person
Fixie Dave
The straight and narrow of fixedgear off-road.
Hi there, my name is Dave Nice although quite a few folks call me Fixie Dave.
The reason for the "fixie", being I've spent the last 20+ years riding a bike that doesn't coast. Some would argue that's the funnest parts of riding a bicycle. I've chosen to ride fixed on road, "gravel", single track and more than a few black diamond trails without a freewheel.
Why?
I think the best I can come up with as to the reasons for this is…
When I'm pedaling I feel when the rear tire grabs or brakes loose or slips, I feel when I hit a patch of ice under the snow, I feel the crunch of the aspen leaves in fall. But mainly while pedaling a fixed gear I'm fully aware of my ride, the mind doesn't wander to things like a job, chores at home, relationships, politics or the current state of the world. Maybe it's some sort of flow/zen/meditation state of pedaling?
What?
No freewheel, no coasting (unless feet are off the pedals).
Track bikes are required to be fixed in the velodrome, popular with bike messengers, I do however like to run a brake.
Who?
Bill Witty at Full Cycle on the hill in Boulder, Colorado originally put the idea into my head in the winter of 2000/2001 as there was a few weeks that winter that my Surly 1x1's freewheel kept having its pawls freeze closed in the grease (you know it's cold when you have to pee on a freewheel or get hot water from 7-11). But Bill had been a messenger in Minneapolis and told me I needed a fixedgear, I went online that evening and searched for information, this was pre Google! I ran across a website called Fixed Gear Gallery and then I stumbled across Matt Chester who was building bikes in Leadville, Colorado at the time and was a big fan of fixedgears… his writing and ideas heavily influenced my early digestions of fixedgear information.
Where?
My first go at fixedgear off-road was in Boulder at Marshall Mesa after I got off from cooking school at the time and I was living at my grandparents, when I got home my Surly 1x1 had a few flats so I just jumped on my Peugeot dumpster built road fixie. I got to the group ride and it was a hoot even with the pedal strikes and walking a bit.
I kind of snowballed from there…
About 11 years after the first ride I finally finished the Great Divide route from Antelope Wells to Banff.
A number of 24 hour races.
Still feel like something is missing when I pedal with a freewheel or with dangly bits….
- fixed-gear
- colorado
- single-speed
- gravel
- mountain-bike