OT; Extreme makeover

When I first started posting to this group I used the Internet name
[Fixedgearhead] that I use on another group that I post to. You may
have wondered about the name Fixedgearhead. That pertains to bicycling
and a small subset within that general description which is Fixed Gear
Bicycling. The easiest way to describe it is; Bikes that are used on a
Velodrome for racing purposes. They are also ridden on the street by
somewhat "hardcore" bicyclists like myself. A curious cult like pursuit
at best. Anyway, I have come to the decision that for the postings to
this group that name will be retired and I will use my given name. At
least it should be easy for me to remember, I hope. Fixedgearhead is
dead. Long live John.

John Taylor

LOL thanks for the story - I thought it had to do with rusted gears in
sewing machines - just goes to show what a one track mind I have LOLOL

I must say that your extreme makeover seems a lot less painful than most ;-)
--
Jessamy
Queen of Chocolate Squishies (and Occasional Liquorice Ones)
In The Netherlands
Take out: _I love the colour_ to reply.
www.geocities.com/jessamy_thompson
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jes...pson/my_photos
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I first started posting to this group I used the Internet name
[Fixedgearhead] that I use on another group that I post to. You may
have wondered about the name Fixedgearhead. That pertains to bicycling
and a small subset within that general description which is Fixed Gear
Bicycling. The easiest way to describe it is; Bikes that are used on a
Velodrome for racing purposes. They are also ridden on the street by
somewhat "hardcore" bicyclists like myself. A curious cult like pursuit
at best. Anyway, I have come to the decision that for the postings to
this group that name will be retired and I will use my given name. At
least it should be easy for me to remember, I hope. Fixedgearhead is
dead. Long live John.

John Taylor

Welcome again, John.

Just curious, are Fixed Gear bicycles anything like my beloved old Schwinn
one-speed bike?

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"fixedgearhead" wrote in message
ups.com...
When I first started posting to this group I used the Internet name
[Fixedgearhead] that I use on another group that I post to. You may
have wondered about the name Fixedgearhead. That pertains to bicycling
and a small subset within that general description which is Fixed Gear
Bicycling. The easiest way to describe it is; Bikes that are used on a
Velodrome for racing purposes. They are also ridden on the street by
somewhat "hardcore" bicyclists like myself. A curious cult like pursuit
at best. Anyway, I have come to the decision that for the postings to
this group that name will be retired and I will use my given name. At
least it should be easy for me to remember, I hope. Fixedgearhead is
dead. Long live John.

John Taylor

Well, I did wonder but felt disinclined to ask :-) John you shall be!
Roberta in D

"fixedgearhead" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
ups.com...
When I first started posting to this group I used the Internet name
[Fixedgearhead] that I use on another group that I post to. You may
have wondered about the name Fixedgearhead. That pertains to bicycling
and a small subset within that general description which is Fixed Gear
Bicycling. The easiest way to describe it is; Bikes that are used on a
Velodrome for racing purposes. They are also ridden on the street by
somewhat "hardcore" bicyclists like myself. A curious cult like pursuit
at best. Anyway, I have come to the decision that for the postings to
this group that name will be retired and I will use my given name. At
least it should be easy for me to remember, I hope. Fixedgearhead is
dead. Long live John.

John Taylor

These screen names are sort of like Rorcharst tests (I think I spelled
that badly). I figured it was a gamer's name, probably from one of the
futuristic RPG's.
At any rate, John is easier to write and easier to remember. Welcome
John, and may Fixedgearhead rest in peace.

