Over the years I have seen many bike trends come and go. I have been part of some of the trends. I bought a mountain bike 40 years ago but I used it to ride around town, not for riding on trails. I have purchased and used a fat bike, and it has been a game changer for winter riding. I even have a couple of bikes that were early versions of gravel bikes. I have not yet bought an electric bike but as I get older that becomes a possibility. I also had a fixie bike. It was a Surly Steamroller. I rode it as a one speed bike but hills were a real challenge so I had it converted to a three speed fixie. Fixie means that there is no freewheel. When the bike is moving, the pedals also move. You can use the pedals as brakes by applying backwards pressure.
Fixie bikes were trendy for a while, but you don’t see them much anymore. Sometimes people have single speed bikes but they are not fixies, they have a freewheel. Last year the Winooski Bike Gang had a onesie ride for single speed bikes and fixie bikes. Participants were also encouraged to wear a onesie if they had one. I rode in a biking onesie and I lent a wool onesie to one of the riders. This past winter I often used that onesie as my long underwear and it kept me nice and warm! I rode the Steamroller for a few years but I found myself riding it less and less so I donated it to Old Spokes Home.
I have been listening to a podcast called The History of Philosophy without Any Gaps. I am on episode 442 of 493. Peter Adamson, the host, has covered many aspects of Platonic philosophy. Plato was an Ancient Greek philosopher who believed that in our world we experience individual things that are just pale shadows of ideal things. These ideal things are called Forms. The Platonic ideal of a bike would be a bike at its most simple and perfect, so a fixie without brakes would be as close to the Platonic Form as we can experience in this world. It is the opposite of the kind of bike I ride now, with all my bells and whistles! A pure bike can be very beautiful but the idea of using just reverse pedaling as a way to stop is scary!
Riding up hill on a fixie is a challenge but when you are on flat ground riding becomes almost effortless. The momentum you build as you ride is not lost as it would be on a bike with a freewheel. Every ounce of effort you put in goes directly to the wheel and propels you forward. It is a wonderful feeling.
Last year a friend of mine offered me a track bike. He built it himself. It is a fixie with no brakes. It was also very elegant! He and his family were moving from Vermont to Italy and he could not take the bike along. I accepted the bike. This winter I brought it to Dan at Winooski Wheels and had him put on a seat (my friend took the leather seat off before he gave me the bike), and front brakes.
The frame is a little smaller than the one on my other bikes so I had to raise the seat. Finally this spring I took it for a spin. It was a short ride, with very few hills. As I mentioned above, I used to have a fixie so riding this bike was not a completely new experience. Nevertheless, I did forget to pedal a few times and the pedals kept on moving reminding me that I was on a fixie. The geometry of the bike took some getting used to, but I experienced the pleasure of riding on a flat surface and feeling that the bike was pedaling itself.
I have five bikes, and I like to ride all of them but this summer I will be making an effort to get out on the newest member of my bike family!
About the Author: Peter Burns is a long-time bike enthusiast, and one of the original year-round bike riders in the greater Burlington area. In addition to writing about walking and biking, Peter teaches a variety of bike workshops. He also works at a group home for people with psychiatric disabilities, teaches classes for the Vermont Humanities Council, teaches swimming at the Burlington YMCA, and is a regular host of Storytelling VT. You can contact Peter at [email protected].