Originally Posted by
79pmooney
It's pretty late to be starting to set this up for this winter. Last summer would have been far better. And fix gear for a novice should be started no later than late spring so when the going gets iffy, the correct reflexes are there. (Once this is learned, fix gears are wonderful in ice and snow. Like driving a manual transmission BITD instead of an automatic.)
The scheduling was outside anyone's control. I am pretty sure that I won't be recommending a fixed-gear bike, for the reasons you mentioned, and others. Single-speed, quite possibly, but not a fixie.
He was supposed to do some shopping and hopefully test-riding this week, but to-date, I have not heard how or if that went. Thanks for all of the recommendations.