FUN! Well, fun and training. This is a great thread, but I think the consensus is Fixed is fun, and it utilizes different muscles, so it's a great training, or cross-training device. I bought a bike a few years ago with a freewheel on one side and fixed on the other, and having never ridden fixed, I started out with the freewheel with a brake or two. I found it to be kind of depressing; it didn't go fast enough, and it just felt lame. when I switched over to the fixed gear, it was suddenly fun because I had to learn how to ride a bike again. The feeling of being absolutely connected to the bike was unmistakable, but I hadn't felt that on my geared bike previously. It took quite a long time to learn some basic skills like stopping without brakes, etc.. I rode past a guy who was pedaling slowly on a fixed gear while talking on his cellular telephone, with no foot retention, and I realized you could pedal slowly to go slow. This was like a year later. I have several bikes, and three of them are fixed gear. All of the bikes are different in some way or another, so I just pick one to ride according to my mood.