Ted Bennett <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<
[email protected]>...
> > > Years ago, I was commuting home and met a gentleman in his mid 60's who used a gloved hand for
> > > braking on his fixed gear. -tom
> >
> > Dear Tom,
> >
> > Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "grabbing a big handful of brake."
> >
> > But it doesn't sound exactly practical.
> >
> > There he is, both feet strapped to a fixed-wheel and already fighting the bike, and now he
> > desperately grabs the front (?) wheel with one hand as he hurtles toward that pesky truck that
> > just pulled out in front of him.
>
> > Carl Fogel
>
> Carl, I suspect you have never ridden a fixie. Why would you characterize the activity of riding
> one as "already fighting the bike"?
>
> I suggest you try it! It's inexpensive, really a lot of fun, and not unsafe at all in comparison
> to a freewheeling bike. (Please note that I am assuming the presence of a front brake. Using a
> gloved hand on the front wheel does not count, even though it is an impressive stunt, even an
> intimidating one.)
Dear Ted,
I froth with righteous indignation!
I have indeed ridden a fixie. It was some forty-three years ago and I suppose that I was somewhere
between two and three feet high. My steed had solid rubber tires, two in the rear, and I pedalled
the front wheel. Top speed was probably around 5 mph on a good sidewalk. There was none of this
sissified hand-brake business. If you wanted to stop, you either fought the pedals to a standstill
or else toppled over.
As I remember, a skilled rider could stand on one foot on the rear platform over the axle and push
to even greater speeds with the free foot--try that on your fancy modern fixie!
Of course, I should have made it clearer that my theoretical rider was only fighting the bike to
stop it because the truck popped out in front of him--up until then he undoubtedly enjoyed a
blissful sense of being at one with the all.
Benny Hill