Originally Posted by
hairnet
Don't be so quick to judge. Some times I struggle on hills with my geared bike that I might do fairly well on with my fixed gear. Not having the option to shift gears, and the thought not even entering your mind, really affects performance.
QFT. There is a climb at the beginning of my commute. Usually, on the roadie, I would huff it in a low gear and take about 1:20. I did on my fixed and had no choice but to hit it hard and fast to keep the momentum up. I did it in 0:54.
EDIT: just for clarity, I am pointing out the "mental" part of this scenario, not the perceived effort/betterness of a fixed gear.