'Look Ma, No Brakes'

Older Riders Try 'Fixie' Bikes
With One Gear, Many Risks;
A Surgeon Goes Over the Top
By HANNAH KARP
July 7, 2006; Page W1

Forget about 28-speed mountain bikes, cruisers with huge seats or
$3,500 bicycles that shift gears automatically. Cyclists seeking an
adrenaline boost on their commute are increasingly climbing onto a
model straight out of the 19th century: a bike that has just one
gear, can't coast and often lacks a feature prized by most cyclists
and law-enforcement officials -- brakes.

Taking a cue from velodrome racers and city bike messengers, a
growing number of riders are buying so-called fixed-gear bikes.
Unlike standard 18- or 21-speeds, fixed-gear models have pedals
chained directly to the rear wheel so that whenever the wheel spins,
so do the pedals. To stop, the rider has to slow down well in
advance, or stand on the pedals with enough force to skid to a stop.
Removing brakes and gears makes the bikes lighter and cheaper than
feature-packed versions, and purists say they like these models --
also known as "fixies" -- for their simplicity and direct connection
to the pavement.


"Fixie" bikes are becoming more popular.
While many riders used to build their own stripped-down models -- and
some boutique makers have long sold them for track racing -- now
major bike manufacturers are circling the market. Giant introduced
its first fixed-gear model for the streets, the $500 Bowery, earlier
this year. Last year, Trek introduced its T-1 track bike, a $1,100
model that comes without brakes, while Raleigh rolled out its $600
Rush Hour, its first fixed-gear model since 1980. And Specialized
last year sold 5,000 of its fixed-gear Langsters, up from 600 when it
introduced the line in 2001. Next year, Specialized plans to bring
out a new version of its single-speed bike that transforms into a
fixie by simply adding a cog.

But for all of their hipster appeal, the bikes can be difficult to
operate, if not outright dangerous. Because coasting isn't an option,
stopping takes strength and concentration. A common mistake for
novices who forget they're on a fixed-gear model is to stop pumping --
and go flying over the handlebars as the pedals keep spinning, a
Specialized representative says. For men, the bikes present another
challenge: Because riders can't stand up in the saddle to coast, long
rides can result in reduced blood flow to the reproductive organs,
which studies suggest may lead to impotence.

EASY RIDER

See options for riders who would rather take it easy than try the
challenges of fixed-gear bikes.Chris Dawson noticed fixed-gear bikes
all over the street, and after checking a few pro-fixie Web sites,
the 39-year-old lawyer in Sacramento, Calif., bought one earlier this
year. "There's a perception that fixed-gear riders are these crazy
guys," he says. "But here I am in my button-down shirt and tie." Now,
the father of two rides it to work each day -- his is equipped with
brakes, and he wears a helmet -- and says he loves showing off his
new skills. That made it all the more embarrassing when he lost his
balance recently in front of a line of cars at an intersection and
toppled over.

The danger doesn't stop when the bike does. Fixed-gear owners can
injure themselves when the bike is elevated on a repair stand. In
contrast with standard models, with chains that stop spinning if
something is caught in them, the chains and pedals on fixies keep
moving as long as the wheel is turning, even if something gets stuck
in the works. Sites including fixedgeargallery.com, cyclelicio.us and
Sheldonbrown.com contain tales of stuck digits, even pictures of
severed fingers.

Fans say they're unfazed. Riders say the bikes provide a killer
workout because one can set the gear at a low level for added
resistance. Macho types, meanwhile, revel at riding a bike they can
stop only with their own brute strength. And experienced riders say
plenty of rewards come with mastering the bikes -- with bragging
rights conferred upon those who can execute moves like the "skip
stop," in which a rider shifts his weight forward to unweight the
rear wheel, locks his legs to hold the pedals in a horizontal
position and skids to a stop.

Another move is the "track stand," a technique pioneered on tracks
and passed down to bike messengers, in which the rider balances in
one spot by standing on the pedals. Tyler Cannon says he did his
first track stand to make way for a biker approaching the other way
on a narrow road. "It really made me feel like the man," says the 23-
year-old from Lake Forest, Calif. His thrill was short-lived. "I
crashed about 10 feet later when I smacked a pedal on a rock," he
says. "Luckily, the other person didn't see."

Newer devotees represent a milieu far from the bike-world fringes --
including doctors, teachers and Wall Street traders. This summer,
hundreds of fanatics will descend on Traverse City, Mich., for the
second annual Fixed Gear Symposium, organized by a 60-year-old real-
estate broker. Bailey Fidler, a sales associate at Boston's
Wheelworks bike store, says it used to be unusual to see anyone over
age 40 shopping for a fixed-gear bike; now, he says, about half the
bikes go to those in that age range. One popular pick: new models
such as Cannondale's '07 Capo, which can be quickly converted to a
single-speed bike that can coast and has brakes.

