Well the stats don't bear it out just yet, but when the Wall Street Journal starts writing about fixed gear riding you know the tipping point is near.
Apparently more than just urban hipsters and messengers are giving 'fixies' a try. According to one Boston bike retailer almost half of all fixie sales are to people over forty years old.
While fixies represented just 15,000 of the 3 million specialty bikes sold, they are more profitable overall. Fixed gear bikes sell for an additional 5 percent of margin versus all other bikes, which is why all of the major manufacturers have gotten into the game.
One things for sure...it seems the common thread among fixed gear riders is that they say the ride is both fun and challenging. Good enough reason to get one in my book. Just a matter of time...oh...and money too.
Photo is of the new '07 Cannondale Capo
UPDATE: In my haste to get this post up I neglected to dole out the much deserved 'link-love' that the bloggers/website owners mentioned in this article deserve. As I was reading the article it was nice to note that the author included links to Cyclelicious, FixedGearGallery, and Sheldon Brown as primary research for the story. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that the idea for the story came about due to either the author or editor's following of such blogs/sites.
