Saw the movie Premium Rush a few weeks back which was entertaining for what it was. New York bike messengers get caught up in a pursuit of a mystery package.
The main character’s (Wilee) bike was set up to be a single gear, no brakes, no coast ride. You crank forward the bike goes forward. You crank backwards the bike goes backwards. If the bike is coasting your feet are turning. If you want to brake you’d have to lock up the crank.
Is this a real setup anybody uses or is it purely fictional for the movie?
I could see maybe a stunt bicycle set up like this with toe clips for hopping on obstacles but could you really ride something like this at a decent pace?
I’d think if it was geared too high you’d never get the thing going. Geared too low with no coasting and your top speed is cut.
I know New York City is pretty flat but is this setup just fantasy?
Not seen the film, but what you’re describing sounds like a fixed single speed (fixie) and they are extremely popular. Track bikes are fixed gears, couriers love them because of their very low maintenance requirements, and there’s been a glut of them around many towns because of hipsters. They are fine for most urban setups, and really how steep you can go depends on your strength/weight ratio.
I suppose the point is that he was in really good shape allowing for the fast take-offs and the climb in Central Park. (Interesting movie, but annoying how it bounces back and forth in time). It made possible that trick where he backed away from the bad guy, for example. I did have a bit of trouble believing jumping 3-fot obstacles on the run. I’ve done that hill and others in Central Park, and I gotta say they guy would be in extremely good shape even to film it in short sections. I found it unrealistic how he could keep up with a 21(?) speed in top gear on the downhill sections fo the park, though, or even on flat straightaways. At a certain point your feet would just be going too fast.
(Also unrealistic how a car could keep up with a high speed bicycle in NYC traffic…)
It is quite common for recreational fixies to have a flip-flop back wheel. If you want a normal single speed with a freewheel you just turn the back wheel around. Not something you can do on the fly obviously.
While I lived in San Francisco I had a roommate for a time who was a bike messenger and he rode a fixed gear. I was never really clear on what the benefits were (even after he tried explaining. Some vague remarks on “more control” and whatnot).
I liked the movie though.
I once borrowed a fixie to ride home after a party, as I didn’t want to drive home in that state. Bad idea. There are two ways to crash a bike. One is the slide, like Ulrich did when he dumped it in corner during a TdF time trial. The other is the slam, like Beloki did in his famous crash.
I did the slam.
I did make it home though.
Yeah, I haven’t ridden a fixie but I’d think you’d have to be very careful about losing control of your cadence. I don’t see them as a safe way to descend hills for instance :).
We’ve also had warnings from “the authorities” about the safety due to the no free wheeling thing. I also don’t understand the attraction…
Riding a pure fixie on city roads is pretty stupid IMHO, but people do it. You need to be a really smooth rider to anticipate braking, plus you’ve got no braking force at all on the front wheel - going hammer and tongs on the fixie like this through the city is madness.
Fixie with a front brake, however, is perfectly fine and safe. Need a couple of rides to get used to it but then it’s plain sailing (a mantra of don’t stop pedalling, don’t stop pedalling is necessary at first). I have one with the flip-flop wheel that Richard Pearse mentions and ride fixed about half the time.
The big benefit is that it shows you what a smooth pedal stroke feels like. If you’ve never ridden fixed you’ll be surprised how it shows up the flat spots in your stroke - this then helps you ride all bikes better. I find it quite a chilled way of riding in this respect, turning perfect circles. There’s also zero maintenance, and comedy potential if someone tries to steal your bike. Then there’s the elegance of the machine - The brake-less fixie may be retarded, and ridden by a twat, but one can still admire its beautiful simplicity.
At a London bike race festival a couple of years ago they had a competition for the longest rear-wheel skid where all the entrants were couriers on fixies. The basic technique was to ride as fast as possible up to the start line, lean well forward over the front wheel to un-weight the back and stop pedalling. I was expecting maybe 15 or 20 meter skids. The winner managed > 100 meters !!