames, wheels, hubs, stems, and bars being developed and produced for the FGFS world, and they ARE meant for “trick” riding.
“I could potentially begin to accept it if they started doing tricks besides barspins and wheelies.”
So, 180 barspins and 360’s down stair sets don’t count? How about smith and feeble grinds? Nose manuals? Full, and 540 cabs? Fuck, some guys in Japan are doing hop whips(granted on 26″ frames, witch I’m not a fan of).
No hate, I check the come up daily, I re-post BMX videos on my on FGFS blog. I feel that both sides can co-exist. You guys have so valid points tho, the pedaling thing, flow, BMX will always be, and go bigger than FGFS, no doubt, it’s a fact. And it sucks you guys keep having run ins with pretentious fixie riders, they aren’t the real deal. At all.
Adam, ignore all these idiots that are too lazy and/or stupid to read an entire page or just don’t care about this issue and think everyone should just “have fun on their bikes” and jerk each other off.
Fuck that. I ride a $600 track bike for transportation and my BMX for it’s intended purpose. I fucking hate all these mountain bikers and fixed gear riders trying to do grinds or whatever dumb shit it is they’re trying.
Thank you for caring enough to point out that doing barspins, tailwhips, or any other BMX trick on something other than a BMX is a hideous disgrace to BMX and in the long run hurts BMX companies who might’ve sold a BMX bike to some kid instead of a fucking track bike.
Dude why would you ride Track bike in the Street? It was made for the track you Fixster! Your so lame. I bet you work on your skids too… Go buy some more BMX bikes to make up for your sins…
get a road bike so you can coast
Because they require less maintenance than a road bike, look better, and are lighter. Yeah, “your” so lame too, buddy.
Ooti, couldn’t you just use a single-speed(free coaster) road bike? It’d be just as much maintenance as your bmx, look/weigh the same as a fixie, and you could coast?
and who are you to say what can and can’t be done on a bike…adam you sound like a little schoolgirl…
a $600 dollar track bike is a piece of shit……why don’t you do your “commute”on your bmx?……
A $600 Surly works just fine for my purposes and commuting on it is a lot faster. Thanks for your opinion.
BOTTOM LINE FOLKS
FIX GEAR IS GAY …..Ballerina twirls,bars ,gay spandex, gay people , the ANNOYING TREND it is that will soon die ,people jumpin the fad ,road bikes borderline cock sucking
ITS GAY…..
if you rode bmx long enough and got made fun of because it wasnt a fad ,and now seeing this movement because of streetwear and the the public , its a joke
common ….even i showed a VIDEO of a bmx edit full of tricks and a gay fixed gear edit doin twirls TO A NORMAL PERSON not knowng both GENRES
guess what ! they said the road bike shit trick fucks LOOK GAY
BOTTOM LINE : FIXIES ARE GAY ….stick to your velodroming spandex brother hipster cock sucking shit
ALSO
why is it funny that FIXIE BLOG GUYS CHECK THIS BMX BLOG and other bmx blogs
to get tricks and our style and what we do …..mtb guys also
WE or I NEVER go onto to their forums or blogs …..its like getting caught looking at GAY PORN
Common you fags ..you know it …you love our tricks ….but you cant grab the style and flow
leave the spandex messenger bullshit at its place …stop DOING BMX TRICKS …you fools LOOK GAY
Derek said Garrett Reynolds bitch cranks, which I found very amusing! Maybe u don’t pay very much attention to his riding or others, but watch his Nike part & please tell me where he bitch cranks…maybe after a backwards manny, but that’s part of the trick.
These kids on TCU need to pay attention to what is being said, not just skip over every other sentence. Adam never said what can or can’t be done on a bike…he only said he didn’t agree with it. It’s a matter of opinion ‘get over it’…so get over it & go ride ur fixie.
he bitch cranked every run at dew tour on that long manual.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZOwaqgeWFU
if fixed gears are so gay why are BMX companys supporting them and making frames ?
money
Edwin rides a fix
Tyrone williams rides fixed at times
it is a bike 2 wheels ride it
to riemind the bmxers bmx started because of riding your bike in a wrong way it too was looked at as gay.
saw some ride bmx uk team challenge video and one of the team challenges was..kiss one of your team riders…and they do…..NOW THATS GAY.
