Fixed Gear Bali: A Video by Josh Estey

Something arrived in my inbox today from a good friend who inspired me to be a wheelbuilder. And it really blow my mind...

Along with this video, comes this note:

"I proudly present yet another self-glorifying fixed gear video, adding to the erroneous plethora of useless fixed geared bicycle films littering the Internet.

"My latest epic release Fixed Gear Bali, is the follow up to the ever-popular Fixed Gear Jakarta, a film that went viral among my family. FGB is a transindental trip around the “Island of the Gods,” highlighting the various sects of the blossoming partisan cycling movement.

"Fifty years ago most Indonesians rode bikes, and now thanks to clever marketing and a desperate need of group affirmation, urban dwellers of Indonesia’s major cities are rediscovering their ancestry velocipede roots.

"Within the past two years Jakarta has seen an explosion from fewer than a dozen fixed gear bicycles to over four thousand. Bali has also caught the bike bug with fixies, junkers, cross, MTB’s and foldables all taking to the streets in slow moving packs of trendy yet bewildered cyclist.

"If anything I find great hope in this movement as it shows there is more to cycling than lycra, and that through the acquisition of expensive imported parts one can define their unique identity. But more than anything it gets people off their exhaust belching motorbikes and out of their air-conditioned cars to experience their beautiful island home with a form of silent transport.

"A little local politics – As a famous British guy said long ago, 'In a democracy it’s not our leaders who let us down it’s the people who let the leaders down.' So let our voices be heard and make our representatives represent our will. It’s time we all sit down with cups of over priced lattes and teh botel to find a way to slow the sales of cars and motorbikes via higher taxes, build an integrated public transportation system, enforce zoning laws, and re-purpose areas of Kuta and Ubud into bicycle and pedestrian zones. Let’s turn Bali back into paradise, a place tourist come to be inspired, and an example for the rest of the country to follow.

"And because people seem to be more fascinated by gear than the story line (what story line?) let me state the technical details for the record – Surly Steam Roller, Nitto Albatross, brake-free (because I am just that cool), 700x38c tires. Canon 5D MarkII, Bogen C-clamp with ball head, 15mm, 24mm, 50mm, 135mm.  Edited on FinalCut Pro, no toning, no dissolves, nothing clever other than what was there.

Be a kid again - go ride a bike."

And is that a pumptrack on your backyard, Josh? With wooden berms? You. Got. Me. Envy.