text: In urban North America and similar areas in other Western cities, fixed-gear bicycles have achieved significant popularity, with the rise of discernible regional aesthetic preferences for finish and design details.
  Dedicated fixed-gear road bicycles are being produced in greater numbers by established bicycle manufacturers. They are generally low in price and characterized by relaxed road geometry, as opposed to the steep geometry of track bicycles.
  Fixed-gear bicycles are also used in cycle ball, bike polo and artistic cycling.
  A fixed-gear bicycle is particularly well suited for track stands, a maneuver in which the bicycle can be held stationary, balanced upright with the rider's feet on the pedals.
  Advantages and disadvantages
  One of the perceived main attractions of a fixed gear bicycle is low weight. Without the added parts required for a fully geared drive train—derailleurs, shifters, cables, cable carriers, multiple chain rings, freewheel hub, brazed-on mounting lugs—a fixed gear bicycle weighs less than its geared equivalent. The chain itself is subject to less sideways force and will not wear out as fast as on a derailleur system. Also, a fixed gear drivetrain is more mechanically efficient than any other bicycle drivetrain, with the most direct power transfer from rider to the wheels. Thus, a fixed gear requires less energy in any given gear to move than a geared bike in the same gear.