YOU ARE GAY. HUFFY DOESN’T MAKE A FIXIE THEREFOR FIXIES ARE GAY
dude fixies are so gay i totally think that there so gay lolllll!!!!11its like totally gay! bmxrs get all the pussayyyyy tricks on a bike not meant for tricks is like tooooootally gayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
ADAM: “bmx is so core. no one is allowed to do what they want, the come up makes the rules and no one is allowed to have their version of a good time unless it is within the laws of the “pure” “core” bmx bros at come up blog decide. we need bmx police to put fixie trickers in jail.”
lol thats how you are all coming across right now. and YOU WOULDNT BE RIDIGN THOSE BIKES ON “SKATE SHIT” IF SOMEONE DIDNT TAKE THEM OFF THE BMX TRACK AND DO SOMETHING UNCONVENTIONAL WITH THEM TO BEGIN WITH. anyways isnt BMX STEALING FROM SKATEBOARDING ANYWAYS. (sarcasm above btw for those of you who didnt catch on) i ride bmx, im a regular come up reader, and i still think this whole thing is so gay.
HODER RIDES FIXED FREESTYLE!
lol that would be interesting for about 5 seconds, then id kill myself.
i didnt read this, its freestyle. you can tell mike laird his tricks are gross it doesnt change that.
i still think doing tricks on fixies is completely gay and uglier then shit. i whole heartedly feel that way. cuz well fuck, i ride a bmx and and fixed. but my bmx is for cruisin the streets and shreddin shit, and my fixed is for just getting on it, going on fuckin awesome rides, staying in shape, and both wheels stay on the ground AT ALL TIMES!!
yo jd… now if only you could get both of those bmx wheels to stay in the air AT ALL TIMES. LOL. bmx is gay, you tiny cock kids on childrens bikes stole all the skate spots and wrecked the ledges with your fruity little peg grinds. bmx will always bow to worship skateboarding so you have no right to talk shit on anything.
sup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW9Z4s55ysw&feature=related
this was by far one of the most confusing things to read through-you guys and your opinions just ruined reading anymore literature for me. cram it and get pissed at your damn video games instead of posting your garbage next time
all types of bicycles have been developed over the years to the point they are now for their own good reasons.
it defies logic and good taste to use the wrong kind of bike for any given environment or purpose.
shocks, big wheels, and knobby tires to bomb a mountain
a titanium carbon fiber alien to keep up with lance armstrong
big bars, thick axles, and a frame a dump truck cant hurt by driving over it to do tricks in the street
a short frame, short cranks, and zero offset forks to do tricks in a parking lot
you get the idea
like it was mentioned in the article, it just wouldnt be cool if someone tried to get in the tour de france on a bmx
use a flatland bike to ride the trails… wtf?
use a brakeless 4 pegger to bomb a mountain… wtf?
use a road bike to do street and flatland tricks… wtf?
i laugh everytime i see one of these thumb fucking post. what does it matter if dudes on track bikes have the same tricks as dudes on BMX. it is still so different. BMX dudes just hate to be trendy, yet there boy goes out and picks one up and now its cool. just ride your fucking bike. no one is bothering you. worry about dudes better then you on a BMX bike and not a track bike. fucking baby
your all cunts
Tricks? Why are people doing this? It all needs to stop. All tricks must stop now!
Why would anyone in their right mind try to ride a bicycle away from the ground? Everything in nature is pulling that bike back toward the Earth’s surface. Makes me mad. I am SO MAD right now! Did God put wings on bikes? No! He put them on airplanes. How can bikes moving in every which way not upset your aesthetic sensibility? Two wheels should remain rolling forever forward planted firmly upon the ground. THE END GOODNIGHT!
i love how this idiot is trying to sound intelligent all the while using the word ghey.
what a hateful fuck.
Bikes shouldn’t grind, leave it to the skateboarders. Also, barspins on fix are lame. Fix is too slow and low. Need to go faster and bigger if they ever want to get respect, and quit doing those pirouette spin things. Fakie shit is where they can shine, cause they can add speed going backwards. Imagine fakie wheelie to a hop up a set w a 180, mebe wheelie out.
props on your politically correct spelling of the word gay you ghey faggot!
but seriously you come up faggots need to get of your pedistole so i can cum up on face bookaki style! i love bmx and think fixies are fucking stupid as well but who gives a fuck about someone else doing there own thing? i hate when skateboarders discriminate against bmx so why the fuck would i give a shit about some ass hole doing bmx tricks on his stupid fucking track bike? seriously you guys are a bunch of ignorant east coast niggers! no offense to any black people. fuck your stupid ass rant about fixies! i think that everyone on here already here agrees bmx is sicker thats why there on a bmx site. i hope you have to listen to my stupid ass rant like i had to listen to yours.
can you tell me some other sites similar to yours other than transworld and vital?