Sunny

Oh Boy, I get to talk about my other obsession.
Fixed gear bicycles are like bicycles from an earlier age. When
bicycles were first made into the type we know today, they were called
Safety Bicycles. that was to differentiate them from the older High
Wheel or Pennyfarthing bicycles that you saw until the late 1890's. The
Safety Bicycle looks like the bicycles you see on the road today with
one big exception; they only had one gear. Well, two big exceptions.
The chain that drove the bicycle was connected to a cog at the back
that did not coast if you wanted to not peddle. That's right, the
cranks moved around if the wheels moved around. No Coasting. That bad
boy is always working. Now for the ringer. The third exception; when
they were first introduced, they came with no brakes. That's right, you
could not stop as we think about it today with hand brakes or a coaster
brake, like on the old fat tired Schwinn's.
"Well how would you stop one of those things", you might ask? Remember
the peddles are rotating around with the movement of the wheels either
forward or backward. If you resist the forward movement of the pedal
swing in it's rotation you, you are effectively apply a braking effect
to the bicycle's forward progress. That effect is dependent on the
different gear ratio of the two gear sizes at the front and back of the
drive train. Later versions of this type of bicycle had normal hand
operated brakes added for increased safety, but a certain group of
people loved the challenging nature of riding without the "Normal"
brakes as you would think of them today. That last description, is a
description of myself and a number of other "Caution Challenged"
people who chose to ride them, without brakes. "Why would you do that",
you ask? There is a Zen like experience that is achieved from riding a
bike that requires you to be constantly on the alert and defensive as
to operation. And remember, the bike never stops peddling. You become
one with the road , in a manner of speaking. I have a number of these
types of bicycles and only one of them does, indeed have "normal" hand
brakes. I use this bike when I go for a ride on the bike trail with my
wife as I am not interested in the "performance" aspects of cycling at
that time. We are just going out for a pleasant ride. Chatting it up
and looking at the wonders of nature. as it were. I built my wife up
one of these type bicycles to to see what all the full was about. She
got on it and rode for about 500 feet and promptly got off and
said"this is dumb", "you can't coast". "Fix it so I can coast". On that
bike I had built it with a wheel that had a fixed cog on one side of
the rear wheel and a "normal" freewheel, that lets you coast, on the
other side of the rear wheel. I unbolted the wheel and turned it around
placing the freewheel or coasting side of the wheel on the drive side
and she got back on and has happily ridden that bike ever since. You
see, it's not for everybody.
There you have a description of fixed gear bicycling. Probably, not for
the faint of heart, or those with a more casual style of riding. Now
you probably will all think I have a death wish or something, but if
you are attentive, you are just as safe, as most normal bicycle brakes
are less than adequate in stopping power and I can stop a bike by
resistance to the peddles in as short a distance as you could stop your
regular bike. I ride with a number of people who have normal bikes and
we all like to go fast and get a good workout and I have never had any
complaints from these folks. I also have been riding these type of
bikes for many years so I guess you could say i'm hooked.I hope this
rather detailed and somewhat technical explanation is clear. If not I
could probably get you some websites that would explain it better.

Ciao,

You may all return your chairs to the comfortable position, and walk
around the cabin.

John (If it ain't fixed, its broken) Taylor

Y
Carolyn McCarty wrote:
Welcome again, John.

Just curious, are Fixed Gear bicycles anything like my beloved old Schwinn
one-speed bike?

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"fixedgearhead" wrote in message
ups.com...
When I first started posting to this group I used the Internet name
[Fixedgearhead] that I use on another group that I post to. You may
have wondered about the name Fixedgearhead. That pertains to bicycling
and a small subset within that general description which is Fixed Gear
Bicycling. The easiest way to describe it is; Bikes that are used on a
Velodrome for racing purposes. They are also ridden on the street by
somewhat "hardcore" bicyclists like myself. A curious cult like pursuit
at best. Anyway, I have come to the decision that for the postings to
this group that name will be retired and I will use my given name. At
least it should be easy for me to remember, I hope. Fixedgearhead is
dead. Long live John.

