OT; Extreme makeover

When I first started posting to this group I used the Internet name [Fixedgearhead] that I use on another group that I post to. You may have wondered about the name Fixedgearhead. That pertains to bicycling and a small subset within that general description which is Fixed Gear Bicycling. The easiest way to describe it is; Bikes that are used on a Velodrome for racing purposes. They are also ridden on the street by somewhat "hardcore" bicyclists like myself. A curious cult like pursuit at best. Anyway, I have come to the decision that for the postings to this group that name will be retired and I will use my given name. At least it should be easy for me to remember, I hope. Fixedgearhead is dead. Long live John.

John Taylor

Reply to
fixedgearhead
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LOL thanks for the story - I thought it had to do with rusted gears in sewing machines - just goes to show what a one track mind I have LOLOL

I must say that your extreme makeover seems a lot less painful than most ;-)

Reply to
Jessamy

Welcome again, John.

Just curious, are Fixed Gear bicycles anything like my beloved old Schwinn one-speed bike?

Reply to
Carolyn McCarty

Well, I did wonder but felt disinclined to ask :-) John you shall be! Roberta in D

"fixedgearhead" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@q2g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Reply to
Roberta Zollner

These screen names are sort of like Rorcharst tests (I think I spelled that badly). I figured it was a gamer's name, probably from one of the futuristic RPG's. At any rate, John is easier to write and easier to remember. Welcome John, and may Fixedgearhead rest in peace. :)

Sunny

Reply to
Sunny

Oh Boy, I get to talk about my other obsession. Fixed gear bicycles are like bicycles from an earlier age. When bicycles were first made into the type we know today, they were called Safety Bicycles. that was to differentiate them from the older High Wheel or Pennyfarthing bicycles that you saw until the late 1890's. The Safety Bicycle looks like the bicycles you see on the road today with one big exception; they only had one gear. Well, two big exceptions. The chain that drove the bicycle was connected to a cog at the back that did not coast if you wanted to not peddle. That's right, the cranks moved around if the wheels moved around. No Coasting. That bad boy is always working. Now for the ringer. The third exception; when they were first introduced, they came with no brakes. That's right, you could not stop as we think about it today with hand brakes or a coaster brake, like on the old fat tired Schwinn's. "Well how would you stop one of those things", you might ask? Remember the peddles are rotating around with the movement of the wheels either forward or backward. If you resist the forward movement of the pedal swing in it's rotation you, you are effectively apply a braking effect to the bicycle's forward progress. That effect is dependent on the different gear ratio of the two gear sizes at the front and back of the drive train. Later versions of this type of bicycle had normal hand operated brakes added for increased safety, but a certain group of people loved the challenging nature of riding without the "Normal" brakes as you would think of them today. That last description, is a description of myself and a number of other "Caution Challenged" people who chose to ride them, without brakes. "Why would you do that", you ask? There is a Zen like experience that is achieved from riding a bike that requires you to be constantly on the alert and defensive as to operation. And remember, the bike never stops peddling. You become one with the road , in a manner of speaking. I have a number of these types of bicycles and only one of them does, indeed have "normal" hand brakes. I use this bike when I go for a ride on the bike trail with my wife as I am not interested in the "performance" aspects of cycling at that time. We are just going out for a pleasant ride. Chatting it up and looking at the wonders of nature. as it were. I built my wife up one of these type bicycles to to see what all the full was about. She got on it and rode for about 500 feet and promptly got off and said"this is dumb", "you can't coast". "Fix it so I can coast". On that bike I had built it with a wheel that had a fixed cog on one side of the rear wheel and a "normal" freewheel, that lets you coast, on the other side of the rear wheel. I unbolted the wheel and turned it around placing the freewheel or coasting side of the wheel on the drive side and she got back on and has happily ridden that bike ever since. You see, it's not for everybody. There you have a description of fixed gear bicycling. Probably, not for the faint of heart, or those with a more casual style of riding. Now you probably will all think I have a death wish or something, but if you are attentive, you are just as safe, as most normal bicycle brakes are less than adequate in stopping power and I can stop a bike by resistance to the peddles in as short a distance as you could stop your regular bike. I ride with a number of people who have normal bikes and we all like to go fast and get a good workout and I have never had any complaints from these folks. I also have been riding these type of bikes for many years so I guess you could say i'm hooked.I hope this rather detailed and somewhat technical explanation is clear. If not I could probably get you some websites that would explain it better.