I’m in Brooklyn and I see the gheys all the time. They are all cool people but when they ride their fixies it is fugly. There is no flow what so ever and when they hop you get to watch the seat fist the taint. Shit aint right. The only trick that looks good is when they spin around on the rear wheel a bunch of times… fuck that, might as well get some figure skates. Shit is lame. I’ve seen many amazing photos of them doing things on things. Any loser with a bfa can make a wide angle digi photo look good, but in real life it looks pathetic, chunky and clunky.
Yes, some of them are doing things that have never been done before. Yes, some of them are doing things that I would never do on a BMX bike. To counter that I say, some things haven’t been done before because we have the wisdom to know that it would be pointless to do them and as far as ballsy things it says more about the rider than the bike and from what I have learned all of the dudes doing crazy shit are just crazy dudes and were all former adequate bmxers before they turned ghey.
For me being a fantastic fixie freestyler is akin to winning the gold medal in the special olympics.
i agree with adam… and im going to continue to beat the fuck out of any of these fixie pussies and i find riding MY spots…
Oh and on top of that they get flat tires every 5 minutes doing 180’s off of a 3 set… something aint right. A 3 set is about 12 inches high, there is no reason to get a flat doing that. Do the environment a favor and stop. I could be a fat assed whale of a man and hop off a 4 set and not get flats on a bmx. So what they have resorted to is wider rims… oh you mean like bmx rims? or mountain bike rims? Uhhh, yes. They want to make the bike as much of a bmx bike as possible without it technically being a bmx bike. All of the innovations happening on fixed gear bikes now already happened 10-20 years ago on bmx and mountain bikes. Hey, I’ve got an idea… let’s put a bike together with square wheels and through our failure realize that the wheels should in fact be round like everyone elses! Retards.
I WOULD RATHER GRIND A RAIL THAN GO TO HEAVEN
also whats the point of having the most a devolved bike that is less functional than an exercise bike?
freewheeling was invented for a reason, efficiency for the rider so they can coast down a hill.
caveman bike nah meanzzzzzz tuck no hander to river dance on my tyrezzzz
I’ll give anyone respect if they are good at something, BMX, FGFS, Scootering, Cake-Baking, it doesn’t matter. I feel bad that yall have had run-ins with arrogant “fixie gheys,” but any group has assholes, no one can help that.
What I don’t get is why you wish people would read this and stop doing tricks on their fixed gear, and start riding a BMX…First off doesn’t that bring all the arrogant assholes that you dislike into your sport? And I like trying tricks on anything, I don’t care if anyone thinks my fixed gear tricks aren’t pretty, or flow like they would on a BMX. If I wanted to ride BMX I would. I don’t see why there is so much hate over the shape of a bike. FGFSrs are not trying to be BMXrs, not trying to impeach on your sport at all, I respect your riding, it’s sad that you can’t respect ours.
Who said aything about brining them into bmx? I just want them to fuck off.
ieez heated conversation! I’ve ridden BMX, mountain bikes, road bikes and I’ve sold all of em and now I’ve got a fixie. I respect all forms of riding, ok not so much towards roadies. Grow the fuck up and stop hating. Show each other a bit of respect
I’ve always had a ton of respect for bmx, but you sir are a fucking joke, your site is a fucking joke, and normally I don’t like to get involved in these sort of things, but this needed to be addressed.
What was the point of this post? Could you of not just left your opinion to yourself, or even in your group of friends? No one ever asked your opinion. No one on Fixed gear bikes is trying to be a bmxer, of corse we take influence from bmx, I feel like if anything you would find that cool. I have a number of friends who ride bmx, and we get along just fine. Adam, you’re a disgrace to bmxers everywhere. Why don’t you do something progressive with your fucking blog.
Blogs can be opinionated, that’s kind of the point. No one ever asked his opinion but it’s his blog and he has a right to share it. Nothing ever said Adam doesn’t get along just fine with fixie riders, he just doesn’t agree with what they’re doing. I don’t think he’s a disgrace for having an opinion, it’s not really progressive but what else do you have in mind?
