Asking for trouble

Some people just have no idea. "Lets get a blowtorch, twist and flatten all the tubing on this bike, then ride the sucker!" I hope these collapsed catastrophically and gave the riders what they deserved. Pics courtesy of Dan.

Skid row

Skidding on the trail is bad, okay? But skidding on a fixie is only harmful to your tyres, and leaves some cool marks on the tarmac. This is the run down to my flat's front gate, the green one there. I practice my skid stops here rather than in the traffic. I've just discovered that having your pedal at 6 O'clock, rather than 9, is easier on the knees and produces a longer lock up. Now, back to work on those track stands.

Chop job

Mikey's SS commuting sled was giving him some grief, being a bit to stretched and low for the little fella. Now we can't have that, can we? So taking a cue from pics of fixies on the net, I offered to do some modifications for him, which he stupidly agreed to all too willingly.


After a couple of hours of sawing, filing, experimenting with different levers, taping, un-taping, re-taping again and again, we had success. Except minion Nigel thought it was sacriledge to chop a Japanese Nitto bar, but who listens to him anyway? They're sellin 'em for twenty bucks, forgodsake! And if Mikey's happy, everyone's happy.

Freaky fixed

Most fixie riders are a little out there, and their bikes usually reflect that fact. Here's a few sourced from the bible of fixed, fixedgeargallery.

Aero bars? On a fixie? Asking for trouble...

Looks like it came straight from an alleycat.

Schminky pinky.

The pimpin big brother of the Langster, all dressed up and no brakes to slow.

What can you say about this?
Interesting brake lever placement, but cool mixte frame.

Check out the size of that plate!
Looks like a bike a prisoner would ride. There's a Langster under there somewhere, apparently.

Back from the dead

Dan sent a link to these fixies, being sold in Australia for $1950! They are old 1960's Speedwell frames done up with new parts. My dad has one hanging up in bits in his shed, original one owner! I might have to resurrect that sucker.
Check out more pics here.

Big O's (and little Mike's) candy

Could this be NZ's most abused fixie? Owen certainly gives his Langster a good workout, riding it everywhere from the city streets to some off-road jaunts! He just added the retro-stylee fenders, with some modifications to make them fit, i.e. filing off the lawyer tabs on the fork and spacing the axle to allow the gaurd to fit under the brake, and leaving enough room at the back to get the wheel out in case of a flat (which happens a bit from his skid stops). Check out the seatpost height... how tall are you now Owen, 7'2", 7'3"?
Mike has just started working with us, and he commutes on this retro SS roady. He didn't know it's origin, but I recognised the frame from the earkly 90's as a SR Sakae Litage.

Josh's candy (and Bretto's too)

This is a cool bike. It's Josh's Surly CrossCheck, not sure what size, but he's a midget so pretty small. Good ol' 4130 steel frame and fork, DT rims on Surly hubs, Ultegra crank, Thomson post, ITM stem and sweet Campy Record carbon levers (only one in operation). Running 45/16 man's gearing. Bretto's Langster. 58cm alloy frame, carbon fork and post, bog standard wheelset that came on it, 105 crank with FSA ring. Running 44/16 ladies gearing.