Ciao,

You may all return your chairs to the comfortable position, and walk around the cabin.

John (If it ain't fixed, its broken) Taylor

Y Carolyn McCarty wrote:

Reply to
John

Oh Boy, I get to talk about my other obsession. Fixed gear bicycles are like bicycles from an earlier age. When bicycles were first made into the type we know today, they were called Safety Bicycles. that was to differentiate them from the older High Wheel or Pennyfarthing bicycles that you saw until the late 1890's. The Safety Bicycle looks like the bicycles you see on the road today with one big exception; they only had one gear. Well, two big exceptions. The chain that drove the bicycle was connected to a cog at the back that did not coast if you wanted to not peddle. That's right, the cranks moved around if the wheels moved around. No Coasting. That bad boy is always working. Now for the ringer. The third exception; when they were first introduced, they came with no brakes. That's right, you could not stop as we think about it today with hand brakes or a coaster brake, like on the old fat tired Schwinn's. "Well how would you stop one of those things", you might ask? Remember the peddles are rotating around with the movement of the wheels either forward or backward. If you resist the forward movement of the pedal swing in it's rotation you, you are effectively apply a braking effect to the bicycle's forward progress. That effect is dependent on the different gear ratio of the two gear sizes at the front and back of the drive train. Later versions of this type of bicycle had normal hand operated brakes added for increased safety, but a certain group of people loved the challenging nature of riding without the "Normal" brakes as you would think of them today. That last description, is a description of myself and a number of other "Caution Challenged" people who chose to ride them, without brakes. "Why would you do that", you ask? There is a Zen like experience that is achieved from riding a bike that requires you to be constantly on the alert and defensive as to operation. And remember, the bike never stops peddling. You become one with the road , in a manner of speaking. I have a number of these types of bicycles and only one of them does, indeed have "normal" hand brakes. I use this bike when I go for a ride on the bike trail with my wife as I am not interested in the "performance" aspects of cycling at that time. We are just going out for a pleasant ride. Chatting it up and looking at the wonders of nature. as it were. I built my wife up one of these type bicycles to to see what all the full was about. She got on it and rode for about 500 feet and promptly got off and said"this is dumb", "you can't coast". "Fix it so I can coast". On that bike I had built it with a wheel that had a fixed cog on one side of the rear wheel and a "normal" freewheel, that lets you coast, on the other side of the rear wheel. I unbolted the wheel and turned it around placing the freewheel or coasting side of the wheel on the drive side and she got back on and has happily ridden that bike ever since. You see, it's not for everybody. There you have a description of fixed gear bicycling. Probably, not for the faint of heart, or those with a more casual style of riding. Now you probably will all think I have a death wish or something, but if you are attentive, you are just as safe, as most normal bicycle brakes are less than adequate in stopping power and I can stop a bike by resistance to the peddles in as short a distance as you could stop your regular bike. I ride with a number of people who have normal bikes and we all like to go fast and get a good workout and I have never had any complaints from these folks. I also have been riding these type of bikes for many years so I guess you could say i'm hooked.I hope this rather detailed and somewhat technical explanation is clear. If not I could probably get you some websites that would explain it better.

Ciao,

You may all return your chairs to the comfortable position, and walk around the cabin.

John (If it ain't fixed, its broken) Taylor

Y Carolyn McCarty wrote:

