One of the reasons I got into C&V was because of fixed gear bikes. I am too old to be a hipster. I am a bit of a gear head, but I wondered why people rode them, and then I thought I would build one. I bought an old Apollo and set it up with a 53x21 gearing (so as to look impressive with the big chain ring, like GB's above). I thought about doing a flip chop on the handle bars, but the cinelli logo was too cool and I could bring myself to damage these nice vintage parts. I really enjoyed sourcing the parts and the build. I used it when I was teaching my son to ride. You can ride really slowly on a fixie and be in full control. Now it is my grocery machine. I don't mind locking it outside the grocery store with a cheap lock. Then, I found a bianchi at the co op with a mixed bag of parts. I did the full hipster treatment on it, but I prefer matching wheels and a brake or two. I later bought a nice set of campy centaur skeletons for it. I commute on it a few times a week 25km each way. Lots of fun. Check out the http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/ Lots of nice builds, lots of ugly ones with the dump trick handle bars (bar spins).

Pb