Pretty Shitty City

Check out the Pretty Shitty City photo group on Flickr. You can add your own photos for free if you want.

Fixed gear bikes, or fixies, are the oldest most simple kind of bike. The cranks are connected directly to the back wheel by the chain, you pedal forwards to go forwards and you pedal backwards to go backwards. Many riders rely on locking up their legs to stop rather than using a modern braking system which seems crazy but is both exciting and fun!

The real beauty of these bikes is that there is very little to go wrong mechanically because it is basically just a frame, wheels, saddle, chain and bars which also means that they are extremely light. The pedals move constantly, you can’t coast so you get very fit very fast, much more so than with any other kind of bike. They have been extremely popular with couriers all over the world for many years but now you can see people doing all kinds of crazy tricks on them similar to BMX.

If you already ride a fixie, want to get into it or just wanna meet some riders in Wales then get in touch with http://www.fixedgearwales.co.uk

Its been a while since anything has inspired me enough to actually write something proper for this site (rather than just regurgitate press releases :) ) but the slightly secretive exhibition held on Friday down The Strand was too cool not to mention.

Photography students Veronica Sanchis, Ryan Moule, Luke Stanton, Kirstin Binding and Francesca Denega from Swansea Metropolitan University had setup a Lens Based installation in an old run down building that was once used by fishermen. Apparently the river Tawe used to flow where The Strand road now rests, and fittingly the exhibition is called ‘River of The Forgotten’. The building was decked out with fairy lights, projectors, netting, fishing line, seaweed and even had framed “fresh” fish on the walls.

To top it all off a free punk show was organised and bands including Ssssnakes and Dead Rails provided the entertainment.

Right on.