Reply to
John

Oh Boy, I get to talk about my other obsession. Fixed gear bicycles are like bicycles from an earlier age. When bicycles were first made into the type we know today, they were called Safety Bicycles. that was to differentiate them from the older High Wheel or Pennyfarthing bicycles that you saw until the late 1890's. The Safety Bicycle looks like the bicycles you see on the road today with one big exception; they only had one gear. Well, two big exceptions. The chain that drove the bicycle was connected to a cog at the back that did not coast if you wanted to not peddle. That's right, the cranks moved around if the wheels moved around. No Coasting. That bad boy is always working. Now for the ringer. The third exception; when they were first introduced, they came with no brakes. That's right, you could not stop as we think about it today with hand brakes or a coaster brake, like on the old fat tired Schwinn's. "Well how would you stop one of those things", you might ask? Remember the peddles are rotating around with the movement of the wheels either forward or backward. If you resist the forward movement of the pedal swing in it's rotation you, you are effectively apply a braking effect to the bicycle's forward progress. That effect is dependent on the different gear ratio of the two gear sizes at the front and back of the drive train. Later versions of this type of bicycle had normal hand operated brakes added for increased safety, but a certain group of people loved the challenging nature of riding without the "Normal" brakes as you would think of them today. That last description, is a description of myself and a number of other "Caution Challenged" people who chose to ride them, without brakes. "Why would you do that", you ask? There is a Zen like experience that is achieved from riding a bike that requires you to be constantly on the alert and defensive as to operation. And remember, the bike never stops peddling. You become one with the road , in a manner of speaking. I have a number of these types of bicycles and only one of them does, indeed have "normal" hand brakes. I use this bike when I go for a ride on the bike trail with my wife as I am not interested in the "performance" aspects of cycling at that time. We are just going out for a pleasant ride. Chatting it up and looking at the wonders of nature. as it were. I built my wife up one of these type bicycles to to see what all the full was about. She got on it and rode for about 500 feet and promptly got off and said"this is dumb", "you can't coast". "Fix it so I can coast". On that bike I had built it with a wheel that had a fixed cog on one side of the rear wheel and a "normal" freewheel, that lets you coast, on the other side of the rear wheel. I unbolted the wheel and turned it around placing the freewheel or coasting side of the wheel on the drive side and she got back on and has happily ridden that bike ever since. You see, it's not for everybody. There you have a description of fixed gear bicycling. Probably, not for the faint of heart, or those with a more casual style of riding. Now you probably will all think I have a death wish or something, but if you are attentive, you are just as safe, as most normal bicycle brakes are less than adequate in stopping power and I can stop a bike by resistance to the peddles in as short a distance as you could stop your regular bike. I ride with a number of people who have normal bikes and we all like to go fast and get a good workout and I have never had any complaints from these folks. I also have been riding these type of bikes for many years so I guess you could say i'm hooked.I hope this rather detailed and somewhat technical explanation is clear. If not I could probably get you some websites that would explain it better.

Ciao,

You may all return your chairs to the comfortable position, and walk around the cabin.

John (If it ain't fixed, its broken) Taylor

Y Carolyn McCarty wrote:

Reply to
John

Interesting observation about screen names, Sunny. So ... how about yours? Is it a long time nick name, something you invented for posting, a comment on your personality? My name is Pat (nick name really) ... always has been. PAT in VA/USA

Sunny wrote:

Reply to
Pat in Virginia

Here is a link to a Salon Magazine article that explains it all. I typed up my own explanation and the Google server ate it when I sent it and it was lost. Hope this helps you understand what Fixed gear Bicycling is all about.

http://www.n> Welcome again, John.

Reply to
John

Didn't eat it all, I got at least three. John, if you want to read a reallllly good and interesting book about a fixed wheel trip try:

The Wonderful Ride by George T. Loher and Ellen Smith

About a cross country trip in the early 1900's. Good reading and gives a lot of the hazzards of wheeling cross country on a bike with not many comforts.

DS is a bike rider, but not fixed wheel. Anna Belle in Palm Bay

Reply to
"Anna Belle" fladavis

Here is a link to an article that explains fixed gear bicycling.

http://www.n> Welcome again, John.

Reply to
John

John, it is! But we're happy to call you whatever you feel comfortable with.

-- Anita -- (Irrational is not illogical.)

Reply to
Irrational Number

"A rose - by any other name . . . . ."

Just as long as they don't call you late for dinner.

Reply to
CATS

Reply to
John

No, it didn't eat it - we got it 3 times!! (again!)

Reply to
Sally Swindells

Reply to
Pat in Virginia

Have faith John!! Every time you hit 'Send' we do get the post!

Reply to
Sally Swindells

Marion's parents were like that. They routinely went on holiday by fixed-gear bike from London to Cornwall and back - I think that's about a 500-mile round trip.

Freewheels had been invented before either of them was born.

This is common with the cycle-courier crowd, isn't it?

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

Reply to
Jack Campin - bogus address

Now, that's interesting! Thanks so much for the explanation, John. I do love to learn! However, being a fat old lady I will stick to my fat-tired Schwinn and leave the fixed-gear bicycles for the alert and physically fit.

Reply to
Carolyn McCarty

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