Wednesday 28 April 2010

Don't trust me - I'm just a blogger

A nice anonymous person just pointed out very politely that I'd completely got my terms muddled. I've been happily banging on about "fixies" as if I knew what they were, but of course it turns out that I don't. I kind of thought that anything on wheels with just one gear was a fixie - but in fact a fixie is one where you can't freewheel and (I now think) has the brake as part of the pedal system ... (correct me if I'm wrong!).

The moral of the story is don't look for clever answers here - it's just a place to air issues to do with biking. I see myself as an enthusiastic amateur who picks up little bits of knowledge over the years. The real experts are out there! I suspect I need you more than you need me!

Love and karma all around. As they may have said in the 70's.

4 comments:

muppix said...

I thought a fixie is where the rear chainwheel is fixed, so that the pedals go round if the wheel goes round, regardless of the speed and direction.

I think you may be getting it confused with the type of brake that's inside the rear hub and activated when you pedal backwards.

KarmaCycle said...

Fear you are right Muppix. With this cycling thing, the more I find out (as the song goes) the less I know ... KC

Dougy T said...

You are sort of right though that braking on a fixie is done by slowing your legs down. Although I also see quite a few with a front brake too.

KarmaCycle said...

Thanks Doug - you're making me feel a bit less foolish which is kind. Guess the old "belt and braces" approach to braking can't be a bad thing. KC