Sure it's a cheap shot....

Dave Moulton recently put up on his terrific blog a post about cycling terms here in the US and in his native England, specifically "fixed-gear" vs "fixed-wheel." After a few paragraphs focusing on those terms, Moulton talks about fixed-gear bicycle riders.

Moulton does not mean traditional roadies on ancient, low-geared track irons they pedal for short, warm, leg-loosening workouts in the cold months. Uh-uh.

He’s talking about the throngs of young men and women plying the mean streets of our cities on bikes that: Refuse to coast; feature Korean War surplus pedals; offer a selection of one (1) often ill-chosen gear; will not stop themselves by mechanical means, and will not Light Up the Night or even tiny spots front and rear so drunk drivers will have something to aim at.

You may sense cynicism in my assessment of Today's Fixie Hipster Pilot. Dave Moulton, a better guy than me, sees what we all see. He nevertheless manages to see a potential bright side.

Here’s Dave:

Anyway, to sum it all up as I see it; it doesn’t matter that people are getting into this trend for all the wrong reasons. For a few, cycling will get into their blood and they will continue in some form or other long after this trend has passed.

Just as many took up mountain biking in that craze during the late 1980s, early 1990s, and later switched to road bikes. Many are the hardcore bike enthusiasts of today.

If nothing else, they will experience firsthand what it is like to ride a bicycle in traffic. Maybe as adults they will become better car drivers because of it; at least drivers who are tolerant towards people riding bicycles.

I sincerely admire Dave Moulton. Among his several fine attributes, I’d say, is optimism, a tendency to feel that things will turn out well. I hope he’s right about today’s fixie hipsters – I hope that some will eventually morph into bike riders and some will think to say hi and shrug off the cloak of haughty Eye-tee wool superiority that they scored at Goodwill.

I polled some bike shop worker friends, asking if they think that today’s fixie riders will still be pedaling in five years. (Five years? Five years is an eternity! I should have asked if today’s fixie rider will still be pedaling in five months…)

One guy said that they would not be riding and might not be walking. Their knees will be blown out, he said, because of the macho high gear ratios they have chosen for their lean, Spartan urban stealth machines. Or, I suggested, the ratio that they did not choose but that was on the bike when they bought it from the clueless guy who built it up.

To interpret, that’s a no vote. Two, really.

The young lady rider I asked suggested that fixie faddists will have moved on to some other niche activity. They will not survive watching Joe Dude gleefully jump onto the hand-riveted leather saddle of a stiff-hub bike, parroting a statement they thought was theirs alone to make.

That’s another no.

What do you think? Will they be riding tomorrow?

Will many of them, as Dave Moulton feels, keep riding - like many of the thousands of people who fell in love with off-road cycling 20 years ago?

Will they – as drivers or cyclists – adopt a pose of humility and civility? As drivers, will they wear their seat belts and turn their car lights on at night? Will they turn out to be considerate of cyclists sharing their roads?

Will they sell their collector Zippos with the cloisonné Bianchi crests on Craigslist?