Originally Posted by
puppypilgrim
"I found it easier than freewheel single speeding as it makes your pedal stroke a perfect circle, rather than pushing not 100% consistent, like a freewheel, which makes it more efficient with your legs."
This for me is a huge reason. With a freewheel bike, the stroke isn't perfectly round. Ovalized chainrings (Biopace anyone?) such as Rotor as used by the Cervelo test team are all attempts to improve the efficiency of a freewheel pedal stroke. With a fixed gear, the feeling on the legs is different and the resistance the legs feel is more even I think.
This, for me, makes no sense. Pedaling is most certainly round on a bike with a freewheel, and the resistance is exactly the same unless you
stop pedaling evenly. If you're turning the pedals with forward-driving torque there's essentially no difference between a freewheel and a fixed gear (derailleurs notwithstanding). The fixed gear has no intrinsic advantage. Biopace and elliptical chainrings have nothing to do with freewheeling.
Originally Posted by
xenologer
I've never bought the mechanical simplicity argument.
Ever try to fix a rear flat on a fixie? have to carry around a 15mm wrench to unbolt the wheel, and go to the trouble of proprly tensioning the chain and holding the wheel straight when reinstalling...
With multigearing, its just flip the quick release, wheel drops in or out no fuss.
This is why I love my quick-release fixed gear. Tensioning the chain takes two seconds.