New Bike

So for the first couple of weeks that I had my green bike my commute was great; I felt so fast, and it was so much fun to weave in and out of cars, bikers, and people I almost look forward to coming and going from work. Sure after the first couple of day the front derailleur had broken, but I hardly noticed, as you don’t really need to shift much in Demark – the highest point after all is only 560 ft above sea level and I don’t have to deal with that hill on my ride. The real problems started when I noticed that the previous bike owner had used generous amounts of WD40 to lubricate the chain and gears. I don’t know much about bikes or bike maintenance but I know this is discouraged among cyclists. The result left my chain cake in oil and dirt with pieces of grass sticking out that would get all over the bottom of my pant legs (which would have left me self-conscious all day if I hadn’t also had a wet butt from wheels flipping water up to worry about). 

To remedy the problem I decided I need to clean the chain and gears off. Easy job right? For some reason whenever I try to fix something it always seems to end up a little worse. All I did was take the back wheel, rear derailleur and chain off, wiped them down with an old rag and tried to put it back together. Three hours later I was coved up to my elbows in grease and still could not figure out how to put everything right so that it would shift again. Out of desperation I decided to settle for a draw, and I put it together so that it at least worked as a single gear, meaning I could ride without shifting.

This seemed like a good solution at first; again I rationalized “who needs to shift in Denmark”. But then after a few days the chain fell off, that’s weird I thought as I put it back on and went on my way. Then it started falling off more often. Then I noticed that when I would stop peddling the gears did not stop turning, so the chain would get all bunched up and jammed in between the gears. Eventually it got so bad that couldn’t even get started moving on the bike without the chain falling off and jamming.

Now it is at this point in the story that those reading that know anything about bikes are probably thinking “well it’s obvious what’s wrong, he just has to fix the ______(insert technical term) and voilà everything should be good”.  But for me, at this point in the story, I thought “I don’t know how to fix this problem, I’m pushing my bike more than ridding it, I could probably pay someone to fix it but that will likely cost more than I bought it for and then something else will probably break. Maybe I should just look for a new bike”. And so I started searching through the classifieds again.

And that’s when I came across this beauty. (For some reason in this picture it looks small, but it is a normal size men’s bike).

I call it “My Yellow Bike” (I am not very creative with names). The first thing most of you probably noticed after seeing the picture is that it does not have a front or rear derailleur, nor does it have multiple gears or a shifter. That’s because this is what is known as a “fixie”. This basically means that if the bike is in motion the pedals are also turning . There is only one gear, and it’s fixed to the wheel.  If I peddle backwards the bike goes backwards, if I go down a hill really fast, then the pedals, and hopefully my feet, go really fast. Most fixie’s don’t have any breaks; you just break by slowing the pedals down, but luckily this one does (it is illegal to ride a bike in Copenhagen without breaks). The reason this one has breaks is that if I want I can flip the rear wheel around and there is another sprocket that is not fixed so it can be a single speed free-wheel, but I’m not ready to do that.

There is a whole cult-like fixie following that I am not really sure what it’s all about (or why I felt the need to join them). When you read about fixies most of the touted advantages are pretty weak in my opinion; things like “you feel more at-one with the bike”, I’m not sure what that is supposed to mean but if I ever feel “at-one” with my bike I’ll let you know; or “if you’re coasting then you don’t benefit from your ride (healthwise)”, come on, now riding your bike is not enough. The main advantage that resonated with me is that “a fixie is much easier to maintain because there are less parts to deal with”, sound like the perfect bike for me.

I have been riding it for a week now. The first time I got on it, I had a hard time getting started and it almost bucked me off when I tried to stop – it felt very unnaturally to have to keep my feet moving even when I was trying to stop. The pedals have toe clips for your feet, which I’ve like on my other bikes but I find very difficult to get my feet into when you can’t stop the pedals from going around. At first I thought to just trade the pedals with my those on my green bike, but after reading about fixies I realized it is good idea if they are strapped in because if you get going down a hill and your feet come of the pedals it can be difficult to get them back on. I am getting better at flipping my feet in now.  I do have to admit that riding a fixie is a workout, now going downhill is harder than going up, and stopping is a is way harder than starting.  I have quickly learned to anticipate what is coming up, to try to time lights and intersections so I don’t have to stop and start.  All the same, I’ve complained to Shannon every night about how much my legs hurt. Despite the pain, and awkwardness of feeling (and appearing to others) like I am just learning to ride a bike, I really enjoy my new bike. Even though it is cold and wet, I look forward to my ride every day. One of my favorite things about the bike is how light it is.

p.s. Shannon made fun of me for writing such a long blog about my bike. In her words this blog should have said “My old bike sucked so I got a new one. Woohoo, look how I can hold it with one hand”. I apologize to anyone who also would have preferred an abbreviated version.