Interesting comment. Yes, it currently is a craze/fad for a lot of people. There is also a portion of riders who want nothing to do with the "culture" of the fixie, and just enjoy riding it.

OT, but back in the day I was into modifying honda/acura cars - but for performance reasons, spending much of my time at the road courses. The big wing crowd annoyed me, and the japan-worship of the "JDM" fanatics bothered me even more. I never dreamed that I would run into the same sort of parts worship (NJS stuff) in a bicycle forum. I mean, I understand collecting things as a hobby, and know that there is an appeal there, but that side of the fixed-gear world really turns me off. In that sense, BF provides me a reason not to ride fixed... because it leads me to read the FG forum, and sites like FGG which tend to drive me insane.

[edit] BTW, my preferred commuter is fixed now, but my commute is relatively flat. If I had to negotiate the kinds of hills some of you see, it just wouldn't be enjoyable.