I been commuting 2 years now on geared bikes. The roads in my area are pretty bad halfway through my commute in the city, but my 5 mile commute is pretty flat. I built this single speed cruiser for commuting this year and I would have to say I got the best workout ever when commuting and this was the slowest commute I ever did. Them gears really spoil you!

What ratio is it setup with? Heavy bike plus the wrong ratio and sure it will be slow. My fixed gear commute is probably faster than my full carbon road bike.

I felt the same way on my first fixed gear commute, which was just last December. It felt slower, more of a workout, and that's a good thing. It checks off two boxes of what I wanted from it, and probably you also judging from what you came up with. Sitting up where you can see traffic better and more comfortably, rugged tires, convenient rack and who cares the weight, I don't think that speed was a particular concern when you built that bike. Your bike makes perfect sense for a commuter

I can tell you that SS/FG is a different style of riding, more work but then later it isn't. You have to get accustomed to the more varied cadence, standing more often, the different riding position. Or at least I did, and then at some point it wasn't really more of a workout. But still slower, most of the time, not that it matters in the larger scheme of things.

go, Go, GO!

My SS is out of commission for the week awaiting a new freewheel. But it is my go-to bike for plugging to work.

Nice work. Keep it up, I bet your body will adapt within a few weeks. Just different muscles, or rhythms for using them.

Now my commute is moderately hilly (<1mi that gains about 300ft), I don't think I would be able to do it SS.

That's not true, I know if I worked hard enough I'd be able to do it. But I'd have a REALLY hard time enjoying it.

I could experiment though, maybe challenge myself by choosing a gear and seeing whether I could make it all the way before bailing out. 39x23? 39x26? I mean, I know I could do it if I just went granny the whole ride (39x34)

You know what else spoils you? Brakes. I'm totally addicted to the ability to stop when I need to.

True! The coaster brake on this bike work awesome! I will continue to commute with this bike all year and then some winter rides too.

I didn't notice that - a front brake would complete your build.

Well I think everybody here is talking about SS with a freewheel, not fully fixed, which is when you get into the realm of removing brakes.

Nice work, as always.

Well, I survived childhood using coaster brakes (and left "cool" skidmarks all over the sidewalk around my house), but now I generally don't consider any rear brake to be a brake in anything but a supplemental sense.