More from Jonathan Menjivar
Don't Drive Like My Brother
(00:15:10)
From: Jonathan Menjivar
The story of one man in desperate need of a job.
Andrew Bird
(00:09:03)
From: Jonathan Menjivar
An unnarrated portrait of an unconventional songwriter.
Letter from Chicago
(00:10:41)
From: Jonathan Menjivar
A son in Chicago reaches out with a mic to his mom in L.A.
Related Pieces
Piece Description
If you've spent any time in a city in the last five years, you've probably seen a fixed gear bike. Popularized by bike messengers, the fixed gear bike strips down the modern bicycle to its origins. With only one gear, often no brakes, and no freewheel, the mechanism that allows a bicycle to coast, fixed gear bikes offer what some riders say is a closer connection to the road. In this piece, Chicago graphic designer and fixed gear enthusiast Naz Hamid (NAHZ HAH-mihd) explains how a bicycle works...and why he loves to ride its most basic model. Originally aired on Studio 360 July 1, 2005.
2 Comments
|
Review of Fixed Gear BikesThe narrator clearly loves the subject matter, and in turn makes the fixed gear bike sound attractive, simple, and beautiful. The bike sounds reside in harmony with the vocals. I could have gone without the conventional music at the end. The gear recordings were meditative and really effective on their own. |
Broadcast History
Originally aired on Studio 360 July 1, 2005.
Transcript
Most bikes have uh…two shifters. Essentially what it does is it just shifts the chain to cover all the different permutations of the gears.
Typically on an older bike, like a 10 speed, there’s two chainlings up front so there’s a big one and a smaller one. And on the back, there’s um, five, what you call cogs or a sprocket. So, how it works is, the bigger the chainling up front and the smaller the cog in the back, the harder the gear is.
The fixed gear, it’s a very simple machine. It doesn’t have any gears, except one, and that gear is the gear that you’re always in. It’s like when you were a kid and you had the little big wheel…in essence that was a fixed gear because when you turned the pedals the big wheel would go, and when you stopped it wouldn’t go.
This is, I guess this is my newest bike. This is basically a track frame. And uh…it has a much steeper and tighter geometry...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
Piece Title: Fixed Gear Bikes
Piece Length: 3 min., 28 sec.
Rundown:
00:00:00 Piece (3:00)
00:03:00 Closing Music (:28)
Musical Works
-Sam Prekop/A Cloud to the Back/Sam Prekop/Thrill Jockey
-Nobukazu Takemura/Stair in Stars/Hoshi No Koe/Thrill Jockey
-Neu!/Hallogallo/Neu 1/Astralwerks
-The Flying Burrito Brothers/Wheels/Hot Burritos! The Flying Burrito Brothers Anthology 1969-1972/A&M Records
Related Website
Of 6 purchasers of this piece...
- 4 also bought:
Bass Keno (00:08:31) - 4 also bought:
Dog's Dreams (00:07:41) - 3 also bought:
Life Stories - Jobs: Women at Work (00:59:06) - 3 also bought:
Matching Outfits Not Included (00:10:24) - 3 also bought:
Amanda from New York: Girlfriend (00:09:41)
Sean McMahon
Posted on May 21, 2006 at 10:02 PM | Permalink
Review of Fixed Gear Bikes
Great piece! I think the explanation of how "fixies" work was very easy to understand, and quite informative. This piece is a cool way to introduce people to the idea of fixed-gear bicycles.
I loved the bike sounds! The only thing I would change would be the music. I feel like the piece could stand on its own with just the voice and the sounds of the bike.
Well done.