So what is it with engineers and scientists and fixed gear bikes?

[Frenchie]

We recently kicked off a good discussion on this "elsewhere"... I seemed to note that most fixed gear riders I know have a technical background.

<feels good to be back>

[Dave]

I wonder if that's different to the background of cyclists in general?

FWIW, I was a scientist/science teacher and I ride fixed...

[border-rider]

I'm going to also suggest a correlation between fixed and the OS wars

The hard core old-skool fixed riders are people who value reliability and DIY-ability over shiny new gear and are happy to accept the drawbacks as a trade-off for the advantages.  These people would have ridden fixed anyway, with 40 year old Airlite hubs and old 531 touring frames.  They're often physicists, engineers, Computer Science geeks and they use Linux.  Even Ubuntu is a bit mainstream.

Then there's those who do it because they don't want to be sheep, want to try something a bit different, something reliable and elegant but also don't want the hard-core disadvantages of 40-year old hubs and command-line arm-wrestling.   Probably they'll buy a Langster or a Pomp and they'll use it on club runs and audaxs and for sheer joy of riding fixed.  Professional people from a range of backgrounds who don't care so much about the details of the OS/hub/whatever but want a pleasing and stable computing/riding experience.  They'd be Mac users Good on 'em.

Then there's the Rapha-wearers who buy a Langster and a messenger bag and sit round all day "being a fixer".  Windows...

 

Warning: this post may contain traces of not-being-entirely serious so please don't shout at me

[andygates]

The hard core old-skool fixed riders are people who value reliability and DIY-ability over shiny new gear and are happy to accept the drawbacks as a trade-off for the advantages.  These people would have ridden fixed anyway, with 40 year old Airlite hubs and old 531 touring frames.  They're often physicists, engineers, Computer Science geeks and they use Linux.  Even Ubuntu is a bit mainstream.

Er, the oldschool hardcore aren't this lot at all.  They're clubmen on their winter hacks, who have been doing it since the year dot because "fixed in the winter makes you strong for the summer".  Thing is, they did it without all this introspectin'.  Jumpers for goalposts, so to speak: stop faffing around and have a game - shirts or skins?

[border-rider]

Ay, but a lot of them are university Comp Sci lecturers and engineers, in my experience.  Every club I've every been in, most of the old skool chaps with beards and ancient fixies have had more academic qualifications that you can shake a stick at.  There are exceptions  - but not that many.

Edit: maybe I should have been a bit clearer: my simplistic break-down ignores people who don't use computers

[Dave]

Then there's the Rapha-wearers who buy a Langster and a messenger bag and sit round all day "being a fixer".

 

I hope this is one of the not-being-entirely serious bits. It's a bit early in the life of this group for lazy OneTrueCyclistism

[border-rider]

Then there's the Rapha-wearers who buy a Langster and a messenger bag and sit round all day "being a fixer".

 

I hope this is one of the not-being-entirely serious bits. It's a bit early in the life of this group for lazy OneTrueCyclistism

Relax.  It is

Right now I'm a classic wannabe fixer, with a garage full of machines and almost no miles in my legs.  Not in a position to use a pointy stick at all

[Si]

The old boys in my club who ride fixed (one of whom rides a fixer older than himself and he's in his 80s) are yer average working class, built things with your hands lot.  No ists or ologists to be seen.  They seem to do it because where we live you just don't need gears for a club pootle and because they love tinkering with old bikes.

The younger fixers in the club...well, I think that we have one aircon engineer, one doctor or surgeon, and one gentleman archaeologist. The other 'younger' fixed rider that I know and probably the most committed to it is a sociologist.

So, not sure about fixies attracting engineers especially but it does seem to attract more middle class and those who took their education further than in the old days.  But this might just be a side effect of the general enlargement of the middle classes and shrinking of the working classes.

Although the other interesting thing in the club, is that only one of the fixed bikes is less than about 20 years old, the ones belonging to the older guys being genuine original vintage fixies, and the ones belonging to us 'younger' ones being converted 1970s road bikes.  Only the doctor has a new bike but even that is a converted road bike rather than an off the peg fixed.  Not sure what this says about us really, might have something to do with us being a touring rather than racing club?

[IanDG]

I ride fixed because I'm old school and an ex-trackie.


And I'm a scientist too

[clarion]

I didn't get round to the companion to this thread in another place, because it got all busy and such...

However, I'm not an engineer.  Not at all, I'm afraid.

I should have been one.  I grew up in an engineering household, with engineering books and stuff all around me, and I went to University to study engineering.

But I messed up. 

And I am a complete IT numpty... 

