I've been riding fixed since about 1999 swapping between two steel frames: a 531 Ellis Briggs I got made in 84 and a Columbus Gara Diamont from a few years later. They are both road bikes but with horizontal dropouts. The Briggs is 74 x 74 degrees and the Diamont 73 but slightly longer reach. The Briggs is the preferred one. All fine so far.
I bought a Planet X pro carbon frame and put together a geared(!) bike, not particularly aiming for lightness, but just a good quality setup. The biggest surprise was how well it all fitted my dimensions and the sheer comfort yet liveliness of it.
Whenever I go back out on my steel fixed, I am now highly aware of how much it beats me up. The forks are 531 and wonder if carbon ones would make a bit of a difference?
Also the wheelsets are different with the geared using H Plus Son Archetype versus Open Pro for the fixed. Same tyres and tubes on both bikes though. (I use the same type of saddle on both geared and fixed bikes )
Essentially I'm looking for something similar to the pro carbon but for fixed. I'd prefer something light but comfortable. I have never had an aluminium bike and have thought about a Dolan FXE but a bit wary of its steep angles for multi-hour rides. There is the Langster but I'd prefer just the frame so I could put it together myself. I don't like the components on most bikes which is why I always prefer frames only.
There are quite a few ally frames but not many have bottle bosses and I don't want to go down the route of cable clamps etc.
I think my problem is this – my experience of steel is not one of comfort, which seems to be at odds with what people associate steel for. Surely the likes of a Genesis Flyer won't be hugely more comfortable than my 531 frame, or could it?
I have also considered an Eno eccentric hub and trying that with the pro carbon frame but this is quite a hefty-priced thing for an experiment considering the need to use White Industries own sprockets, also expensive. I have seen that someone on here – David S I think – has made a fixie out of a pro carbon but I don't know if this with an Eno hub or a magic gear combination
So, just to recap; light, agile, comfortable, bottle and cable bosses
If anyone could give me a little input that would be much appreciated