The Next Fixed-gear

If fixed-gear bikes are the next skateboards, wheelchairs will soon become the next fixed-gear bikes, since they are closer to the ideal machine all fixed-gears riders crave: a simple, easy-to-maintain device that is easy to accessorize and can be used for the occasional trick. Recently transplanted college students, the young-at-heart, and lonely bachelors will soon flock to medical supply houses to buy into the craze; major news outlets will ponder it without real answers; and native New Yorkers (who have seen wheelchairs around town for years) will shrug it off as a fad. But everyone will have to get used to seeing a lot more wheelchairs! Here’s why:

Urban riders appreciate simplicity. The wheelchair is simpler and more elegant than any fixed-gear bike, and has the same quiet air of dignity as the lever, the inclined plane, and the other simple machines. Its single-axle drivetrain lacks the heavy and impossibly complex chain that is (and has always been) the bicycle's weak point. It requires little to no upkeep to stay roadworthy, unlike the nightmarish ordeals associated with maintaining headsets and bottom brackets. It transfers its rider's strength into motion without the trickery and artifice of cranks and pedals: one simply grips the wheels with one's hands, pushes, and the chair goes forward. What could be simpler (and thus more desirable?)

Wheelchairs are easily accessorized, an important feature. A wheelchair’s backrest, unlike a bicycle’s tubes, offers a wide, flat space for vinyl decals, handwritten political slogans, graffiti, and sewn-on patches. Plus, wheelchair backrests and seats can be made from many CUSTOMIZABLE materials, from leather to burlap to high-tech plastic. Metal wheelchair components can be anodized or powdercoated just as easily as bicycle components, so wheelchair operators have more color options than stodgy old silver. And please, don’t even think about the bulky contraption Franklin D. Roosevelt was so eager to hide from America, today’s wheelchair is as sleek and modern as a racing motorcycle. Of course, for vintage purists, numerous archaic and otherworldly vintage designs are available, some dating back to the reign of Phillip II of Spain—by comparison, the MacMillan velocipede and penny-farthing seem high tech.

For daredevils, dangerous stunts and games can be performed in wheelchairs that make bunny hops, bar spins, and bike polo seem sedate, even trivial. MTV’s Murderball (a movie featuring the Jackass gang, veteran arbiters of taste) recently introduced America to a fascinating sport that is half rugby and half bumper cars—who wouldn’t want to try it? And just like riding fixed, part of the thrill comes from mastering an unfamiliar method of conveyance. Imagine the excitement and sense of accomplishment a recent wheelchair convert might experience, say, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time. And, no one will EVER ask a person in a wheelchair if he races track, so there’s no need for riders to feel embarrassed (for pounding nails with a wrench.)

Wheelchairs are the next fixed-gear bikes, as they provide current fixed-gear cyclists with everything they want—and more. Once the province of a small and dedicated group of devotees, they are now poised to become mainstream, however impractical YOU find them. And as “One Less Walker” stickers become commonplace, expect to see other trappings of the fixed-gear “scene” adapted to wheelchairs: regular-chair conversions, fraudulent Craigslist entrepreneurship, and, worst of all, rampant theft. But wheelchairs are definitely coming, so raid your grandmother’s attic for her old ‘chair, grab some WD-40, and hit the streets!