Monthly Archives: December 2009
On evolution, and the fixie bike
Depending on where one lives in the country, you may or may not be aware of the rise in popularity the single speed, fixed gear bicycle. For the uninitiated, this is a bicycle with one speed and a fixed drive, meaning every time your wheel spins around once, your pedal also goes around once. Often featuring no brakes, the rider stops the bike by simply locking up their legs, causing the back wheel to suddenly stop spinning, and the bike to skid to a halt. These are track bikes that are designed for the velodrome. On city streets in the Mission (in San Francisco - where I used to live), these types of bikes are so ubiquitous, it’s as if there are road blocks set up on major bike paths, turning away bikes with gears. “Sorry man, you need to have a fixie to ride through *this* neighborhood.”
But what’s going on here? Why on earth would hipsters in skinny jeans be riding these brakeless death traps through one of the most hilly cities in the world?
Riders will often justify their decision to ride a fixie by stating that “Fix gear bikes require less maintenance” (This is true, but you also have no brakes, so I feel the maintenance issue is a bit of a red hearing) or “The feel of the ride is unbeatable” (As long as you’re not going up hill, or trying to stop quickly), but really, I think something else entirely different is going on.
I have a hypothesis. To illustrate my hypothesis, consider the peacock.
Male peacocks have incredible tail plumage in all kinds of bright, iridescent colors. These tail feathers serve no immediate practical advantage, and in fact, actually acts as a handicap. The tail feathers are essentially advertising to other peacocks, “Look. I have this ridiculous plumage that gives away my location to potential predators, and I’m still alive! Therefore, my genes must be very good. Want some of me? I know you do…”. For the peacock (and it’s tail feathers), it’s all about how much can you handicap yourself and still survive, because that’s how a peacock will attract the best mate. Check out Amotz Zahavi’s landmark paper in the Journal of theoretical Biology for more details.
Moving back to fixed gear bikes, the way I’ve started to look at the phenomena is that individuals - usually young males - are “handicapping” themselves by removing brakes and gears, and essentially advertising to potential mates “I have no gears, and no brakes. I live in the hilliest city in North America, and I’m still alive. I must rule. Want some of me? I know you do…”
So really, I think the fixed gear bike craze is simply the evolutionary process of sexual selection run amok.