Behind Bars in NE Mpls - great bike shop!

For all those in the Minneapolis area who have fixed gear bikes, or bikes in general, you should get familiar with the bike shop Behind Bars, in NE Mpls, if you don't know about them already. The owner of the shop, Chuck Cowan, is a great guy, and the entire shop is a down-to-earth, yet class opeartion.

The crew at Behind Bars know their stuff - they understand bikes, riders, and how to make everything work. I recently purchased a hand-built Capricorn frame (more on the bike in a separate review) and Chuck, Dan, and the crew at Behind Bars helped build the bike up, providing truly spectacular service.

Not only is this shop clean, well-organized, and friendly, but they have a great selection of bikes and merchandise. The service at Behind Bars, in my experience, is first rate, both in price and quality. The staff is friendly, courteous, professional, and knowledgeable. In the Minneapolis bike community, this shop is a gem that I wish I would have known about even sooner.

For fixed gear enthusiasts, they have some cool stuff from Masi, Salsa, Kona, and other brands, and they stock a fair amount of unique stuff other shops might not bother with keeping in inventory. If you want to purchase a new bike, find some gear, or get your bike serviced, I would suggest checking out Behind Bars first. Although there are a lot of good shops around, this is the one that is on the top of my list of favorites.

You can find their website here: Behind Bars website. Or, you can call them at 612-436-0255 (note that they are not open on Mondays). Chuck, Dan, and the entire staff - thanks for the help in getting my bike set up!

Macaframa - cool fixed gear photos and videos

For those of you who haven't already seen the stuff by Macaframa, I would encourage you to do so. They have some phenomenal fixed gear rider talent, some great photography, cool videos, and even some cool posters.




For example, check out this video:



If the above video link doesn't work, go to their website and see some really creative and well-produced short videos here: link to Macaframa videos



If you like the stuff you see from Macaframa, or if you want to support their efforts, throw a comment up below, and let's get a discussion going. Or, even better, give these guys some support by purchasing their recently released 2-dvd video, available here: link to Macaframa DVD for purchase

Fixie with Trailer

For those of you wondering whether it's possible to ride a fixed gear bike while towing a Burley trailer with a child in it, the answer is yes. Is it easy? Nope, not at all.

What would cause such a test? I decided to take up riding fixed gear last year, and decided to go all in (meaning I sold my mountain bike I had built up and ridden for years). Since we have kids, I decided a Burley trailer would be the ideal way to introduce them to riding, have some quality time exploring the great outdoors as a family, and getting to the park or ice cream shop without using our car.

This weekend was the inaugural test ride, linking the Burley to a fixed gear Steamroller (no, I did not use a freewheel flip-flop hub), and tearing off for a ride. Granted, we don't live in Colorado and didn't ride any massive hills, but this was a fun and exhausting challenge nonetheless.

What a fixed gear gains in simplicity, low maintenance, ease of use, back-to-basics enjoyment, etc. it lacks in ability to compensate for the rider's less-than-Olympic training/condition, so towing a trailer with a fixie becomes a true physical test. That said, it's pretty cool to know that four wheels (including bike and trailer), one brake, no gears, and a determined rider can make for a memorable and exciting family outing.

At FixedRiders.com, we're intersted in having this forum become a community for sharing unique and interesting fixed gear riding stories. Share your favorite fixie story, or submit a photo to include in our fixed gear gallery at info AT Fixed Riders DOT com.