Why do I ride fixed gear?

If you ride fixed gear, you've been asked this questions many times. It's not super easy to put the answer into words that makes sense. Maybe that's because it doesn't make sense. I don't know. There is a bit of "if you know, you know" mentality about fixed gear, but I'm going to try to put my honest answer into this video. Enjoy!

//Addvurt

[shanelefevre]

you should prolly increase chain tension man, that chain is all over the place

[anibalbibal]

I rode XC and BMX for many years in the past. The moment I had my first ride through an empty avenue at 1am on a fixed gear and eased into its movements, I fell in love and in sync with the fixed gear flow. It's the only bike I ride now and I wouldn't have any other type of bike. It's just FUN every. Single. Time.

[johnhatfield]

Two years ago I signed up to a bike tour holiday with 15 other people I didn’t know. The tour was Portugal end to end. I was 65 years old at the time. I took my 30 year old Raleigh Pioneer fixed gear conversion. I changed the gearing to 48/22 to enable me to get up the hills. Other participants turned up with their Dogmas and S works tarmacs. The question why always comes up. I just tell them that It’s the difficulty level that gives such a massage sense of achievement and above all I confess to it being a massive ego trip.

[Horus-Lupercal]

I'm riding fixed gear atm *because* of the "hard mode" aspect. Everytime I switch to single-speed or geared, it's incredibly easy. Great Skream btw!

[leeroyarts]

watching your vids makes me excited riding my own fixed gear!

[M.Postrzygacz]

I love riding my road bike because of the speed, there is a very stiff competition between me and the school bus.

[jregulatori]

Cool video, I've been riding fixed for a long time and it's one of those deals where you get it or you don't.
One thing I would recommend though is adding some bar end plugs. If you have a bad fall with uncapped bar ends, that edge can take a chunk out of your body. Often referred to as "core sample" handlebars.

[zacharyk]

For a while there I scoffed at fixed gear bikes, but now i build and fix so many bikes I decided to make one. I get it now, although I'm still not getting my coffee from starbucks.

I had a bike once that needed so much tweaking and maintenance that it almost killed cycling for me.
A fixie is the antidote to that.

Aside from that the connection to the drivetrain feels entirely different from a normal bike, and also the momentum in the wheel makes one specific gear feel different. IE a 50x16 with 700c wheels on a geared bike while pedaling feels different from the same setup fixed. I would say the momentum of the wheel makes that one gear feel slightly easier, so a 50x13 fixed would feel like a 50x16 with freewheeling.

[Sapoguapo]

Couldn’t agree more! Once I got on a fixed gear, I fell in love!

[Charleythegod]

My brother only uses the last gear in his bike.. he would love a fixed gear. And he does it also for the fun aspect like you said. He likes to do tricks so last gear he can instantly get moving to full speed and stop and go. It just takes a lot of work on uphills

[exp]

here in the philippines fixed gear is a loved or hated community, u can be build anything, for commuting, lifestyle, tracklocross, criterium race, alleycat race, dragsprint etc.

[connornial]

Ironically, the reason I like riding fixed gear so much is because: it’s the wrong tool for the job. Unless you are riding on an indoor track, a fixed gear bike can almost certainly be out performed by the “proper” bike for that particular job (i.e. mountain bike for trails, road bike for streets, etc.) but the sense of excitement you receive when riding a fixed gear bike is nothing like when you ride a regular bike. After completing a ride on a fixed gear, you feel satisfied knowing you completed a ride 100% under your own power with no extra mechanical advantages. Plus, there’s no better feeling than stealing the KOM from your local roadie

[gregorysteffensen]

I've been riding fixed gear for about six months now, but with brake assist -- I live in a very hilly city with tight corners and aggressive drivers, plus at age 30 my knees have a hard time with backpedaling for now. Working on a brakeless criterium racer though (will probably run it on the street with a hidden MTB lever to start!)

[Marchey_]

This is the exactly the same as the argument about the manual transmission. Sure it's slower, clunkier, and harder to use, but it's also a lot more engaging and fun.

[MarchuxProductions]

Hell yeah brother, I feel ya! For me, I can't (well, don't want to, actually) ride anything apart from fgb. Fixed gear is peak.

[gelogallego]

im using my fixed gear bike for almost 3 years now

[nv]

what helmet are you using? Really wanted to get a fixie but I had no road bike experience so i got a used one instead. Hoping to get my first fixie next year!

[minhari]

Good explanation, no wonder my Lil bro loved fixed gear bike despite he has Road Bike 😌✌🏼❤️🇰🇷

[ΕΛΛΗΝ]

Hi from Greece!! Did you feel safe when you are in downhill and can you stop as fast you stop on a dangerous situation Vs you bicycle with brakes ?Sorry for my English I hope you understand what I say.

[salzhaltigersalzhaufen]

I don´t always ride fixed gear I also ride a roadbike etc. and mainly use my fixed gear as a commuter but I gotta agree sometimes I do an extra loop in my commute to a parking lot to practice fakies or something or I go ride my fixed gear after my roadbike just for fun. Due to the lack of gears I don´t feel the need to go as fast and hard as I do on my roadbike and navigating traffic is so much more fun but everyone should ride what they like.

Well and I love the fixedgear community it´s not the crazy elitst community as with roadcycling I mean sure they exist with fixed gears to but I think people care less about what kind of jersy you wear or how lite your bike is because it dosen´t matter as much (except for crit races etc. obviously). Well and I like the whole fixie courrier community which feels a little like a subculture but I´m pretty sure everyone who rides a fixed gear has seen the videos of courriers navigating traffic.