Over it!!
Although this did give me something to read while I was enjoying my hot chocolate.
Keep up the good posts Adam. Haha I love reading arguments.
adam……GET OFF THE FUCKING SACK!!! if you dont like fixies then just keep it to your self. im tired of you bitching about this whole thing. just ride you bike and thats it. just like you think fixies are gay, fixie riders probably think bmx is gay. so just do you and stop compalining about it. a bikes a bike!
comment 100 – mcfleece is a fuckin twat
“the sword” the FBM track frame is what kept that company alive…if it wasn’t for that fbm would be done. true story. stop whining about something some one else is doing. if everyone that rode fixed rode bmx you guys would still complain saying there are too many people that ride bmx wah wah wah it never ends
So first off WTF is up with all the homophobic slurs on here? Not gay myself but god damn there is a lot of hate speech on here. It seems like the only people on here that are really pissed don’t give a fuck about fixed gear bikes one way or another, they just hate a few riders that they have met personally. Way to classify an entire group of people based on interactions with a select few. Way to lash out at a trend because your not the center of attention. Well, I don’t fuck with tricks on my fixed gear but I got friends that do and I can respect the skill that it takes from the people that are pushing the envelope. BTW, all this shit about the bikes not being designed for tricks, remind me what BMX(Bicycle Motocross) stands for. I’ll give you a hint, it does not stand for “bikes designed for the exclusive and expressed purpose of doing tricks.” No matter if you or I like it or not FGFS is looking more and more like its here to stay. At least for people who live in urban areas where rent is expensive as SHIT and having room for a ton of bikes isn’t an option because they don’t live with their moms, having one bike that you can easily do a 20 mile daily commute on, get groceries with, and then head off to a spot to fuck with some tricks for a few hours is pretty attractive. Why am I posting this? I can’t sleep and I’ve heard this same argument from friends that ride bmx before and as far as I can see it is nothing more than either fear of others encroaching on a certain, “scene,” or bad interactions with a small number of assholes.
fag.
go do your fucking groceries, go commute, go suck that cock. But when you get to the spot, get the fuck on a bmx, faggot.
YEAH FUCK THOSE GIRL PANT WEARING FAGGOT FIXED GEAR HOMOS. THE BIG BIG BMX SHOW THAT WAS ABOUT HOW GAY FIXED GEAR BIKES ARE WAS HILARIOUS…….DONT BE A HOMO DO NOT QUIT RIDING A 20 INCH BMX BIKE O BECOME A TRENDY HIPSTER FIXIE FAGGOT!
YEAH EAT THEM BOOGERS BITCHES
how complicated is that?
track ikes are nice, but not to do that tricks with it.
point.
how complicated is that?
track bikes are nice, but not to do tricks with it.
point.
I agree that this whole “fixie” fad is nothing more than a fashion statement for a lot of kids who pushed mongo foot and couldn’t kick flip and were too scared to hit monstrous dirt trails. Like anything else, once they realize that they’re wasting their time doing whatever it is that they do, they’ll stop. I’m sure everyone has friends who stopped doing (insert random hobby) because they did it to be cool. People who have less than genuine motivation toward doing something will eventually stop.
For the REAL CYCLISTS who enjoy a track bike for what it is, they’ll stay stuck on a track bike, because as those of you who have ridden one and know what I mean, it’s addictive. I personally ride fixed because I find it to be a more strenuous form of exercise than a geared road bike. After getting used to riding fixed, I’ll be riding on a track at some point in the future. That doesn’t change that I also want a road bike at some point to train for a triathlon.
I think some of the tarckers out there are pretty sick, and although it’s related to BMX it has its own unique roots. Like anything in it’s inception, there will be critics. I laugh at you guys because you can’t see the forest from the trees.
Just like the American Muscle die hards that miss out on the fun of driving imports, you’re only cheating yourself by being one dimensional.
You know whats good about the fixed gear scene? its not populated by whiney little kids like this blog….
ALL FIXIE RIDERS PUT DILDOS IN THEIR SEAT TUBES. THIS IS A PROVEN FACT. RIDE HUFFYS 4 LYFE.
Lol but for real man. Everything on the planet is gay in the eyes of someone. How many people a day see a group of bmx riders riding down the road and say “look at those fags” shit happens every day.
but come on… fixies?
come on.
It’s funny how you think your world is cool and everyone else’s isn’t, grow up.
