Fixpert

I just got home from the Macaframa video premier at the Victoria Theater in San Francisco. What’s that you say? You’re wondering why I’m home at 9pm from a film that began only an hour ago? It’s because I couldn’t get in. The theater was packed to capacity, with probably another 100 people waiting in a line around the block, hoping to get in. I know, right?!

Riding Fixed Has Officially Blown Up

Yeah, I said it. And I know, I know, there have been so many times in the past when I’ve said this before. But this time I really mean it!

A packed theater and a line around the block on a random Wednesday night? Not in the midst of some other cycling event (like InterBike), this was a standalone event. Tons of fixed gear riders came out of the woodwork for this.

When Did This Fixed Gear Bizness Happen?

Who are these people? Where did they come from? I took a lap and surveyed the crowd (in all honesty, I was trying to scam my way in). Clearly, they all rode bikes, most likely fixed gear based on the giant bike piles in front of the theater. They were pretty young, most of them couldn’t have been riding fixed that long because they weren’t that old. Lots of high school aged kids, who I’m guessing if they were in high school 10 years ago, they probably would have been skating.

Then back at home tonight, looking at the rider’s profiles on the Macaframe site, most of those guys have only been riding fixed for about 3 years. Hmm…was there something that happened about 3 years ago that spawned this new level of interest in track bikes? I don’t know. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. I don’t know why or how fixies got to this level of visibility and popularity.

Why Are Track Bikes So Popular?

Short answer: they are fun as hell. Ok, but why are they so popular right now? Um, I still haven’t figured that part out.

Everybody Wants to Claim Their Dibs On This Thing

If I ever try to say I was down with this shit first, just punch me in the face. I know I’m a girl and you’re not supposed to do that, but please just do it. Fixed gear bikes have been around fu-EVA! Since the days of Thomas Edison — check out this Thomas Edison video featuring bar spins and backwards circles.

Come on, don’t hate. You know that shit is sick. Anyway, the mechanics of the bike aren’t anything new. And we know that messengers have been riding fixed for ages. Remember the trick scene from Quicksilver, circa 1986? Um, herro!

Ok, So Now I’m Trying to Figure Out How Long I’ve Known About Them…

I first became aware of fixed gear bikes in the late 90’s — still quite late to the game by Thomas Edison’s standards. Hugh Wallace was a kid from my neighborhood and a buddy throughout high school that I had stayed in touch with after he left for college. He moved up to Richmond, Virginia and at a certain point became a messenger and rode fixed up there. It seemed a natural progression for him, when we were kids my brother, Hugh, and Hugh’s older brother John would build trails and do bmx jumps in the woods.

I moved up to Richmond in 1996. Back then, folks in RVA were mostly poor art school kids paying their own way through school. Fixed gear bikes were cheap and easy to maintain, it was a matter of practicality. There were zero cool-guy points to be won because no one knew what you were riding anyway, there were no flashy aerospokes, etc. Unless you knew what to look for, they just looked like beaters. At that point, only messengers rode fixed.

This Post is Getting Long And I’m Starting To Sound Curmudgeonly

Shit, I still have so much to say! Everyone knows I’m a chatty Cathy, so shut up your face! Well, I guess I promised the world I’d post every single day for like, forever, so there will be more to come shortly. The saga will continue. I know I’ve left your head spinning with my mindless rambling, so let me leave off with a Richmond, Virginia Cutthroats’ Cycle Slaughterama!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Bike Lane. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.