Originally Posted by Poguemahone

I think, as a fad, FG has run it's course. I say this mostly because the bike companies have hopped on the wagon, and just about every single one now has a "track" bike for sale. Mostly cheap, mass produced things. I've nothing against them, I'm sure some are fine rides, and in twenty years the Bianchi Pistas will probably be as fondly recalled as the Peugeot UO8.
I recall when it started-- mostly because I began helping people, mostly VCU students, build up fixed gears back in the late nineties. At that point, it was mostly folks finding an old bike and converting it, usually building up a wheel around cheap Suzue track hubs (Deep V's I never saw). It seemed a little more real to me then (at that point I'd been riding fixed I don't know how long) and I liked the DIY attitude of most of the fixed riders I met. I also recall going into a local bike shop at one point in the nineties, asking for a track cog, and having no one in the shop even know what one was.
But with time and marketing, it's turned into a fad. I see so many riders who have never learned to ride them right-- no idea how to stop, no idea how to skid, no idea how to trackstand (not that that's limited to FGs), riding simply for style points. I believe some of them will slowly morph into regular riders, though I have no idea how many. The Fad isn't bad, though if I see one more fixed/ss rider in town with a back brake only, I may have to poke my eyes out.
Next fad? Utility/City bikes. They're already pushing them. I kidded my GF when I got her an old Raleigh sports (which she rides regular and loves) that she was getting a fashion model bike. At first she didn't believe me, but now that she's seen a steady stream of them in the backgrounds of the clothing catalogs she gets, she believes me...