Fixed Gear Gallery

The Fixed Gear Gallery is a labour of love created and maintained by Dennis Bean-Larson. The Gallery evolved from just that, a series of pictures of bikes emailed by users, to a bonafide resourced in the fixed gear cycling community. Fixed gear bikes are bicycles with only one gear and a fixed rear wheel (meaning you are constantly pedaling and can't coast). The simplicity of the bicycle's mechanics constrasts with the painstaking aesthetics of the enthusiast. Because the mechanical aspect of the bikes is relatively easy to handle, many cyclists who might otherwise leave bike mechanics to the pros feel confident learning how to build and repair them themselves, creating a cult of fanatics trolling eBay and local bike shops for the perfect parks. It's an interesting intersection of sport culture, environmentalism, consumerism, and popular culture, and it's on display at the Fixed Gear Gallery.

Bean-Larson has accepted submissions for the gallery since 2001. That year, 51 users submitted images of their bikes. In 2006, there were 1,458 additions. The images are available as links in a tabular format, creating something of an awkward navigational experience for the user. Additionally, the site accepts articles, interviews, and how-tos from readers, and these are located similarly awkwardly, to the left of the image links. There is no search function available, and images are identified by number. Clicking on a link (usually the name of the user and the type of bike) opens a new window with the image as well as the only available "metadata", the text of the email that acompanied the image attachments we're now viewing. This format is obviously quick and easy for the web builder- there are no editorial decisions made- but we're able to view the sender's email and, depending on the nature of the email client, personal and/ or business information along with the date and timestamp information. This could create privacy issues in the long term.

In terms of submission guidelines, the site specifies that submissions should be attached files, jpegs only, with a total email size of no larger than 5MB. There are no further specifications, and there is no control over photo quality. The photos could be digital images or scans.

The site exists primarily as a resource and point of connection, and while I doubt preservation is a high priority, there is a great deal of information here that could be lost. I'm questioning where backups are, if there are any, etc. To me, this is an example of a very low-tech site that is hugely important to a niche community and the only one of its kind, but could easily become difficult to maintain. There is an archived version of the site as it appeared in 2001 and 2002 here.