The last word on fixies

Do you want to contribute to Mailbag, a regular feature of VeloNews.com? Here’s how:

• Keep it short. And remember that we reserve the right to edit for grammar, length and clarity.
• Include your full name, hometown and state or nation.
• Send it to webletters@insideinc.com.

Not all cyclists are racers …

Dear Velo,
Anyone who throws a leg over the top tube’s a cyclist!

I’ve been in a bicycle shop when an older woman comes in on her 30-year-old Rudge 3-speed and watched everyone run for cover.

What they didn’t know was that this cyclist commutes year round to her job as a librarian. She bought that bike when she began college and kept riding it.

Remember that the next time you think about fixed gears or carbon-rimmed 11-speed color-coordinated cod piece and courier bag.

How many “Real cyclist’s” do you know who drove where they were going today?!

Chris Cooper

It’s a road, not a velodrome

Editor:
Is it not the case that fixed-gear bikes were designed to be ridden on a track? No matter how skilled someone is, one cannot argue that one can stop faster using leg power alone than with leg power and brakes together. Brakes do not add much weight, and they can make the difference between being seriously injured or not.

Furthermore, chains break, especially with the high-torque riding style typical of fixed-gear bikes. Brakes are simply sensible for the safety of everyone.

John Calkins
Basel, Switzerland

How ‘bout we all ride without brakes?

Dear Editors,
My pickup has a standard transmission, and with careful anticipation and shifting technique, I have found that I really don’t need brakes, so I ditched them. I have really good night vision, too, so I don’t turn my headlights on at night. I also note that both my creativity and my driving get better after 2 or 10 beers.

While “The Man” smothers my hipness by trying to criminalize my expressions of individuality, the true surprise stems from the “holier-than-thou” indignation of the other drivers on the road. It’s as if their lack of exemplary shifting skills and uncanny night vision gives them some sense of entitlement to dictate how I drive! What a downer!

Individuality should be valued and we should all have a choice regarding what kind of bikes we ride, but we have a responsibility to minimize risks when that choice has the potential to impact others. Riding in city traffic can be dangerous, and while I concede that most bike-on-car crash scenarios will turn out badly only for the cyclist, it’s not hard to imagine other cars or pedestrians becoming involved just because the cyclist couldn’t stop three feet shorter.

I am sure that many riders could ride a fixie safely in traffic, just as I’m sure that many car drivers can drive safely at 180mph, but that said, who would want the speed limit raised to 180mph on the roads of their favorite weekend ride?

Victor Becker
Wellsboro, Pennsylvania

Filled up with fixies

Editors,
The next time your online rag givens another pixel of print space to discussions about fixies, listen closely you will hear masses of readers closing their web browsers and moving on to a more respectable publication.

Dean Sedlachek
San Francisco, California

Dean, of course you’re right. We have been struggling to keep up with a major pixel shortage ever since the great pixel embargo of ’07. Your point is well made.

We never imagined the hornets’ nest we opened up when we posted that first letter, but we’ll let yours be the last letter on the subject. – Editor

Loves the comments

Hello,
I can’t believe Mike Spilker’s letter to the editor, published last week, asking to remove the comments from below the articles. I think this is one of the best features of the new design. I often read an article on VeloNews and think, “Hmm, I wonder what other cyclists will think of this,” and it’s great to be able to just scroll down and find out.

My response would be, “If you don’t want to read opinions other than those of the author of the story, then don’t.” Problem solved!

Thanks,
Arlo Leach
Portland, Oregon

Feel the Luv?

Dear Velo,
It looks like Bradley Wiggins didn’t get out of his contract with Garmin in favor of Sky after all, despite a lot of not-so-subtle lobbying in the British media.

If, as reported, Thomas Lövkvist is to be Sky’s designated rider for GC at the Tour instead of Wiggins, he’s going to have to get a nickname the Brits can remember, as in “Cav” and “Wiggo.”

So I suggest he quickly become a British citizen, drop the umlauts altogether and change his name to Tommy Lovekissed, nickname “Luv.”

Signed, your half Limey, half Yankee reader,

Jane Kyle
Portland, Oregon

Dressing for success

Dear Velo,
Maybe your readers can help me out.

As a newly graduated Electrical Engineer and cyclist, I have been looking for slacks so that I may look professional at work. The problem is, I am having trouble finding pants that fit my thighs, which are a bit bigger than those of non-cyclists.

I know the pro teams need slacks when they have to look professional. Does anyone have suggestions as to where to start looking? I have tried Kohl’s and JC Penny as well as Dockers and Dickies.

Thanks for any help or suggestions you may be able to provide.
Chris Sparks

FILED UNDER: Mailbag TAGS: brakes / Fixies / Mailbag