Hipsters love fixies

Sorry to steal the title wholesale from the vine but it's true; hipsters do love a fixie! In case you missed the memo, it's trendy to have a fixed gear road bike these days, as the story goes here.
I must admit I've fallen to the trend to a certain extent, especially previous posts about wheels. Velocity make wheels just for this sub-culture with a huge array of colours and options for your fixie rim. But enough about that, Bikeboy rides a Bowery which is a pretty cheap SSFG bike for those looking at getting into the trend and not spending more than $700 on a new bike. It's not perfect but I love it, and after 12 months working out ratios and riding style I finally broke a freehwheel forcing me to try fixed gear riding. The 08 Bowery I have came with 48:18 on the fixed side which is a decent ratio for getting around town, not too hard to take off but not super fast when you do want to get a bit of curry on.
Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a review of my bike so I'll get to the point. After riding around fixed for a week I can't say I enjoyed the experience at all. First and foremost, as long as the bike is moving so are your legs. You can idle a lot but for me nothing beats a good free-wheel down a hill or a rest anywhere you like really. The flip side is you can control your speed a lot easier with back pressure on the pedals but it does exert your knees a lot more than just using brakes. I never worked out skidding and as I ride clipless I never felt confident enough to try. It makes hopping curbs a hassle as well as you have to be mindful of the pedal stroke, and cornering at speed can result in scraping pedals. I never fell off whilst riding fixed but it's such a hassle I can't understand why people flock to it. I think fixeis are a great way to get run over. Give me a free wheel any day!