Sunday, March 08, 2009

From the FBM Fixed blog

Does this Sword have BMX bars with the bottom cut off?



Also from FBM Fixed, a local Sword, built by none other than Chunks. Even the bar ends are red. Even though I wanna barf, it doesn't actually look too bad.



I have to leave this short post with a question: is there some "rule" in fixed freestyle that says you have to use toe clips? I'm seeing a lot of BMX-styled 700c bikes with flat pedals these days.

8 comments:

((lyledriver)) said...

I think the people who are running brakeless are still using toeclips. Though, they're usually cheap plastic ones, and usually bolted to the inside of a Flat BMX style pedal with the pins removed.

It would be kind of weird to try and air out a fixed bike with no foot retention. You would think that the bike would push itself away from you in mid air.

Oh.. and on the topic of S Words.. Yesterday at the track a local girl named Dee brought hers out. It is Raw with a white carbon fork and some track drops. It was interesting to see it set up as a "Track" bike. I'll try and find a pic.

meat said...

Yes, it is a rule. A rule mostly related to physics.

Besides, the only person I know rolling flats on a track bike is Jeff, and he doesn't thrown down tricks much.

gabrielamadeus said...

Pretty soon there won't even be rules against freewheels and smaller rim sizes! Crazy!

nikcee said...

since 'fixie kids'are inherently against everything (except colour co-ordination) there is no rule against any rule.

but... in truth what lyle speaks is quite true of experienced fixedgear freestylers. they use clips to extend a bunch of tricks.

the japanese however have been pushing small (circus) gears and no foot retention for a while. those who are 'learning' tricks (as well as riding fixed gears) often build their bikes without clips as they cant do any of the tricks/riding while in them.

the seattle boys used to say 'if its not in the clips, it doesnt count' but have since softened their views.

i think it was well summed up by someone i was talking to who said 'no-one who takes riding fixed seriously does so without foot retention of some sort'. by seriously i mean 'anything further than 50m, with or without a brake.'

nikcee said...

lyle: i think the plastic clips are often bolted to the inside of the pedals as those cheap clips only come in one size and its too big for the average foot.

((lyledriver)) said...

I thought it was because the inside provides the only mounting surface perpendicular to the pedal flat. ..that and if there was a flat spot on the outer edge of the pedal, the clip would be way too long compared to using a track/road pedal

http://www.crucialbmxshop.com/catalog/images/Odyssey_twisted_pc.gif

morgman said...

The Animal Hamilton pedals say "no" to toe clips. Too bad, as I already have two sets and like these pedals.

(Oh, by the way, my Rocky is going BMX pedals. As a member of the Vallie Components team, Lyle requires me to learn 180 to sliders.)

My main beef in the past has been not owning shoes that fit in toe clips. I've worn fat skate shoes for as long as I can remember. Today, while building up my new rear wheel, Matt hooked me up with a pair of Circas that should fit in clips.

Just riding in skate shoes should open up some opportunities. I'm looking forward to it.

tenspeed said...

I rode without foot retention for a while and it is no big deal if you know what your doing and/or have a brake. obviously you can't mash... I would agree with lyle about the air thing tho. no foot retention must fuck that up.

I had to mod all the flats i used with a drill to put on toe clips.