This isn't really a documentary about bikes. This is a brief and insular look at those various individuals, that prefer to ride fixed wheeled bicycles in California. A documentary about personalities by definition, should probably have some interesting personalities to cover. This is where the film fails. We glimpse some of the dealers and then… ultimately those addicted, the users. It skims over the history and delivers us directly into the hands of each individual rider. It is a well-made, technically proficient forty minute film. But those chosen to feature in it, are so laid back… as to be comatose. This leaves the film empty. We witness a posse of riders that like to cycle around getting drunk. We meet Martin, Marino and Gabriel, who like to anger drivers by 'snaking' around them on busy roads. Possibly because, they ache the big city messenger scene from twenty years ago. But there is no 'up' in this film, no message. Just a look at uninteresting individuals, doing something inanely physical with little or no genuine pathos or poetry. Like a BMX stunt video or some surfers… you know, just surfing. As Martin says ( and I'm paraphrasing ) "There's a divide between going fast or doing tricks, it's cool to jump off of things, but let's get back to going fast" It's not a protest film for clean, efficient transportation or the like… Just a very short film about 'NorCal/SoCal' youth getting into a fix... about the 'gnarly' side of being brake-less on a bicycle in California.

To preface, I've been riding bicycles my entire life. After a BMX hiatus, I picked up an old ten speed at a local Goodwill and used it as my main form of transportation. Shortly thereafter, I started seeing more and more fixed gears riding around my city, circa 2010. I couldn't resist. I loved the looked, the personalization, the simplicity. Everything about it attracted me. So I bought one. At the time, there were various fixie blogs and online stores, but the culture wasn't nearly where it is now, at least in central Illinois where I live. There were some cool videos on Vimeo, but nothing as in depth and well put together as Fixation. Fixation takes a look at every aspect of fixed gear cycling, from urban messengers, to track racers, to store owners, all the way to drunken hipsters. It profiles individuals of each spectrum of fixie riding very well, and just like most documentaries about sports, it makes you want to RIDE!!! The music in the film is great, the usage of the Pretty Lights song, "Finally Moving" is perfect. All of the music fits, and fits well, which is very important for me while enjoying a film. All in all, this documentary is short and sweet, VERY well put together, and a must see for fixed gear riders, or anyone who is curious about all these skinny hipsters skidding around on decked out road bikes in concrete jungles nationwide. Bravo!