John Taylor

Oh Boy, I get to talk about my other obsession.
Fixed gear bicycles are like bicycles from an earlier age. When
bicycles were first made into the type we know today, they were called
Safety Bicycles. that was to differentiate them from the older High
Wheel or Pennyfarthing bicycles that you saw until the late 1890's. The
Safety Bicycle looks like the bicycles you see on the road today with
one big exception; they only had one gear. Well, two big exceptions.
The chain that drove the bicycle was connected to a cog at the back
that did not coast if you wanted to not peddle. That's right, the
cranks moved around if the wheels moved around. No Coasting. That bad
boy is always working. Now for the ringer. The third exception; when
they were first introduced, they came with no brakes. That's right, you
could not stop as we think about it today with hand brakes or a coaster
brake, like on the old fat tired Schwinn's.
"Well how would you stop one of those things", you might ask? Remember
the peddles are rotating around with the movement of the wheels either
forward or backward. If you resist the forward movement of the pedal
swing in it's rotation you, you are effectively apply a braking effect
to the bicycle's forward progress. That effect is dependent on the
different gear ratio of the two gear sizes at the front and back of the
drive train. Later versions of this type of bicycle had normal hand
operated brakes added for increased safety, but a certain group of
people loved the challenging nature of riding without the "Normal"
brakes as you would think of them today. That last description, is a
description of myself and a number of other "Caution Challenged"
people who chose to ride them, without brakes. "Why would you do that",
you ask? There is a Zen like experience that is achieved from riding a
bike that requires you to be constantly on the alert and defensive as
to operation. And remember, the bike never stops peddling. You become
one with the road , in a manner of speaking. I have a number of these
types of bicycles and only one of them does, indeed have "normal" hand
brakes. I use this bike when I go for a ride on the bike trail with my
wife as I am not interested in the "performance" aspects of cycling at
that time. We are just going out for a pleasant ride. Chatting it up
and looking at the wonders of nature. as it were. I built my wife up
one of these type bicycles to to see what all the full was about. She
got on it and rode for about 500 feet and promptly got off and
said"this is dumb", "you can't coast". "Fix it so I can coast". On that
bike I had built it with a wheel that had a fixed cog on one side of
the rear wheel and a "normal" freewheel, that lets you coast, on the
other side of the rear wheel. I unbolted the wheel and turned it around
placing the freewheel or coasting side of the wheel on the drive side
and she got back on and has happily ridden that bike ever since. You
see, it's not for everybody.
There you have a description of fixed gear bicycling. Probably, not for
the faint of heart, or those with a more casual style of riding. Now
you probably will all think I have a death wish or something, but if
you are attentive, you are just as safe, as most normal bicycle brakes
are less than adequate in stopping power and I can stop a bike by
resistance to the peddles in as short a distance as you could stop your
regular bike. I ride with a number of people who have normal bikes and
we all like to go fast and get a good workout and I have never had any
complaints from these folks. I also have been riding these type of
bikes for many years so I guess you could say i'm hooked.I hope this
rather detailed and somewhat technical explanation is clear. If not I
could probably get you some websites that would explain it better.

Ciao,

You may all return your chairs to the comfortable position, and walk
around the cabin.

John (If it ain't fixed, its broken) Taylor

Y
Carolyn McCarty wrote:
Welcome again, John.

Just curious, are Fixed Gear bicycles anything like my beloved old Schwinn
one-speed bike?

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"fixedgearhead" wrote in message
ups.com...
When I first started posting to this group I used the Internet name
[Fixedgearhead] that I use on another group that I post to. You may
have wondered about the name Fixedgearhead. That pertains to bicycling
and a small subset within that general description which is Fixed Gear
Bicycling. The easiest way to describe it is; Bikes that are used on a
Velodrome for racing purposes. They are also ridden on the street by
somewhat "hardcore" bicyclists like myself. A curious cult like pursuit
at best. Anyway, I have come to the decision that for the postings to
this group that name will be retired and I will use my given name. At
least it should be easy for me to remember, I hope. Fixedgearhead is
dead. Long live John.

