Originally Posted by
TimothyH
A gear is a gear. There is no magic because it is on a road bike rather than a fixed gear bike.
All things being equal - weight, aero, tire size, etc, the bike itself isn't any faster or slower.
If you are consistently faster on your road bike it is because you are pushing higher gears and/or because you are pedaling faster.
The exception is downhill. There is clearly a limit to downhill speed on a fixed gear bike. I solved this Saturday by unclipping and coasting down Lucas Brunelle style.
No, there's no magic to gears, just that on any ride where I might choose to use more than one of them, I'll either get from A to B faster, or with less effort, on a bike with a 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 speed cassette than on a single speed, all other factors being equal.
Obviously fitness, and being accustomed to riding SS, would be factors in reducing the difference between the 2, and I find when I'm riding more and in better shape, I tend to shift less as my legs are more capable of smoothing out the bumps in the roads themselves. But no amount of fitness is going to get me up to the top and back down a steep hill in one gear quicker or easier than having a big range at the back.