Fixed-gear bikes have no freewheel mechanism, which means the pedals continuously spin with the rear wheel, creating a direct connection between the rider and the bike. This results in relatively better control and maneuvering while riding. These bikes are simple in design with fewer components and are lighter in weight.
The best fixed gear bikes are the Fixed Gear Single Speed Bike and the Schwinn Kedzie Road Bike. The Fixed Gear Single Speed Bike has a double-butted alloy steel frame with front and rear radius brakes. The Schwinn Kedzie features 700C wheels with 32H alloy rims and a flip-flop hub.
In this article, I will explore the best fixed-gear bikes that are minimalist in design and can be carried around easily in public transport.
Best Fixed Gear Bicycles
- AVASTA Single-Speed Fixed Gear Urban Commuter Bike
- Schwinn Kedzie Fixie Road Bike (High End)
- Fixed Gear Single Speed Bike (Top Pick)
- 6KU Fixed Gear Single Speed Urban Bike (Budget Buy)
Compare Top Fixie Bikes for Roads and Mountains
Product | Overall Score | Bottom Line | Price |
---|---|---|---|
AVASTA Single-Speed Fixed Gear | 83 | High tensile steel frame | Check Out On Amazon |
Schwinn Kedzie Single-Speed | 81 | Equipped with a powerful drivetrain | Check Out On Amazon |
Fixed Gear Single Speed Bike | 86 | Fitted with dual suspension system | Check Out On Amazon |
6KU Fixed Gear Single Speed | 82 | Comes with a flip-flop hub | Check Out On Amazon |
Detailed Analysis of the Best Fixed Gear Bikes
Whatever your reason may be for getting a fixie, here are some of the best fixed gear bikes for you:
1. AVASTA Single-Speed Fixed Gear Urban Commuter Bike
Overall Score: 83
This fixed gear commuter bike is a great and affordable option for you. It’s sold at an affordable price, which is quite low for a bike of its quality.
The AVASTA Single-Speed Fixed Gear Urban Commuter Bike is a product that’s worth your consideration.
Looking at it, you’ll observe that it has a unique appearance with an unusual color scheme. The bike’s overall structure and design have a close resemblance to the typical mountain bike.
The fact that this high-quality fixie bike is sold at such an affordable price makes it a very desirable unit.
It’s equipped with a carbon steel frame and fork that ensure its durability and strength. Surprisingly, this bike features front and rear brakes.
These brakes may not be the most sophisticated, but they are capable of effectively halting your bicycle.
Advantages
- Fitted with 700c alloy wheels.
- The handlebar has a flat bar design.
- High tensile steel frame and fork.
- The package comes with flip flop hub, fixed gear, and freewheel.
Disadvantages
- It has a heavy weight.
2. Schwinn Kedzie Fixie Road Bike
Overall Score: 81
The next item on our list of the best fixed gear bicycles is this Schwinn Kedzie Road Bike. This bike is a great choice for urban cycling.
The manufacturers of this product have gained the trust of many consumers in the biking community.
This fixie bike from them is another reflection of the great quality Schwinn has to offer. In addition to having reliable quality, it’s also sold at an affordable price.
The Schwinn fixed gear bikes feature a frame structure that makes urban commuting itch-free. It’s fitted with an efficient set and grips that facilitate comfort while cycling.
In addition to all that, there’s also a set of rear and front alloy caliper brakes that help you bring the bike to halt when necessary.
Advantages
- Equipped with a powerful drivetrain.
- Best budget fixie sold at an affordable price.
- It’s a durable product.
- Features effective front and rear alloy caliper brakes.
- It’s a nice bike for street racing.
Disadvantages
- The frame is bulky.
3. Fixed Gear Single Speed Bike
Overall Score: 86
Then we have the Fixed Gear Single Speed Bike. This is among the most recommended fixie bicycle brands. This product, which features a flip-flop hub, is available in different colors and sizes.
In addition to its versatility, this bike feels very comfortable to ride on. It provides you with a seamless cycling experience and attractive design. It’s one of the top fixed gear bikes you can get today.
