I just got a service for the second-hand bike I bought, after I had a problem with the brakes not working. The gears are fixed, the brakes work well, and the tires have been pumped up.
Holy crap, you guys, the difference is amazing. Going up hills is only a little easier, but that's still enough to turn my hardest hill from "Feeling like I'm going to die" to just "intense", and my second hardest hill from "intense" to just "hard". Big change. But on flat ground? Oh man, the change is night and day. Before, I would ride on flat ground in second gear. Now, I use fourth. Massive difference. Definitely increases my speed as well.
It's a more comfortable ride, too. I rode 14 km today (using my new pannier, too!) and I feel totally fine, like I could have happily rode quite a lot longer. I have a set of mini milestones I want to achieve now over the next few weeks.
This week: 18 km round trip to the grocery store.
Next week: 25 km round trip into town. (With a few hours break, as I'll be visiting my sister.)
If I can make the 25 km trip once, I can make it twice a week, and then it's only a short jump from that to thrice a week. I'll need to do a bit of night riding practice first, but once I can ride at night and ride 25-30 km thrice a week, my car usage will drop to nearly zero. I'll only need to drive on alternate Tuesdays, or when the weather is really horrible. (Naturally, I shall work on increasing my weather-related badassity as time goes on.)
I'll have to set myself a goal in next month's thread! My plan to nearly eradicate my car usage by the end of the year is seeming well ahead of schedule at the moment.