Have any of you seen these guys? There's about 6 of them and they usually go night riding over at the towne centre by Wahoo's Fish Tacos. Anyway, they have some seriously nice rigs and tonight we saw them at the intersection of Aliso Creek and Pacific Park doing track stands and one of the guys had a rear wheel that either was glow in the dark purple or reflective purple...it looked badass. Anyone seen these? Or seen these guys?
http://yamabushi.wordpress.com/tag/bike-messengers/ That link is everything about the latest trend. Somehow riding a fixed gear has become real trendy. The only prob is they are trendy, look at me, im to cool for gears and im all anti corporate, and will never buy big store bought bikes, snobs that think anything other than fixed is being a sell out. I have been riding a fixed gear for 20+ years and my current commuter is a '62 Armstrong 3spd converted to fixed. Also my off season road bike is a SS, and I ride my track bike at the Home Depot Velodrome. I have seen and talked to a bunch of these guys and they really give normal, safe riders a bad name. They ride around darting through traffic pretending they are messengers. They are posers. Just check out lafixed.com and you would see they think that they are the only "true" bike riders.
Foo, I work in Aliso and see dudes on fixies pretty frequently. I think I've seen your purple rimmed friend riding around, too. Funny, huh? I never thought of Aliso Viejo as the hub of hip cycling culture.
they were young collegiate types probably attending SOKA university...most if not all didnt wear helmets and no lights to boot if i remember. im sure they're the same ones bro...they put some serious money into their bikes one guy has a bianchi with straight bars that are pretty narrow...funky looking when i first saw it.
Oh yeah. The weird narrow bars that look like they lopped off the end 6 inches of each side of an already narrow XC flat bar. I don't get how they don't fall over on those things. And yes, those bikes look shiny and bling. Blingxies. I see the purple rim guy, and orange rim guy, and a blue rim guy. All rockin' color coordinated ano like it was the 90s. I secretly drool over their bikes. But they should wear helmets. Asphalt is hard.
LOL thems be the boys that I saw...but dam the purple rim GLOWS in the dar or they reflect because it really stands out. And yes they are Blingxies for sure a lot of time and $$$ went into their rides.
Did the purple rim bike have a white rim up front? I saw a white rim/purple rim fixie, of all places, locked to the chain link fence above the HS on Aliso Viejo Parkway and Paseo de Valencia. It was a really odd place to lock a bike because the school is down a hill from there.
not quite sure what color the front hoop was...it was dark when we drove by them...i really want to look at them in the day light and take pics but i dont want them to get all tripping because i'm drooling over their bikes.
I've had several fixies. It's basically the new skateboarding. Interesting counter culture. I have to say they are better than jocks or Black Flyes guys. I guess it's like any other youth culture. People see it and get all freaked out like it's anything more than kids finding their own way through the world. I have to agree with them about buying new bikes. I'm sorry but bikes are way over priced. You can build a sweet vintage fixie for like $150. $300+ track bikes are a lot for kids these days. The kids are alright.
Listen. Fixies are cool.... on the track. IMHO, just stupid on the street. Waaayy too dangerous Bike messengers ride them out of necessity because they are inexpensive, reliable, and light. Period. The side benefit is that the average Joe walking down the street in NY, Chicago, Baltimore, or Philly isn't going to jump on one a ride way without hurting himself. Back in the day, most fixies came out of the rafters in an uncle's garage so some poor schmuck could get a job. That's all that was available to them. Given the choice, most would rather have brakes than look cool. The guys that ride them are hugely talented, but a little crazy. The fact is that most of fixie riders in OC are just a bunch of rich emo-kids with wheels. I hope none of them pay with their lives trying so hard to look cool.
Co'mon guys, let's all fight the establishment!!1!!one! "But, but, but, what about the ponchos?" - Homer Simpson
Not as dangerous as mountain biking. Yep... because it's fun. And often the safest line in traffic is between lanes.
Yeah, they are the new skateboards. My neighbors have a track bike "project mahem," type thing going on at their place. It's called "The council of Doom." My roommate and I call them the council of dorks. They just ride and pretend to be messengers, sit and watch each other spin on the rollers for hours at a time.
"the new skateboard" ????...how about the new hoola-hoop? skateboarding should not be compared to guys making a point just to make a point or especially campared to guys wearing lycra and being snooty as described. if you ever really rode a board you understand, if you have to ask you'll never know.
If you haven't tried riding fixed don't knock it till you've tried it. It is a really fun way of getting around. It adds a fun element to riding the streets. As you can see by my signature I have a 1989 Specialized lugged steel fixed/free bike. Because I have the option of riding it SS I have front and rear brakes. I mainly ride it fixed though. I like to try and stop by slowing my cadence but have brakes if someone pulls out in front of me or the light changes right in front of me. Did I jump on the fad? Sure it seemed cool. Same thing with SS MTB or 29er MTB. It is just another way to get out and enjoy riding a bike.