I’m not into fixies either but to say they shouldn’t do tricks because you don’t like it is just retarded.
As far as fixies not being meant for tricks look for the video of Thomas Edison barspining on you tube and you’ll see it’s not a new thing. Plus remember that originally BMXs were made for racing then people started doing tricks cos it’s fun.
So after 30 years of getting shit from skateboarders for stealing all their tricks, the style, the fashion and pretty much everything else, BMXers still feel the need to talk down on everyone else for doing the same? Maybe it’s because BMXers will always be dorky kids riding 80s bikes? Grow the fuck up and stop the hate. BMXers are NOT superior, no matter how many rants you posts or how cool you find yourself and each other! We do skateboard tricks on a bicycle motocross bike, for fucks sake, and that entitles us to look down on others??
I ride a fixed gear and have to say that I agree with quite alot that you had to say. For me fixies are all about speed, getting from A to B as quickly as possible with the minimum amount of fuss. After all this is why bike messengers started using them in the first place! I feel that the freestyle fixie thing is just diluting the purity of the scene, and trying to perform basic BMX tricks on an oversized bike just looks a little lame! However i feel I have to take issue with some of the comments regarding the fashion surrounding fixies. What is the difference between a bunch of guys riding fixies together “hang in packs of gheys, defined in dress sense” and seeing a bunch of kids at a spot on their BMXs??? All cultures, be it BMX, Skateboarding, Surfing, Snowboarding etc develop certain styles, its natural, but nobody seems to have a go at them!!!!
Get a motor on your shit and grow a set. I will say though after reading this, I am going to trade in my cr250 for a cr80 because smaller wheels make it easier to do tricks. lulz
That’s a little weak. That’s just the difference between a 20″ and an 18″ bmx bike. It’s more like you shouldn’t use a Hayabusa to stunt with, just go fast with it like it’s designed. No need to jump speed bumps like it’s cool. I almost have an issue with all motorbike stunters who use race bikes, doesn’t make a lot of sense, an SV is more suited to it; or a supermoto is even better.
Adam you are the most insecure piece of shit. Why do you CARE? Who cares if it doesn’t look as cool? The ONLY thing that matters is that the dude on the bike is having FUN. That’s all that should ever matter! but you need to make it seem so much bigger, so much more epic. It’s a fucking bike! Who fucking cares what you ride? If I want to try to backflip a tricycle, back the fuck up and let me break my ass. Why do you “take offense” to someone doing tricks on something that’s not BMX? All the time you spend pointing your finger at nothing could be better spent learning to bunny hop you fucking jizz bucket.
You guys should whine to your mothers. Stop posting shit like this on the internet.
The way a22 rides is similar to fixie trick riding, Slow and very boring. With that being said fuck both of them fixie is the new fruit booting, it will die out real soon and all these bullshit street wear fixie shops will go under and all the fixie trick faggits will regret the last 3 years of their life.
You must not be old enough to know that everyone said the EXACT SAME shit about bmx when it was new. Just a stupid fad that will die.
the real problem with all that shit is the culture and lifestyle behind. i live in the boston area and i see college-age people all the time riding fixies, especially in the cambridge area. for some reason it all comes with this attitude like “hah look at him on a kids bike its small n shit. i have an adult bike that takes me places and i can also cruise in style” I think they started the whole tight jeans fad too. i dunno im just sayin i have gotten looks from fixie riders like we’re immature punks that dont know style. maybe its cool to be wearing neon-colored nikes, tight jeans, black pea coat, with a mustache, straightened hair, and thick glasses. oh and a vintage leather messenger bag to hold my laptop as i pedal to panera bread
Just ride your fucking bike, if you don’t like “tricks” on a fix gear, don’t do them, it’s simple. I don’t like riding fixed so I just have a single speed, maybe I’ll make a 6 page blog though on why I think I’m right…get over yourself.
