I wanted to know what all this "connected to", zen, macine and rider as one bollocks was about so I converted an old frame to fixed. I mean, you read so much about it, it must be right up my street, being a keen cyclist of many years. Let's face it - if these hipster muppets in London can do it without any brakes, it'll be a piece of piss for me, right?
The only thing it taught me was - I've developed a very efficient riding style, both on the open road and in city traffic - and freewheeling is a major part of it. I thought it would be good for scooting around town, but I was spending a lot of time slowing down and preparing to unclip where normally I'd freewheel as a way of modulating my speed - mainly in reaction to stupid drivers pulling out of junctions or dopey peds or drunk students stepping out in a world of their own.
The actual riding along was fine, it was just the interruptions that made fixed a pain. Depends a lot on the routes you do I suppose. So I gave in and bought a cheap Dicta freewheel. I'd like to find a situation where fixed is advantageous at some point though.