Originally Posted by Ziemas
Get a clue, not everyone rides the same way as you.
I take care of my bikes and the only problem I had last winter when it was -30c was that the grease in my hubs froze and the hub would not engage properly for the first kilometer or two. Same thing would have happened with a fixie, except when the snow gets deep I can change gears and ride through it instead of walking.
Actually this problem would not happen on a fixie as the hub does not engage anything. The fixie hub is only bearings between the axle and hub. The cog is directly attached to the hub which drives the wheel. Nothing to freeze up and fail to work.
Still you do have a point about having several gears for various road conditions. My winter fixie has a considerably lower gear than my summer ride and so is somewhat slower in good conditions. When the snow starts acculumating the relatively narrow 35mm studded tires cut through pretty effectively and have only left me walking on heavily rutting walking paths. My main reasons for fixie riding are lack of require maintence and reliably. I use brakes front and rear on a touring bike converted to fixed. Even if the rim brakes are ineffective I still have braking capability. And my drive train never lets me down. Cleveland sees lots of snow so the road crews use plenty of salt. They also are pretty efficient in removing the snow so I seldom deal with deep snow or icy roads but salt and slush are very common. These conditions play hell on derailers and rim brakes but do not really affect fixed gears.
Still to the OP I would definately recommend using at least one brake on your fixie to improve stopping.
Craig