Gob contributed this well stated and well thought-out comment in response to my post, A Note From my Friend Larry....
•Fixed Gear kids didn't come from BMX. BMX kids generally continue to ride BMX, or abandon bikes altogether. There are several types of BMX kids as well, racers, freestylers, street riders, dirt jumpers, contest riders, flatlanders, all with their own credos, POV's, and rules. There is some overlap, but by and large each group keeps to their own. BMX is fiercely protective of what they see as their own territory, and they mostly hate MTB and Fixed Gear Freestylers. This is not to say that all BMXer's don't ride fixed, it's just a small proportion.
•Fixed Gear kids are hipsters. As has been stated, they are just the latest iteration of punks, mods, new wavers, grunge rockers, hip hoppers, greasers, or emo-kids. They are different from all of these, and yet virtually indistinguishable. They are just trying to be different, all in the similar ways, the way some of us did when we were that age, the way 18-25 year olds will always be until western civilisation collapses.
•Jon is not a hipster, he's an overly sensitive commuter who happens to ride fixed.
•Not all Fixed Kids ride like assholes, but the vast majority of them do. However, there are plenty of roadies and triatheletes who ride with equally little regard for traffic laws- neither group is without blame.
3 comments:
I agree that roadies and triathletes can ride like assholes, just like the fixed gear guys. The places where that seems to be less true are those like the Northeast and California, which have cycling clubs that have been around since before cycling became fashionable. I don't think the old clubs like Berkeley Wheelmen, Charles River Wheelmen or Potomac Pedalers get the credit they deserve for teaching newbies the rules of the road.
Sorry, I did not mean to leave the above comment anonymously.
Earle Young,
Madison, Wisc.
"Like all 18 to 25 year olds",I think bottom line of thought( maybe sub conscious) is, "do I look cool and will this get me laid?"
All we had to do was not sahve or get a haircut, ride a fast motorcycle or a cool multispeed bike.Kids now have to do soooo much more to somehow standout.....
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