The Deal With Fixies

I have one question that has been bugging me quite a bit lately. What’s the big deal with fixies? I mean seriously. It seems pretty crazy to me. I see the use in a velodrome, but what is the positive spin to put one on the street. I get the idea. The front are rear sprockets basically work out to a common gear, if you would be so kind as to let me be really generic about it. Say you’re using 48 in front and 16 in the rear (I’m using this based on a ratio I read about). You can compare it to a (what I’m running right now on my current road bike) 53-39 front and a 12-26 rear. I fully understand the principle of this; your cadence isn’t wicked fast but your not busting that which your chamois is set in place to protect just to pedal.

*This is where I side track for a minute… if you give this blog a chance for a while, you will learn I habitually sidetrack. I cannot say it’s ADD, since I’ve never gone for a diagnosis. Anyway why, also, is it that a good deal of the aforementioned fixie riders that I’ve seen don’t wear pants with chamois? Doesn’t that just hurt?

OK, back to the original question. Doesn’t it just suck when your riding hills. Do you just avoid hills like the plague? Seriously, you get a hill where you’re able to hit, like, 40 MPH on a downhill, your cadence should kill you, no? And I further understand that there is the theory to throw your feet in the air and let the hill run its course, but c’mon.

Now with all of this being said, I have to admit I also very intrigued by the idea of fixed gears. I’d actually love to get on one and try it out, but am deathly afraid, no, mortified, at the idea.