There were a few early contenders on my shortlist for bike of the year; However, it wasn't until Eurobike came along in September that my mind was made up – and all it took was just one look ...
 The Five Star, a design exercise brought to life by Fixie Inc. duo Recep Yeşil & Holger Patzelt embodies the Mies Van Der Rohe maxim of "Less is More".
This is a bike stripped back to the bare essentials - yet crammed with outstanding features. There's no chain – the drive comes from a Gates Polychain belt-driven system, made accessible by an S&S coupling on the drive-side seat stay. The hubs are Fixie's own Kickflip design with multi-purpose rear hub. The saddle is a paired-down Brooks Swallow sitting atop Fixie's lugged seatpost, complimented by a solid walnut handlebar and Ghisallo beechwood rims .
The frame, although almost devoid of decoration, is an eyecatcher nonetheless. The tubes are Columbus XCR stainless held together by some of the sweetest fillets this side of Heaven. The dropouts are Fixie's own CNC-cut gems. A bonded 6061 alu fork works and looks just right; the clear anodised blades contrasting perfectly with the bare-metal brushed finish of the frame.
This is a bike as it should be; silent, almost maintenence-free transmission, lightweight and easy to handle; no rattles, no fuss, no worries. A bike that'll just keep rolling along, a bike that 'll look and feel as good as new ten years on. Less is indeed more, and the guys at Fixie fully deserve all the plaudits garnered by this meisterwerk of minimalist bike design.
Quite simply, it's simply brilliant.  
 
 
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