An Amusement & Diversion for The Genteel Cyclist. Daily.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Fixies: The trend is officially over?


There is an old cliche that once the Sunday New York Times takes notice of any particular trend or fad, it is elevated to the level of "totally over and lame." I don't know if that's true, exactly. But if it is, then fixies may soon start showing up in garage sales right next to the waffle irons and the vinyl copies of "Brothers in Arms." But I've pledged to stop being a hater, after seeing yesterday's cool fixie video.

Anyway, what caught my eye in the Times' story was this innocuous passage:

The dangers of a small world getting bigger were vividly illustrated a few months ago when a hipster wearing square-frame glasses wandered into King Kog. The store, which sells fixed-gear bikes starting around $800 and going up to the thousands, also carries Jason Chaste’s Fortynine Sixteen clothing line, named for a gear ratio, and high-end parts like Sugino cranks, Izumi chains, and Dura-Ace and Ciocc frames.


Ciocc?! I believe that's the first time I've seen my beloved road bike's name enunciated in English. And that calls for some quickly slapped together then-and-now bike porn!

Then... (mid 80s)



(too bad the owner of this one appears to have tampered with the fork. Ciocc forks from this period are some of the most elegant ever built, and this looks like some carbon nonsense, with silly lines)


And now...


Still being made and sold in Olde Italia!


And let me just say that $800 for a fixie seems, to these innocent ears, like they're price gouging those Brooklyn hipsters. (Somebuddy hadda say it.)

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