New York City bike messengers have been riding fixed gear bikes for years. The best bike for them was a track bike; Single speed “fixed” gear, no brakes. Movies have shown couriers weaving in and out of traffic, clinging to taxis and buses, and portraying themselves as bike-riding outlaws, if not criminals.

This minimalist bike has now gained a resurgence among colleges and urban centers. Bikes have fewer parts to break or wear out, cost less, and are less desirable to a thief, or at least they were before the new popularity. This article will explain what all the fuss is about and how this unusual bike can be a valuable part of an adult recreational cyclist’s bike stable.

First, let’s look at some background on this interesting bike to explain how it got to where it is today. All late 19th century bicycles had single speed “fixed” gears and the “freewheel” didn’t come along until the early 20th century. When people are not familiar with a fixed gear bike, they wonder “How can you stop it?” and “Can you slide?” I like to use the analogy of a child’s tricycle to explain. The trike has the pedals and cranks directly attached to the front wheel and when you pedal the trike moves forward and when you resist the pedals it slows down. This is exactly how a brakeless track bike can shift gears.

When cyclists ride a track bike at a velodrome, they’re all riding bikes with no brakes, so no one can slow down faster than the next person. This allows a group of runners to coexist safely on the edges of the track. When one rides a trail bike on the road with no brakes other than the braking ability to resist the pedals, the situation changes. Bike messengers think it’s cool to ride a bike in traffic without brakes. However, they tend to be expert cyclists who are able to plan well enough to avoid collisions in most cases. What makes this concept interesting is when a college student or recreational rider with undeveloped skills is out in traffic on one of these machines and can’t deal with the limitations. This is not only incredibly dangerous but it’s insane! Many cities like Austin, TX are banning brakeless “fixies” in their urban setting for legitimate safety reasons.

I have a track bike that I ride in the velodrome and I also have another that I ride on the road. How can it be done safely? The answer is simple; I installed a front brake on the road fork and now I have a bike that can stop as easily as any other. It also has the advantages of a fixed gear that I am going to comment on and that revolutionizes my training and riding experience. It can for you too.

Fixed-gear road bikes were used in the Tour de France until the 1930s. The organizers knew that the single-speed bike was much more challenging than multi-gear bikes and therefore banned the bikes” ladybugs” for years. These bikes actually had two gears. The rear wheel had what was called a “flip-flop” hub that had a gear on each side. The smaller gears were used on the flats and the descents, while a larger gear (read: lower gear) was used for climbing mountains. Riders had to stop at the bottom of steep climbs and remove the rear wheel, flip it over, and install it in the lowest gear. They climbed the mountain, stopped at the top, and reversed the process.

As a side note, Tullio Campagnolo invented the “quick release skewer” in 1927, which not only made the business of repairing punctures in racing easier, but revolutionized changing wheels in races like the Tour de France. Riders had a huge advantage with the quick release instead of dealing with wing nuts, which were the standard issue.

Enough background! Why on earth would an adult recreational cyclist want to train on a fixed gear bike? I think there is a better answer than the one Sir Edmund Hillary used when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest. (The answer was: “Because he’s there.”) The answer lies in the concept of cycling as the Fountain of Youth: intensity.

While we spend a lot of time discussing the best ways to change gears, we don’t spend a lot of time working on pedaling and cadence. With a fixed gear, you are free from gear selection worries since you only have one! Well, you’re not exactly relieved of gear selection concerns, you’re just when you’re driving! It is very important to choose the right equipment before the trip.

Assuming you agree that intensity is a key ingredient in enjoying cycling as a way to stay young, and the fact that as we age we tend to be busier rather than less busy, a fixed gear bike it’s an amazing way to get an amazing workout. in a short space of time. The reason is this: A 30-mile ride on a road bike will have a large amount of inertia involved. 30 miles on a fixed gear is 30 miles! In addition, there is a bonus that is not available on normal road bikes: turning downhill.

When I take the fixie out on the road around San Antonio, I have to pick my gears so I can get up the hills and still hold on after I hit the top of the hill. It’s an interesting challenge to think about the trip before it happens so you can choose the right gear. I have a collection of chainrings and sprockets, so I’ve learned over time which gears work and which don’t. This is one of the best parts of cycling. We can “fail” by doing something like poor gear selection and the worst that can happen is that we have to go up a hill, slam on the brakes going downhill, or be dropped by other riders. That “failure” is what makes us learn. That’s why we train and why cycling is so amazing.

Every time I ride the fixie I am fascinated by the elegance and simplicity of a bike. It’s amazing to think that this same type of bike was ridden incredible distances and incredible terrain by riders like us, but born on a different day. The options are simple. Ride faster, go faster. Pedal slower, go slower. When the hill comes, your energy is what carries you to the top with the tools you have chosen before the journey. When you reach the top of the hill and everyone else is sailing, your real work has begun, the descent that turns your legs into a whirling dervish. At the end of the journey you know that you have really achieved something.

This feeling of accomplishment is what gets cyclists up in the morning to brave the elements, traffic and its demons, and ultimately sets us apart from other sedentary people. Cyclists are truly a hardy breed and surprisingly, we can become a cyclist at any point in life.

I know this article may not make you all a fixed gear fanatic, but I hope you will gain some perspective on how we reached the Fountain of Youth. It is through efforts that push our limits and recovery, as our body responds by becoming stronger and more capable. A fixed gear bike isn’t the only way to keep fit, but it’s certainly an interesting one!