Steve, I am down to one solitary bicycle, oh woe is me. And it is one fugly CroMo thing. But this Rocky Mountain hybrid is getting me there. I have it kitted out to tour with racks and panniers front and rear, fenders and even a bell. The bell isn't so much for people to get outta the way, more so they'll know where I am if I've fallen down and I can't get up. Ha ha. I have photos of my own (slo-mo) speed steed on my phone but can't figure out how to download them. No worry. Anyway I'm tempted to buy a couple old single speed city wrecks to fix them up (leaving the rust for "patina" sake) and spin them round the urban trails here where I live.
And I long for a real Amsterdam canal cruiser like the ones you linked. Beauties!
A fixie is a fixed single speed bicycle, based on the track bikes you might have seen in Olympic track bike events. Seen those? Those high banked oval indoor tracks with coaches holding up their rider who is sitting on their bike waiting for the start...and then they're off. The single rear cog is fixed. ie It doesn't spin freely, so if you don't pedal the cog, the rear wheel, and the bike stops in unison. To slow down you slow down your cadence (pedal slower) etc. Anyway bike couriers became enamoured with them years ago. They sure stop and go real quick (depending on your chosen cog= gear ratio= travel inches = I won't blah blah bore you...). They have become de rigueur with hip urban types. Cool. https://www.myfixcycles.com/blogs/be...or-city-riding My daughter has joined that fold. Although her bike has the ingenious rear wheel that flip flops allowing her to choose between coaster single speed on one side and a true fixie on the other. More cool. Those hip urban kids just might be alright. But when she was bicycle shopping I did the concerned Dad thing and advised her to do the right thing and buy a classic Dutch step through. But would she listen to her Dad? No. Just for that I'm never gonna borrow her bike. Almost never. Hardly ever.
And I long for a real Amsterdam canal cruiser like the ones you linked. Beauties!
A fixie is a fixed single speed bicycle, based on the track bikes you might have seen in Olympic track bike events. Seen those? Those high banked oval indoor tracks with coaches holding up their rider who is sitting on their bike waiting for the start...and then they're off. The single rear cog is fixed. ie It doesn't spin freely, so if you don't pedal the cog, the rear wheel, and the bike stops in unison. To slow down you slow down your cadence (pedal slower) etc. Anyway bike couriers became enamoured with them years ago. They sure stop and go real quick (depending on your chosen cog= gear ratio= travel inches = I won't blah blah bore you...). They have become de rigueur with hip urban types. Cool. https://www.myfixcycles.com/blogs/be...or-city-riding My daughter has joined that fold. Although her bike has the ingenious rear wheel that flip flops allowing her to choose between coaster single speed on one side and a true fixie on the other. More cool. Those hip urban kids just might be alright. But when she was bicycle shopping I did the concerned Dad thing and advised her to do the right thing and buy a classic Dutch step through. But would she listen to her Dad? No. Just for that I'm never gonna borrow her bike. Almost never. Hardly ever.
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It's fun. 
