5 ms·
>The very founder of the Tour de France bicycle event himself, Henri Desgrange, deplored such technology. “I still feel that variable gears are only for people
by trhway 5y ago
>The very founder of the Tour de France bicycle event himself, Henri Desgrange, deplored such technology. “I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five,” he said. “Isn’t it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailleur? We are getting soft. Come on, fellows.”
In my teen-age years in 198x USSR i, like pretty much everybody there back then, had a fixie because "sport" bicycle with gears cost double (64 vs. 130 rubles with engineer salary being 200), and i envied the lucky few "sport" owners especially when i had to cycle my fixie uphill :). Now living in US I was really surprised how fixies became the trend as supposedly being superior to the gears.
- spamizbad 5y agoThe irony is that a version of this exists today: Lance Armstrong teased Chris Froome's larger rear cassette (Froome used lower ratios on climbs to maintain a higher pedaling cadence)
- angled 5y agoAt the mere cost of destroying your knees…
- Lio 5y agoNot necessarily "better", just different. There is no one bike that will excel in all conditions. If you live somewhere relatively flat then trading off the flexibility for the reliability, low cost and light weight of a dérailleur free gearing system might be worth it. Same goes for hub gears. You trade heavier weight and efficiency for not having the gear box exposed. Personally I like the rang of a compact crank and a double up front when on tarmac or gravel and a 1x when on single track but that's just me.
- jacquesm 5y agoIt's a fashion statement, nothing more than that. Like a towel, when a man has a fixed gear bicycle others will immediately assume the presence of expendable income, a recent model iPhone, a loft apartment and a high bandwidth connection.
- TremendousJudge 5y agoI'm told fixed gear bicycles are very fun to ride as well
- rhinoceraptor 5y agoIt's like the difference between driving a manual transmission versus driving an automatic. You're way more connected to the machine, especially when you're out in the country where it's quiet, because fixed gears are a lot quieter than normal bikes. There are a lot of cliches people use to describe it, but you just kind of have to experience it to get it.
- jacquesm 5y agoIt's the difference between driving a regular car and one without a gearbox, brakes and clutch, in other words, not something suitable for use in traffic.
- rhinoceraptor 5y agoWhat makes you think riding a fixed gear bike is unsuitable for traffic?
- jacquesm 5y agoBikes without brakes are illegal in traffic where I live, and rightly so, I'm a long time bike enthusiast and these fashion statements are downright dangerous, both to the rider as well as to other users of the roads. That it even needs to be pointed out that operating any vehicle without brakes is unsuitable for traffic is a bit strange to me, but there you go.