I am so proud of myself. I went and took a friend of mine who is a mountain biker by heart to the paved trails for a change. I took out the Trek 1.5 and the Specialized Langster. I started him out on the Trek and cringed when I heard him grinding gears. I had to stop and instruct him again how the shifters worked. He refused to do a full shift, causing the chain to grind. We went slow and I was behind him instructing him to shift up and down. Once he seemed he was starting to get the hang of it, we picked up the pace. He really enjoyed the ride on the 1.5.
Half way into the ride, after pushing harder than he had ever been pushed, I told him that it was his turn on the fixie. He initially refused and finally gave in when I told him I'd stay behind him so he can go at his own pace. He took it for a spin and loved it.
I got a message from him and he said he just purchased a fixie from bikesdirect. He said once he gets it in, that weekend we are going for a fixie ride rain or shine. lol I think it will be another week or two before he actually gets it. He likes not needing to shift. Honestly it is great because you can enjoy the ride more not worrying about if you are in the best gear.
On the flip side, a non-fixie is better on long rides due to less power usage.
I'm just glad I opened his eyes to something.
C-Dog, I agree with a fixie being a great workout. I try to balance my fixie rides to my geared rides. They work different aspects of the muscles.
Fixie: Anaerobic exercise (for the most part)
Geared: Aerobic exercise (morso than the fixie, due to the higher cadence)
My fixie is like lifting weights, while the geared is my nice long haul, enjoyable ride.