Back in the early 80s when I converted my 1975 Gitane to fixed I fretted about having that der hanger there and how that made it really clear it wasn't a track bike. Doh! How much more obvious could it have been that it wasn't a track bike, but then I was young and not thinking clearly. I considered cutting it off several times, but the Gitane had those chromed honeycomb Huret vertical drops and it seemed wrong to deface an unusual dropout. That bit of sanity is now greatly appreciated because I late learned to appreciate my classic bikes more and have since rebuilt the Gitane with its original Huret Jubilee stuff and am happy to be able to ride it as it was. One thing that helped was that in the late 80s I moved to somewhere near a velodrome and started racing on the track every other day, working my way through a series of track bikes. Once I got my track bike lust slaked I started to appreciate the old Gitane again.
Mitch Harris Little Rock Canyon, UT
p.s. If you're wondering how I converted a vertical dropout bike to a fixed gear, I didn't know any better then but just lucked out--a 52x20 combination fit perfectly with just the right chain tension.