Old Man Bostonist Tries To Be Funny…Fails (Fixie Controversy)

Written by Boston Biker on Jul 02

Over at Bostonist, an otherwise good and informative website, “Grandpa Bostonist” had the following to say about fixed gear bicycles.

Fixies are European fixed gear racing bikes that don’t have back brakes, designed to teach racers “pedal discipline” in the velodrome. On the clogged streets of the big city, however, they are little more than a pathetic compensatory status marker—the bicycle equivalent of a sports car. They are bikes for racing, not for getting around.

And, just like their automotive cousins, fixies are dangerous. Imagine, for the moment, that you’re in Cambridge’s Central Square. Picture yourself in a crosswalk or, worse, a sidewalk. What is that you see, out of the corner of your eye, barreling toward you? Yes, it is an out-of-control fixie piloted by a rider who does not know how to stop it. And, hark! What did you hear? You’re right. That was the sound of the selfsame cyclist chastising you for not getting out of his way.

In order to bike without gears or brakes, fixie riders have to conserve an awful lot of momentum. And that means that they don’t stop at stop lights or stop signs; they cruise through busy crosswalks; and, because riding a fixie is So Hard, they disdain anybody who dares to travel the earth by any means other than a fixie. And that doesn’t even broach the subject of bike helmets.

In a stunning showing of ignorance, and faulty logic, this attempt at humor falls flat on its face. Lets break it down point by point.

Fixies are European fixed gear racing bikes that don’t have back brakes, designed to teach racers “pedal discipline” in the velodrome. On the clogged streets of the big city, however, they are little more than a pathetic compensatory status marker—the bicycle equivalent of a sports car. They are bikes for racing, not for getting around.

In a word…no, fixed gear bicycles are defined by the fact that they have a single (or fixed) gear on the back that has no free wheel. What this means is that if you pedal forward you will go forward, if you pedal backwards you will go backwards, and that you can not coast. This is how bicycles where before they had things like multiple gears, brifters, and all the other fancy multi-speed hoo ha that you see “now-in-days” you would think grandpa would remember back in the “good ole days” when he was a youngin that many bikes used to be set up this way. They are not only limited to track racing, in fact you can turn any bicycle (beach cruiser, tandem, cargo trike) into a fixed gear bike simply by changing the back gear setup. I use my “fixie” to commute to work every day, it has fenders on it for Pete’s sake. Boston is a small flat city perfectly suited to a single speed/fixed gear bicycle. They are much simpler to maintain (less to clean, less parts to wear out) and are perfect for our harsh winters, and what is apparently our monsoon summers. You can put racks/baskets/bags on them, go shopping with them, and do anything else you would do on any other bike. In short they are not just for racing. And for the record, they can and often do have both front and back brakes…more on this in a bit.

And, just like their automotive cousins, fixies are dangerous. Imagine, for the moment, that you’re in Cambridge’s Central Square. Picture yourself in a crosswalk or, worse, a sidewalk. What is that you see, out of the corner of your eye, barreling toward you? Yes, it is an out-of-control fixie piloted by a rider who does not know how to stop it. And, hark! What did you hear? You’re right. That was the sound of the selfsame cyclist chastising you for not getting out of his way.

Fixed gear bicycles are no more dangerous than any other kind of bicycle. You can have a fixed gear bicycle with a front and a back brake, they have all the same safety features of any other bicycle. And like any other bicycle they require a certain amount of skill to use one. ANY bicycle in the hands of an inexperienced rider will be dangerous, much the same way that a car in the hands of a person that doesn’t know how to drive one is dangerous, and much the same way that a person blindly walking out into the street is dangerous. The type of vehicle you are using (car, feet, bicycle) has very little to do with how safe it is. It is very possible (and it happens every day) to kill yourself or others while driving or walking.

Further more, the arrogance or poor behavior of the rider has nothing to do with what he/she/it is riding. Imagine for a moment if we applied this same logic to people driving cars in Boston. Would grandpa suddenly be in favor of banning all cars for speeding, changing lanes without signaling, making turns without signaling, double parking, failing to yield to pedestrians, running red lights, turning in front of you when you have the green…I could go on and on. The sad truth is that NO USER GROUP in Boston behaves itself. Cyclists flaunt the law, pedestrians seem to have no idea when and how to cross the street, and motorists are just as bad. They each behave irresponsibly, they all break the law, and the same asshole that is going to scream at you while riding his bike, is going to scream at you while walking around or riding his car. An asshole is an asshole it doesn’t matter what he is driving at the time.

In order to bike without gears or brakes, fixie riders have to conserve an awful lot of momentum. And that means that they don’t stop at stop lights or stop signs; they cruise through busy crosswalks; and, because riding a fixie is So Hard, they disdain anybody who dares to travel the earth by any means other than a fixie. And that doesn’t even broach the subject of bike helmets.

Fixed gear bikes can and often do HAVE BRAKES, both front and back. There is nothing about a fixed gear bicycle that prohibits brakes. A skilled fixed gear rider can often stop much faster than other cyclists because they can add a third braking mechanism into the mix, the back wheel. I have already covered that the behavior of the driver has nothing to do with the vehicle they are using, but while we are at it, how come I rarely see people realize that EVERYONE is breaking the law CONSTANTLY. Go sit on a corner some time, you will see 99% of the pedestrians cross against the signal, dart out from in between parked cars, cross in the middle of the street, thread through stopped traffic at red lights, etc. None of this bad behavior is because of the type of shoes they are wearing, although I often see people in business suites downtown walk out into the road without looking both ways, should we ban business suites?

You will see cars speed, you will see people opening doors in the travel lane to let people out at red lights (very dangerous to cyclists), you will see them turn or change lane without putting on their signal, you will see them double park, run red lights, and fail to stop at stop signs or yield at yield signs. I often see people in SUV’s double parked, should we ban SUV’s?

You will see cyclists split lanes, ride the wrong way, run red lights, stop signs, ride on the side walk, fail to yield to pedestrians. In short the streets of Boston are one huge shit show of lawlessness. No user group is innocent, and no user group is acting any safer or more polite than any other group. Cyclists are no better/worse than anyone else. Hell even the green line runs into things on a fairly regular basis, even the trains don’t behave!

The article was a cheap attempt at humor (I think), but in so many ways it simply propagates the notion that everyone is a little angel…except the evil cyclists. When the truth of the matter is that almost everyone on the streets of Boston is breaking the law on a fairly regular basis. Grow up Grandpa Bostonist, you should be happy people are riding bikes, that way there is less traffic for you to get stuck behind in your car.

Tags: bad humor, Bostonist, Grandpa, lack of common sense, poor logic
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