Is it a fixie or singlespeed?

Whats the difference between a Fixie and a Flipflop bike?

• Hi, So i'm planning on making a new bike (fixie) but im a little stuck. I know quite a bit about bikes, but i've never come across a fixie or a flip-flop bike before, I understand that fixie bikes are very hard to master, and i will need practice as many people often get hurt by flying over the handle bars :L However, my main issue is I don't understand the difference between a fixie and a flip-flop? I know that a fixie goes forwards and backward, and a flip-flop can continue to ride without pedalling, but does this also go backwards when pedalling backwards?, will a flip-flop need brakes? and what REALLY happens when you stop pedalling on a fixie, do your legs continue to move with the pedals, or do you immediately fly over the handle bars. Sorry if i've not been clear, and any help will be much appreciated, thanks :)

• Answer:

  A flip flop has a fixed gear in one side and a regular gear with freewheel in the other side. They can have different number of teeth. So it is like a two speed bike without a derailleur and you must stop and flip the tire. Bikes made between 1905 and 1955 were often flip flops as the technology for freewheel wasn't fully developed and in case of failure of the freewheel, it was possible to flip the tire and go home. Fixies on the other hand were popular in the 1800's and up to 1903 which I kind of remember is the last year a fixie bike rode the TDF. Fixies are still used for Time Trial competitions in the track and such. And from the 1960's on, bikes have been mostly multy geared. If you are in the side of the flip flop that has a freewheel you need brakes. In this side the bike will not go backwards nor stop when pedaling backwards. If you are riding a fixie, you need brakes by law if you are in the public roads and streets, not so in the enclosed environment of the track. Bicycles shops selling fixies with no brakes for use other than the track can be finned in some countries with up to 1 million $. Some people think that they can stop a fixie by back pedaling. That doesn't work that way in real life. I think that those riding fixie will become extinct, natural selection at play. In the meantime they account for most of the bicycle accidents and injuries, also deaths since fixie riders tend to think that helmets and brakes are dorky and by running down pedestrians at high enough speed to cause death. With a fixie, you can't stop pedaling, you can control the rate of pedaling but not totally stop pedaling once you are in motion. You are climbing a step hill, the bike goes slower and slower, at some point your gear doesn't allow you to climb any longer and can't pedal... the bike shuts backward down hill. Your feet all over like a clown on your last seconds of life on the planet trying to get a hold of the pedals. You are gone like a dodo. Lets imagine that you finish climbing the hill. Your bike accelerates down hill, with no coasting capability and no brakes in a few secs you reach a speed of 35 mph, that depending on your gear my translate to 150-190 rpm of your pedals. You will not be able to do other than spread your legs to stay away from the fast moving pedals. The paramedics may have to break your legs to put you inside the van once they find you. Fixies use and depend on the chain both to accelerate and to decelerate that put extreme stress in a chain that is not built for that. Whether you end up in the ER depends on whether the chain will brake or break. Life hanging from a bike chain, so exciting.