CCCE the girl jeans fad was started by jamie thomas about 8 years ago… it migrated to retro garage rock kids, then on to more wide stream appeal. strange thing is that i see plenty of bmx’ kids rockin that terrible style too.
way over flared nonsense. just like this thread.
bmx is it’s own thing now. we all respect that, but face it… bmx stole far to many skate tricks and appropriated far to many trick names from skateboarding.
one cant be calling the pot black in this case. i mean seriously, you cant actually smith grind a bike, you dont have trucks.
this original post was obviously an attempt at trolling , we took the bait and gave this guy the satisfaction.
pretty funny when it comes down to it.
hate all you want. just remember back in 1983 when bmx was the new thing ( i remember it well because i was around, and flatlanding in that era … holy fuck im old.) everyone and i mean EVERYONE had one. every long haired skid, every mohawked punk, every football jock line backer jumped on board, then like everything it died out… people went on to different things, skateboarding, motor cross , or a ton of other shit. point is , is that influxes of people are both good and bad. they as a whole move things forward… then the people that were in it for the style leave , and the remainder continue on. everything ebbs and flows. we all know this , and its something to acknowledge.
do i subscribe to girl jeans , ass cracks, neon flair and ironic vanilla ice hair styles? nope. do i see it in my city… oh fuck ya… do i have a good chuckle when i see that shit? OH FUCK YA but i dont hate them and i try to not paint with a broad brush .
i get along with most bmx dudes in my city. they dont feel threatened in fact its the opposite they are almost always down with it and have fun along side me.
its all on how you perceive it.
“hate all you want. just remember back in 1983 when bmx was the new thing”
90% of the children on this board weren’t born for another decade
im pretty sure girl jeans and shit led the way to every nigga and there mom wearing skinnies now
try the 70’s and 80’s dumb ass
Seriously what is your beef? It seems to me you’re being very narrow minded and not looking at the whole picture.
“Really publicizing our exchange here is being done for the purpose of those who ride fixies and do tricks on them. To sort of explain to them what is wrong with what they’ve chosen to do, and to help them understand why the majority of BMXers consider them so undesirable”
Are you for real!? Quit looking down on these guys because of what they enjoy doing.
I ride bmx and fixed gear and I’m not saying I’m great at either, I do it because I enjoy both.
Get off your high horses, stop hating.
Alright, I’ve solved our problem 10 fold. I have never seen someone riding a fixed gear bicycle in my area before, let alone doing tricks on it. Now that I’ve seen some videos though I’m ashamed even to ride my road bike, even though it coasts. What got me more than the constant pedaling, was that their clearly directly taking our tricks. Our first tricks in BMX were air tricks, such as tucks, tweaks eventually xups and turndowns/lookback things. Barspins and flatground 180s and stuff came about 4 or 5 years into it when people started making the flatground freestyle semi popular. But withing a year or so from that flatland freestyle ended up with a shitload of tricks compared to how long fixed gear has been around as well as its intentional usage was.
Bottom line, Even if their bikes were legit, They are taking too long to push their “sport”. And yes keep telling them it’s a sport. They can have that name as with bmx we’ve strived to have it not called a sport. BMX is not a sport at all, Its a way of life. Fixies can be a sport/trend, but they’ll never be a true way of life, because people spontainiously combust after about 10 years of riding a fixie, at least I hope.
So I said at the top I had a solution. Well if they want to steal what we do and fail at it. Everyone everywhere must now look for track and or roadbike races, Anywhere. And enter… On BMX. Just take off your pegs and brakes and put on a really hard gearing. I run 30 10 already, but I’m thinking of grabbing a 9 soon. I have out run so many road bikers who wear spandex its not even funny. On straight aways I can easily pass them with my current gear. The only thing they have us on is up hill. But we’ll just evolve stronger legs and win anyways. We must all do this. I had a friend win a triathalon, he rocked the swimming and running, but the BMX winning the bike race made him a hero. Lets all do this.
BMX road racing.
What do you mean YOUR tricks? lol you are such a douchebag!
I’m game
unlike most of the above posts i read the entire thing and have no problem with the opinions in the conversation, i don’t agree with them, but you’re entitled to them. I do however have a few issues with the article itself. First off, it doesn’t go anywhere. you spend as many words rambling about who your trying to get your point accross to, as you do making the point. Secondly, you really only address one issue, specifically that pedaling during tricks is ugly. ok, that’s fair, but anything else? Lastly, the type of fixed gear freestyle you’re commenting on is already dated. the days of jerky hip tricks and parking lot edits are coming to an end, check out Ed Wonka (someone mentioned him above). That dude charges shit and is at the forfront of taking these tricks to stairsets and ledges… all with clean style.
You obviously didnt read the whole thing like you said, he brought up so many points besides the pedaling.
And he also said that fixies are a trend and will pass, soething you two apparently agree on seeing as your admitting the fundamentals of yur “sport” are already gone. people will always be blasting box jumps and quarters, we’re here to stay.
