I have been meaning for a while to address this question. Not because I think I need to justify myself: I rarely feel the need to justify myself about anything. No, rather for the same reasons I generally write web pages: to have the answer somewhere publically available so I don't have to keep answering the same stupid questions over and over again. This website is basically one big Sam FAQ. What does Sam think about this or that? Check her website. It's probably up there somewhere and if it's not, it will be eventually.
On the 2006 LEPRA Edinburgh to St Andrews something happened. I was the only rider I know of riding fixed and it attracted some attention. As we were approaching Cleish Hill this guy rode up on my outside (as I'm blind on that side this is never a good idea as it provokes extreme irritation, unless you happen to be proferring jelly babies and can witter for Britain) and this happened:
"You're riding fixed!"
"Well, yeah. So I am."
I contemplated making some sarcastic comment about having wondered why the gears weren't working, but we were climbing at the time.
"But... you're a girl!"
I turned and called back to Frood.
"Oh darling! You're not gay after all!"
You'd think I was some sort of freak or something. Evidently there is a need for people to understand that yes, girls ride fixed too. And not just me. Anyone doing the Dun Run will know that (incidentally, I also did that on fixed in 2006).
The desire started with my discovery of the On-One Il Pompino. I craved this bike immediately I heard about it, even before I'd seen a picture of one. Why? Purely and simply and ridiculously because "Il Pompino" is Italian slang for "blowjob" and the idea of a girl riding a bike named blowjob tickled my perverse sense of humour. That is the one and only reason why I started contemplating buying a fixed. We lived in Devon at the time, and the Devon topography is, well, corrugated. Riding around on fixed seemed to me to be too much like masochistic perversion.
Even so, the idea kept cropping up, and living in a house with another keen cyclist and fixed freak — the irrepressible Munky — conversations did include the topic of fixed gear bikes more often than occurs most other households. Then Munky bought a fixed gear: a rather beautiful custom built Mercian track bike. I had to admire the simplicity of it.
We lived not far from the Punchbowl community recycling centre, which often had bikes in fairly decent condition. About 2 years after the idea first crossed my mind, Munky came back from a recycling run to tell me that there was a Raleigh Sun Solo there with horizontal rear drop-outs. It looked about the right size and would make a lovely winter hack fixed project.
I pondered, and it occurred to me that there would be no point buying a Pompino only to discover I hated riding fixed. So I paid my fifteen Earth pounds and acquired a 1983 Raleigh Sun Solo in matte black. There was nothing really wrong with it as it was — cheap alloy rims and rusty transmission aside. We stripped it down, cannibalised some parts off my old Raleigh SPD Dynatech and I built up a rear fixed wheel from a Mavic rim and a cheap fixed hub. Project Blackbird was born.
Blackbird is a quirky machine. She's the only one of my bikes that is female (don't ask) and has a tendency to try throwing you off if you take roundabouts at speed because we bent the forks slightly replacing the headset. That long, lazy steel frame has a fair amount of flex in it, which makes for a comfortable ride even if it can be a bit hairy on a fast descent. She's got a wicked, solid, black Goldtech chainring now and I keep thinking I should have her re-sprayed. But she's a hack bike: the sort of machine you can leave parked up all day in town and not worry about too much. She looks like she's built out of scaffolding poles and rust.
I rode her all winter that year, on the shorter rides. I liked fixed, but I wasn't hooked on the Zen purity that all the other fixed riders seem to talk about. It was a different style of riding and I like variation, but that was all.
Then On-One did a deal on their Pompinos and I couldn't resist. It was too good to pass up.
I LOVE my Pompino. I adore that bike. Shackleton is stiff, comfortable and responsive. The only bike I have that handles with more telepathic responsiveness is my Pinarello, and the Pinarello is also the only bike I own that climbs better than the Pompino. Riding the Pompino I feel I could traffic jam for Britain, if only they made it an Olympic sport.
My love for the Pompino is the main reason why I ride fixed gear, but when it arrived it came as a singlespeed rather than a fixed and I rode it that way for a number of months before rebuilding it with a flip-flop hub. I put an ACS Claw freewheel on, thinking that I enjoyed singlespeed enough that I would use it, but I never did. When I took the freewheel off to add a larger cog for my first long-distance ride, the thing was completely knackered from months of exposure to road grit and rain without ever having been used. I didn't bother replacing it.
Other than sheer adoration for my bike, there are a few reasons I ride fixed gear. There is the rather shameful feeling of macho pride: I'm riding fixed, so I'm already harder than anyone on a geared bike without having to do anything else. This keeps my competitive instincts in check. I don't feel the need to keep up with the whippets on their sleek Italian thoroughbreds because, hell, I've got 70" of gear to play with and that's it. On my fixed it's just me and the bike, except for the odd occasion I'm riding with another fixed-gear. The bike has its own pace, determined by the gear that's on it and my comfortable spin rate, and there's something very calming about that. There's also the challenge of making it up climbs with no more than effort and stubborn brute-mindedness: there's an exhilaration to be had from muscling a fixed gear up a climb, and I promise I'll feel good about it when I get to the top, no matter how much swearing I do on the way up or how little I seem to be enjoying myself.
I have grown to love the sense of connection, of being able to control the speed and momentum just by thinking about it. Want to slow down? Relax. Let the weight of your legs scrub some speed. I have even come to enjoy the utter focus required to get down a steep descent without being thrown or having my legs ripped off. The first time my rpm hit 180 I was so chuffed I wanted to throw a party. I like skidding. I even like falling off while trying to do a trackstand.
My knees feel better on fixed. Constant movement keeps them lubricated, or something. Those long freewheel descents give the muscles a chance to go cold. None of that on a fixed gear. I hope to do some fixed gear Audax next year.
I ride fixed for preference these days, unless I know the route is going to be particularly vicious. I ride fixed because, well, it's just so much damn fun. Yes, I ride fixed. Yes, I am a girl. You know what? Girls like to have fun too.