The challenge faced by the modern hipster is how to combine their two loves of (1) minimalism and (2) new stuff.
Other challenges include:
- how to get a car space near their trendy inner-city loft;
- how to wordlessly communicate to their barista that they require a single-origin, fairtrade, organic espresso and not that regular shit they serve to other customers; and
- how to get maximum value out of their expensive health insurance premiums.
The answer to all these things is the FIXIE.
According to Wikipedia, the fixie (or fixed-gear bike) was invented by a dental surgeon named Walter Birmingham who was three weeks behind in his mortgage repayments. An entrepreneur at heart, Birmingham needed to find new ways of building his business and getting more customers through the door. Birmingham's first prototype was intended for use exclusively by bike couriers, but it was a business failure as bike couriers tended either to be too skilful to crash, or too poor to afford dental surgeons. A subsequent market repositioning of the fixie amongst inner city dwelling, pop-up bar frequenting, facial hair styling 18-35 year olds was a runaway success. Unfortunately, Birmingham's invention also contributed to his divorce from his wife Iris, who manufactured bicycle brake parts.
