A fixed-gear bicycle (or fixed-wheel bicycle, popularly known as a fixie) is a bicycle that has a drivetrain with no freewheel mechanism. The freewheel was developed early in the history of bicycle design but the fixed-gear bicycle remained the standard track racing design. More recently the 'fixie' has become a popular alternative among mainly urban cyclists, offering the advantages of simplicity compared with the standard multi-geared bicycle.
Most bicycles incorporate a freewheel to allow the pedals to remain stationary while the bicycle is in motion, so that the rider can coast, i.e., ride without pedalling using the forward or downhill momentum of bike and rider. A fixed-gear drivetrain has the drive sprocket (or cog) threaded or bolted directly to the hub of the back wheel, so that the rider cannot stop pedalling. When the rear wheel turns, the pedals turn in the same direction. This allows a cyclist to apply a weak braking force without using a brake, by resisting the rotation of the cranks. It also makes it possible to ride backwards although learning to do so is much more difficult than riding forwards.
As a rule, fixed-gear bicycles are single-speed. A derailleur cannot be fitted because the chain cannot have any slack, but hub gearing can, for example a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed fixed hub. Most fixed-gear bicycles only have a front brake, and some have no brakes at all.
Read more about Fixed-gear Bicycle: Uses, Advantages and Disadvantages, Brakeless, Conversion, Competition, Maintenance and Upkeep, Circus Bikes
Famous quotes containing the word bicycle:
“I well recall my horror when I heard for the first time, of a journalist who had laid in a pair of what were then called bicycle pants and taken to golf; it was as if I had encountered a studhorse with his hair done up in frizzes, and pink bowknots peeking out of them. It seemed, in some vague way, ignominious, and even a bit indelicate.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)