Fixed gears

Anyone else here ride fixed? I ride a 2008 Dawes SST, it's a bikesdirect bike so...it's my first fixed gear though so I'm not trippin to hard. What do you all ride?

Splain me the reasoning behind a fixie? I get what a singlespeed is about, but I don't see any benefit to a fixie.

It forces you to spin smoothly and it builds up different muscles in the legs with the stopping. Plus it's old school cool.

And it's a ton of fun. You have to think differently with fixed. Instead of just blasting up to a light and slamming on the brakes, you have to start backpedaling way before or even skid/skip. Unless you've tried it I don't think you'll understand the fun aspect of it.

I've converted a nice old Fuji to a single speed, haven't gotten the nerve to put in a flip-flop hub for fixie riding

I also have a Dawes... is yours steel-framed? Despite the relative complexity of a multispeed two-brake road bike, I just lubed the chain, adjusted the brakes, and it feels so nice and crisp now.

My road bike is pretty heavy, but I think it's a petty concern when I have a heavy u-lock attached.

Ride with a front brake, especially until you get the idea of skid-stopping.

Fixie is fun, but for me, it was too much of a hassle when I all I want to do is get to class quickly.

I'm considering changing an older bike into a fixie. Just not sure yet...

I've ridden and owned a fixed gear bike in the past... definitely fun... it's sort of a built-in theft deterrent... if you hop on one without knowing how to ride it, you can find yourself on your face PDQ.

Unfortunately, the bike I had was a Cannondale track bike... which was really a true track-racing bike (tight geometry, barely enough clearance for 19's and geared for speed)... it was like trying to drive an F1 car on the street... can be done, but out of its element.

I have a Trek Soho S, but it is a free wheel. I have the flip flop hub to go fixie, but I am not suicidal.

I work on a college campus and watch the students nearly kill themselves every day on their fixies.

saw a sweet surly steam roller fixie at the shop the other day... i'm still debating the SS thing... but for me fixie is just out... i'm not that skilled and need to coast occasionally... plus i love hearing my hope hubs spin... not king's.. but sounds sweet all the same :)

still wouldn't mind trying it out on someone else's bike...

My Dawes isn't a "real" Dawes. Bikesdirect.com purchased the rights to the names Motobecane, Windsor, Dawes, and I a few others I think and now make some no name steel frames and then throw these iconic names onto the downtube.

Pheller: Yup, I ride with a front brake. I am definitely not at the skill level that I can go brakeless yet. That being said It's been a long time since I've used it.

One of my riding buddies has a '92 Cannondale Track. This is it when he bought it: http://velospace.org/node/11800, this is it in it's current form: http://velospace.org/node/14814 . I rode it the other day and it amazed me at how different it was compared to my bike. It felt like it wanted to turn so much more than my bike, but I almost fell due to toe overlap.

For anyone thinking about fixed riding, find someone that has one and give it a try. It's really not that hard and unless you are a moron you won't nearly kill yourself.