Fixed gear bikes, in case you don't know, have no freewheel, which means that if the rear wheel is turning, you're peddling. There's no coasting on a fixie—and braking is a matter of leg power.
You almost never see an inexperienced cyclist on a fixie, they're more the province of bike messengers and other hard-core wheelmen. I wanted to buy one, but Verrazano Bicycles' owner Tom Kim refused to sell me one, sagely predicting, "At your age, you'll blow a knee and be off a bike for six months and be miserable." Oh how I love to hear those words "at your age."
But I digress, my point is that fixies aren't a fad that incompetent bikers embrace, they're for experienced, serious riders and offer more control over the bike than just about anything with a freewheel. I hope Ayla Holland appeals.
Via Boing-Boing.
