Miguel Fernandez – Affinity Cycles pt.1
By the time I made it over to Affinity Cycles in Brooklyn to buy my much anticipated Lo Pro frame, I had built it up in my head so much I was convinced that I would be disappointed. I thought for sure, I would walk in to the store to be confronted by a group of unapproachable fixie/cycling hipsters, but my prefabricated opinions couldn’t have been farther from the truth. I strolled in about 10 minutes after opening, my Gimme Coffee mocha keeping my hands warmed on the drizzling New York winter morning, the store was in an orderly and unpretentious disarray. At the counter I was greeted by Jason Gallagher while directly behind him Miguel Fernandez worked methodically on that mornings project. I could tell immediately by his work ethic and focus, that once he had serviced your bike, you could rest assured in the mechanical sanctity of your ride. He didn’t say much, preferring to nod occasionally when he agreed with Jason or chime in to explain the convoluted technicalities of NYC bike laws.
A few days later I returned to interview the guys; with Jason stepping out to a meeting and my girlfriend busy at her work experience, it just so happened I got to spend the better part of my day in store hanging out with Miguel. Who, let it be known, is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to nearly every aspect of bikes whether it be riding, history or mechanics. We talked about the peril of riding in the 5 boroughs, his use of electrical tape as theft deterrent when the gold Chris King headset had just come out and (most interestingly) his plans to get into automotive fabrication so as to not burn himself out with his true passion, bikes. So when I saw on John Prolly’s site that Affinity was looking for a new mechanic I can honestly say that I wasn’t surprised. As he packed and installed my Sugino 75 BB into my newly purchased pursuit frame I asked him if I could fire off some interview questions at him, he kindly obliged all the while never taking his eyes of the cone and cup he was greasing up.
What’s your name and where are you from?
Miguel Fernandez from New York City
How long have you been into bikes?
Since I was 5 that’s a long time.
What was your bigest influence in making bikes your life?
Probably BMX BMXing pretty much got me in.
Why do you think fixed gear scene/style has exploded lately?
Why do I think?, that’s a tough one. Um… I dunno, It started more as trend, I think a lot of people got into it I don;t know exactly where it came from.
Do you think and one person or crew specifically is influencing the whole fixed gear scene?
I think it started with messengers I think the messengers really made it blow up. A lot of people got into it because of the messengers.
What are your thoughts on belt drives?
I haven’t worked on a bicycles with belt drives. But I’m not a fan of belt driven motorcycles, but they seem to work on motorcycles and also cars have belt drives so if it works on that, I guess it’ll work on a bicycle and it’ll be quiet.
And less maintenance…
It’ll just be like getting a timing belt done, it might be simple going to an autozone and pick up a belt for your bicycle.
What do you think the future holds for the fixed gear scene?
I dunno, i think a lot of the guys that are into fixed gears might switch over into something else. I think because of the fixed gears it got a lot of people into biking and because of that they’re more interested in riding more. I think it may lead into riders; fixie riders, track riders getting into road bikes. And you know maybe touring just bikes that’ll be better for longer distance riding.
What do you love about the fixed gear riding scene?
About fixed gears? Um… the simplicity, and for the city I guess it would make sense, although I’m more of a fan of the single speed, the freewheel.
What do you hate about it?
That would be a long long list, I think you’d run out of time. A lot of them are the same they become boring after a while. They’re too simple, too simple.[Jason: Yeah you are much more of a technical person] Yeah I’m more into more techie road bikes/mountain bikes aspect for cycling they’re just too simple you really can’t make a bike..uh… show who you are. Yeah they’re just too easy to work on.
Helmet or No Helmet: Helmet
Brake or No Brake: Brake
Fixed or Single Speed: Single Speed
Thank you.
