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I’m in heaven! Well not quite, I’m in the nearest thing this earth has to rival what I assume heaven will be like, Tel Aviv!!!!!!!!!!! And you’ll never guess what? I’m missing London. How can this be? I’m visiting all the cool places this blog tells me to visit, I’m on holiday so I’m drinking beer, the buildings look great, the sun is shining and the coffee is out of this world. So why do I miss London? What is missing in this wonderful city, the presence of which would help me forget London?????

It’s my bike, or is it? I’ve had a bike for years, I’ve been commuting for years on my bike so why all of a sudden do I miss my bike and hence my adopted city ? Maybe it’s because I have a new bike, but it’s not just any old new bike, my new bike is in fact an old bike, an old bike converted to a fixed gear bike, aka “a fixie”. For those of you that don’t know, fixies are those clean-looking city steeds you often see messengers riding on, the ones without multiple gears or even, in some cases, brakes. The gear is “fixed,” meaning that if the wheels are turning, so are the pedals …… no coasting allowed! It’s not that I miss my bike, it’s that I miss seeing fixies all over the place, they are the bike of choice in London for anyone who really wants to look cool on two wheels, just look at the pictures below to see what all you Tel Avivians are missing out on and exactly how hot these bikes are.

Let’s start with the bike. As I’ve already mentioned, no gears and on the example above, no breaks. With no gears and no breaks, there’s nothing to go wrong which is why the fixie is so popular with the couriers. I personally think no breaks is pretty stupid and have opted for the front break only option thus minimizing the amount of cables and clutter but significantly increasing the safety factor. On the subject of safety, the dude above is not wearing a helmet! Again an option I would not recommend and an option I decide to ignore, I’ve seen too many nasty accidents.

As we seem to be moving on to the clothing, have another good look at the picture. Trousers, just below the knee. These can be specialist cycling trousers but the really cool people wear rolled up or cut off jeans. Socks, never wear them, they don’t look good when you don’t have full length trousers on. Gloves, fingerless unless it’s freezing cold. Although the guy above is not wearing gloves, they are a good idea just in case you come off, they’ll stop you ruining your hands and they really do look good. The Bag. A large over the shoulder bag with an extra strap to stop it moving around as you fly across town. I’ve got a Timbuk 2 that holds loads and looks awesome.

So why ride a fixie I can hear you all screaming, what’s the point? Well, until you’ve ridden one it’s very hard to put into words but I’ll have a go. Firstly the ride is very, very quiet because there are no clanking gears and you’ll feel more at one with the road and the ride itself. Also because you can’t free wheel and because your breaking is not as good as on a “normal” bike, you may find that you ride slower and that you anticipate the traffic ahead making breaking an event for emergencies and not only for stopping at red lights and junctions. And of course if you are riding around Tel Aviv on your fixie, you’ll be looking good and people will look at you and people will want to talk to you and ask you what you’re up to and how they can join in and look cool too.

So come on Tel Aviv I have a challenge for you. By the time I come to visit again in March next year I want to see a few fixies around town being ridden by some cool Tel Avivians. I know you’re out there.