Most of my time with cycles has been spent riding or building up old cycles. In my experience so far fixed gear has had an ease I haven't felt with freewheel. My ease may, in large part, be due to room for improvement with regard to the cassettes. Every time I've tried to take a look at a new road bike it appears they are zipping around on freewheel cassettes.

So, is my experience due mostly to the quality of the freewheels I've tried? Is there an ease with fixed gear that carbon users give up so that they can change gears with Ultegra or Dura Ace? Am I wrong to think that if I want to ride single speed fixed will offer a mechanical advantage over free if the fixed and free cog were to have about the same quality material and weight?