I’m not sure how my blogging activities will be affected by my renewed action on the book writing front – I’m now very much into writing the following up to ‘Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie‘ – but here’s the first proper post of 2014. Happy New Year by the way if you missed yesterday morning’s very early salutation.
My email is a Hotmail / Microsoft Live one and I’m a bit paranoid about the junk filter occasionally doing its job a little too effectively so before emptying the spam folder every couple of days I do quickly scan down the list of various ‘offers’ to see if there is anything that shouldn’t be in there. Occasionally there is and sometimes it’s important. Sometimes there is something of interest which is probably spam and perhaps the email from Pepitas Bikes was in that category but I’m glad I dragged it out of there into my inbox as I do like their bikes… They are fixies.
I’ve only ever once ridden a fixie and I have to say that I didn’t like it very much. It belonged to my niece when she lived in London and I struggled to get the thing moving. Why anyone would want to ride a fixie all the time for commuting in the city is anyone’s guess (I’m happy if you want to put forward an alternative argument via the comment button below). My daily commute across the Oxfordshire countryside which sees me climb one steep hill on the way there and another even steeper hill on the way back home would have me collapsed in a heap if I were ever to attempt the ride on a fixie. However… fixies do have one saving grace. It is perhaps best demonstrated by the following pictures from theย Pepita Bikes website:
They are bloody gorgeous! Just look at them… They are bicycles to make you drool and I have to admit that despite the fact they have only one gear and usually only one brake (although these models do look as though they have two – they are clearly rebels!) even I might be tempted to dump my eighteen gear Ridgeback Panorama if my commute to work was a flat one. What surprises me most about these bikes is their price; just โฌ293. Is that too cheap? Will they just fall to bits when a little bit of pressure is exerted on the front plate (which no doubt is required just to get the thing moving)? Perhaps Reggie Ridgeback has something to worry about if I ever move to York, Cambridge, Amsterdam or some other town with no hills. The bikes are Spanish so ‘Pedro Pepita’. How does that sound?
ps yes they look good. Very good. Nice, clean, smooth look. Oh well.
I don’t get fixies either, I guess I like the thought of tackling hills (when I feel like it). Hey… who says 50 means beige wearing?? ๐ (I turned 50 just this week, no beige for me, haha!)
Hi Andrew
It’s all about the souplesse
Nice looking fixed gear bikes. I ride only fixed gear, living in a town that is mostly flat, even though it is in Colorado. The reason has more to do with feel and with contol. I find I have perfect control on ice and snow when I can
control my speed without touching the brakes. I can safely ride up and down hill on ice while riding fixed but feel unsafe on a freewheel. And yes, you are never too old as I’m 60 and loving my bikes. Incidently, one is a Schwinn racer, but I bought it for looks and price and left the original wheels at the bike shop and mounted my own so I could ride fixed, of course. I have over 10,000 miles on the racer and really enjoy it. For windy days I ride something a little lighter, a converted Miyata from the 80’s. I can’t go back to a free wheel but there are obviously hills in Colorado that I cannot climb!
Thanks for that & thanks for putting the case for the defence! ๐
An old Evans fixie: http://www.codgertation.co.uk/an-old-evans-fixie-just-for-cyclists/
I love the look of Dixie’s but like you I couldn’t get the hang of riding one, even though I made my own and persevered with it until I ran out of plasters! I then tried a Schwinn Racer, single speed coaster brake bike and absolutely LOVE IT! Simple but can be free wheeled and more importantly has a really cool coaster brake. Great article btw
Fixies! Not Dixie’s (there’s a special place in he’ll for autocorrect!)
๐
I’ll check them out!
I too think they look great and I have also wondered about the cost. Check out the British manufacturer http://www.mangobikes.co.uk , whose product appears to be in the same price range as our Spanish cousins. But am I too old to ride one of these babies ? And now that I’m a beige wearing worthers original sucking dad dancing 50 year old , should I not be wasting my money on a three times the price brompton ?
You are never too old! And why don’t you buy three fixies instead of a Brompton? ๐