I have ridden Marianne for about 50 miles now as a fixed gear, so I figure that I can offer my impressions without feeling that I am speaking too soon. I have taken her both on city rides in traffic and on trails (the Charles River Trail and the Minuteman Bikeway), both with the Co-Habitant and alone. And I think the fixed gear conversion was the best thing that could have happened to this bicycle.
Popular culture has created the unfortunate association between fixed gear and danger, brightly coloured track bikes, and "hipsters". But that is ridiculous. The only distinguishing feature of a fixed gear bike is that it does not coast. You can turn your loop-frame or your beach cruiser into a fixed gear if you like, set the gearing low, and enjoy pedaling leisurely around town on it. It will be just like a single speed, only you can't coast. That's all.
I know that most people enjoy coasting, but I have never been crazy about it. On my regular bicycles I try to always be in a gear that will allow me to pedal. Coasting - especially at high speeds - makes me feel as if the bicycle is a wild horse galloping out of control and dragging me along, with me barely managing to hold on to the reins. This is especially frightening on winding downhills - so I try to switch into a high enough gear that will allow me to pedal, and then I feel that I have better steering control. I have no idea whether this is based on real physical principles, or whether it is all in my head. But the result is that I welcome the "no coasting" aspect of fixed gear bicycles, rather than think of it as a drawback.
For the same reason, in many ways I find fixed gear bicycles
easier to ride, not more difficult. What else is easier about them? Well, remaining stable at very slow speeds - which is a useful skill in the city. You can only coast for so long before your bicycle stops, but if you push on the pedals again, your speed will increase
too much. On a fixed gear, you can pedal in slow motion, and the bicycle will remain perfectly stable while going at the exact speed you want, no matter how slow. This is especially useful when you are trying to go around pedestrians, or inch your way forward to the red light at busy intersections. If you have a poor sense of balance and coordination like I do, you may find fixed gear to be helpful in situations that would otherwise leave you flustered.
As I have mentioned earlier,
Marianne was a particularly good choice for a fixed gear bike, because her over-responsiveness is now an asset. As before, she turns super-quickly and easily - but now, she does it only when I want her to and the responsiveness no longer feels like "twitchiness" or "squirreliness". It feels like I now have an extremely maneuverable bike, of which I am in full control - as opposed to a bike that was more maneuverable than I could handle.
The thing that took the most getting used to, was trusting the brakes enough to speed up. I kept having to remind myself, that this is not the track bike I rode in Austria; this bike has brakes and I can come to a complete stop any time, just like on a regular bike! After the first couple of rides though, this finally sunk in and I've stopped worrying about braking.
After a couple of days, we re-did the bars by wrapping the entire surface in cork tape, to allow multiple hand positions. We also removed the rear brake (it really was unnecessary) and placed the front brake lever on the right handlebar for easier access. The bell is now mounted on the stem.
My gearing on this bicycle is 42-tooth in the front and 19-tooth in the rear (with 170mm cranks and 27" wheels). That is a pretty non-aggressive gearing that is good for everyday cycling in hilly areas. I may get a smaller rear cog eventually (which will allow me to go faster, but will make things more difficult on hills), but I don't feel the need for that yet.
There has been some discussion about foot retention and whether I plan to get clips for the pedals. On a fixed gear bike, there is the danger of the feet slipping off the pedals, and the pedals then smacking you in the ankles. This can happen when going over bumps at high speeds, or when flying downhill. I do recognise the risk, but let me put it this way: Given that I have brakes and I don't go very fast on this bike, I think there is more chance of my falling as a result of using clips, than there is of my getting smacked with pedals. I may try
Powergrips at some point, but I've seen them in a local bikeshop and even they look scary. I did not do well with half-clips. Are
Powergrips easier?
I am sure the novelty of the new
Marianne will eventually wear off, but for now I can't seem to stop riding her. After a seat post adjustment (more on this later), the bicycle now feels fairly comfortable on rides under 20 miles. Taking it on a very long ride last night was overkill though, and various parts of my body are now hurting. I think I will stick with the
Sam Hillborne for those, and leave
Marianne for the city.