With a frame made from double-butted alloy steel and a straight steel fork, it’s quite heavy. However, its steel implementations make it a strong and long-lasting bicycle.
It is available in wide range of color options. From classic black to vibrant pink, our Golden Cycles fixie bikes are sure to turn heads as you ride through the city.
Advantages
- Features both front and rear radius brakes included.
- The brakes are caliper type brakes.
- It’s fitted with dual suspension system.
- Reliable fixed-gear, fixie, bike.
Disadvantages
- Poor quality crank set.
4. 6KU Fixed Gear Single Speed Urban Bike
Overall Score: 82
The 6KU Fixed Gear Single Speed Urban Bike’s design has been tailored to work in city traffic. In addition to its great city traffic maneuverability, this unit is also visually appealing.
It comes in black, and black or white colors. Those who would like a fixie for cyclocross can purchase this product and transform it into a cyclocross bike with a few tweaks.
The bike’s frame has a nice contemporary structure with a compact design and is coated with attractive paint.
The visually exposed parts of this bicycle are coated with matte black paint that looks very neat and outstanding.
This color implementation is matched with black and white paint on the stem, fixed gear crankset, seat post, and brakes.
Advantages
- Comfortable Steel Frame.
- Reliable Front and Rear Brakes.
- Fixed or Freewheel with a Flip-Flop Hub.
Disadvantages
- Assembly instructions not very clear.
How to Find the Best Fixed Gear Road and Mountain Bikes
Everybody wants to purchase quality products worth their money. As you shop for a fixie, various factors will influence your decision.
For instance, those with a small budget would consider cheap fixed gear bikes. Key factors to be noted before buying a fixie bike include:
Design
Bicycles are available in a wide range of colors and designs. There are bikes coated with just one paint color.
There are also those painted with a blend of different colors. Depending on your color preference, you’re free to choose whichever one you like.
Even in a situation where the model of your choice doesn’t have your desired color, you can take it to the painter’s workshop for customization.
Material
The material used to make your bicycle’s frame would affect its durability and weight. Some of the best fixed gear frames are made from aluminum, some from carbon fiber, and others steel.
Out of all these materials, Chromoly steel is a highly favorable option. This steel is used by many popular brand names in the biking community to create long-lasting and strong bicycles.
You shouldn’t take your bike frame’s quality lightly – a weak frame wouldn’t serve you well. You should purchase something that will provide a seamless cycling experience for a long time.
Parts
The individual components of a bicycle need to be strong so that they can function together to make a reliable whole.
For the benefit of your bike’s condition, you’ll need to make some replacements from time to time.
Using the bike’s wheelset as a reference component, it’s expected that the wheelset should have alloy hoops and tightly sealed hubs.
You can check out my article on the best single-speed wheelsets that are lighter in weight and have lesser chances of mechanical failure.
Size
Size is a key factor to be considered before settling for a fixed-gear bike. The chosen bike’s size should tally with your physical profile.
Taking your own height into consideration, you’ll need to ensure that the bicycle isn’t too small or too big for you.
Weight
Not everyone wants a heavyweight bike; some people don’t actually mind. If a bulky bike is going to be inconvenient for you, then you should probably get one with a light weight.
Among the fixies we reviewed earlier, you can find some lightweight ones.
Rack Mounts
Rackmounts are quite useful additions to your bicycle. They come in handy in situations where you’re tasked with carrying heavy loads on your bike.
Check that your bike choice is fitted with a reliable rack mount before you make the final purchase.
Fenders
You should know exactly what you’re looking for in a bike. This way, you’ll be able to select a bike that has all the features to satisfy your needs.
However, even if you aren’t so sure of where and how you’d be riding, you can prepare yourself in advance.
Getting a fender is one way to prepare you for riding in wet conditions. The fenders will shield you from flying droplets of water and mud.
Usability
As you search for the perfect fixie, you must have a certain purpose in mind.
