As the riding has evolved, the equipment has begun to catch up. Up until very recently, few manufacturers were paying much mind to fixed freestyle, leaving riders with a hodge podge of durable road and lightweight mountain componentry to mix with the traditional track parts. Times are changing though, with Brooklyn Machine Works and Profile Racing leading the way with street durable “track” parts, and plenty of smaller custom builders catering to rider needs as well. The question remains if more companies will follow their lead, and how the riding and equipment will evolve together. Supply, demand and fragility will likely usher out most of the rare Campy and NJS parts from this aspect of the urban fixed scene.

“I love trick riding, it reminds me of when I was a kid on a skateboard,” says Dustin Klein of Cadence Clothing. BMX and skate culture has clearly had an influence, both in riding and fashion styles. Many of the tricks themselves come straight from BMX—barspins, chainring stalls, grinds. The flow of flatland is evident in the elegant wheelie and intricate trackstanding tricks being developed. Burd Phillips, Bootleg Sessions, “I was completely obsessed with riding flatland… When I first got on a fixed gear bike, I knew that I was going to start messing around on it. A full-sized bike that I could do tricks on. What could be more perfect?”