“the days of jerky hip tricks and parking lot edits are coming to an end,”
“soething you two apparently agree on seeing as your admitting the fundamentals of yur “sport” are already gone. people will always be blasting box jumps and quarters, we’re here to stay.”
I find this funny, because I think most of us can at least agree that this is probably the only part of fixie riding that is even cool lol, your bikes arent meant to get air, so lame…
Anyone hating on any form cycling is a Femme.
Take the tampon out slowly ladies…
End of.
this is kind of retarded that we have figures in our industry like you making really really dumb points. i mean, reading this article has reminded me of all the interviews bush gave when he was president, the stupid shit he would use to justify his irrelevant opinions, that made no sense, and embarressed everyone else
hah I have a story to tell…
so ill make it quick, anyways I was at a party, a friend of my girlfriend threw and there musta been like 30 fixies in the hallway all over the place, and some skaters, and my ONE bmx bike haha it was so funny. It was funny to listen to the fixie riders lol, I actually started talking to one cuz he noticed I had a bmx bike and I thought he might be intereted in bmx. Definantly not, it was more like talking to a jahovas witness or a mormon whose trying to convert you to their religion, it was RE-FUCKING-DICULOUS haha he went so far as to saying “you dont wanna be the last guy to get one, it the new thing blah blah blah” and “dont you wanna be the first dude to do a backflip on a fixie, wouldnt that be awesome, you do all that stuff on a bmx, why not a fixie” I was like No dude, actually no I dont fucking want to ride around on a fixie, nor do I want to do a backflip on a fixie. it was some of the most retarded shit ive ever heard, it actually started to really piss me off lol
rant over
I thought you were going to make it quick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b36Yi-Pb1wM
hey at least girls were doin it ….if it was MEN …then its gay like always
BMX is Christianity, they believe in a talking snake.
U MORMON ASS FUCKER GAY ALLA DAY GIRL LET ME TAKE U TO DA MOVIES AND TOUCH UR BOOBIES FUCK OFF GAYLORDS U KNOW UR GONNA BURN U KRASPY BLLOD ASS NOGGAS
cut to the fucking point… post a shorter version. then i’ll read it.
Such a retarded post for so many reasons… are you two like 12 years old? I don’t really care for either discipline enough to vilify the other one, apparently you guys do though… it’s weird though that bmxicans are claiming to be original when half the shit they do is stolen from skateboarding anyway.
Well keep on complaining about something that’s not going away, and keep on talking on the internet and not actually saying anything to anyone’s faces.
gaye
http://www.bronx.nl/catalog/images/buttfucking_bmx_boys_r18_productimg.jpg
fixies are for dixies richard gear loves them…………lol lol lol lol …..oh your mom is a taco eater whhooo whoooo i bet u are devastated well grow up fixies are for dixies go brett favre punts and bunts live large and dont forget about dre
um….with big ass skinny wheels wouldnt fixie bikes break more often? more flat tires? bent rims? wouldnt the frames break from hard impacts? arent people who ride fixies trying too hard to be different (cool)?
actually sorry im not hating a bike is a bike but um…..it looks very silly and i will always laugh at anyone riding a fixie and as i see someone pedaling one down the street ill whip by them n throw a barspin just for shits n giggles
best trick oh yeaaaaahhh….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOjx6qI2sIk
how the fuck can you do a smith grind on a bike, do bikes have trucks? wait, did some one re-appropriate something, what the fuck is going on? people doing things on the wrong equipment? OH NO!
how did bmx start? please tell me the history of your sport kind industry spokes-person…
100 percent motocross. I dont own up to grinds in BMX. Thats skateboarding. And I respect that. That being said I’m pegless. But yes BMX stands for Bicycle Motocross. I’m surpised you didnt know this.
Theres so much history on BMX, just watch RAD the movie. BMX was kids who watched motocross racers and couldnt afford motorbikes so they rode their little bikes.
Its like skateboarding, It derived from surfing. But I’m pretty damned sure skateboarding is far more satisfying to watch than surfing.
