How to Personalize a Fixie

A "fixie" is a single, fixed-gear bicycle. A fixie might be a mountain or road-style frame, depending on your personal style of riding. When it comes to personalizing your fixie, areas to concentrate on are the handlebars, seat, frame painting and tires. The fixie is a simple bicycle as it has no gear sets ---- just a direct chain between one gear on the rear tire and one chain ring at the cranks.

Instructions

    • 1

      Choose your preferred style of handlebars. Options include "monkey" style bars that have a slight rise between the center the two ends; drop bars that have the road bicycle style cow-horn drops; flat-bars that have no rise and no bends; or bars with "risers" on the end. Risers are small bars that extend up from the outer edge of the handlebars.

    • 2

      Determine your desired style or riding and select the tries based on where and how you ride. Options include road tires that are smooth and offer fast speeds on hard surfaces; "knobby" style mountain bike tires that grip into soft surfaces such as mud and sand; or cyclo-cross tires that are a combination of both.

    • 3

      Choose a seat based on where you ride. If you use your fixie as a beach cruiser or light touring bicycle, consider getting a larger and softer seat. If you plan to use the fixie as a faster road commuter choose a hard and narrow seat. Mountain riding requires a thin and narrow seat.

    • 4

      Paint your frame in any color combination you desire. Paint the frame yourself or bring it to a bicycle shop for a custom design. To do it yourself, strip the bicycle of all components and parts and paint the frame with outdoor enamel paints. Add logos or lettering to your specs for true personalization.