Like, Who Needs Lights on a Fixie?

Man, if that's not ten kinds of ugly.

I have always wondered why more bike manufacturers don't integrate lights into the frame....but not like this!

Besides being a visual disaster, the front light should be in the stem, so it turns with the bike (and in turn, illuminates the ground. You know, so you can see...).

I have often thought about integrating batteries into the frame or handlebars. I try to reduce the annoyance of cycling by permanently attaching as many things as possible to my bike. I hate removing lights and other accessories, and packing them around as I do my errands.

very cool!

Gimmick...

The LED will provide no more than a small dot on the horizon of cars trying to run you over at night. The quality leather seat is an add-on to compensate for the faux utility of the top tube lighting system. The LED light will not adjust to conditions where angle of illumination must be varied (i.e. pot-holed vs. smooth road).

All-in-all I suggest you by a real halogen and a blinker for a real bike made with traditional lines and steel tubing.

Grousefinder - The Bike Guy

That is a terrible seat from a health perspective and shouldn't be worth 100 dollars. Notice that newer seats incorporate a grove in the center and are bone width specific. That is a development due to lack of blood flow causing men to go impotent, so this seat is more a relic than useful. I would never want to ride on that seat.

Tiny LED with a giant tube? I'm lost. How many batteries do those two LED's need. Even the Phillips Luxeon ones don't take that much power to require that many cells for a few days riding.

Poor aesthetic integration to a minimalist bike in my opinion but some people might like it. I'm just not one of them and I think personal health should be very keenly looked at when cycling.

Yeah, it's gimmicky, and honestly, not really sexy at all, which is what a real well-done fixie should be.

But what is more upsetting, is the continued grief Treehugger chooses to give to fixed gear bicycles. A previous article was laden with readers who disapproved of this attitude Lloyd Alter takes towards fixed gear riders.

You were open to abuse the moment you entitled your article, "like, who needs lights on a fixie?" Like, really?

Sure, you may think it's unsafe and base your entire opinion of fixed gear riders, on a few (probably) couriers riding recklessly through traffic. But a lot of us, wear helmets and use bike lights, and maybe even have a brake or two to be on the safe side. As for those who don't have brakes, I bet you they can stop faster than some road bikes with the strength of their legs alone.

Riding a fixed gear does not mean compromising safety!
Yes, it's a trend, and yes, that can be frustrating (cuz they come up with a reason to make a new bike like this, which is silly, and kind of unattractive and leaves a bunch of useful used bike waiting to be converted in a storage unit somewhere) but fixies are bikes too! And the people who ride them love biking just like road cronies!

I hate the inconsiderate courier just as much as the next, but I hate inconsiderate drivers more.

You can not expect your movement to take off if you're going to segregate cyclists off and declare one type of bike better than the next. So you won't ride a fixie, but you'll ride a recumbent. GREAT. Guess what? I wouldn't ride a recumbent. But I'm not going to cut you down for it, because honestly, I'm happy you ride a bike. You need to unite all bikers.

How bout next time you find something about a fixie made with your morals in mind, you write a positive article, free of snippy off-shoots. Please. And thank you.

See you at Critical Mass.

(also, I'd buy a real bike light for your old bike, and not buy a new bike, with a whimpy light)

Elegant it is not. Looks like a failed prototype, a failed proof of concept perhaps.

Keith, I don't know what your area of expertise is, but you've been a victim of marketing hype in regards to saddles. Grooved plastic padded saddles only solve a problem created by ungrooved plastic padded saddles. Tensioned leather saddles (such as Brooks) have been around far longer than their "gel" counterparts. Foam rubber padded seats were designed for people who rode once in a blue moon and therefore didn't put in the miles to properly break in a leather saddle, nor were willing to maintain one. Unlike plastic saddles you actually have to treat the leather every now and again to keep it from drying out.
Would you like to talk about durability now?

I completely agree that this implementation is ugly and will not function beyond being a battery-powered reflector, I thought I'd put in a plug for LED bike lights in general. Someone had previously mentioned halogen lights, but I have used LED lights from Dinotte for over a year now and have found them to be as bright or brighter than my friends using halogen and the battery life is also longer. That's a big plus when climbing a mountain to know that your light won't be dying on the descent.

Did the author even do any research whatsoever about these bikes? They're not fixed gear bikes at all, they have a coaster brake. Also, that saddle is a Brooks knock-off and I highly doubt it's worth $100.

Visit their website and see for yourself.

Unfortunately this article appears to be a vehicle to convey the author's prejudice ideas; it's a shame it appeared on this website to begin with. The idea of integrating electric systems on bikes is a novel one and shouldn't be trivialized by articles like this.