I’ve been dreaming fixie for years now.  Finally, wifey gave me the go-ahead to get my bike, I chose the GT Gutterball.  I know I’m way late to the fixed-gear scene, but I swear… I’m a bike rider at heart, not JUST a trend-hopper.  I mean, I’m a little bit of a trend-hopper, but I’m also a bike enthusiast.

This fixie is sick, but it needs a little customizing to get it to my taste.  The frame is thankfully, basically graphic/decal free in a glossy black finish, but any biker knows the signature GT triple triangle frame design.  It comes stock with decent components, ready for some pretty comfortable city riding.  Ritchey seatpost, WTB saddle, Truvativ cranks, deep-v rims (though they have a silver brake wall, so it kind of messes up the deep-v look), Wellgo pedals and a flip-flop hub are all standard.  It also comes with a 31.8 mm Syncros mountain stem and riser bar that are, imo, way overkill.  I mean these pieces are suitable for some serious all-mountain biking (but they do make the bike more comfortable and easier to control for a newbie to fixed-gear riding), plus they’ve got ugly graphics on them.  A front and rear brake are also standard, I removed the rear and eventually I’ll go nuts and take off the front, too.

The awesome guys at Echo Park Cycles hooked me up by switching the stem out to a more subtle FSA piece, cutting down the handlebars to a more fixed-gear acceptable length and switching out the GT grips for some blue Ourys.  Aaahhh… it’s starting to look like a real, Silverlake fixie.

Soon, I’ll be switching the bars out to some flat shorties, or standard, track drop-bars.  I also want to get black spokes.  And once I’m fully comfortable with no brakes, some Velocitys or other proper deep-v.

Riding fixed is really a different experience and requires new strength and concentration, even to an avid mountain biker like me.  Heading down a steep hill and essentially trying to walk the cranks backwards against the pull of gravity is a new skill.

I got my skids down in just a few minutes, though ;)  

You can buy one here.  But if you live in LA, buy it here.