I'm making one so I don't want to worry about parts being stolen off my bike. No, I'm not going to build some road bike with older, less desirable, parts because I've had one and I don't want another one.

I do. Mine is a salsa casserole frame with a variety of parts thrown on it. I put a rack and fenders on it as well.
It has nothing to do with not needing to shift gears. More along the lines of less stuff to fix and it being a different type of riding. I highly recommend it but that type of riding is not for everyone.

I am not going to drill into my track bikes to put brakes on and I am not going to make a road bike into a fixed gear so I can strike my pedal at speed going through turns. The BB is way to low on a road bike for one thing.

No it is not. Mine is a road bike frame.
No pedal strike unless i am being an idiot.

ha ha sorry bout that DataJunkie, I had to defend myself from page 1 of this thread

There is nothing to be sorry about.
You stated an opinion and I responded with my opinion. No worries.

I ride 49cm or 50cm frames, and a frame/fork this size with no toe overlap is hard to come by. I could deal with it probably, but I'd rather not.

Thank you.

I do about half and half between an old 12-speed road bike and my fixed gear. I have a few hills, and the commute is generally slower on the fixed, but I like to ride it, so I do, and that's about the end of it for me. (I do have the fixed set up with brakes and fenders though)

I became the proud owner of a Surly Steamroller in March this year. After a couple of nervous weeks getting used to riding fixed it has become my favourite bike. I share my commute between a touring bike, which I ride Mondays and Fridays with all my gear for the work week, and the Steamroller which I ride the other days weather permitting. Even though my commute is hilly, I'm faster on the fixie than on the touring bike and have a lot more fun. Fixed is not for everyone, but I really do feel more at one with the bike and get a great workout.

My ride today... built it primarily for winter riding but the bike is just a blast in any weather.

i do a good bit, depends if i need to ride with panniers or not.

Just the other day I saw a roadie just ahead of me that I just happened to be following for a little while, so of course I tried to catch up. I noticed that I was closing the gap more on the slightly hilly sections because my fixed gear forces me to work harder to maintain a decent speed with the higher gearing, and of course it probably took lots more energy. On the flats I couldn't spin fast enough, so he gradually widened the gap. It's a shame cause I just wanted to say hi

all of my riding is on done on the fixed wheel bike
it makes the commutes really fun

Currently, about half of my 30mi r/t, flat terrain commute is on a fixed gear bike fitted with a front brake.

Fifty-eight year old fixie rider here - no, it's not just for the new-borns trying to gain acceptance with some stylish clique. Been doing about half my transportation miles on fixed gear since the early 1990's. Currently riding a Surly Steamroller. I like the simplicity and the feeling of connection to the bike and to the road, but this is difficult to explain in words to someone who hasn't tried it. Forces me to be more proactive in my interactions with other trafffic, and I am a stronger and safer cyclist because of it.

I do most of my commuting on a fixed gear (a converted road bike with a front brake). I live on top of a decent-sized hill, and it was pretty tough getting up it at first, but you get used to it.

Shifting is great (my other bike is a triple), but life is too short to clean chains and derailleurs. So I save the geared bike for nice weather and ride the fixed-gear when it's nasty out.

Fairly recently converted to riding fixed and loving every minute of it. I have a Steamroller set up with a cushy Brooks, 28mm tires and clip on fenders for the rainy day commutes and a Cannondale Capo for the sunny days. 8 mile one way commute is fairly flat, but there is a decent hill at the end of my ride home that makes things interesting. My geared bikes are feeling neglected these days...

Another fixed gear commuter here. It is a blast to ride. It's a track geometry frame with a front brake and SPDs. The terrain here is relatively flat. Part of the commute is on a train so the fixed is nice in that it is easy to keep clean. I don't want to accidentally bump into someone and get them dirty. White Lightening has worked out well for that.

When the winds get nasty I use my trusty old Panasonic DX4000 so I can shift gears and be lazy.

I find fixed gear riding to be fun, but I'm not that hooked. I ride my bike into work one or two days a week. I've ridden the fixie into work only once so far. I guess I just like my commuter bike best. I went out for a weekend ride with a couple of friends and darned nearly took my commuter bike, because it's set up so well. I did end up taking my road racing bike (12 speeds), and I'm glad I did. We went fairly hard.

10 miles w/ some hills on a '76 fuji track:


Or an '06 rush hour pro when I want to feel faster:


And when it's really hot (upper 90s) the '80 Mclean w/ barley bag:

norskagent, I have a McLean, too! Built in 1982. It's still my weekend country ride bike.

cool! Mine was built as a tourer? not sure but I put 32mm tires on it.
Do you have any pics of yours?

Yes, somewhere. But they're not exactly up to date. I put North Road style handlebars on it.

You can see me working on it in the video in the article that the New York Times just wrote about me last week.

https://maplewood.blogs.nytimes.com/2...-tom-reingold/

A long description of the bike is here.

I commute 1 day a week seasonally, last couple of years I alternated a converted Motobecane Mirage with 12 spd Shogun 400. Just gave the Moto to my buddy, I wasn't using it this year. As comfortable as it is, it's still pretty heavy. 42 hilly miles round-trip is a bit too tedious for that. I would add, I'm surprised a lot of the (cheap) new production fixed gear street bikes are so heavy (21-23+ lbs). Seems to defeat one of the key advantages of less parts.