Other than racing the track, I'm not sure why one would ride a fixed gear bike either. However I can definitely see the appeal...and would want fixie to train on later ...when I learn how to ride better. My boyfriend races velodrome and his track bikes are all fixed gear. You have to constantly pedal, and to brake you go up track. He told me the biggest challenge in the beginning is to remember to keep pedaling - if you stop pedaling you'll go over the handlebars. Needless to say, this probably only happens once -- after that I imagine it's forever committed to memory. He also has a fixie which is fixed gear with brakes. That one he trains on - typically on the road. From hearing him talk about it, it's as Kalidurga described - a zen type of thing. Fixed gear bikes, I suppose, appeal very much to the purists among us. And they are truly beautiful in their simplicity.