One Gear

A simple, appealing aesthetic and ease of maintenance has made fixed gear bicycles (fixies) and single-speeds a favorite of urban cyclists in a growing movement spanning from San Francisco to Melbourne and Tokyo to Berlin. The appeal of single-gear bikes is undeniable; creating your own bike by recycling a grimy old road bike stripping unneeded parts, adapting new components, and perhaps even re-painting is a rewarding experience. Getting greasy while customizing and building one's own ride is an essential part of the process. One Gear is a unique, much needed contribution to the culture that explains in simple, easy to understand language the steps required for a beginning or intermediate bike mechanic to learn how to rebuild and convert a geared bicycle into a slick, personalized fixie or single-speed. One Gear also contains chapters on single-speed variants such as flip-flop hubs, torpedo hubs and modern coaster brakes, as well as pictorial essays.