Cruiser / Town-bike fixies…

I’ve decided that I’ll be replacing my (Perfectly functional) drop-barred, commuting fixie with a geared, freewheeling, disc braked touring type bike to get me to work and trundle about local lanes during winter.

Which will of course leaves me with a slightly redundant and largely worthless fixed gear bike, and I now find myself drawn to the idea of simplifying it, taking the guards, bottle cage, pump, etc off and changing the drops for either riser bars or a more swept back cruiser/town bike type bar and some sort of front ‘Pizza rack’, box or Basket setup for more upright fair weather round town trundling with a bit of stuff…

Anybody got a similar Hipster Whip to share for inspiration?

Evening bump…

Not a town bike but my only bike is this stripped down fixed gear which I use for road, gravel and easy single track.

Once you strip yours down take it for a spin off road, great fun.

TBH I’m thinking something like that dolan, nice and clean, but with some sort of minimal front rack, like this:

Or even go full dickhead:

I’m also not quite decided on whether to have just a front brake or to just to err on the side of caution and have a rear brake too…

Sack off the daft narrow bars.

I have a nice set of curved bars on mine nuce and wide and easy to maneuver when you stack a crate on the front.

Its gathering dust but when it comes out again i kniw i’ll enjoy it.

I do have an old pair of azonic world force risers trimmed to about 670mm, feels like a happy medium sort of width…

But I’m also liking the look of these zenith crescent bars:

Yep, the narrow bars things was ridiculous.  I run 680mm risers and they are just right to give a good level of control off road, jumping over things, skidding etc,. but without being too wide on fast road

A few year back I resurrected my old road bike as a single speed “hipsterfixietwatbike”  Bullhorn bars not drops. very minimalist. I was astonished how much I enjoy riding it.

The bullhorns in particular I really like – nice relaxed position – like on the hoods but the brakes are ( with the correct levers) at your fingertips at all times so much better than drops for townriding

For town/utility I *usually* find a basket more useful than a porteur.  Although incorporating the best of both worlds could be optimal.  Probably easier to buy both and then fit as required, what is it, three bolts?

For around town I prefer Raleigh North Rounder trekking type bars with cork ergo grips.

If you’re going more sitty-uppy it’s also worth thinking about the seating arrangements.

If you’re looking at going ‘hipster’ then maybe look at pictures of pathracers or turn some trekking bars upside down?  Possibly fit bmx bars to an old Bridgestone or Peugeot etc.  Fit a porteur rack then jubilee clip an old supermarket basket on to it.  With a Tiswas badge on the front.  And some Frosties on there, secured with a honey-brown leather strap.  Spokey dokies.  Or something, I dunno something pseudo-post-ironic with a twist, I dunno!  Howabout recreating Evil Knievel’s jump bike except as an urban hipster fixie???

I get carried away.  Sorry.  But I like that last idea best.

Here’s a bike with some wrong brake levers:

hipsterfixietwatbike

Was it designed to be post-post-ironic?  Or just a bike to ride?  Am seriously fascinated with the cultural baggage that comes/is conferred upon cycling.

Pics?

Its how I describe the bike as it looks rather like the fixie bikes the hipster **** ride ;-)  I could be called many things – even a **** but hipster?  those days are long gone!

I’ll get a pic of it so you can see if the description is right!

Edit – sorry mods – I didn’t realise that was on the banned list!

Malvernrider . I am not sure ironic or post ironic is right.  More about ripping the pee out of myself before someone else does it.

DSC_0602 by TandemJeremy[/url], on Flickr

The crux of the joke is this was my first offroad bike – had wide ratio ( for 35 years ago ) 10 speed on it and cyclocross knobbie tubs back then and inverted cut off drops which are very like bullhorns.  So I was riding a bike that looks like a hipster fixie 35 years ago before the hipsters were born ;-)

I think you are safe to ride a fixed gear again without fear of looking like a hipster.  Fixed gear was a hipster thing about 10 years ago and they have long moved on from it.

I never worried about it even at it’s height down in the deepest New Forest where people still point at the sky when a plane flies past.

Here’s my other town bike, or whatever…

Actually I did look at bar end levers but I think that might be a step too far… If anything I’m fancying some hinged clamp bmx levers like the old tech 77s so make bar swapping simpler…

Hipsterfixietwat sounds like the sort of territory I’m drifting towards, but I doubt I’ll ever qualify, I’ve a mortgage and an MPV.

The front rack/basket will be for a bit of light shopping and stuff round town of a weekend, fixed utility is the goal…

I hate driving in town and an undesirable/unridable fixed bike would be as theft proofed as you can get I reckon…

I have a set of the zeniths crescents on mine.

I love them.

I still can’t work out how to post images

But here’s my commuter/town bike/occasional trainer.

The gearing is a bit steep for commuting and Deliveroo, but I’d pretty much always prefer a bit of grinding to spinning out everywhere. It’s also surprisingly fast: it got me to my Box Hill PR, and I did a 24:15 10TT on it.

It’s a Dawes frame from (I think) the early 80s, Reynolds 531. The bars are Cinelli LA84s that my grandad had in his shed. He thought they were weird shaped drops! I’ve got it set up as 53×16 fixed, using an XT front mountain bike hub on the rear with a 6-bolt cog.

https://www.instagram.com/fistasthlm/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/mr_slowie/

These guys are pretty good for insta inspiration. I particularly like Mattias’ flat bar beater bike S-works Tarmac.

^ I love that GT Moto!

I’m still waiting for Charges Cleaver Klunker to appear but no sign of it yet

I’m waiting for the Kleaver too. Wish Charge would get on with releasing it. I only have my full suss at the moment and it’s too good for just dicking about.

I emailed them about it a while ago and they said they were having to change their frame builder. Can’t remember what date they told me now though.