Going fix gear on a bike that doesn't have horizontal drops is living life the hard way. Yes the hay in the loft of a barn makes a soft mattress but there is a reason we live in houses with bedrooms and beds. Limit yourself to those bikes that make the transition easy. Not only will it save you money and hassle now, it will allow you to make gear changes easily in the future and all options are open.

Not trying to sound superior. This just been a way of life for me for 40 years. I've picked up a little experience and wisdom along the way. Welcome! It' s a great journey.

And on topic - my latest ride is my namesake, that 1979 Peter Mooney I had made. I sec'd horizontal drops just so I could run it fixed but knowing I probably never would. Last winter I saw the Cycle Oregon route for this year and say that it was a great one for a fix gear set up to be able to stop and chnage ratios for mountain up, mountain down and flat. But there was also to be something like 30 miles of grave. I stopped being young a few years back, so I only have half of the requisite "young and crazy" for riding that much gravel on skinny tires. My other fix gears were out. But this one was possible.

It took some ingenious finagling to get it all to work but I am a retired engineer who thrives on weird challenges.

End result: a fix gear that has a range in the 90-100 gear inches (GI), 63-78 GI and 40-54 GI. Fine tuning requires a cog wrench, a spanner
and cogs. The two tools are tools any fix gear rider should have. Yesterday I went for 30 mile recovery ride on the 44-18. Today I ran in town and up the hill home on a 17 tooth cog. The change takes 5 minutes. That same change would be far harder on any of the systems designed to not require a horizontal dropout or track end.

Ben