The following post is an updated version of the posting at the first link.
The 2009 Kona Paddy Wagon I am mostly happy with, but that's because I'd already experimented fixed gear on what's become my 'retro-cross', so I knew what I wanted. I compromised on my ideal, because I got this bike 25% off. I love fixed for the interval training it forces upon me, for the quick acceleration, and the low maintenance. I run both brakes. I am not a hipster: this bike is set up for real-world commuting, and bad weather riding on imperfect urban asphalt.
What I did to it was put a riser stem at the front, as I wanted my bars just below the saddle, not at my knees. I changed it from fixed/free to fixed/fixed, because I didn't need the free and the two-teeth bigger freewheel seemed as much work to push as the smaller cog, without the flywheel advantage of fixed gear. It is presently with 32mm tires, a 44 chainring and 16 and 18 teeth cogs: 74" and 66". Put a Brooks B17N on, shellacked cotton tape on the bars, which have been replaced for more regular road bars. Lost the chainguard. Have two-sided spd pedals. To have lots of room for the 32mm tires I chopped a pair of Planet Bike fenders* in half, fabricated some hardware, and attached them to the bike on Sheldon Fender Nuts. Love those.
I brought it here, rather than buy one here, because I'll use it here for a year and then sell it. I'll buy something more optimal when I go home. It really has too much toe-overlap, and not enough fender clearance. Were I to buy one in Japan, the only bike available in my size with the right geometry for a fendered fixie is the All City Nature Boy. I might get that when I go home, unless I come across something better. There is always the semi-disposable 'Windsor Timeline' from BikesDirect.
Tokyo's issue is relentless prevailing winds along the riverside bike paths, so I need two different fixed gear ratios for down and up-wind: the 74" and 66". I could set up a Sturmey-Archer S3X, though it has a lot of lash, with a 44t chainring and 15t cog: 80", 60" and 50". With 44t and 46t chainrings, a 17/20t Surly Dingle Cog, and an 18t freewheel, I'd get the following: 73 and 59" fixed without flipping the wheel, and 66 or 69" free, depending on how chain-line works out. We'll see. A lot of trouble for dubious benefit.
As for the baggage, I don't carry $#!+ on my back. The tool kit is under the saddle, and a simpler version of this: I have a Park Tool Fixed Gear Tool in the frame bag. That bag will also hold a shell, or another water bottle, wallet, keys, cell... It's a nothing rack on the front, but it holds part of the fender, weighs nothing, attaches without hardware, and let's me throw a bag on when I need to. Uncool? Whatever. I leave shoes and toiletries at school, but I can take a change of clothes back and forth on the front. Ideal. If I got really stuck, I could lash a bag to my Viva Saddle Bag Loop.
Lights? Same as on my randonneur-hack: a Planet Bike Sport Spot on the handlebar, a Planet Bike Superflash on one seat-stay, and/or a Planet Bike Superflash Turbo on the other seat-stay. Such visibility is not as direly necessary in Tokyo as Toronto, but it can't hurt. And yes, I do use the GPS mentioned in this link, which is uncool for a fixie, but you try not to get lost in Tokyo! More commentary on bottles and cages here: this bike has an Arundel Stainless, which I like well enough.
*Make sure to bend any protruding hardware on front fenders downwards. Toe-overlap on these bikes is bad enough without fender-stays catching on your footwear and bringing you down in an intersection. Didn't get run over, but it still hurt.
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