01-04-2016, 04:37 AM
That is a cool machine!
The fixed gear aspect seems a bit sketchy because pedal strikes can be a disaster when you are leaned over in a corner. This bike looks to have fairly short crank arms which help that issue. 10 years ago, fixed gear bicycles were getting really popular beyond the niche users (bicycle messengers and velodrome racers). At first, the only purpose built fixed gears bikes were fairly expensive. So, people were taking old 10 speed frames and cobbling them into "fixies." Among the many compromised parts being used and generally haphazard builds was the fact that most of these frames sat lower to the ground. Since most of your budget - oriented fixie riders didn't want to invest in shorter crank arms common to proper fixed gear bikes, you had a recipe for disaster. I built myself a bike this way, but I knew what I was getting into, so no mishaps.
The owner of the bike shop where I worked in college decided he wanted a motorized bike, so he ordered one of those Chinese 80cc engine kits from eBay and had me assemble it. He went and bought a $80 Huffy beach cruiser because he didn't want to ruin a good bike. I had to "massage" the down tube of the frame to get the motor mount to fit. It had no front brake and the rear coaster brake nearly doubled the engine braking power of that small displacement 2 stroke. That thing was sketchy!
The fixed gear aspect seems a bit sketchy because pedal strikes can be a disaster when you are leaned over in a corner. This bike looks to have fairly short crank arms which help that issue. 10 years ago, fixed gear bicycles were getting really popular beyond the niche users (bicycle messengers and velodrome racers). At first, the only purpose built fixed gears bikes were fairly expensive. So, people were taking old 10 speed frames and cobbling them into "fixies." Among the many compromised parts being used and generally haphazard builds was the fact that most of these frames sat lower to the ground. Since most of your budget - oriented fixie riders didn't want to invest in shorter crank arms common to proper fixed gear bikes, you had a recipe for disaster. I built myself a bike this way, but I knew what I was getting into, so no mishaps.
The owner of the bike shop where I worked in college decided he wanted a motorized bike, so he ordered one of those Chinese 80cc engine kits from eBay and had me assemble it. He went and bought a $80 Huffy beach cruiser because he didn't want to ruin a good bike. I had to "massage" the down tube of the frame to get the motor mount to fit. It had no front brake and the rear coaster brake nearly doubled the engine braking power of that small displacement 2 stroke. That thing was sketchy!