The SO has recently gone mtb singlespeed, he bought a cheapie to try it and now has a very nice "Spot Brand" singlespeed frame with all sorts of bling on it. He has sold the cheapie to his mate and they now regularly ride it on our short midweek rides. It is true they have to attack hills all the time and on the shallower gradient climbs they can generally pull away though I tend to catch them on the 17/18% gradient hills as they weave all over the place. Seeing how much fun they have does occasionally tempt me to try it, however the long and/or steep road and offroad climbs that we ride our mtb's on round here kind of put me off (cos I don't want to go back to getting off and walking up them I suppose). I did consider buying a singlespeed for commuting to work in the winter as my route is fairly flat, however I was put off this by the SO who pointed out that I would struggle with riding into the prevailing wind all the time (I ride out to the coast), but the seed has been sown, maybe next winter. I will also be looking for a replacement mtb hardtail frame at some point this year and will probably go for an On One Inbred frame with sliding dropouts as it can be used singlespeed or with gears.