Fixed Gear Culture: Greg Cox, UK.

So the new craze amongst the youth of the nation is to ride fixed gear bikes at ridiculously fast speeds through moving traffic. Using bikes known as fixies, they are modified to be as light as possible to gain maximum speed - with NO brakes. I decided to hook up with one of Coventrys most well known fixie kids DJ Obvious to see what it's all about.

Itchey Labels: So what actually got you into riding fixies?

DJ Obvious: My first attraction to fixed bikes was the speed and fearlessness of riders dodging through traffic in London. I didnt have the money to start my first build for like a year, then I just saved and scraped every penny to get an old road frame n start puttin some cheap ass parts together. I stripped it down to nothing before i started building it up, got it powder coated and set it up over about a week. Then shreaded the fuck outta the shit parts so slowly i started buying good quality parts and just waiting for the right time to setup a new bike, this time specifically for freestyle.

Itchey Labels: So how long has it been since you got your first bike?

DJ Obvious: Its been about 6 months since i bought my 1st bike, the past month ive jus had my mind set on settin up for freestyle as i miss skateboarding too much. But skatin nowa days is too hard n too painful haha.

Itchey Labels: There is two styles to riding a fixie; freestyle or crusing, which do you prefer?

DJ Obvious: My first choice was cruisin, I ain't gonna say thats boring because its not. I just want something else aswell. Whenever I'm riding I just think of tricks and lines I could be pulling out now I've got a set-up to do just that. It's kinda like skating in the sence that you can always tell someones track style from if they used to skate or not. DoinG some smooth lines rather than just one trick in a car park.

Itchey Labels: Is fixing just another trend which will soon pass by or has it earned its self a spot as an official urban sport like skateboarding?

DJ Obvious: Its not a trend, well it is for hipsters with aerospokes and spoke killer hats. But for the customisation of your bike its something new that no other sport really has ever had to offer in such a large sense. Cruising will never die, its just like normal cycling but too much fun cause your like one with your bike you have to be in full control. Freestyle is the same thing - your attached to your bike, you have a completely different approach to do a trick than you would on a bmx or mtb. You have to think about your run-up, placement of your feet, process the whole trick or line down to the closest centimetre before you even set off.

Fixed freestyle has a future and its picking up now. It's looking good with a lot of heavy riders out there filming edits and shit, creating new tricks and just pushing the sport forward. Big things to come from the fixed crews in 2010!

If you are paticularly intrested in the modifications, all parts shown in these photos are listed here;

Frame / Size:
Volume Cutter v4 53cm

Handlebars / Grips / Stem:
Gusset open prison 3" rise // Odyssey Adam banton ltd grips // Stolen convict stem

Fork / Headset:
Volume Fu Man Chu Fork // United integrated Headset

Front Wheel / Hub / Tire:
700c purple Velocity b43 // Formula Hub // 28c Rando

Rear Wheel / Hub / Tire:
700c purple Velocity b43 // Formula hub // 32c Rando

Crankset / Chainring / Bottom Bracket:
Sugino Messenger 165mm // Sugino 44t // sugino BB

Saddle / Seat Post:
Charge Bucket Saddle // Tifosi carbon Seatpost

Pedals / Chain:
Odyssey Twisted PC Platforms // JOL/Gurney straps // kmc half link Chain

Gearing / Chainring / Misc:
44x19