Fixed gear bikes vs. the 21st century

A recent New York Times article explores the word of "fixies," fixed-gear bicycles. It's an interesting article, if a bit behind the curve (a quick Google search show they were beaten by the Washington Post, Wired, and -- I'm sure -- countless blogs and alt-weeklies around Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, etc. etc. etc. I have a few friends who tinker with bikes, and I had -- I guess -- assumed that fixed-gear bikes were always a part of the bike subculture.

Anyway (getting back on track), while I've always appreciated the simplicity behind fixies, I've never felt a need to ride or own one. Simply put, I enjoy gears. For a long time, my bike (singular, I don't tinker) was a powder-blue Raleigh Technium road bike that dated back to the late '80s. An aluminum-framed 12 speed, it had a particularly old-school look that gave me street cred. It also had a rigid frame and frame-mounted gear shifts that made it a death trap on wheels on Boston's city streets.

Now I own an Iron Horse mountain bike. Nothing fancy, but it has front shocks, handlebar-mounted gear shift levers, brakes. Standard 21st century stuff. It's a comfortable ride. It's not punk. But I don't mind.

Anti-consumerist or gearhead

After much consternation and consultation, I changed the spark plugs and spark plug wires in my car last night. And after discussing the repairs with a neighbor, asking the advice of the clerk at Advance Auto Parts, and doing as much Web reading on the topic as I reasonably could -- I can't figure out: Am I a thrifty anti-consumerist or a gearhead?

I saved money on the deal. The job cost me a shade over 40 bucks and about 4-5 hours of my time. I'm sure it would have cost me much more than that at a garage. If I would have knit my own clothes, or fixed my own furniture, or painted my walls, I might be considered crafty. Punks knit. Hippies work with wood. Hipsters paint their walls burgundy and beige. Not so for fixing cars.

Oh well, at least wearing Dickies bridges the gap, if only a bit.