Originally Posted by
wolfchild
In my experience, fixed gear drivetrain is the best for winter commuting. Nothing to break, nothing to go wrong, it always works even if you get lazy and neglect to clean and lube your drivetrain, it's cheap because singlespeed chainrings and track cogs last a lot longer then multi speed cassettes. Single speed is a close second in realiability...Derailleurs suck and I hate them.
One caveat here. If you use a singulator you have the same crash vulnerabilities as a rear derailleur. But if you tension your chain with horizontal dropouts (or use an eccentric BB or hub) your freewheel now reaqlly approaches fix gear reliability. Say grit or salt gets in your freewheel - about the worst thing that can happen to it. Consequences? Well it just turned into a mediocre fix gear! But you still get home!