Fixies

I like to ride a bike.

There are many variants of bike on the street, one of which is known as a fixie, the fixie evolved as a tool of utility, for bicycle messengers and commuters around the world to have a bike which was based on pure function and required as little maintenance as possible.

Fixies were normally bodged together using old bike parts, in keeping with the need for a cheap, reliable, simple bike.

Fixies are devoid of brakes, this requires a 'fixed' back wheel. i.e. when you stop pedalling, your back wheel stops (and acts as your brake), there is no freewheeling mechanism. Because of this fixies take a lot of skill to ride, this can be seen in the movie Fast Friday.

At some point in the last few years, fixies moved from being an underground movement, to a mainstream movement, this was presumably because bike multinationals thought they could make some profit here.

It's at this point that my dislike for fixies start, I've got respect for those that use a fixie for their job, it's a tool of need, where as the Gen Ys who generally ride 'manufactered' fixies are riding the bike purely for fashion, this is typically Gen Y.

Due to the advanced levels of skill required to ride a fixie, most Gen Ys who ride a fixie invariably come off the worse for it, as they are typically arrogant in their understanding of the skill required to ride one.