Sprockets of resistance

In this era of blinged-up, electronic-geared, ultralight carbon fibre bicycles that can cost as much as a car, it is ironic that the latest trend in the two-wheeled world is actually a case of less is more. We're talking a lot less: typically a metal frame, two wheels, one gear and, often, no brakes.

A fixed-gear bicycle, or "fixie", is as basic as a bike gets. It is so named because, unlike a typical bicycle, it doesn't have a freewheel - meaning you can't just stop pedalling and coast along using forward momentum. On a fixie, the cog is directly bolted to the rear wheel's hub, so if the wheel is moving, the pedals are, too. To stop - if the bike has no brakes - pedal backwards.

For Jason Dembski, 31, an architectural designer who took up fixed-gear riding in 2009 when he moved to Hong Kong, a fixie is the "purest form a bicycle can take".

"Clean and simple - no brakes, no gears, no cables, just the bare essentials," says the native of Columbus, Ohio, in the US. "Beautiful."

There is a small but growing fixed-gear culture in Hong Kong, according to Brian Fu Hau-chun, 44, co-owner of Rodafixa Fixed Gear Boutique in Kwun Tong and the pioneer of fixed-gear bikes in Hong Kong. When he first opened shop - a tiny 300-square-foot space in Kau U Fong in Central - in January 2009, he was selling about one bike every two weeks. These days, he sells about 10 bikes a month.

At the same time, customers are now willing to shell out more for their prized steed: Fu first imported Taiwanese-made bikes costing about HK$3,000 each, but now he stocks a range of bikes that can cost up to HK$18,000.