As for bikes, I think everyone knows by now that I like kicking it old skool.  531, curved forks, threaded headsets and all that mcguffin.

And I like fixed.  I think my engineering genes are reflected in my love for the simple and elegant.

[Frenchie]

Well, well... I know away and MV starts things up quite nicely! 

I am an engineer. I work in research and engineering R&D. I have an old school track bike as well as a Pompino and a Langster (a fine machine for fast club runs BTW!).

My fixed gears are at the antipodes of the level of complexity in my day job.

Oh, I do have quite a few academic qualifications, but no beard and am still in my thirties, me...  :

[PeterM]

Then there's those who do it because they don't want to be sheep, want to try something a bit different, something reliable and elegant but also don't want the hard-core disadvantages of 40-year old hubs and command-line arm-wrestling.   Probably they'll buy a Langster or a Pomp and they'll use it on club runs and audaxs and for sheer joy of riding fixed.  Professional people from a range of backgrounds who don't care so much about the details of the OS/hub/whatever but want a pleasing and stable computing/riding experience.  They'd be Mac users

Guilty as charged, m'lud....

I'm neither an engineer nor a scientist, but I certainly appreciate good design and fitness for purpose.  And not having to reboot my bike computer for months.

PS.  Ta for the 19t cog—it really hit the spot.

[Bluebottle]

They're often physicists, engineers, Computer Science geeks and they use Linux.  Even Ubuntu is a bit mainstream.

Hrmph.  I'm still a chemist (albeit a very physical one), still ride fixed and am typing this on a resurrected laptop running Scientific Linux.  I do not, however, have sellotape around my glasses...yet.

[Blah]

I'm a sort of engineer, trained as an Industrial Designer, but in real life have been doing all things website for 8 years. I use a Mac at home, but PC at work and it doesn't really bother me.

I started off on a 70s converted road bike, then moved on to something that took fatter tyres, but was less nice to ride. Then I converted my Moulton to fixed, but that bike being too nice to rust up on salty winter roads decided to design my own and have it made in China in a material that means the frame should still be around long after I pop my clogs.

What does that say about me? I know what I want and I can't get it off the peg. And I like fettling ;-)

[Mr Larrington]

I'm going to also suggest a correlation between fixed and the OS wars

The hard core old-skool fixed riders are people who value reliability and DIY-ability over shiny new gear and are happy to accept the drawbacks as a trade-off for the advantages.  These people would have ridden fixed anyway, with 40 year old Airlite hubs and old 531 touring frames.  They're often physicists, engineers, Computer Science geeks and they use Linux.  Even Ubuntu is a bit mainstream.

Then there's those who do it because they don't want to be sheep, want to try something a bit different, something reliable and elegant but also don't want the hard-core disadvantages of 40-year old hubs and command-line arm-wrestling.   Probably they'll buy a Langster or a Pomp and they'll use it on club runs and audaxs and for sheer joy of riding fixed.  Professional people from a range of backgrounds who don't care so much about the details of the OS/hub/whatever but want a pleasing and stable computing/riding experience.  They'd be Mac users Good on 'em.

Then there's the Rapha-wearers who buy a Langster and a messenger bag and sit round all day "being a fixer".  Windows...

 

Warning: this post may contain traces of not-being-entirely serious so please don't shout at me

So where do we VMS junkies fit in?

[Paul D]

I'm a physicist by degree, now doing clever computery things with acoustics. I ride fixed mostly as I wanted another challenge, both riding & bike-building.

Riding a 'standard' geared bike faster ie TTing just didn't seem as fun as learning a whole new riding style by riding fixed.

The satisfied feeling when I got my current Merckx road frame setup perfectly can't be overstated either. Unless I bought a track bike specifically for track racing, it would feel wrong buying an off the peg fixed bike. I enjoyed it as a technical excercise making something great out of parts that aren't specifically designd to go together.

So, not quite a Linux user, but hopefully not a sheep (I do have a second hand Rapha jacket)

[Greenbank]

So where do we VMS junkies fit in?

Trikes.

[Mr Larrington]

So where do we VMS junkies fit in?

Trikes.

Butbutbut I've got 1.8 fixers (as well as two non-functioning trikes)

[Deano]

Ooh just seen this -

I'm certainly not any kind of engineer (in fact, two engineers who I work with who are keen cyclists think I'm absolutely bonkers for riding fixed) - I think it was my lack of technical knowledge which made me go fixed.  I thought it would be simpler than the continuous faffing on with gears and mechs, and I was right.

Oh, and the horde of fixed sprockets my dad has kept from the sixties came in quite useful as well    Possibly it's hereditary?