about a bazillion bikes get crushed every year, so one running with no hanger doesn't bother me a lot. I'm with Pogue - I'm amazed that fixies are fashionable. For any really long rides they become sheer torture devices, because of the difficulty involved in stretching whilst the pedals are going around. I ride mine a lot in the spring, because that is just what roadies do to get back souplesse. I ride it up some pretty big hills, because souplesse is all about turning the cranks over at a high RPM whilst being really smoof. And you learn that by riding down the really big hills.

And my fixie has always had a front and a rear brake, although I can do a reasonably good job stopping without using the brakes. Pay attention, all of you new fixie riders! Someday that garbage truck is gonna emerge from that blind alley and you are gonna plaster yourself all over the side of it, because back pressure isn't going to stop you in time! Put a front brake on it, anyway. They are simple little things.