The fixie thing never quite took hold here in Fort Worth. There's that pierced/tattooed, smoking, PBR-drinking element, but they ride whatever they ride, which includes lots of vintage bikes but only a few are fixie. The rest are ss or multi-geared. As far as keeping them running, two or three of the bike shops in town are excellent when it comes to vintage equipment.

I ride almost all vintage stuff because I find it to be more durable. It's not so much that the quality is worse on new products, but that they are optimized for speed, weight, and a bazillion gears. Stuff from 15 or more years ago have more durable chains and gears becuase they aren't trying to fit 10 gears in space originally designed for 5, so they are made with thicker chains, sprockets, etc. Might not be as smooth as more modern stuff, but it never breaks.