Single Speed.... convince me please

[al]

Why would adding or taking bits away from a frame worry anybody?

I am sure if asked, the likes of Ritchey,Breeze and Bontrager .........would be only too happy for a fellow rider and owner of one of their frames to alter them to suit their needs.

These kind of builders grew up on the fact that you make things that work for you! Not every one can afford a bespoke frame and this kind of altering is just making their ride more ridable. These frames need to be used and seen, not locked away in garages and sheds all over the planet.

Another thing that should be remembered is that cutting and brazing can be reversed.

Cheers,Al

 

[messiah]

Ooooh!

So what if someone modifys an old bike... it's an old bike and it belongs to them, if they continue to get pleasure from it then hooray for them Unless it's some kind of ultra rare bike of great historical importance... which very few are.

Is it a jealousy thing that these people are doing that to frames "you" would like to add to your collection?

Is owning a "collection" of bikes that you never have a chance to ride any sadder?

Is building up a period piece to ride, polish, or simply gather dust not a sad pursuit in the first place?

Does any of this matter? :roll:

If you build a bike and it gives you pleasure then brilliant, be that pleasure in the building and/or the riding. All these super rare old bikes are only NOS because the owners never used them, they were status symbols of wealth and/or enthusiasm back in the day, and they still are to us that notice or care.

None of this matters: Go ride your bike... if thats what you built if for... or go buy new bits off ebay if that's where you get your fun... or go polish the collection... or make lists of bike bits in excell. I'm guilty of all the above to a certain extent :roll:

Who cares what anybody does with their bikes, or why they do it - as long as "they" are having fun with it. (unless you end up in prison :!: )

Back to the topic... GO GHETO!

 

[Wold Ranger]

SS

There's too many folks been doin the SS (lyk Jo Burt! All hail) for too long to dismiss it as weird or faddish! All the Trail guys all run SS now (sick of the weight and wrecked mechs) I'm just building an SS myself on a Zaskar LE frame and its the lack of weight that amazes me! Too many of the Big frame makers are building frames with concentric BB shells now for it to be a Fad!

 

[al]

Strange thing to say but dont go too light!

I built a 16 lb SS GT Zaskar up and it was a little frisky :shock:

Keep things sensable and durable.Great frame for an SS steed though,even though its Allumininium.

Cheers,Al

 

[Kona Paul]

Slow uphill , on the flat and downhill ?

I wondered about that one too. This shogun character must just be slow on a bike in general...? Why should a SS be slower going down a hill? How much pedalling does one do on descents?? As for climbs, many people tend to pedal too much by being in too low of a gear, and me and my friends often pass geared bikes on climbs, and even make it to the top where geared bikes fail (rider, not bike, mind you.) On the flats you can gain more speed with gears at times, but my SS feels fine. I can pedal, stand and coast while pumping and working the bike or if it's smooth, find a nice cadence and just go. I've never lost much ground on flats due to lack of gears.

For the record I also ride a geared bike regularly and a ride a fully. No matter which bike I'm on, I have a blast and always come home with a s##t-eating grin on my face. Isn't that what it's all about?

 

[tee-one]

I just hate the thought of more old bikes being hacked about to make 'singlespeeds'

how do you feel about mid 60's dawes racers? cos im hacking that for a singlespeeder oh and im cutting off the braze-ons. and drilling the bottom bracket

 

[Wold Ranger]

SS slow? No way

SO! SS slow, Mmmm My Grandfather still holds the record for a local Hill climb time trial on a Bamboo framed (yes thats right) Fixie that was set back in the Forties! No one has ever matched the time on a modern bike with gears! But folks were a lot fitter back then! He biked everywhere(petrol rationing) averaging well over a 1000 miles each week on a fixie! 75 miles round trip to work and back, 200 plus from South Yorkshire up into the Yorkshire Dales was most Sundays day out! Remeber when I first got a bike as a teenager with gears 40 years ago, he was baffled by the complexity of it all! Brakes? "You don't need them" he would say just ride fixed.

 

[Russell]

Re: SS slow? No way

SO! SS slow, Mmmm My Grandfather still holds the record for a local Hill climb time trial on a Bamboo framed (yes thats right) Fixie that was set back in the Forties! No one has ever matched the time on a modern bike with gears! But folks were a lot fitter back then! He biked everywhere(petrol rationing) averaging well over a 1000 miles each week on a fixie! 75 miles round trip to work and back, 200 plus from South Yorkshire up into the Yorkshire Dales was most Sundays day out! Remeber when I first got a bike as a teenager with gears 40 years ago, he was baffled by the complexity of it all! Brakes? "You don't need them" he would say just ride fixed.

I think you're missing the point. The fact that he holds the record is testament to his fitness, not the bike he was riding. How much faster could he have been on a modern geared bike?

Its not about the bike.

 

[Wold Ranger]

SS Speed

I hear from a lot of SS guru's that when U don't have gears as an option, U just focus so much more on the ground ahead and as a result achieve just as fast a pace and become fitter in the process. Maintenance and reliability are another major issue! The point I'm making is that despite the advent of modern engineering and nutrition times have not appreciably come down.

 

[shogun]

Look I'm basing my observations on speed on having seen a few singlespeed races, and singlespeed racers over the last few years; unless they're the types that would win on a tricycle they're back of the pack, and it generally like a slow motion procession compared to a regular XC race.
As for pedalling on the descents if you aren't cranking out of corners where necessary/possible you are giving up easy speed. Problem is what you can do in 42:11, you cannot do in 32:16.


Is it because most fast people are sensible and ride a faster bike perhaps? In that case then I accept theres no significant speed penalty in riding SS and its just the riders, but I suspect its the equipment.

Then I guess theres the fact that since the uphill and flat bits go so slowly, perhaps singlespeeders just doddle down anyway? Maybe its not the bikes..

I think it is the equipment though.


As for my own speed or lack of; well, I could say I'm faster downhill than Shaun Palmer and climb quicker than Cadel Evans on here but what good is that going to do?
I know a thing or two about covering ground fast, particularly downhill, lets leave it at that.

I guess its all a bit of a moot point for trailriding, so I'll concede this one.



In the end, my other misgivings aside, you're just taking away things that make a bike cover ground faster and easier 99% of the time.
So if thats cool, do it; just don't hack an old bike up to do it.