Fix(ie) You

 


       While on my bike on my way home this morning, I saw a young man riding a fixie (fixie is short for a fixed-gear bicycle, it has single speed, its speed will depend on your pedaling power, it has no brakes and no freewheeling mechanism (the pedals are attached to the rear tire so as long as the rear tire is moving, the pedal will also move), meaning, you have to pedal all the time because you can’t coast on it and rest your legs. Yes, you have to pedal even when going downhill. The tagline for the Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s 2012 movie Premium Rush probably best describes what your riding experience with a fixie will be: No brakes, can’t stop. Don’t want to. Gordon-Levitt plays a bike messenger in the movie who (like almost all of the real-life messengers in New York) rides a fixie. Expectedly, because it is deemed dangerous, fixies are illegal in some countries.You can put brakes on  a fixie, of course. But then, it'd sort of defeat the purpose of having a fixie.

     So why would you ride a dangerous bicycle like a fixie? (Technically, you can still stop or slow down a fixie by skidding or pressing your foot on the rear tire but it will require some high-level skills and alertness.) Some fixie fans say they love the bike because of its light weight and its simplicity (it has no cables or wirings) and its toughness, and it is also low-maintenance. And the fact that it will really make your legs work. And you also get a first-rate thrill whenever you ride it. Imagine the chance of being in an accident every minute. Lol.

     So back to the guy I saw riding a fixie, I followed him instead of going home immediately and I could see that he was very cautious. His fixie looked brand new and it was obvious that he was just trying to have a feel of it as he avoided going through busy streets. And that’s the problem of a fixie in Manila. With the kind of traffic, roads and drivers in Manila, it will be utterly difficult to use a fixie here, unless you're skilled or have a death wish. Lol.

     And speaking of dangerous biking, yesterday, the biking shorts(not the hardcore one but the multi-purpose type) I ordered from Lazada arrived. Yay! It's a bit hard to bike in cargo shorts even in short distances and it's embarrassing to ride in boxers. Lol.

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