This purpose may be to use the bike as a daily means of urban commuting or to participate in some competitions. Whatever your purpose is, let it guide you to pick the right product.
Maintenance
Based on personal preference, you might want a product that won’t require much maintenance.
Thanks to their design and features, fixies aren’t difficult to maintain. Simple features, like coaster brakes, for example, make overall maintenance easy.
You may also choose a full-chain casing fabricated from aluminum to protect your bike chain from rust.
Price
Your available budget will determine what bike you can buy. If you have a large budget, you’ll likely be able to afford the pricey high-end bicycles.
However, you should know that some of the top fixie bikes are actually sold at cheap prices under $500. It would be great if you could lay your hand on one.
What is a Fixie Bicycle?
Fixies, also known as fixed-gear bikes, are bicycles with cogs that function based on just the movement of pedals. They are similar to Firmstrong cruiser bikes in a sense
Usually, other types of bikes are fitted with ball-bearing systems that provide various speeds. These ball-bearing systems are responsible for the free movement of both the wheel and cog.
However, this isn’t the case with fixies or single-speed bikes. The speed of a fixie bike is directly proportional to the amount of work you put into pedaling.
As you pedal, the wheel spins accordingly. Based on this principle of operation, some fixies can even be driven in reverse – simply by pedaling in a backward direction.
Why Should You Get a Fixie?
Before buying a fixed-gear bike, you’d want to know about its advantages and relevance. One of the attractive features of fixed gears is their simple design.
Because of how simple their implementation is, these bikes don’t require plenty of maintenance.
They are also easy to ride and they have lightweight specifications. If you often need to carry your bike up a flight of stairs, you’d enjoy the lightweight design of a fixie.
Easily navigating on roads is another advantage of a fixie’s lightweight. There are many more features that make people select the fixie for their cycling routines.
Using a fixed-gear bike with a fixie crankset gives you the option of customizing brake settings.
With a fixie, you may decide to use your freewheel as your means of halting the bike or choose to detach both rear and front brakes while braking with the skid-stop method.
Most times, people purchase the fixie for the purpose of transportation. There are also those who would buy them to race in competitions.
If you want a fixie that can serve both purposes, you can purchase a hybrid fixie.
High End Fixed Gear Bikes vs Single Speed Bikes
Single-speed bikes and fixies aren’t exactly the same. Both may share some similarities, but they also have their differences.
For instance, both fixie bikes and single-speed bikes are fitted with just one gear. Unlike cool fixed gear bikes, single-speed bicycles are equipped with a freewheel on the rear hub and no internal gear hubs.
Their cranks remain immobile except if the pedal is engaged. On the other hand, fixies are void of freewheels. For this reason, their cogs are in constant rotation as you ride them.
For the best results, it’s expected that the fixie’s track cranksets should move similarly to the back wheel and tire. When it’s time to bring your fixie to a halt, you’ll need to brake by locking both pedals.
Reverse riding can be achieved by engaging the pedals in a backward direction. If you want a bike for moving around city traffic, you can either get a single-speed or fixed gear bike.
Because they are simple, cheap, and have a low-maintenance design, these bikes are commonly used for commuting.
With either of these bikes, you can cycle at speeds as low as 15mph and also reach speeds of about 60mph.
You should know that reaching higher speeds on these bikes would take some amount of practice.
When compared to other bicycle models like the road bike or mountain bike, these ones don’t normally move as fast.
Fixed-Gear Bikes Are More Affordable With Simple Design and Fewer Components…
With all that has been said, you now know the relevance of fixie bikes. People have been using these bikes for many years and have enjoyed their advantages over other bicycles.
Apart from being made available at cheap prices, these bikes are easy to maintain and also easy to use. Before you settle for any fixie bike, make sure it’s equipped with everything you need and also prefer.
Because of how much quality it offers at such a low price, the Fixed Gear Single Speed Bike holds the title of the best fixie under $500 among our list of best budget fixed gear bikes.
It has 700C alloy wheels and a handlebar with a flat bar design.