Nope!

I saw a new post from our new friend in the Netherlands who is *considering* buying a SS/FG, that happened to be in the SS/FG subforum, and gave what I consider a thoughtful response from my personal point of view, and only THEN did I make fun of "hipsters" (are they not to be made fun of?). That last part was just supposed to be an aside/joke because it's obvious the OP is not trying to be a "hipster". I was just throwing out a bit of tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted sarcasm about the whole "fixed gear lifestyle" trend, but I guess it came off wrong. You see, I live near a hippie college, and the whole thing reminds me of when skateboarding experienced a boom in the 80's, and all of the sudden every kid had skater clothes, a skateboard, and thought they could do tricks. Only now, anyone who is anyone needs to convert an old Schwinn to a fixie as soon as possible, and buy the requisite messenger bag. I Didn't mean to ruffle anyone's feathers, or insult the actual enthusiasts.

And the edit at the end (bringing up an example of a SS/FG for consideration) was based on the fact I did a lot of research before ordering my street bike, and (hopefully) it's really fast and a great value for money as the reviews have led me to believe, and Felt happens to make a similar bike in SS/FG configuration. I honestly think it *may* meet the OP's criteria of a fast FG/SS in his price range should he ultimately choose to go that route, but that's obviously up to him.

And does the bike I brought up not look interesting? I mean, I know I don't have fixie-colored glasses so I can't see it through your collective eyes, but it looks visually striking to me, and I would have loved that color scheme if the F95 were offered as such. And yes it's a track bike, because the OP mentioned nothing about looking cool, but everything about going fast and getting exercise. True enough, a polished steel-framed Bianchi might get him more fixie-cred, and it's certainly an option, and possibly a perfect choice. But why is my option more-or-less valid? It's not as if I represented myself as a SS/FG expert, and said, "Dude, definitely go with this bike, it's RAD!" I just threw it out there for him to look at, with full disclosure of my background/point of view. And from the looks of it, if I didn't post that link, he likely would never have seen that bike. Sure it's unlikely this is *the* bike for him (there are so many choices), but what's the harm in having a look? I mean, SOMEONE buys those bikes, right?

To the OP: I really was trying to help, despite my sarcasm about "hipsters." Good luck with whatever you decide.