John Taylor

Oh Boy, I get to talk about my other obsession.
Fixed gear bicycles are like bicycles from an earlier age. When
bicycles were first made into the type we know today, they were called
Safety Bicycles. that was to differentiate them from the older High
Wheel or Pennyfarthing bicycles that you saw until the late 1890's. The
Safety Bicycle looks like the bicycles you see on the road today with
one big exception; they only had one gear. Well, two big exceptions.
The chain that drove the bicycle was connected to a cog at the back
that did not coast if you wanted to not peddle. That's right, the
cranks moved around if the wheels moved around. No Coasting. That bad
boy is always working. Now for the ringer. The third exception; when
they were first introduced, they came with no brakes. That's right, you
could not stop as we think about it today with hand brakes or a coaster
brake, like on the old fat tired Schwinn's.
"Well how would you stop one of those things", you might ask? Remember
the peddles are rotating around with the movement of the wheels either
forward or backward. If you resist the forward movement of the pedal
swing in it's rotation you, you are effectively apply a braking effect
to the bicycle's forward progress. That effect is dependent on the
different gear ratio of the two gear sizes at the front and back of the
drive train. Later versions of this type of bicycle had normal hand
operated brakes added for increased safety, but a certain group of
people loved the challenging nature of riding without the "Normal"
brakes as you would think of them today. That last description, is a
description of myself and a number of other "Caution Challenged"
people who chose to ride them, without brakes. "Why would you do that",
you ask? There is a Zen like experience that is achieved from riding a
bike that requires you to be constantly on the alert and defensive as
to operation. And remember, the bike never stops peddling. You become
one with the road , in a manner of speaking. I have a number of these
types of bicycles and only one of them does, indeed have "normal" hand
brakes. I use this bike when I go for a ride on the bike trail with my
wife as I am not interested in the "performance" aspects of cycling at
that time. We are just going out for a pleasant ride. Chatting it up
and looking at the wonders of nature. as it were. I built my wife up
one of these type bicycles to to see what all the full was about. She
got on it and rode for about 500 feet and promptly got off and
said"this is dumb", "you can't coast". "Fix it so I can coast". On that
bike I had built it with a wheel that had a fixed cog on one side of
the rear wheel and a "normal" freewheel, that lets you coast, on the
other side of the rear wheel. I unbolted the wheel and turned it around
placing the freewheel or coasting side of the wheel on the drive side
and she got back on and has happily ridden that bike ever since. You
see, it's not for everybody.
There you have a description of fixed gear bicycling. Probably, not for
the faint of heart, or those with a more casual style of riding. Now
you probably will all think I have a death wish or something, but if
you are attentive, you are just as safe, as most normal bicycle brakes
are less than adequate in stopping power and I can stop a bike by
resistance to the peddles in as short a distance as you could stop your
regular bike. I ride with a number of people who have normal bikes and
we all like to go fast and get a good workout and I have never had any
complaints from these folks. I also have been riding these type of
bikes for many years so I guess you could say i'm hooked.I hope this
rather detailed and somewhat technical explanation is clear. If not I
could probably get you some websites that would explain it better.

Ciao,

You may all return your chairs to the comfortable position, and walk
around the cabin.

John (If it ain't fixed, its broken) Taylor

Y
Carolyn McCarty wrote:
Welcome again, John.

Just curious, are Fixed Gear bicycles anything like my beloved old Schwinn
one-speed bike?

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"fixedgearhead" wrote in message
ups.com...
When I first started posting to this group I used the Internet name
[Fixedgearhead] that I use on another group that I post to. You may
have wondered about the name Fixedgearhead. That pertains to bicycling
and a small subset within that general description which is Fixed Gear
Bicycling. The easiest way to describe it is; Bikes that are used on a
Velodrome for racing purposes. They are also ridden on the street by
somewhat "hardcore" bicyclists like myself. A curious cult like pursuit
at best. Anyway, I have come to the decision that for the postings to
this group that name will be retired and I will use my given name. At
least it should be easy for me to remember, I hope. Fixedgearhead is
dead. Long live John.

John Taylor

Interesting observation about screen
names, Sunny. So ... how about yours? Is
it a long time nick name, something you
invented for posting, a comment on your
personality? My name is Pat (nick name
really) ... always has been.
PAT in VA/USA


Sunny wrote:

These screen names are sort of like Rorcharst tests (I think I spelled
that badly). I figured it was a gamer's name, probably from one of the
futuristic RPG's.
At any rate, John is easier to write and easier to remember. Welcome
John, and may Fixedgearhead rest in peace.

Sunny

Here is a link to a Salon Magazine article that explains it all. I
typed up my own explanation and the Google server ate it when I sent it
and it was lost. Hope this helps you understand what Fixed gear
Bicycling is all about.

http://www.nonduality.com/900gg.htm


John
Carolyn McCarty wrote:
Welcome again, John.

Just curious, are Fixed Gear bicycles anything like my beloved old Schwinn
one-speed bike?

--
Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green
If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green
If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty

"fixedgearhead" wrote in message
ups.com...
When I first started posting to this group I used the Internet name
[Fixedgearhead] that I use on another group that I post to. You may
have wondered about the name Fixedgearhead. That pertains to bicycling
and a small subset within that general description which is Fixed Gear
Bicycling. The easiest way to describe it is; Bikes that are used on a
Velodrome for racing purposes. They are also ridden on the street by
somewhat "hardcore" bicyclists like myself. A curious cult like pursuit
at best. Anyway, I have come to the decision that for the postings to
this group that name will be retired and I will use my given name. At
least it should be easy for me to remember, I hope. Fixedgearhead is
dead. Long live John.

John Taylor