Originally Posted by
mstraus
How is this any faster then just starting a geared bike in a similar gear ratio to your single speed instead of downshifting? With gears at least you have the option. Understand single speed is less maintenance, moving parts, etc. but I don't see how this will make it faster in this case.
You can do it that way on a geared bike, but that's not how most people accelerate with gears. On a single speed you are in that situation all the time and are going to be faster than you would be with gears. This is especially true on a fixed gear. You never spin out until you're going a lot faster than you'll get in an intersection. There is always resistance to your pedal stroke and you don't get that chain slap that you might expect if you tried this on a geared bike in too low a gear.
Don't take my word for it. See if you can borrow a fixie and try it yourself. The advantages really show in traffic, when you need to get from 20 to 30 ASAP.