Grumpy old man here.
Saw a guy on a fixie today wearing cycling gloves. Apparently it’s much more important to protect your delicate little hands than it is to ride a vehicle capable of stopping in a reasonable manner so as to protect your future on this earth.
I would truly love to hear one logical reason as to why riding a fixed-gear bicycle on a city street is superior than a single-speed with a freewheel and brakes. Right now, all I see are people jumping on an incredibly dangerous trend without proper knowledge of how to control such a contraption, and frankly, these goddamn ghost bikes everywhere are really bumming me out. But it’s hard to be sympathetic when someone gets hurt voluntarily operating a vehicle with no stopping mechanism.
I got it. It’s real tough. You’re a real bad boy. You’re also just riding the cycling equivalent of a Hummer. It’s unnecessary and burdening and dangerous to the operator and those around it. “One less car!” Right. You’ve fought the enemy by becoming a version of them—a nuisance on the roadways. It’s a shame that in this irony-worshiping culture we’re so entrenched, these “cyclists” can’t see the headlights coming straight at them.
And one more thing—despite being totally rad, neon grips still aren’t bright enough at night. Get some fucking lights on that unstoppable death trap.
