So I've been riding SS for about a year on my daily commute. I have a Salsa Casseroll, and I love it.

At the weekend I finally got around to getting a fixed cog on the other side of the hub, and off I went into the (at first rather scary) world of fixed gear...

It is kinda fun, I guess, although I feel a bit vulnerable (I'm less confident about executing a sudden stop should it be required, and I'm still a bit cautious going around corners in case the pedal strikes).

It does make pedaling very smooth, though, especially going up hills.

It's set up with rather a high gear, however - I'm running 48/17 which feels rather high. It makes hill starts rather tricky; if i don't get clipped in on the first rotation of the pedals it gets a bit awkward...

I'm considering changing the chainring for a 42 (the 48/18 on the SS side has always felt a bit high, to be honest, given that Sydney has quite a few hills - climbing out of Coogee towards Bondi is kind of tough...). What you do reckon? Or should I just look out for 19 tooth cog for the fixed side?

Anyway, my first commute to work went without incident. Hopefully over the next week or so I'll get my 'fixie legs', and be able to get back up to full speed and be confident enough to eg trackstand at the lights (I didn't today as I was worried about not getting unclipped if it didn't work and doing the 'sprawl of shame').