Giant Chixie

The first thing you notice about the Giant Chixie is that it is an undeniably good-looking bike. ‘Cute’ and ‘cool’ would be the first words to spring to my mind, and never have I ridden a bike that’s garnered quite so many appreciative comments in such a short space of time. The combination of light blue and brushed aluminium is one pretty enough to please the more girly rider, yet hints at a tougher, sportier side that’ll please those looking for something a little more urban in feel.

But it’s not all about the looks. The Chixie is one of the first, if not THE first female specific single speed/fixed gear bike on the market. Conceived to appeal to women looking for a low maintenance, fun and attractive bike, Giant has put together a seductive looking package.

Right from the word go there’s a bit of a ‘three bikes on one’ situation going on. Bike one is a laid back café cruiser style, complete with high rise bars and the cool looks. This element of the Chixie’s character requires flat roads or cycle ways, and a large dose of cool. The handling of the bike suffers for the café bars, which cause it to be twitchy, with a pronounced wobble at anything other than full tilt, so complex manoeuvres are not recommended with the high rise bars on.

Bike two requires replacing the bars with a flat bar, thus making the steering more surefooted, although still a little over lively due to the very upright nature of the fork. The result is a much sportier feeling ride that’ll appeal to urban riders. The cornering abilities of the Chixie are brilliant, and with the flat bar there’s a lot of fun to be had from riding the bike hard.

Bike three is the ‘Fixie’ side of the Chixie’s personality. Flip the flip flop hub over and you’ve a fixed gear bike. With a flat bar it’s a great commuter bike, whereas fixed and with the café bars it’s ideal for pootling about town on cycle paths.

On the flat the Chixie is a fun and versatile bike, especially if you stick on a flat bar. Surprisingly, the bike still looks just as good with a flat bar, giving it a sportier and more edgy look (check it out in the pic below).

Sadly, outside of an urban environment, the Chixie does not lend itself to being a versatile, do it all, women’s single speed. The frame is too flexible to enable effective hillclimbing, and the tracking is inefficient, even with the original bars ditched for a more climb friendly flat bar. On descents, even with the flat bar there’s still too much ‘wobble’ in the steering to easily allow signaling, making it stressful for commuting when gradients are involved - the track bike geometry of many urban fixed bikes is always going to problematic in that respect so the Chixie is not alone there. On the other hand it does corner well on descents.

The build quality and componentry are fine, with a mixture of own brand elements and branded bits and pieces. The saddle isn’t the most comfortable in the world, but it’s not bad, while the hand grips are very comfortable but aren’t particularly durable. The brakes work well, with a machined braking surface on the blue painted rim. The drivetrain is responsive, as you’d expect from a single speed, and durable. The flip flop hub is simple enough to change over if fixed is desired.

One of the slightly disappointing elements of the Chixie is that its looks probably won’t last. Once the rims have become slightly worn, and the saddle and grips have got tatty and grubby, it’s going to be difficult to replace these features and keep the original colour scheme going. The brushed aluminium of the lower tube gathers road grime very quickly which sticks to the slightly roughened surface.

Verdict

An interesting attempt at a female specific single speed/fixed gear bike.

Looks really great and nicely proportioned.

Cafe bars limit it to flat terrain and urban use, as does level of flex in the frame when climbing. Even with flat bar the flex limits the versatility of what could be a really excellent fun all rounder.