Portland: Fixies are Illegal

Paul J. Berg said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

They're illegal only if you do not have a brake. Plenty of people in
town on fixies with a front brake. -- Jay Beattie.

Jay Beattie said:

Paul J. Berg said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

They're illegal only if you do not have a brake. Plenty of people in
town on fixies with a front brake.

They should propose a law that all bikes have to be able to be
ridden in reverse to avoid collisions.

Of course it'd be voted down, but it'd be fun to watch.

I happen to agree with the city. A few people can control a fixie
like it has a brake. The rest can't and their attempts to do it
out in public endanger those around them.

--Blair

Blair P. Houghton said:

A few people can control a fixie
like it has a brake. The rest can't and their attempts to do it
out in public endanger those around them.

Nobody in the world can slow an unbraked fixie as quickly as I can
slow mine with a front brake; regardless of skill or leg strength,
simple physics is against them.

Kinky Cowboy*

*Batteries not included
May contain traces of nuts
Your milage may vary

Paul J. Berg said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

When you post the same thing in more than one (appropriate) newsgroup, why
not do so simultaneously* so that all replies are seen by all?

* "multi-posting" rather than "cross-posting"?

Paul J. Berg said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

It's already the law in CA.

In article
<[email hidden]>,

(Paul J. Berg) said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

They do not accept 1879 as a birth date.

--
Michael Press

"Paul J. Berg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.x
ml&coll=7>

Quoted message said:

The same sort of anti-cycling legislation exists in British Columbia, which
section outlaws not only fixed-gear cycles, but ordinaries and unicycles;
They also have defined the road to include _any_ shoulder, which means that
if an unpaved shoulder abuts a paved road surface, cyclists are required by
law to ride on the unpaved portion.

That, and they have an MHL.

"Michael Press" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,

(Paul J. Berg) said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.x
ml&coll=7>

Quoted message said:

They do not accept 1879 as a birth date.

Tell the page you live in Nigeria.

jtaylor said:

"Paul J. Berg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.x
ml&coll=7>

Quoted message said:

The same sort of anti-cycling legislation exists in British Columbia, which
section outlaws not only fixed-gear cycles, but ordinaries and unicycles;
They also have defined the road to include _any_ shoulder, which means that
if an unpaved shoulder abuts a paved road surface, cyclists are required by
law to ride on the unpaved portion.

That, and they have an MHL.

It's anti-stupidity legislation. As in, it's stupid to ride a bicycle
that doesn't have any brakes on it.
--D-y

Paul J. Berg said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

Why the dishonest, intentionally misleading, alarmist subject line?

"Downtrodden of the earth" rhetoric? No sale. --D-y

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jtaylor said:

"Paul J. Berg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.x

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ml&coll=7>

Quoted message said:

The same sort of anti-cycling legislation exists in British Columbia,

which

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

section outlaws not only fixed-gear cycles, but ordinaries and

unicycles;

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

They also have defined the road to include _any_ shoulder, which means

that

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

if an unpaved shoulder abuts a paved road surface, cyclists are required

by

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

law to ride on the unpaved portion.

That, and they have an MHL.

It's anti-stupidity legislation. As in, it's stupid to ride a bicycle
that doesn't have any brakes on it.

All unicyclists are stupid?

Michael Press said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] (Paul J. Berg) wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

Quoted message said:

They do not accept 1879 as a birth date.

They accept 2006 though. Today's youth are ahead of the curve.

--
Alan Hoyle - [email hidden] - http://www.alanhoyle.com/
"I don't want the world, I just want your half." -TMBG
Get Horizontal, Play Ultimate.

Quoted message said:

Paul J. Berg said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

Why the dishonest, intentionally misleading, alarmist subject line?

Whaddya, new? (That, or, "The AHZs got bored."😉

Quoted message said:

"Downtrodden of the earth" rhetoric? No sale. --D-y

Ditto...but the /troll/ worked, nonetheless.

Alan Hoyle said:

Michael Press said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] (Paul J. Berg) wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

Quoted message said:

They do not accept 1879 as a birth date.

They accept 2006 though. Today's youth are ahead of the curve.

Their website keeps popping up the Print dialog box on my browser. If
I wanted their newspaper in hardcopy, I'd have asked for it.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

jtaylor said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jtaylor said:

"Paul J. Berg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
>
>

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.x

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ml&coll=7>
>

The same sort of anti-cycling legislation exists in British Columbia,

which

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

section outlaws not only fixed-gear cycles, but ordinaries and

unicycles;

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

They also have defined the road to include _any_ shoulder, which means

that

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

if an unpaved shoulder abuts a paved road surface, cyclists are required

by

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

law to ride on the unpaved portion.

That, and they have an MHL.

It's anti-stupidity legislation. As in, it's stupid to ride a bicycle
that doesn't have any brakes on it.

All unicyclists are stupid?

No, but taking words out of context to try to "win" arguments in a ng
is pretty stupid. IMHO, of course.

Thinking about it, in context: riding a unicycle in traffic would be
stupid, yeah.

Brakeless FG is a macho subculture thing that doesn't even make
economic sense for the messengers who practice it.

The "antisocial" element is clearly what appeals to you. --D-y

Quoted message said:

jtaylor said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It's anti-stupidity legislation. As in, it's stupid to ride a
bicycle that doesn't have any brakes on it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

All unicyclists are stupid?

Quoted message said:

No, but taking words out of context to try to "win" arguments in a ng
is pretty stupid. IMHO, of course.

Welcome to "jtaylor 101" -- liar, hypocrite, weasel.

Quoted message said:

Thinking about it, in context: riding a unicycle in traffic would be
stupid, yeah.

Pretty clear to any /thinking/ person; leaves Flailor out.

Quoted message said:

Brakeless FG is a macho subculture thing that doesn't even make
economic sense for the messengers who practice it.

The "antisocial" element is clearly what appeals to you. --D-y

You're giving him too much credit. He's just a blind zealot.

On Thu, 3 Aug 2006 14:21:09 -0700, [email hidden] (Paul J. Berg)

Quoted message said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

"Fixies without a handbrake are illegal", more like.

I have mixed feelings about this whole mess. On the one hand, my only
experience with a fixie absolutely convinced me never to ride one
again voluntarily, regardless of whether it had a handbrake. On the
other hand, I don't consider anti-stupidity laws to be worth enforcing
unless the stupidity endangers someone else directly...but there are
so many variables in this issue that the discussion of when and where
such enforcement is justified could be a helmet thread; I'd rather not
go there. On the gripping hand, having such a law on the books, with
the proviso that it kicks in to make the penalty worse when the
stupidity causes harm to another, seems like a supportable concept
until the stupidity-OF-enforcers factor is considered as well.

There are no perfect laws outside of physics.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Robert Lorenzini said:

Paul J. Berg said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

It's already the law in CA.

Technically, it's the law in every state that I've checked, but in the
majority of locales it seems that the police aren't enforcing it.
This may be due to the cops' lack of knowledge of what a fixie is.
Their ignorance is the rider's bliss.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack said:

Robert Lorenzini said:

On Thu, 3 Aug 2006 14:21:09 -0700, Paul J. Berg <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

<http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1154141722159250.xml&coll=7>

It's already the law in CA.

Technically, it's the law in every state that I've checked, but in the
majority of locales it seems that the police aren't enforcing it.
This may be due to the cops' lack of knowledge of what a fixie is.
Their ignorance is the rider's bliss.

Your idea of "bliss" is...well, interesting! (With my knees, I can't
imagine riding a SS much less a fixed-gear, much less a BRAKELESS fixie.)

Bill "don't they call 'em 'track bikes' for a reason?" S.