Originally Posted by
tinydr
I was aware of their old-timey racing heritage.
An excellent point about off-season training, I forgot about that. Clearly they made some appearances on BMX freestyle bikes as well.
On the otherhand, I have my doubts that the popularity of fixed-gears sprung from offseason race-training... or BMX. But whatever, it was just a comment, it's entirely possible that fixed-gears could have reached their faddish popularity through any # of routes.
I have a great C+ article about the history of hill climbing time trials in the UK. Since the hills there are small and steep, the races are too. Just about every pic (they are mostly from the 50s and 60s) shows a guy on a fixed gear with a single front brake.
I met an old guy of British extraction who rode a brakeless (sometimes front braked) track bike on the road in the Greater Vancouver area from the 70s to the 90s, for commuting, road rides and touring. He picked up the habit from his dad, an even older british guy.
Basically, fixed road riding has deep UK roots. Sure though, i agree that the current fad is largely due to messengers.