High Margins

While the U.S. bike business is booming overall -- it hit $6 billion
last year, up more than 10% since 2003 -- these bikes remain a tiny
niche. Of the three million specialty bikes sold this year, roughly
15,000 will be fixed-gear models, estimates bike-industry analyst Jay
Townley of Wisconsin's Jay Townley & Associates LLC. While these
basic bikes are typically cheaper than loaded-down bikes, they're
still profitable. Margins on most fixed-gear bikes are about five
percentage points higher than the 25% to 30% margins on a typical
bike, says Mr. Townley.

In regulatory terms, the bikes fall in a gray area. The U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission says track bicycles are "designed and
intended for use in a competition." They are exempt from federal
requirements for standard bicycles, which call for bikes to have
brakes at least in the rear. Fixed-gear sidewalk bikes -- the
commission's term for one with a seat height of no more than 25
inches adjusted to its highest position, and no free wheel -- aren't
required to have brakes if they bear a permanent label visible from
10 feet displaying the words "No Brakes." The same label must be
displayed prominently on promotional display material and shipping
cartons.

The bikes have long been used by racers. They're illegal in many
places. Laws in most states where fixed-gear riding is popular --
including New York, California, Maryland and Oregon -- require that
bicycles be equipped with a brake that enables the operator to make
the braked wheels skid on clean, dry pavement. Still, fixed-gear
cyclists and lawyers in those states argue, often successfully, that
the rider should count as the "brake" if he or she is able to achieve
the same effect.

To be on the safer side, bike shops generally advise customers to add
hand brakes to models that come without them, and many riders do.
Giant, for one, sells its fixed-gear model with brakes in the front
and back. And in any case, makers say they don't recommend the bikes
for novice riders, with many marketing their fixed-gear models as
track bikes. "We think the people buying these bikes are savvy enough
to know they're meant for one thing and one thing only. If a customer
seems like they don't understand that, it's up to the shop to
say, 'Don't go ride it in traffic.' That would be suicidal," says
Andy Jacques-Maynes, road-bike product manager at Specialized.

Ken Heike has a brake on his fixed-gear bike, though he tries to
avoid using it. He was considering taking the brake off, he says,
until a recent spill changed his mind. The 53-year-old hand surgeon
in Oklahoma City, who started riding it to train for a triathlon,
says he was "booking" through a parking lot recently when a car
lurched backward. He says he froze, locked his legs -- and "went over
the top" of the car. He broke his wrist and couldn't operate for two
weeks, he says. "All my friends said, 'I told you it was dangerous.'
I do wonder if it would have been a different situation on another
bike," he says. As for the hand brake, he adds: "I think I'm going to
keep it."

Bike Spills

There are no statistics on how many bike accidents involve fixed-gear
cycles, and typically bike spills of all kinds go underreported. But
overall, bike-accident fatalities are on the rise, especially in
urban areas. In 2004, 725 cyclists were killed in traffic crashes,
according to the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, up from 629 the previous year. Anecdotally, dealers
say they see a higher proportion of fixed-gear bikes come back to the
shop banged up.

The bikes are providing extra work for lawyers. Mark Ginsberg, who
has represented eight fixed-gear riders this year and serves as
chairman of the bicycle-advisory committee of Portland, Ore., says
he's seen the number of traffic citations soar recently, though he
has yet to see the court hold up a single one. "A fixed-gear is a
braked bike under the law," he says. "You just must be able to skid
the wheel on dry, level, clean pavement."

But David White-Lief, a personal-injury lawyer in Boston who
specializes in bike accidents, says he's relieved that one of his
current clients had brakes on his fixie -- even though that probably
didn't help when a car took a left turn and knocked him down while he
was riding on the side of the road. "It's just harder for a lawyer to
explain to a jury or insurance company why someone didn't have
brakes," Mr. White-Lief says.

No brakes? No problem, says Daniel Gonzales. The 29-year-old bike
messenger in New York, who's fighting his second ticket for riding
brakeless, says he got the first in November when an officer stepped
suddenly into the bike lane, raised his arms and ordered him to
stop. "I thought I had demonstrated the fixed-gear stopped quite
well," says Mr. Gonzales, who locked his wheel and skidded to a halt
in front of the officer. "I didn't run into him."

Write to Hannah Karp at hannah.karp@...