The growing sub-culture around ‘fixies’ – or fixed-gear bicycles – has come to mainstream attention with a recent gallery exhibition in Sydney. Dave Drayton and Jackie Leewai delved into the fixie culture to find out what it’s all about.

Bow Jia at the Sydney Sunday Sessions. Image: Jackie Leewai

Approaching ‘Robo-Cog’, it feels as though you have finally been accepted into the elusive ‘it’ group. A dozen or so modern-day Fonzies tinker casually on bikes. They work mostly without looking, presumably undergoing routine maintenance that has by now become second nature.

An array of tools that are made available to anyone who cares to come along are wielded by the more experienced riders present. The fresher faces watch; learning.

This is one of the hubs of Sydney’s burgeoning fixed-gear bicycle scene.

Haus, a Thai ex-pat who has been living in Australia for eight years began Robo-Cog in February this year. After a knee surgery forced him to stop skating four years ago, Haus turned to fixies, as they are affectionately termed, and has found himself at the centre of a growing trend.

“After surgery I was like, ‘I gotta find something to do.’ I mean, personally, I think everyone loves riding bicycles, you know? But this trend is going crazy.”

Haus tried fixies out of curiosity, not expecting to become as attached to the bikes as he did. Before too long he was holding regular sessions in his house, providing tools for other riders to use, and a point of commune for a scene that establishing itself as a close-knit community.

“It started at my house. Everyone was just coming to my house and using the tools and it started getting too crowded,” he says with a laugh. Not wanting to have his house destroyed, but needing a meeting place for the riders to hang out, Haus established Robo-Cog with fellow fixie enthusiast Jet.

Sydney Sunday Sessions – photo gallery

The time is nearing 5.15pm on Sunday and like clockwork, a cluster of fixed gear bike riders are hanging about the entry to Martin Place off George Street.

Sydney Sunday Sessions – or SSS – started as a small collective some 2 years ago, organised to allow ‘fixie’ -fixed-gear bicycle – enthusiasts to ride and socialise in Sydney. The group continues to grow in size and stature, attracting skateboarders, lapsed BMX riders, and general followers of street trends.

Read more…

Haus directs me to the mission statement of Robo-Cog – “The workshop is for like-minded cycling enthusiasts to gather and share ideas as well as modify and repair their bikes using the tools provided” – and the junkyard treasure chest of spare parts littered between the assembled fixie aficionados suggests success.

The garage space is rented by Haus and Jet each weekend, all that they request in return is a gold coin donation from the people using the tools they provide.

“Everyone who comes here and uses the tools shows a little respect. They give us like three dollars so I can have money to pay rent, and keep up with the tools. Some people aren’t paying but that’s cool, you still have friends come round. At the end of the day it’s about fun, that’s the main thing,” says Haus.

No matter who you ask about the Sydney fixie scene you can be guaranteed a response that highlights its laid-back friendly attitude. With the exception of the egos associated with a lot of bike messengers (one rider at Robo-Cog suggests “The couriers are like ‘We’ve been doing this for years and you’re all just hipsters jumping on our bandwagon’”), it seems that Sydney’s encompassing nature is something that sets it apart from the highly-strung riders in Melbourne and Brisbane.

“Sydney’s is a really friendly scene, you know, there’s not much arrogance which exists a lot in a lot of the other scenes,” says Darcy, a mechanic who volunteers his services at Robo-Cog each weekend. While he works as a mechanic during the week, Darcy is happy to donate his time and experience to aid newer riders on the weekend, and enjoys being able to give something back to the scene.

“The idea is that you can come and use the tools and use the knowledge, but it’s also like a clubhouse. Everyone from the scene just comes to hang out so its fun to spend your time here, it’s not work,” he says.

The assembled people revolve through conversations, seamlessly swapping between languages. A collection of three Thai riders converse in their native tongue before disbanding, joining other friends, and reverting to English. Grease covered hands occasionally reach for long necks of Coopers beer or cider, they are wiped on rags and extended warmly. The subcultures and cliques within in an already niche group do not create tension.

Darcy has witnessed the group’s growth, and the rise in the sports popularity, “You can see now, its growing up because, compared to last year when it started it was only ten people or so, and now its hundreds – more even.”

There’s good and bad aspects to the increasing popularity. Their passion catches the ephemeral attention of the mainstream, momentarily, and perhaps unwillingly becoming bombarded with hordes of trend hoppers and new recruits. “But it’s like with skateboarding, with anything, the hardcore guys stick it out. We’ll see next year, it will be quieter.”

For now, Darcy is content to find like minded riders, people with an interest in the scene, what ever their motivations. “Even if they’re just getting into it for the fashion or whatever. At least people are getting into it; at least people are riding bikes. Just enjoying it, getting off the couch,” he says.

The fashion Darcy mentions is a big part of the scene. More than just bikes, this is a culture that these riders live, breathe and wear. Teik Chew is owner of Halfsleeve, a street-wear store in Surry Hills located a few blocks away from Robo-Cog. After starting up around the same time fixed-gear bikes started to pick up in popularity in Sydney, Teik says they have been immersed in the scene. The store, a self-proclaimed clothing and lifestyle store, caters to the riders. There is a uniformity in the street-wear of fixie riders – part hip-hop, part op-shop, it is the uniform of a new sub-culture.

“We opened a year and a half ago and since day one we’ve had fixie customers. Most of the fixie guys are ex-skaters. I guess they’ve changed their mode of transport but they still kinda rock the same clothes,” says Teik.

He’s happy to be a part of a scene which he describes, similarly to so many others, as incredibly hospitable. “The riders here don’t take themselves so seriously. Groups like the SSS (a crew of riders called the Sydney Sunday Sessions) are massive, they encompass everyone.”

“So part of riding is the whole look of it as well, and that’s where we come into it,” he continues, spreading his hands around to indicate we are immersed in the culture as we speak.

Halfsleeve is one of a select few stores that form the supply chain for this growing trend. Teik mentions Deus Ex Machina and Hell On Wheels, talking about the businesses as though they are partners aiding a common cause, not rivals targeting the same market. It is the same camaraderie that exists through out the scene in general.

Deus Ex Machina is a cycle and motorcycle boutique retailer with stores at Camperdown and Oxford St. Teik believes they too understand that there is more to the fixie scene than just the cycles. “It’s not solely a bike store; they’ve put out their own brand, which is kinda heavily influenced by what is comfortable to ride in, and the fashion there,” he says.

Looking to give something back to the riders who had taken refuge in the store Halfsleeve organised an alley-cat race in June this year. Alley-cat races are popular within the fixie scene and have evolved from the messenger riders, it involves reaching a series of checkpoints before crossing the finish line. DC Shoes and SE Bikes collaborated with the store, providing one BMX cruiser and one fixed-speed bike as prizes. The two companies run collaboration every year, and sought out Halfsleeve specifically. “The DC rep in Australia thought we had a connection with the scene,” says Teik.

Despite only riding for the last two years Teik has been involved in the fixed-gear scene for even longer, with friends in his native Japan jumping on the bandwagon much earlier than their Australian counterparts.

“I used to live in Japan – that was about five years ago – and they were everywhere. And now I’ve seen it slowly been creeping into Australia.”

Teik says that the scene in Tokyo is strong, embedded in the culture there, but he continues to be surprised by the passion and friendship displayed in a rapidly swelling Sydney scene.

“In Tokyo you can get everywhere quicker on a bike. Everything is set up; the culture is much more developed there so you have heaps more stores, heaps more choices of brands and things. It’s small here, but I can only see it getting bigger and bigger.”

Find out more:
Sydney Sunday Sessions