Single Speed.... convince me please

[al]

Now thats the word we should all have written on our top tubes.


THIS IS FUN


Al.

 

[orange71]

I have "This is why" on mine

 

[yo-eddy]

Thanx for all the replies sofar, I've sort of ordered mine allready..... will take a couple of weeks though to show it of here
Will mainly be a commuter..... a VERY SWEET commuter :!:

 

[Frank West]

Well that was probably his purely off-road ratio on the road holding him up.

He had a set of <1.3 width tires on that would literally jump off the rims of their own volition and run away at the first sign of mud.

 

[cyclerelic]

single speed and robert crumb legs pic

i use a single speed bike everyday ..and run out of gearing pretty fast you do have to hold back cus no more gears ...hills are ok i got bigger legs and fitter you have to pound the cranks to get up some of them ..i use birmingham cannals and some roads and single speed is fine for that ..i use it in thick mud and winter storms etc no probs ..never used on real mountains tho guess thats hard as hell sometimes ..i am getting my aluminum o back on the track again with gears cant wait nice to change up for faster rides...good fun tho ..with single speed you just cant catch other bikes up your stuck there ...as for
the fixie crowd ..i am sure theres a lot of nice folks in it but it all seems to hip tight drain pipe kegs messenger bags london/ nyc hipsters ..no brakes is so stoopid in city traffic to ....blah blah blah i guess its all just one less car ..even tho i drive to ?

 

[messiah]

At the back of my work is a wee offroad loop I sometimes play on, it has a few short steep climbs and a couple of interesting little techy decents. On a geared XC type race bike going full speed it takes about 15 minutes per lap but it's not really very difficult. On my rigid singlespeed it takes a few more minutes but is more challenging on the climbs and decents. If I make the SS into a fixie it becomes even more difficult, and if I try not to use the brakes I really struggle in places... but if it's dry and I am having a good day I can still ride all of it.

Riding SS or fixie is a way of increasing the challenge without having to drive further, make new trails, or push the speed up.

It's all fun but the smiles per miles are higher for me when I'm using more of the skills I've built up over the years. I like the challenge.

 

[tintin40]

I don't think I'll ever be fully convinced, I like my 24 speeds too much

Same here. Gears are fun and useful. And if looked after then no problems. SS for track racing and cycle couriers. Do you want to look like a courier :?:

 

[cchris2lou]

just provide a different type of training , especially when commuting everyday .

 

[yo-eddy]

It will be an extra bike next to my GROOVY with Speedhub.... must admit that apart from the weight issue (not an issue for me though ) the Rohloff is just perfect, so much cleaner lines than all these mechs and cassettes hanging round.... and very, very low maintainance
That's alsolso one of the reasons to try the SS thing

 

[Kestonian]

You can try the SS thing without buying another bike - just don't change gear!

Sounds like an excuse to buy another bike if you ask me