i was just wondering if anyone rides track bikes or fixed gears(fixies) cause well unis are kindof fixies. i have a 70’s viner track bike… with no holes(for front and rear brakes for those of you who have no idea what i mean). anyone else?
I have a nice little fixie I built up out of a dumpster bike i found a couple of years ago and I love it to death. Have you been over to fixedgeargallery.com to drool at the photos yet?
My baby:
yea i have, im also friends with the owner of black sheep cycles who deals in mostly fixies. you can see my baby in my myspace pics. www.myspace.com/refuze
sweet bars!
I ride an IRO
Those are the original bars to the bike, which was some kind of upright cruiser, flipped upside down and backwards, and taped. That IRO is sweet, I’d love to build up one of their bikes someday. Right now I have an older trek 930 MTB that is going to get a fixed/free eno eccentric hub wheel one of these days, along with a rigid form and cool bars of some kind.
To any uni riders out there who haven’t tried fixed gear, do so as soon as you can- it’s the perfect complement to uni.
[QUOTE=mboulanger]
That IRO is sweet, I’d love to build up one of their bikes someday./QUOTE]
Its a really nice ride for the $…
I paid $550
almost as good as a friend’s CSK 
-
here is a pic of my baby
I converted an old univega I found in someone’s trash pile into a fixie.
im going to get a better pic tonight of my roomate, girlfriend, and my fixies, along with my busted ass duct taped unicycle.
I have an old specialized hard rock frame built up frankenbike style as a fixie, although I’m not as hardcore as you all, riding without brakes. I use mine mostly for running errands, so I have a rear rack and panniers I use for carrying groceries and stuff.
mother dearest made me put a front brake on mine a couple of weeks ago after some dumbass in a car came and inch to hitting me and when I tryed to dodge him, I crashed into a curb.
And its kind of nice to have an “oh shit button”
incase something happens
my fist fixie i ever rode had a front brake but then i bought my own fuji"track" and it had the option but i opted not too. my girlfriend got the same one and got a front brake. i hated everyone telling to put a brake on so i searched for a true track frame that had no holes in the fork, or the rear. and sold the fuji to my roomate, and bought the 70’s Viner track frame, and built it up, with 49t sugino 75 crankset, njs 48cm nitto track bars, champs grips,mavic m3 wheels, 17t eai. cog (its very hilly where i live)
do you live in the city?
i used to, i lived in charlotte, now im in winston salem… and there are huge hills here and it sucks… i used to ride 36miles to work on my track bike, but i havnt even ridden since i moved here… i just ride the ol busted uni… not long distance just around.
You ride bicycles and don’t like hills? 
I hate living far from the mountains.
we dont have gears silly! that makes hills a bit of a challenge. more so big hills!
Yes, but you have a single gear. So put a different ring and/or cog on your bike and ride the hills. I don’t know if I would enjoy cycling so much if it weren’t so challenging.
Long ago I used to. Even with olympic medallist from NL and Australia.
This pic was a training on worlds steepest track.
(though there are two). It was in Gent in Belgium.
Using a track bike on the street is insane.
Using a track bike (so without brakes or freewheel) on the track (and compete) is much more safe than with brakes (what would be the dumbest thing to do).
So, wait, what’s so great about a fixed gear bicycle?
Is it fixed at a 1:1 gear ratio? 1.5:1?
does the hub freewheel so you don’t have to pedal down hills?
–and does the hub “brake” when you pedal backwards?
Is there something special that I’m missing?
ok i ride with 17t cog, with a 49t chainring… i use my bike to commute… not for training or anything like that so i dont always enjoy the hills… a fixed gear is just that, fixed… there is no coasting at all… you pedal forwards you go forwards, you backwards you go backwards… get it? the gear depends on the cog and chainring you choose, when you stop pedaling the bike will make you continue…its more efficient, since you dont coast you get to places alot faster… and they are tons of fun! if you enjoy unis then a fixed gear bike is essentially the same, just with another wheel… you can stand in one place without stepping off… yo can ride backwards … you can ride backwards in circles…with or without hands… i can also do nohanded wheelies, from a dead stop… you should try to ride one if you ever get the chance you will never want to ride with a freewheel again!!