I have been to Brussels many times, and not once have I seen the city sunny. So my main association with it - whether deserved or not - is darkness: dark sky, dark buildings, dark trees, dark chocolate...
People in black overcoats riding black bicycles fit right into the romantically gothic landscape.
A black Gazelle chained up in the city center. I saw many Dutch bicycles, from brands both known and unknown, as well as many modern hybrid bikes. To my dismay, I did not see a single bike by the Belgian manufacturer Achielle.
The bicycle infrastructure looks similar to how things are in Boston: occasional bike lanes and "sharrows". Mostly, bicycles share the road with cars, buses and trams. On large streets you mostly see roadbikes, because the bicycles really need to be going quite fast in order to blend into the flow of traffic. On side streets you see more of the Dutch bikes, since the traffic flow is less hectic.
One trend I noticed is the huge number of people riding folding bikes. There are definitely more folding bikes in Brussels than in other cities I have been to recently, and it's funny to see how aggressively they are maneuvered through the streets. I also saw at least a half dozen women whose outfits matched their folding bicycles, but alas I was quick enough to photograph only this red on red number. Notice also how the yellow panel on the backpack matches the yellow strip on the bike.
And then of course there is Villo, the Brussels bike share programme.
The Villo bikes look to be in spectacularly good condition compared to the Vienna Citybikes and the Paris Velib bikes I have seen. Not sure whether this is because vandalism is less prevalent in Brussels, or because the bicycles are newer.
Adverts are featured on the dressguards - but to my eye, these are not as overwhelming as the ones on the Vienna Citybikes. I also quite like the Iris emblem.
I had a very precise schedule while in Brussels, and cycling was not on the agenda. As for using the Villo for transportation - one of the main obstacles for me was the same as for Vienna Citybike: The basket will not fit my bag - which is a standard briefcase/laptop size bag - and it is not the sort of bag that can be carried messenger style. When I mentioned this in a post about Vienna's Citybike, I received some aggressive responses (that I subsequently deleted together with my defensive replies): Basically, a couple of readers criticised me for "whining" about this issue, and for carrying an "impractical designer bag" in the first place. Not that I need to justify myself, but my bag is actually a conservative, modest briefcase-style bag with no visible designer labels. This type of briefcase-style bag is standard to use in my line of work, whereas a messenger bag or backpack is not. Especially in cities like Brussels and Vienna - where so many professionals arrive for international meetings and conferences, such bags are prevalent. Therefore I do not think it is unreasonable to suggest that when designing a bike-share bicycle, its basket is made to fit a standard laptop-sized bag, for those who do not carry backpacks to work. If a system is designed "for the people", it seems useful to understand what factors encourage said people to use it vs what factors prevent them from using it.
I did not have a chance to visit my favourite places in Brussels on this trip, but at least I walked around a bit between my meetings. Brussels is a city that I like very much, but cannot imagine living in: Everything seems to be centered around EU activities and this gives it a certain hectic and bureaucratic feel even when things are quiet. I also find it disorienting that French and Dutch are used interchangeably (though the city is technically French-speaking), with occasional English and German thrown in as well. For these very reasons, I think it is essential to visit Brussels if you have never been. Its atmosphere is in many ways crucial for understanding today's Europe. It is a very easy city to visit and to get around - with excellent food, regal parks, beautiful architecture, and walkable streets.
Sarah has three dogs. The first and oldest is Sasha the black Lab and Husky cross show in the first photo. The dark German Shepard is Ruby a dog she adopted after she found her almost dead from lack of food and water when she was about 3 months old. The light colored German Shepard is Lobo. Lobo is about 9 and has cancer in his front leg. The vet has no idea how long he might have and right now Sarah is just trying to keep him happy and comfortable. Lobo is a brother to a Shepard I used to have.
