>>967010I once saw a fixie bro riding in the rain, skidding left and right down a steep, car-and-pedestrian-filled side street like it was a ski slope
It was beautiful. He was 200% more in control of his bike than anyone I'd ever seen.
Probably a bike messenger. The guys who brought back fixie riding
Old bike messengers (pre-2002?) were riding fixed and they were fucking cool
The problem was the hipster thing happened, the basis of the social movement being young people hunting for an "authentic" lifestyle while still being consumers. It came down to suburban shopping-mall youths trying to BUY their way to a real, meaningful life. They saw how messengers were living and wanted that "beautiful simplicity" of simulated gritty poverty cycling
After that proved too painful/dangerous for someone who isn't on a bike 8 hours a day, it moved on to "randoneur/french/le velo orange/fop wagon/650b!" --- that aesthetic got old fast, and the new thing is "Adventure biking" and "bikepacking rigs" so you can pretend to be a transient cycle tourist dude who totally boils eggs for breakfast on a pop-can stove in public parks
Next trend? Ugh who knows.
Go read "The Hipster Handbook" - published in 2001 I think. The hipster thing was already old news in Brooklyn by then.
