There's a road frame converted to fixed that I'm looking at. It's a relatively new AL frame, though, and it has rather short, vertical drops.

The seller has made it work "great" by choosing the right gear combination-- 42x12-- to take up enough chain slack. He's only ridden it around for a few miles, so chain stretch hasn't become a problem yet.

Does anyone here ride a fixie with vertical drops? Is chainging cogs/removing links gonna be a really, really annoying problem? (I ride 100-150mi a week.) I witnessed the old-ass chain on my singlespeed strech by almost an inch over the winter--so I get a bad feeling about it. Should I bother, or am I gonna be frustrated?

On ther other hand, if I buy the bike and end up not liking fixed, I could always add a few new parts and go geared. Or put a freewheel and tensioner in there for singlespeed...or part out the AL frame and put all the nice **** on a new Steamroller.

white industries makes the eno hub, which is eccentric so you can adjust chain tension with vertical dropouts. imo, you should just get a frame with trackends and be done with it.

42x12 is a weird combo...what if you dont like it? then, you'd have to funk around with different cogs/chainrings to get the right tension...

and chain stretch AINT that big of a deal...eno hubs are expensive... go for a real track frame...

I've got a vertical drop SS with no tensioner. I've only got maybe 200 miles on it so far (too many bikes to choose from) but I haven't had any problems yet. I know you'd have slightly more chain stretch with a fixed rather than a SS but...... Chains are what, $5? So $5 a month wouldn't be bad at all if you really liked the bike. 42-12 is a weird combo, but if 42-12 fits then 42-16 should fit as well and that's darn near a perfect gear. General rule is that you can go up or down in 4 tooth increments (total tooth count) and still have it fit, it's worked on my bike, your results may vary.
If it's cheap and rides nice then go for it, otherwise wait and get something that you KNOW will work better.

Someone around here has a wheel with an eno hub for sale I think. I forget who it is.

That would be me....looking for a trade, actually. It's top-notch product. Sure, you can be a fixie snob and say go for a track frame, but if you've got a road frame with vertical dropouts you totally dig or don't want to go through the hassle of looking for a new frame, the Eno hub is totally worth it. So smooth it's sick.

I have a same hub on my convert. I did this 'cuz I bought a new roadie and loved my old roadie frame. The hub is great! Didn't have had any problems building it up and haven't had any problem since. Adjusting tension is a breeze.