Single speed season

Winter. The time for exhausting family get-togethers, bloody noses, flu, famine, and... storing your derailleured bike in favor of a simple, cheap, single speed bike.

I just put some new tires on my fixed gear single speed bike:

Unfortunately, the reason I had to put new tires on it is because I rode my road bike to Randolph two months ago and somebody slashed my tires while it was parked at the head of the Narrow Gauge trail. I walked it back to Augusta and took the tires off my fixie to replace the slashed ones.

Anyway, look at the fixie with the new tires! I was pumped and so were they!
I built this bike in Hartford and New Britain, CT with the help of El Presidente de China, who gave me the eighties vintage frame, and Peter Barr at Recycle Bicycle in New Britain. Recycle Bicycle is a great little nonprofit where kids can come in after school, take ownership of a bike project, and own the bike when they are done with it.

The fixie is a great winter bike. There are no derailleurs or extra drive train parts to get gummed up by road salt.

Also, you can use controlled skids to get a much better feel for road conditions than you ever could with a normal bike with a freewheel.

My first ride with the fixie this winter was Tuesday night, Dec. 22, and I headed down to Higher Grounds for Open Mic Night. For a night owl like me, there's nothing like riding a bike around at night in the winter.