Andy White - he's an ex bike courier, curious traveller, Melburn Roobiax founder, and director of FYXO. Andy has spent years working as a bike courier in London and New York, discovering some of the best parts of the cities. His passion, curiosity, and love for adventure and fun birthed Melbourne Roobiax, a cycling event where riders are encouraged to have fun and explore different parts of Melbourne and its culture.
Andy has a love for cycling and the culture that comes along with it. He has also founded FYXO, a brand that is at the forefront of cycling apparel and culture.
2019 Melburn Roobiax: https://fyxo.co/blogs/fyxo/melburn-roobaix-2019-ride-report
Fyxo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fyxo
Verbatim from the transcripts — each quote links to the moment.
“Races involve ego, and it's amazing, once you take out ego from an event, the vibe changes drastically.”
“I can't look past next week.”
“White people.”
“I just did what I wanted anyway.”
“You can't be curious if you're looking down.”
“It is very dangerous being a hipster. You gotta watch your wallet, man.”
How do you build a successful community event without it feeling competitive or exclusive?
Remove ego and competition from the event; when people can't compete physically, they become silly, cavalier, and focused on hanging out and encouraging each other rather than winning.
How should you handle family members who aren't supportive of an unconventional career choice?
Do what you want anyway, understanding that parents' lack of enthusiasm usually comes from a place of wanting security and safety for their kids, not malice; eventually they get on board.
How can someone become more curious and open to new experiences?
Treat curiosity as a trainable skill — deliberately choose unfamiliar options (like an unexpected menu item), accept that some experiences will be bad, and practice striking up conversations with strangers to build the habit over time.
Andy recalls predicting on SEN radio the night before the first Melbourne Roubaix that maybe 100 people would show up, and being stunned when exactly 100 people turned up, despite promoting it only via printed flyers in a pre-social-media era.
Andy describes lasting less than a year organizing promotional merchandise at Hewlett-Packard before quitting out of boredom, to his father's disappointment, shortly before the Millennium Bug scare.
Andy and his family have been treating a wild wombat for mange, and the animal has taken up residence right outside their bedroom window; his daughter has also patted wombats, echidnas, and walked near a tiger snake.
While working as an undocumented bike courier in New York, Andy delivered a garment bag from Oscar de la Renta and learned from a paparazzo that the address was Sarah Jessica Parker's house.
Andy explains he discovered track bikes in London, then brought the fixed-gear trend to Melbourne, cold-calling every bike shop in Victoria to buy up old track bikes and resell them worldwide, effectively starting the local scene and the Fixo brand.
Drawn from the episode transcripts.
Melbourne Roubaix is a non-competitive cycling event created by Andy White, inspired by the French Paris-Roubaix race and Melbourne's cobblestone back-alleys; it started small (around 100 people the first year, publicised via printed flyers) and has grown into a costume-filled community celebration with no real racing, just fun and creative bike builds.
From episode 412→Fixo is a shortened version of 'Fixamatosis,' Andy White's original brand name related to fixed-gear ('fixie') bikes, which he helped popularize in Melbourne after discovering track bikes while living in London.
From episode 412→Yes, Andy White obtained a working visa for Canada, then crossed into the US and worked illegally for about three months as a bike courier in New York, delivering food and garments while sleeping on a couch above a Chinese restaurant.
From episode 412→Every episode featuring Andy White on The Daily Talk Show.
