Originally Posted by 42x16
I choose a singlespeed bike because I was riding in Chicago on the flats thru nasty winters complete with all the salt Streets and Sanitation uses to keep the ice off the roads. I wanted a bike that was easy to maintain.
Good choice and makes perfect sense for commuting in flat Chicago if your priority is not reading high speed readings on cycle commuter.
Originally Posted by 42x16
I think you sports car analogy is appropriate for the SS/fixers who set up their bikes with 52-11, that does seem to be making it hard for no good reason but again that's not me, nor is it a lot of the folks I see out there...So many of your previous post have derided people who choose SS/fixed because they must only be doing it to be part of a cool (passing) fad. I did not choose it to be part of some sort of hip indy sub-culture (that just isn't me). In past posts you have told SS/fixie commuters to go to the SS/fixie forum. Not all of us fit into that crowd. I am a cyclist who chooses to commute on a SS.
I do not deride single speeds at all for commuting or the people who find that they fit their needs. Single speed bikes can be quite practical for commuting (especially in flat terrain) for the reasons you stated as well as other reasons such as low initial/recurring costs.
I consider fixed gear a bicycle of a whole 'nother coloe and breed. I place the fixed gear bike's inability to coast or set up pedals for a turn as such a severe liability/limitation that only masochists would crow about the advantage, just like ridiculous stiff gearing for hilly areas boasted about by some bold fetishists.