fixie. it makes them sound cute. charming. innocuous.
you've seen people riding them, right? barrelling through traffic, weaving in between cars, blowing stop lights. and you wonder, "why don't they stop?!"
it's because they can't. the lone gear on these bikes is fixed to the hub. so the wheel only goes forward or backward. this is not the single-speed coaster brake you remember from childhood. these bikes are literally constant motion. the only way to stop them is to slow very gradually or fight your own forward momentum by comically thrashing around while shredding your hips and knees.
this is how these riders willfully put their well-being and even lives in the hands of unwitting and unwilling drivers.
so, please join me in referring to them as track bikes. a closed race track is absolutely the only legitimate place to ride these things.
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