The Fixie Thread

[Carlin]

If this thread is going to stay on topic we are going to have to start spelling it Melburn

 

[skivi]

"Spectacular cycling crash in Melbourne race"
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/20/2123609.htm?section=justin

"There was a spectacular crash at a cycling race in Melbourne last night.

Most of the pack in the under-18's 2,000 metre dash crashed, when one rider fell, wiping out the rest.

Just 150 metres from the finish line, 17 year old Jamie Crass cart-wheeled out of control across the fence lining the track.

He flew nearly ten metres, causing a domino effect in which 13 other riders fell.

The remaining four cyclists sailed on through to the finish. Miraculously, Crass escaped serious injury.

Twelve of the other riders suffered cuts and bruises, but all of them managed to walk away from the crash.

The accident happened in front of a capacity crowd of 5,000 at Melbourne's Vodaphone Arena during the Melbourne Cup on Wheels event."

i cant find any footage on youtube but theres a bit on that ABC link above.
gnarly.

 

[alchemist]

I was looking for Jasco - he seemed to be in most of the crashes at the track I witnessed

 

[SDA]

Here is the footage

http://media.theage.com.au/?category=Breaking News&rid=34152

 

[lebronmtb]

I was at revolution last night and saw the crash, it was incredibly awesome. Some guy was basically doing a cartwheel in the air and at least 15 guys stacked. That was my first time going to watch track racing and I'm damn suprised at how fast they go, and how much they swerve wildly at that speed!

 

['Ross]

I guess Melburn has a lot of arty/trendy shit, as well as a hell of a lot of singlespeeds (not necessarily fixed from what Ive seen) e.g I was working in Collingwood yesterday and saw at least 5 SS bikes with either no brakes or only a front one.

Ive been riding to the city and back every day except today (damn rain) and twice at around 6.30am I see a guy on a Bianchi Pista riding in the opposite direction. We both kinda nod and its a bit weird as he is the only guy who travels West at that time.

Also Im lazy, my new project bike hasn't seen any action for a week, maybe Ill give it a christmas present and try to finish it. I farked up painting the wheel as well*


*So much for farkin Melburn guys being artistic

 

['Ross]

If you have been on shifterbikes website you would have seen this hilarious email:


"Here goes nothing Dan , just like we said . today i smashed 120 + kms Fuck me I love being a messenger . I miss it , I love the feeling of owning shit after a hard days work . it reminds me of when i first started like 11 going on 12 years ago can u believe that ? It seems so long ago now when I look back .Honor the work .
Anyways I guess its a an exciting time to be alive as a courier , the fixed scenes has exploded .... i see people rocking there thing and i think " How cool the shits developing " Ive always been a fan of the scene , but to be honest my faith is wavering .
Please google " jump the shark .com " because im afraid my brethren that our hour is it hand.
To be one with the universe .. so cliche .............WANNA KNOW WHY ????????
IM ROLLING EAST to train it half 6 smashed after working it hard to see some cute asian chik
roking "NO BRAKES " rolling home up shallow bourke . So what do i do ? like the dumb c**t friendly guy that i am ? i introduce myself ask her about her frame ...etc etc ( i love seeing girls on fixies BTW ) ... This c**t eyes then looks at me like im trying to lick her ass out and replies in the smugest voice " I bought my frame from a*** w**** " ...... A*** W**** rocks we all know that . I didnt know that buying a frame from a*** was a liscence to go all Rockstar .Get fucked and bin it i say
Im not sure but after speaking 2 a couple of people u might be the chick that binned it a while back .
If that was you ... then its a shame that you didnt get hurt. YOU CAN GET GET FUCKED C**T EYES . NEXT TIME A RIDER ROLLS NEXT TO YOU ( SOMEONE WHO HAS HAS BEEN RIDING 4 EVER AND NOT TRYING 2 FINGER FUCK U BECAUSE U THINK UR AMERICAS NEXT TOP MODEL BE COOL KK ?
I didnt know bitches rollin at 2 kph had prescence ....... so in closing Im sorry whore c**t fuck who ever u are that im ragging on you .Tell your volvo co workers that u own the "scene" seriously . Go down Brunswick street and get a vegie burger ... but do me a favour please . Please get cleaned up HARD . BTW in case you think im a c**t ... FUK you 2 . wanna step up ?
ill be the Wog skidding 100+ busting 1 hander wheelies 2 bar spins and roking no hander circles FTW . 5 BREAKS in 1 year ... yeah thats right bitches i own"


If you have ever met Dimos, you would realise he is a top bloke and can do all those tricks (no handed backwards circles) and yer he actually does talk like that.