Honestly, Fixies wont go away. Their just going to always be ugly as sin bikes, and be pretty much useless unless in any function due to the fact you cant manuevre as well as a bike that coasts. IE 10 speed road bikes. Why isnt anyone doing tricks on road bikes? Because roadbikes still hold their place in what they do. What does tour de france have? Fixies are for sprints around tracks indoors though so I guess i’m way off whatever. Their still more difficult to do that than a road bike, I would ride a roadbike in a track instead anyday, at least you can coast and figure your shit out if you swerve. Its way easier to fall off huge huge bikes than bmx, I learned that the other day going down a huge hill on my 10 speed. hit a rock and the damn thing went all squirrly. Pissed me off because I knew my bmx wouldnt have even noticed the rock, let alone would I lose control like that even from a bigger rock, or a log.
a real smith grind by a fixed rider:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY5HizxelXc#t=1m34s
I like how this entire thing comes down to what is cool and whats not. This is something that yes people care about, but it seems like a conversation that is entirely what is aesthetically pleasing.
Not sure if this has been posted in the comments yet, but the best fixie trick riders are NOT hipsters from NYC. They are little gymnastic girls, and I bet you BMXers can’t touch this shit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b36Yi-Pb1wM
haha… yeah… i suppose thats what the hipsters aspire to be like?
[to the tune of "Cat Scratch Fever";}
Well I don't know where they come from
But they sure are ghey
I hope they going away'
And I don't know how they do it
But they sure do it bad
I hope they can stop with no brakes
Fixed Gear Faggot
Get out of my wasy!
This shit is epic. Made my lunch time that more exciting. All the bickering… so great.
The best part is that its all pointless. Neither “culture” is hurting anyone. Just do as i do and laugh at them. If the hipster’s-fixie-riding-poser-douche “scene” wasn’t around, who would i laugh at? Eventually they will realize that they are actually kind of pathetic and the fad will die.
I don’t understand why anyone thinks they have the right to say what can and can’t be done on a bike, if it can be done, do it, end of story. And what’s with all the “faggot” and “gay” comments, really? Those type of comments reside in the deepest, darkest pit of ignorance, read a book and get educated
Let me summerize this for anyone who didn’t read the article.
My toy is cooler than your toy.
Hmm..
I wish this was about bashing on Roadies.
Hate those pricks.
I like bikes,though.
Well I’m off to get a Krusty Burger.
This is fucking trivial. what a waste of 00101101’s. Find something meaningful to debate you bunch of asswipes
I do all your stupid bmx tricks on my time trial bike, bishes.
That’s the best comment on this page.
while i may agree with most of you guys have said, and i generally hate anything to do with the whole fixed gear “scene”, you both come off like elitist assholes. trying to sound elegant in your writing can’t mask the fact that you had no real arguments other than the blatantly obvious. yeah, fixed gears are trendy as fuck, yeah, fixed gear freestyle is lame and looks terrible. but you know what? bmx is lame as fuck these days too.
alright, so , dig…i ride a “fixie” but i’m not all snotty about it. point being i don’t know much about bmx. i do know it stands for boys moto cross. shouldn’t they be used strictly for moto cross? and by boys? whats with all these people bastardizing the whole sport by using them for tricks?
kimshisquat: Not being an asshole, but wanted to let you know that BMX stands for “Bicycle Motocross.” That being said, it’s kind of a legitimate argument against people who say that FGFS is not legitimate because FG is for going fast, not for doing tricks. BMX started as a *racing* comp, not trick comp, but we can see how that went.
As a point towards FGFS: It’s *so* convient to have my ride-around/commute cycle the same bicyle for having fun just pullin’ some tricks. And with some guys who are trying to ride fast and hard in the FGFS scene (see Wonka and LaMarche), I can see FGFS not being so lame in the near future, and becoming a legitimate style of FS riding that’s just as fuckin’ rad (or at least par) as the other styles.
nerds.
Why should anyone care about your opinions?
the ability to do tricks on fixed gear bicycles exists, clearly, this discussion would not have been written if it didn’t. nor would the 1968 hit movie Quicksilver, staring kevin bacon, be in existence. which would be a real bummer. so people are going to do tricks on them. who cares? who are you to tell them they can’t, or they shouldn’t? ride your bikes. save the delicacy of written word for something important. something that we should care about. jerktwats.
fixies are shit end of and the people who do gay stunts on them thinkin ther starting a new era of bike riding. mate me grandad can do tha shit on his penny farthing
Article was immature nonsense – people used to have these kind of arguments in high school, and it was pretty boring then.
gay?????
Could someone on a fixie please try to 180 a 5 stair and post the video on youtube? Thank you in advance.