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This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.Subscribe
This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.
D is the great answer.
You get another one for free out of this one:
Inclinded Plans intersection Fixies rule = Wheelchair
Pardon my ignorance, but what is the “Fixies rule”? Or is rule a verb, in which case who/what are Fixies and why do they rule?
I was wondering the same thing, too.
Fixie is an affectionate name for fixed gear bicycles. “Fixies rule” is something fixie riders often shout because they think that riding a simpler machine that requires more work makes them better than other bicyclists.
and fixie riders are usually the ones weaving through traffic and running red lights (maybe because they don’t have brakes), generally pissing off everyone else on the road. oh and doing it in ironic black clothes and with an ironic asymmetrical haircut.
Thanks for the clarification! I guess I don’t live in an urban enough city to warrant a “Fixies Rule.”
Ha ha! This is funny! :D
It does certainly take more work, due to the resistance that is set in with the gearing constantly contained.
DB
Oh yeah…
<—- Insert link here
I don’t get C. On inclined planes, gears rule? Fixies suck on hills. Either you have to work way too hard going up or you have to pull up your legs on the way down or resist the hill on the way down.
Fixie – a new word learned today. Time for a nap.
I don’t get D. Maybe it’s because I am a physicist and am taking the terms of “work” and “energy” too literally.
Work and Energy, as in physics, are essentially the same thing. If you are doing “more work,” then you are inevitably using more energy and not “less energy” since work is “Force X distance.” So, if fixies take more work to go up an incline, it should also mean more energy… unless that’s the sarcasm aspect of it.
i’d a fixie…. but i use a more motorized version now… a bike.. :P
Is no one going to support fixed gears!? I will admit, they are difficult at first, but the response you get from the bike is way beyond a freewheel! Besides, most hills are more than manageable on a fixie, just depends on your gear ratio. Downhills are far more intimidating because you have to be able to lock the back wheel and skid to slow yourself.
I ride fixed (but without the ironic clothing and haircut, and I don’t run lights because that’s just stupid and frankly I like being alive), and it’s a marvellously efficient and low-maintenance option for short-distance downtown riding.
I’ll double up on the fixed gear support. Fashion trends are just giving them a bad name right now. Still is a great post.
Keep it going.
(maybe because they don’t have brakes)
Fun
Made me smile
Good one
Peace
make me laugh, thanks
Energy should read effort
What’s the benefit of this so-called tiny-fraction-of-a-turn “response”?
Much enjoying my 21 speed, thanks. And I’ll see you when you finally get to the bottom of that big hill, me having done 30+ mph and got a much needed breathing break then stopped efficiently, you having gone as slow as your tortured joints would allow and had difficulty negotiating the junction at the bottom.
(I don’t ride much any more, but the times when I did a lot I lived in a welsh coastal valley town: I was VERY grateful for having a super wide range of gears (bottom for grinding up the town’s biggest hill at 4-ish mph without having to get off and walk (everyone on foot doing about 2mph by the crest) or breaking the chain/my body with insane torque, top for scooting along the flats/downhill at about the same speed as motor traffic (both a time and safety benefit) without spinning the pedals like a loon), a freewheel and powerful brakes that didn’t lead to me having to change the rear tyre every few weeks)
The arguments about reliability and maintenance … pfft. My current bike is about 8 years old, all I’ve ever done is wash it and occasionally oil the chain or tighten a random thing that’s slightly loose. No major problems at all. Wasn’t even an expensive one. Dereilleur … fine. Brakes … fine. Everything else … fine. If you want something lower maintenance than “no significant work for almost a decade” then that’s quite a demanding prospect to my mind.
I really don’t understand the fixie obsession. It seems like an admission of being a masochist but not having the guts to join the S&M scene. Similar to my ire at the nonce on a particular car magazine program who seemed to be seriously positing the Morris Minor as a superior vehicle to modern cars BECAUSE of its primitive … slow … inefficient … unwieldy … badly handling … unsafe nature. I’m sorry… what? Yeah. It taught you defensive driving, how to change gears like a racing driver, conserve your brakes and handle chronic oversteer and other handling issues – because you HAD to. But a driver of a modern car can still be taught these things (=should=, in my opinion), and won’t be squashed like a bug inside an industrial press should someone in a SUV make an unpredictable mistake, suffer drum-brake fade (or alternatively, terrible traction from non-ABS assisted pramwheel tyres) when having to pull an emergency stop from 70mph because the SUV driver ahead has rammed a 2007-vintage supermini and is waving in shock at its irate driver, find themselves unavoidably switching ends on a wet roundabout, or struggling to keep up with everyday traffic even while the motor is screaming at peak revs… in top… at 70. And chowing down at least 25% more fuel than even a mid 90s equivalent. Plus the lack of a decent heater meaning you lose some of your sensory input, thinking ability and motor control, bad seats, bad safety restraints, rubbish instrumentation and unergonomic controls, pokey cabin, noise, actual (single glaze) glass in the windows, dim lights, unbelievable maintenance requirements (ok – that last bit doesnt count for a fixie i admit :D) etc.
Gimme a break.
sounds like someone’s heavily on the rag about fixed gears.
you won’t ever see me, Welshman, because i rock my fixed gear in a real city in the States.
oh, and also: i wouldn’t ever be seen with an uptight loser like you A) dwells to much on what other people like to do B) who’ll never be as strong, C) have the endurance, or D)the driving skill of someone like me.
There surely are situations where some gears are required (hills, mostly) to get the job done. But, if you’d actually try a fixie, you might like it. There is a certain smoothness to them and a certain connection that makes them pleasureable, even though they are more primitive. Usually a few pounds lighter as well because you don’t need to bring all those cogs, derailers, extra chain or 3 pounds of internal gear hub.
When I first read about them, I was also like : “sure, whatever. You’ve got to be kidding.” But at a point when I was low on money it turned out the be the cheapest fix, so I gave it a try, and I loved it from the second day on. the first day sucked because I was too used to freewheeling, and got a fair beating from the pedals when my feet stopped but the pedals went on.
Most of my friends love it as well when they have tried it for some time.
Cheapness and low maintenance is great as well. I pay about €50 to replace the entire drive chain and gears, and they last around two years. On my geared bicycle I was lucky if I could get a rear cassette for that amount, and it would hardly last over a year. maintenance it only putting some oil on the chain (chain saw oil, no fancy teflon stuff)
Naturally, it’s not for everyone. Just like a 27 gear rattle-machine isn’t for me. And only fools and the suicidal use a fixed gear without at least a front brake, or run red lights at full speed.
You hit the nail on the head Tahrey. I guess common sense doesn’t prevail with fix minded people. It’s like they want to do things the hard way so they can tell everyone how cool and strong they are. Most fixies are young and hip anyway who bike for fun on the weekends. An everyday bike commuter would scratch their head and wonder why anyone would want to waste energy.
Is maintaining a bike really that difficult? The self maintenance process really teaches you how to fix your bike. With fixies you obvious learn less with fewer crucial parts.