Anyone know the shop he is talking about? I never see cool frames for sale, I don't wanna buy one, but I want to see evidence of these sorta trendy fixie shops and whatnot.

 

[Christo]

If you have ever met Dimos, you would realise he is a top bloke and can do all those tricks (no handed backwards circles) and yer he actually does talk like that.

Sounds like a top bloke who has no issues with women whatsoever & I would ask him to chaperone my little sister any day...

Back OT.

Road cranks vs. track specific cranks?

I currently have a set of FSA SLK carbon at my disposal & on the way I have these..

Look I was drunk when I bought them, I sort of regret it now.

The point is - why track specific over road? Is it really going to be stiffer?

Which should I use? I think the SLK's are preferable as they're lighter. Will the rigidity be that noticable and worth the weight?

 

[Labcanary]

Ross, I'm pretty sure the blanked out name is Mr T.C. who gives us a Happy Friday blog and suffers from the fyx'd disease.

 

[RCOH]

Road cranks vs. track specific cranks?


The point is - why track specific over road? Is it really going to be stiffer?

Which should I use? I think the SLK's are preferable as they're lighter. Will the rigidity be that noticable and worth the weight?

I thought the only real difference between road & track cranks was the ability to run multiple chainrings on road cranks whereas track cranks are restricted to singles. So I imaging the stiffness would be comparable but track cranks marginally lighter because less material used?

But I've been wrong before???

 

[Sekt]

Track cranks are usually 165mm as well, meaning there's less chance of pedal strike on the tight corners.

 

[Cave Dweller]

Besides the different PCD of track cranks, the major difference is chainline.

A track crank sets the ring at around 42.5mm chainline. On a normal road crank 42.5mm approximately corresponds to the centre of the crank tabs, so if you mount a ring inside the tabs it will be too far in, mount it on the outside and its too far out.

If you don't mind your chainline being 2-3mm off it doesn't matter.

Another slight difference are track cranks have a lower q factor from what i have read.

 

[Dan.]

I think you can also space cranks on the spindle and get a better chainline.

 

[Oddjob]

Just out of curiousity, are there many fixies in hobart? Or anywhere else for that matter, The fact that Melbourne is the flattest and dullest city to ride in Australia and most likely to follow mass produced, homogeneous, urban fashion trends, overly concerned with their image and the contradictions of their identity, potentially anorexic, disingenuously appropriating a pseudo-artistic image or "a collage of other urban identies" from the past, it would make me think we have more fixies than anywhere else in the country. Im not sure is artistic/cultural are the correct words but you get my drift

I love you alchemist.

I'm not even going to bother getting into this one

Because you would lose.

 

[Cave Dweller]

I think you can also space cranks on the spindle and get a better chainline.

Thats true, if you have square taper road cranks you could get a spindle a couple of mm too short and it might work

The cranks will come bloody close to the chain stay though.

 

[Cave Dweller]

I love you alchemist.

Melbournes not that bad, its the only other aussie city i would think about living in. Besides, I prefer a bunch of image obsessed artistic wankers to a town full of accountants and economists .............

 

[jetbike]

Urban or Rural

I ride fixed in Sydney and I freaking love it. I reckon the fixed gear bike is the perfect ride for city streets; responsive, practical and maintainence free (largely). Also it's the most fun I've ever had on a bike, literally playing in the traffic.

I'm on holiday in Byron Bay. We're thinking about re-locating up here. In the countryfied/rural setting I don't know how much use my fixie would get. Stupid as it sounds, I'm actually unsure whether I want to move here because of this quite ridiculous concern.

So, what I'm asking is a) how many of you are urbanites or country bumpkins? And b) can anyone tell me if my concerns are reasonable? Will my bike sit in my garage, get dusty and remind me of fun rides, dodging traffic and getting pissed with Rod, Carlin, Levon, Terence and Grant?

Will I inevitably buy a geared mountain bike?

Is there a cyclocross scene in Byron?

Argh!

 

[RCOH]

If you move there that means I have to.

 

[hubbie]

It just doesn't make sense to us does it.
http://fixedgeargallery.com/2007/dec/3/moshepatil.htm

 

[Cave Dweller]

Man, i thought the toe overlap on my track bike was bad