Trixie on Howard St. Circa 2012
The alternate title to this post could be “Please Help Me Feel Okay About Parting Ways With an Old Friend.” Even looking at the photo above makes me feel all kinds of ways about this bike. She was an integral part of my life for the better part of a decade. The bike originally belonged to one of my best friends (yes, an actual human) who left her in my care prior to decamping to Italy for work, shortly after the onset of the great recession. We met as colleagues in the early aughts and quickly learned that we enjoyed many of the same hobbies, including cycling. When the bottom fell out of the economy he shipped over seas to work and I was charged with the custody of ‘Trixie’ (the fixie), an SE Draft that he had purchased on a whim from one of those bike shops on Grand St. that has been around since before they started construction on Sty-town.
After no time at all, Trix became my primary mode of transpo. We went everywhere together. She even has her own Instagram account! Eventually my good friend made plans to return to NYC from Italy. I was very excited that we would be able to hang out again in person. But was feeling a bit sad about handing Trixie back to her rightful owner after becoming so attached. Being the good man that he is and seeing how the bike had become such a fixture (get it) in my life, my friend gifted Trixie to me upon his return. I was elated! I continued to commute almost daily riding Trixie and had many weekend adventures with her too, up until 2015ish, when I started working in midtown. After that I was only riding once or twice per week.
In 2019, I suffered a pretty debilitating soft tissue injury that made it impossible for me to run. But for whatever reason, my pedaling muscles still worked just fine. So I started logging some crazy miles on Trixie. You will most likely notice, however, from the image above that the front sprocket on Trix, is on the smaller side. Spending so many hours pedaling just for the sake of pedaling, I was getting very frustrated how often I would top out. Referencing the above photo once more– the crank and bottom bracket are BMX-style (SE’s bread and butter), making it tricky to do a quick upsize on the sprocket. I’m sure that someone sells a bottom bracket conversion for universal crank kits. But I lazily opted to just pull the trigger on a new bike instead.
Trixie on the West Side (35mm Scan)
Since then, Trixie has spent her life alternating between a shed in upstate NY and a balcony in Greenpoint, with very little actual milage in the past 5-6 years. During that time, another human has also joined our household, making storage space an even more precious commodity. All of this has culminated in B helping me realize that it is time for Trixie to find a new home. She will definitely need a little bit of TLC. The chain is pretty rusty. Not totally ceased up, but will definitely need to be replaced. Tires have not been inflated since last summer. New tubes might be in order. The frame is a 61cm. So, one would need to be on the taller side to ride Trixie comfortably (I’m 6′ 4″, but the saddle could definitely come down [or go up!] several inches). She is also rocking Retrospec wheels these days. The rear is a reversible hub (freewheel on one side, fixed gear on the other). Here is a photo of her current setup (minus a bit of rust):
Trix in the Shed Upstate
B also had a bike rotting on the balcony that she recently offloaded via FB marketplace. She offered to do the same for Trix. But that route just seemed a little too impersonal for a bike that I still have such a connection to. Further, it seems amoral to sell a bike for money that came into my possession through a gesture of kindness and free of charge. So I came up with this silly idea of an essay contest. I feel like there is someone out there who might be in need of a great bike, but possibly a little short on cash. Or maybe just someone who sees these photos of Trixie and feels like bike really belongs in the next chapter of their life. It is also completely possible that no one gives a sh*t about any of this and my wife ends up selling this bike on FB marketplace. I guess we will find out.
If you are reading this and think that you are a person who could give this bike the love that she deserves, please put it into writing and let me know. Between Nov 1 and December 1 of this year, I will be accepting essay submissions about why Trixie should be yours. Rules: Be prepared to pick her up locally in NYC. No minimum length on the essay, but please do 5k words or less. There is no way that I can stop you from using an AI engine to write the essay, but please don’t do it. Please email your essay in Word (or similar) format to trixie@jake.news. By submitting an essay, you represent that the writing is 100% your own original material, you agree to allow me to publish it here on Jake.News, and it would be nice if you would agree to have your photo taken with Trixie as well (but that is not a requirement). I’ll choose a winning essay at some point in Dec., and coordinate with the winner to pass the baton on mutually convenient date. Looking forward to hearing from you!