I was thinking of getting an IRO Mark V as my first fixed gear bike. I want to keep it as a flip flop though. Is there a reason why I would buy it as a fixed version and pay $24 for the second cog, instead of getting it as a singlegear and paying $24 for the fixed cog?

I know I want at least a front brake, and adding that to the fixed version costs another $50, making it the same price as the singlegear that already comes with 2 brakes.

I'm leaning towards getting the singlegear with the extra fixed cog and just taking off the back brake, will this work or am I missing something? Thanks for your help, as I'm new at this!

https://www.irocycle.com/contact-us.aspx

If possible, get a fixed/fixed rear hub. That will allow you to have any fixed/ss configuration.
A fixed/ss rear hub will not allow you to run a fixed/fixed configuration.

Hope that helps. Sheldon Brown explains it better.

I think all of their rear hubs are flip flop

they are but some are fixed fixed and some are fixed free. they are out of stock of some fixed fixed sometimes, like when i wanted a fixed/fixed purple, but they had a fixed/free.

i don't know what they ship the markV with but it's a nice bike.

The problem with buying it as as single speed is that you won't be able to (safely) install a second fixed cog on the freewheel side of the hub. The fixed gear model has a fixed / fixed flip flop hub, which allows a second fixed cog to be mounted. You can save about $20 on the cost of the front brake by buying it from Bike Island >>> https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=1753

ok I think I got it,
that was confusing, but fixed/fixed it is, thanks!