Originally Posted by twelsch42

Problem is hills don't get EASY until your gear-inches get pretty low. Low a in 60 gear-inches low.

You can't just start riding a fixed gear at 60 gear-inches. You'll hate it. Most people get on a fixed gear bike geared around 80 gear-inches (~48x16). And hate the hills. You'll have to train your legs/body to run 60 gear-inches comfortably. This takes time.

Add in to all of this that EVERYBODY assumes that 'training' means working up in gear-inches, making it harder to pedal. Wrong, wrong, wrong. You're riding a fixed gear to spin. Training means learning how to spin FASTER; this means going down in gear-inches.

Learning how to spin takes time. Being comfortable on big hills (both up and down) with a fixed gear takes time. At 60 gear-inches (47/21) I'll end up spinning out at 160-190 at the bottom of the big hills on my commute.

Get bigger a cog! And learn how to spin your legs faster. Works wonders for headwinds too.