Originally Posted by cab chaser

Care to back that claim up with some evidence?

Advantages of a singlespeed drivetrain over gears:

- No derailleurs to maintain.
- Less weight thanks to no detailers, a single chainring and no cassette.
- A more durable bike.
- A simplified drive train without the additional resistance provided by the upper/lower jockey wheels required by a derailleur system.
- No need for asymmetrical wheel dishing to accommodate a cassette, resulting in more durable wheelsets.
- Can still coast.

Advantages of a singlespeed drivetrain over fixed:

- I can coast down hills as fast as I want.
- I can keep an absolutely silent core while braking hard and shifting my weight back as far as possible (since I can stop my feet while maintaining rear traction at high speed).
- All of my energy goes to moving the the bike forward and none of my bicycle's (forward or wheelspin) momentum ever gets wasted on lifting up my feet.
- I can spin rpms well into the red zone of my body's capabilities, without worrying about having to keep up with the pedals or being knocked off balance by them if I lose steam.
- I am generally more nimble thanks to my ability to stop and start my cranks at any moment I want, in any position I want.

Yeah. Singlespeeds suck. Whatever am I thinking "cruising around" NYC traffic on my singlespeed drive train.

As far as the dead-zone goes: you are still translating your bike's momentum into pedal momentum, which is energy going the wrong way. It is no harder to continue cycling in the dead zone on a singlespeed, you're just much less likely to lose any energy to bad cycling technique when you are tired. If the dead zone is a problem for you on climbs, you are not strong enough for the gain in your drivetrain given the terrain you are riding on.