fakengers

i just don’t get it. seen a few people around bristol recently riding fakenger bikes (ie that charge plug fixie with the green rims) and hi vis vests, helmets, lycra and in one case a set of panniers. surely you ride that kind of bike for image (ie if you just wanted a fixed wheel bike you wouldn’t get/ride something so blatantly tarted up) and then you destroy that image by wearing sensible instead of your sisters jeans.

ok, my swobo has red rims and red chain hubs and a red chain, and mud guards and panniers and lots of lights.

But I don’t concider myself “fakenger” just a someone who commutes on a fixed gear bike..

Erm, they are also good for commuters as well as being a fashion statement. We sell a few based on them being very low maintenance, light and cheap. In fact, I’m probably the only fakenger in town and that’s because I used to be a realenger…

students are back, I saw some of them bombing down park street on their fixies with their feet off the pedals.

Not 100% sure what happened after they went out of sight, but if they didn’t go under a bus I would be amazed.

i think this is more your problem than theirs

just to point out i’ve got nothing wrong with people commuting to work on fixed wheel bikes, it’s more people who have fixed wheel bikes with too many chrome/neon parts and dildo bars who have obviously made an effort to make HHSBs who then wear lycra and hi vis clothing (note site wear not american apparel wear)

JoB – Member

i think this is more your problem than theirs

oh, i don’t doubt it’s my problem at all.

pjt201 – Member

just to point out i’ve got nothing wrong with people commuting to work on fixed wheel bikes, it’s more people who have fixed wheel bikes with too many chrome/neon parts and dildo bars who have obviously made an effort to make HHSBs who then wear lycra and hi vis clothing (note site wear not american apparel wear)

It’s all just riding bikes. there’s internet forums about it and everything.

paulosoxo – Member

It’s all just riding bikes. there’s internet forums about it and everything.

what i’m trying to say is why go to all the trouble of colour coordinating your bike to fit in with a particular popular image and then go and move away from that image by adding a pannier to it…

Cos the person wants to go to work?

Isn’t it the same as putting a wallet in the back pocket of your jeans? You bought them cos they look nice, but they were never designed to bulge a bit on your arse cheek.

because they need to carry stuff?

my good friends who are pro skaters and run 50/50 store at the bottom of park st have taken to fixies, as the older you get skating takes its toll on the body. think theyve started selling them. to be fair my old mate who owns the shop rides everyday to work and does not drive. im working on turning them to dirt but they are cool ‘street’ chaps..

richc –
students are back, I saw some of them bombing down park street on their fixies with their feet off the pedals.

Park St. in Brizzle?!?!?

taking inspiration from that I think I’ll swap my desk chair for a ham slicer!!

Implicit in the OP is the idea that once someone has gone part of the way with an “image” he or she is obliged to go the whole way with it. I am not sure that makes a lot of sense. 😕

I am a roadie who also rides a folding bike, a cargo bike and mountain bikes (some singlespeed, some not). I shave my legs in summer, do not have a beard, wear lycra quite a lot, baggies occasionally, tweeds, cords and hiking trousers a fair bit and often wear a boldly striped pair of socks under my sandals, although not usually on the road bike. Often I wear a rapha racing cap under a helmet, but am currently affecting a broad brimmed winter Tilley hat and a scarf to keep my head warm, at least when riding the cargo and the folder. I am a city tax lawyer by profession, and when in the office I wear handmade suits, ironed white shirts and knitted silk ties.

Do I have an image? A series of images? A parade of destroyed images? Schizophrenic tendencies? Or just a selection of clothes and bicycles?

🙂

my fixie has a rack and panniers on too. two lights on the back. four cards in the back wheel (they act as reflectors being white on the reverse side – although that’s prob just an excuse to have them there…….one of them is a union jack.)

fun and practicle bike……

J

just realised i have no photos of it built up….

We sell a few based on them being very low maintenance, light and cheap

what? a charge plug, light? a case for trading standards, surely…

at 50/50 they also got a tirade of jibes on the blog from people giving them a hard time, they couldnt see it as it was just another addictive fun urban thing that thay wanted to share. tbh any bike riding is a good thing. i wanted to be tim gould or jmc when i was young. perhaps some people just want to be cool. if they are serious that will wear off and a life long relationship with bikes will start. heres hoping.

Bike jelousy maybe?

Gives a girl a good excuse chat to you and to tell you she likes your bike – I think the guy with the hot pink fixie in Leeds was rather surprised 🙂

Dislike the cheap impersonators just about asmuch as I dislike the ‘bike-messenger’ ownership of ‘fixies’. But having worked as a courier and having been to a few “fakenger” events I do think the scenes are growing apart. The urban-fixie group – at the moment – seem to be having their own momentum, good looking practical bikes getting more bums on saddles; unlike the courier group who get their identity by NOT being fakengers.

Fads grow into trends; trends grow into accepted lifestyles.

just wish after people had spent so much money putting velocities onto their hi-tensile ‘pile of’ they would take the time to learn about bike setup; YOUR SADDLE IS TOO F888ING low!

I think trendy urbanites getting in to bikes can only be a good thing. Everytime I see a pretty young thing on a fixie riding down the south bank, it makes me smile regardless of whether or not she knows her Eddie Merckx’ from her Sheldon Brown.

As for the coloured rims and reflective vests thing…I dream of owning some vintage steel, but that doesn’t mean that I’d be going round with wool shrts and a beef steak stuffed down me kecks.

I take my hat off to anyone who rides a fixie up Park Street.

My Pompino has mudguards and a pannier rack. No bell though.

Why is it OK for actual messengers to ride stupid bikes and dress like knobs, but not for civilians to do the same?

I ride fixed, I don’t ride a ‘fixie’ 😉 when I ride it to work I upset the stereotype a bit by wearing muddy mtb shoes and a karrimor rucksack, also I don’t have a peak on my helmet – even when on the mountain bike! Kerayzee!

For what it’s worth, I’ve had it since last Jan-ish do 20 miles a day 5 days a week and haven’t changed anything (although the chain is well worn and the tyres are a bit square in profile!). Great commuting bikes.

So pjt201, your problem is that someone would buy what you see as a ‘fashion’ bike, but then use it as a practical tool, wearing practical clothes? Would you rather they were leaving the bike hanging up at home and driving the Vectra to work?

Saw this in Evans t’other day:

Nice enough, but lose that nasty frame pad and matching saddle!

Oh, and it has a freewheel, which makes it ok.

TBH, it’s nice to see that cycling is becoming a bit more ‘trendy’ and fashionable. That can’t be a bad thing, if it gets bods on bikes.