Now, within the context of this thread, this post is one of the few pearls buried among all of the putrid old horse apples.

Minimalism is the key. For example, during a political fundraiser we held at our house, a few of the guys came out to the Mancave, much to my wife's constrination. My 1985 Pinarello Record was on the work stand. Several of the guys circled around it and commented on how "clean and simple" it looked. One even went to get his wife to show her, however she was unimpressed.

As to cycling mechanisms, I ride about 200 miles/week and 75-100 of that is singlespeed. I have nothing but respect for my son's fixie friends, but SS works for me and gives me that sense of minimalism.

When you only have one gear, you become the transmission, just as in distance running. The result is a much more aggressive and physical riding style.
When the light turns green, I like having to stand out of saddle and pound until I gain momentum. When I ride up into the McDowell Mtns (kind of like CO foothills), it's time to HTFU and get over the hills.

In fact, when I have been riding my geared road bikes for a while and am starting to feel gear lazy, a couple of longish rides on the SS will set me straight. I can say that SS riding makes me a stronger geared rider.

I have recently discovered one other benefit. I'm not big on morning workouts. However, right now in AZ that is the only time. Going out at 6 am on a SS accelerates the pain through the 5 mile warmup, 10 mile bloodlust, and, finally, at about 15, to cycling zen for the rest of the ride.

BTW you've got to admit (we need photos with this thread) that this 1995 Performance branded Ti road bike converted to a 14 pound single speed is kind of cool. I know you've seen this before. I have since added an old Scott clipon aerobar (gasp!), which adds a new facet to the workout. The 53x18 gearing let's me fly on the flats and makes me work my ass off on the hills.