Is a single speed not fixed?

[ayceejay]

If a bike has a chain ring and a chain that connects it to a cog in the back wheel and doesn't have any gear options by way of a derailleur it is stuck or fixed in that one gear ratio until such times as the chain ring or cog is exchanged for one with a different number of teeth. If the rear cog that is attached to the wheel has an interior thread that is fixed but has some bearings between it and the cogs teeth allowing it to move against the flow freely but is fixed going forward this is known as a "freewheel" if there are no bearings in the cog meaning that both forward and backward movement is tied to the movement of the chain ring. this is known as a "fixed' or 'track' cog. Modern terminology insists that one system is a single speed and the other a fixie.

 

[derrick]

What is it called if i have a freewheel cog with bearings in it, then i decide to weld the moving parts together the bearings are still inside, what would you call that.

 

[ayceejay]

What is it called if i have a freewheel cog with bearings in it, then i decide to weld the moving parts together the bearings are still inside, what would you call that.

Honest answer Derrick? I would call that a mental problem.

 

[young Ed]

Really?

Fixed = no freewheel, you can't stop pedaling whilst the bike is moving.
Single speed = no gears.
In theory you could have a fixed bike with multiple gears.

some people these days ride a 3 speed 'fixie' (no free wheel ) they do this by using a internal gear hub such as a rohloff or that shimano one!
but in this case three speed fixie's are still so rare that than you say 3 speed fixie rather than just fixie as the term fixie is usually taken to be single speed fixie
Cheers Ed

 

[yello]

In French, a 'fixie' (as they are becoming known as - but I'm not sure there's a Hoxton set as yet... I digress) is what the older generation refer to as a 'pignon fixe'. Literally, a fixed cog or sprocket. No mention of a gear at all.

There are other examples of terms that have a common usage understanding that don't make sense logically, but we'd be here all day if we started picking everybody up on that. Personally speaking (and how else could I speak? See what I did there? ), when someone says 'fixed gear', I know in all likelihood what they mean - they like cream cheese.

What was it that Wittgenstein said? Something like 'there are no philosophical problems, only linguistic ones'. But what did he know? I doubt he ever rode a fixie.

Or perhaps it was Humpty Dumpty? Words mean exactly what I choose them to mean, no more and no less. But then we all know what happened when HD rode a fixie.

 

[Venod]

"What is it called if i have a freewheel cog with bearings in it, then i decide to weld the moving parts together the bearings are still inside, what would you call that"

A bodged job.