Although fixed gear racing is relatively new, the sport has its roots in the high days of track cycling, the late 1800s and early 1900s. In those days, track cycling was the most popular cycling discipline and a new concept, Six Day racing was introduced on the track in England in 1881. For bike riding outdoors, the fixed gear bike was being replaced by a geared bike due to technological innovation. However, the fixed gear bike was never totally gone from the roads. For example, it was common practice among many pro road cyclists in the 1970s to train on a fixed gear bike during winter to lay the foundation for the upcoming season.
The rise of the bike messengers in the 1980s and 1990s really started the fixed gear lifestyle. For the bike messengers, the fixed gear bike brought them everything they needed, a low-maintenance, all-weather proof, reliable, no-nonsense bike which was both challenging and fun to manoeuvre in the busy cities. Besides the practicalities of fast delivery, the bike messengers themselves grew into closely connected social communities. These communities started to organise small and informal races called alley cats. These races were on public roads, and they were not restricted to fixed gear bikes only, neither were they divided by age or gender.
In 2008, David Trimble wanted to celebrate his birthday with an informal fixed gear crit race in the Red Hook district in Brooklyn, New York, which can be seen as the start of the fixed gear racing sport. Over the years the race professionalised to closed off circuits, and categories for both men and women were introduced. Furthermore, Red Hook Crit grew into a global race series with crits in London, Barcelona, Milano and Brooklyn bringing the best fixed gear athletes in the world together. Other official crits and series started to emerge all over Europe, North-America, and South-East Asia. A new discipline in cycling was born! Fixed gear crit racing is a lifestyle bringing people from different cultures, religions, backgrounds, and nationalities together. At the same time, fixed gear racing is a highly competitive sport that demands a great level of athletic fitness, amazing bike handling skills, and steel nerves.
Fixed Gear Crit is founded with the aim of creating a central platform for the fixed gear sport providing you with all fixed gear race news, results, upcoming crits, interviews, background stories and more!We love the sport and believe that achieved results deserve to be cherished. Furthermore, we want to give each crit, team, and rider its well-deserved attention. On top of that, we just think the sport is awesome and the world needs to know! Currently, we are collecting rider info, results from past crits, and we are creating a Fixedgearcrit calendar for the upcoming season. You can submit your own rider info under the heading ‘submit rider data‘. If you have news, results or feedback do not hesitate to contact us!
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Red Hook Criterium
