Ka Leo reporters, as well as photographers, went out last Sunday to see what made the difference between a fixed-gear bike rider and a normal bike rider on the street. No one was sure what to expect, but what I encountered was fun and games.
We chatted with people while riders were doing tricks and warming up for the events. The Ka Leo Features Editor wanted one of the writers to experience riding a fixed-gear bike, and because I often ride a normal bike, it made the most sense for me to volunteer.
Fixed-gear enthusiast Chris Morgato let me borrow his pink bike to get the feel for riding. I also wanted to experience the games people were playing on fixed-gear bikes, but I was reluctant after hearing stories such as a Superbowl event, in which someone did a large flip over his handlebars while trying to kick a football with his tire.
The game I participated in was called footdown. Participants ride in a circle marked by other riders' bikes, and try to get each other to lose their balance. When there are fewer riders in the circle, the perimeter of the circle gets smaller.
Other events included hot potato, which tests a rider's track-standing skills and balance, paper boy and the ever-popular sprints, where we witnessed their main method of braking: a skid stop.
I was told of other events such as the midnight scavenger hunt, where participants ride around town accomplishing tasks. They can be intricate or as simple as carrying an egg on a bike from one place to another without breaking it.
It was a diverse crowd. The style of dress looked mostly like hipsters, hip-hop kids, skaters and hippies. Everyone was welcoming and very kind to a newbie, such as myself. It was an interesting scene that was creative, good exercise and generally fun. People don't only ride fixed-gear bikes during these types of events; I was told that a couple of people had ridden them in the Honolulu Century Ride earlier that day. It is a bit harder to stop on a fixed-gear bike at first, but with practice, it gets easier. Your only breaks are trying to pedal backwards, resisting the rotation of the pedals and skid-stopping.
How to get started
There are many ways to find a fixed-gear bike. One way is to look on Craigslist or buy pieces on eBay and assemble them yourself. I was told that IT&B Honolulu on Kapahulu might have ready-made ones.
Another highly reccomended method is to convert an old road frame into a fixed-gear bike.
"They are very low-maintenance and relatively inexpensive. I converted an old road frame to a fixed-gear bike for about $250," said fixed-gear bike rider John Ching, 23.
Cycle Mānoa, a fairly new club at the University of Hawai‘i, also offers free services to students to learn how to build bicycles. They host workshops with donated parts for students to put together bicycles to bring home with them for free.
"If you're in the bike scene, the better you are at working on bikes, the cooler you are ... so that's why I'm pretty much the coolest kid out here," said UH student John Hamilton.
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