Berlin Gives Fixies das Boot
- Posted by: Patrick James
- on June 30, 2009 at 7:22 pm
In Berlin, fixed-gear bicycles are now illegal. The news comes from The Local, and English-language German news site:
In a country where cyclists are expected to have a working bell on their bikes, it was probably only a matter of time before fixies fell afoul of the law in Germany. … Since there’s no freewheel on a fixie, the pedals continue to rotate as long as the bike is moving forward. This means the rider either has to slow the bike by fighting the momentum or brake by locking up the back wheel to skid to a stop.
Seeing what they considered a growing danger to traffic safety, Berlin police announced this spring they would begin cracking down on fixie riders. Since only April, they’ve confiscated 18 bicycles.
Clearly, fixies are more difficult to ride (and stop) than any conventional street bikes. I’ve heard many an accomplished cyclist explain how he or she tried a fixie once and that was enough. And plenty of city-dwellers bemoan aggressive biking (which is sometimes associated with fixie-riders). But are the bikes really so dangerous that they shouldn’t be street legal? Is this a setback for bike culture in general?
DISCUSSION: 44 Comments
Wouldn’t something slighlty less drastic, such as requiring fixie rides to run a brake be more appropriate? It seems like a pretty good compromise . . .
Hi Eli. It looks like if your bike gets confiscated, you can get it back by paying a fine and convincing authorities that you’ll install brakes, with which it would be legal. They’re legal to own without brakes, just not street legal.
wow. is this what the world is coming to?? complete control of the people by governments?? that is disgusting. come on, who cares about a bicycle….
I ride a fixie, and I can understand how stopping would be a problem for a lot of people. It’s a little astonishing, though, that a country would have so many fixies with riders who don’t know how/don’t think they have to stop them, especially knowing they’ll be caught.As for being a setback for bike culture, I don’t know! Bike messengers like fixies, because, for one thing, in the winter, brakes will fail, and you can still stop with a fixie. But maybe the trade of bike messenger is fated to die off soon! I don’t know.
Alex:1. A law is made.2. Someone claims that the government has destroyed everyone’s last shred of personal freedom.3. The world carries on.
Rope: When you win something as highly regarded as freedom, you should take the time to understand how to retain it. Mild but unnecessary laws divide the authority and the citizenry, creating a culture of disrespect. If you keep making laws like this one in Germany you’ll find that people will lose all respect for the law and authority loses it’s meaning: creating dishonesty and crime.If individual responsibility and liberty aren’t guiding principles of GOOD magazine I don’t know what is.
That’s it, this is the last straw! Until proper teleporting technology is developed and fully available to me I’m gonna stay in bed, get food and sex delivered and spend my days reading and writing meaningful and completely useless posts….Finally, after all these years I’ve set a life plan I stick with–My family is gonna be so proud!
Living in a bicycle-riddled country like myself, a fixed-gear bike would seem awesome outside of the city. But in a crowded and busy urban environment one needs to be able to break quickly. Numerous times I had to step on the brakes of my bicycle because of a car speeding around a corner, an urban pigeon (fowl critters) flapping it’s wings towards me or a kid/dog running across the road without warning.Ban em I say. People need to be protected from themselves and others. Fixed gears work best on a track.
why is this surprising? In nearly every western country they are illegal in their stripped back form. Friction brakes are a requirement almost everywhere.
Rope, your comment just became my new email signature…. well played, sir
No offense, but when you do something irrational and illogical (like riding a fixie in a city) just for the sake of being different or cool, you are just being trendy.
I agree with Eli. Compromise, don’t illegalize. Require fixies to have brakes, but don’t ban them from the road. That’s a bit of an overkill.
Fixed gears are meant as track bikes, and that’s where they should stay. Well done, Berlin!
I agree Eli. I commute 5 days a week averaging 10-18 miles a day on my fixed geared bike in Los Angeles California. I feel this law should be amended to target brakes vs. the fixed cog on a bicycle. It is an obtuse and incorrect observation of the “stopping” issue at hand. I personally feel all road going bicycles should require a brake or a mechanical device that assures stopping. I am fixed and also fitted with a front brake.
d00d read the article. only fixies without brakes are not legal for street use. you can get your bike back if you tell the cops you’ll get brakes installed
and thats the suc
I ride a fixie here in protland. I dont do it to be cool. I do it because it is a lot of fun. I think idiot motorists and idiot cyclists should be outlawed before a fixed gear. I have seen many people on townie cruisers be more dangerous than fixie riders. Additionally cars are very dangerous and people get into accidents all the time. Yet they dont outlaw cars or a certain type of car. How about you deal with i individually and use blanket punishment. Next time a hummer makes a wide turn and hits something or some one we should outlaw hummers because they are too big for tight turns.
also britthinch why not outlaw people riding mountain bikes are townies. they are meant for dirt trails. While we are at it outlaw beach cruisers if they arent near the beach. long haul cycles unless you are commuting over 30 miles. Your logic fails.also lets outlaw sleeping the park since there are beds around.
Cute title, and not to be a schoolmarm, but oh, what the hell? “Das Boot” means “the boat.” There, I said it.
This kind of logic kills me. How many people die per year, or better yet, per day in cars? Don’t know? Well, google told me 114 people die each day in car crashes. That’s 41,610 per year. Compare that to 1.9 bicycle related deaths per day. That’s 698 bicycle related deaths per year. And which one is being banned for being more dangerous? Crazy.
To “give something the boat” is actually a little-known idiom that means to send it on its way, or get rid of it. True story.
Does anybody know if this includes fixed gear bikes with a front brake—which is still technically a “fixie”, but has the added responsibility of a mechanical stop, rather than a purely physical one.
Why is this GOOD? The title of this post is inaccurate. It should be: Fixies are now required to have a brake. Some comment-yelling follows — by people who haven’t read the details provided by the author in his reaction to Eli’s comment. I live in Holland, where there are more bikes than people, and here bikes are required to have brakes if you want to take them on the road. Makes sense to me. It’s like a maximum speed or a stop sign. Who’s yelling about freedom?
Ah Oh… whats next?? They are at it again… Yah cant trust those crazy krauts….
Giving them the boat???