Here's the real story: fixed-gear bikes ought to be illegal. The only reason they aren't is because cops and motorists don't know that they exist. What do you think a cop's reaction would be if you said, "that guy is riding a bike down Newport Boulevard or 17th Street with no brakes and no helmet?" The reaction would be a ticket. And yet, that's common Costa Mesa fixie-dude behavior. I see it every day. Any bike that you have to struggle to stop (brakes or not), any bike that encourages you to violate traffic laws with impunity, is an unsafe bike. I've been a cyclist for 20+ years. I've ridden everything from old Murray Montereys to $3,000 Felts. I took 2 short rides on a fixie and quickly filed it under "worthless". They put brakes on bikes for a reason. They put gears on bikes for a reason. You want to be in control of a bike, not compromise that control. The self-styled renegades who turn classic road bikes into these clown machines like to think they're making some kind of statement against "car culture" and achieving some kind of Zen "oneness" with the bike. Let me sum up their real choice: "I was getting bored with my ride, so I decided to make it more exciting by making my bicycle a danger to myself and others." Fixie dudes, you can't dispute this: you are riding bikes that discourage you to stop and enourage you to break the law.