So much Smoke and Vogue... Any bike requires proper maintenance and setup to operate properly and last a long time. Fixed gear bikes should all be track bikes and not the cheaptie road bike conversions I see so many poseurs riding where ever I go today trying to emulate the NYC delivery boys...no helmets or gloves and wobbly track stands at traffic lights...too short flat handle bars...all seem to be vying for the latest in Darwin awards with their terrible bike handling skills.
If one is worrying about all the complexity of a standard road bike maintenance effort and failures while riding then one needs to take a good mechanic course and stop all the fretting. I set up my road bike in the winter after a preventive maintenance workup and never have to touch it again until next winter (4 to 6K each year). As far as track bikes go my experience is 10 years on the track back in the 60s and riding in the Santa Cruz mountains with no brakes and heavy cowhide patches on the gloves for brakes. What I see today among the fixtie riders is more style than substance with a few exceptional riders who have seen the track before.