Title: Fixie: bikes without brakes

Date: 2012-12-02 15:26:13

Recently I found something that is really cool! It’s called fixed gear bike, or “死飞” in Chinese. Basically, it is just a bike but the rear wheel and gear are fixed. That’s the major point unlike an ordinary bike. Because of it, the crank would be always rotating regardless whither your bike is moving forward or backward!

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When I first understand the word fixed gear bike, I actually learned from the Chinese phrase “死飞”. It is actually a very ugly artificial word in Chinese. I was wondering what is “死飞”? why people loves it? Because when the rear wheel and rear gear are fixed together, it will make a riding very uncomfortable! And what was worse, according the information on wiki, a fixed gear bike usually has no brakes!Which is also puzzled me! No brakes, how can the bike be slowed down?

So I googled, and found some introduction video on the Youtube. Which is really great! The first thing is how to ride a fixed gear bike. The biggest cons for fixie seems is also the biggest pros for it! The bike can be ride moving forward and also, backward!! It’s totally un-imaginable for an ordinary bike. So, this gives you a better control of the bike! So professional fixie riders can standing the bike without their feet touch the ground! Imagining you are facing the red light in a crossroad, every rider landing their foot on the ground except you! Cool ~~ right?

The second thing is, how to slow down the bike! Since fixed gear bike usually has no brakes equipped, so the only way to slow down the bike is to slow down the rotating cranks! If you completely stop the rotating of the cranks during the riding, the rear wheel will stop rotating too. So the rear wheel will just slide on the road! This could leading to drift of your bike. But that’s something fixie riders really want! Cool~~ right? At the same time, there are still some more safer ways to slow down a fixie bike! To learn what I mean, there are some video on YT, you can check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQu1rNs0an0

The third and last thing is, because of a fixie comes with fixed gears, single speed, and brake free, these make a fixie very easy to assemble and lightweight and highly customizable! A common fixie usually comes with 19 components, you can check out the video clip to see how to assemble them. And, you can choose your own components by preference. Cool~~ right?

A fixie usually is not only a bike, a transportation tool, but a lifestyle! People says you will fall in love with it when you try it! Here is some beautiful video clips on YT which makes me want to gives fixie a try!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GapjLBIBjaI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krerK8fsDA4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-bxxcRnykk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXihJ3eavEw

I think when I return to China, the first thing I will do is, to buy my own fixie!I’m looking forward to giving it a try!