Style Over Sense

I realize I'm not making any friends with this statement, but I continue to be baffled and amused by the popularity of fixed-gear bikes in this city. We have hills, people. We have hills so steep that the sidewalks are staircases.

Invariably, an SF fixie rider:

• is about 20 years old
• isn't wearing a helmet
• has several tats, piercings, etc.
• dresses so as to display them as prominently as possible
  

All of this feeds my impression that it's all just a fashion statement. Riding a fixie around this town is simply nuts. Sudden stops (kinda important in city riding) are nigh-impossible. The steep pitch of all the climbs and drops means these kids are going to be paying the orthopedic surgeon for brand-new knees before they turn 40.

Just now, I saw something that put it over the top for me: a fixed-gear MOUNTAIN BIKE. Yep. No brakes, no derailleurs, big fat knobby 26-inch tires. But gosh, what a sweet paint job, with rims and tires in matching tints even! And me without my camera.

This, kids, is like going snowboarding in stiletto heels and a monokini. Painfully stupid, pointlessly dangerous, borderline life-threatening... but damn, it looks HAWT.