Originally Posted by
Badger6
. . . a 30 mile r/t commute is not one of them. A properly geared bike is what you need, it'll allow you to get better, healthier, stronger, and faster. In the short term, it'll give you the ability to maintain the cadence necessary to get the "go hard" workout you want....by maintaining your cadence in the proper range regardless of the slope you are on...that won't happen with a fixie, ever.
Sorry, I don't agree with you here. How can you say he needs multiple gears unless you know what his commuting route is? I have a 29-mile RT commute that I do on my fixed gear; It's mostly flat except for a few short hills near my house. I'll be switching over to my old road bike once the rains show up, but only because I can put racks and fenders on the road bike. As far as getting
"better, healthier, stronger, and faster", well, I'll agree that OP will want a
"properly geared bike", but IMHO the proper gear may be just one.