I’m building a tourer/commuter in the new year.

700cc wheels in a slot dropout inbred frame.

mountain bike gears for touring,but will also be using it to commute some days of the week.

15 miles each, a few hills i guess (but need to check the route)

the original plan is to just single speed it, but im wondering how on road SS compares to off road SS.

easier or harder on the road?

i imagine its easier to maintain speed on the ups (especially on a rigid bike, with bigger wheels) but i guess its also easier to spin out on the road.

the other option would be to build an alfine wheelset (or just use normal gears day to day)

anyone here commute any significant distance on a SS?

I used to commute a flat route on a SS Il Pompino …I had to gear it really quite high to avoid spinning out and the bouncing in the saddle that one gets from too fast a cadence. I wouldn’t have used that gearing off-road, no way.

I’ve got a Genesis iOiD with Alfine 8.

An Alfine gives you the best of everything …a decent spread of gears and commuter low-maintenance.

They’re quite heavy and the mass is concentrated at the hub but you don’t notice it after a while, and as your riding will be road based it matters not IMO as you won’t be bunny-hopping etc.

Shifting’s OK once you get used to backing off slightly to speed up the change.

had alfine as commuter, all good but you do lose power in higher gears feels like its flexing now have 1×9

changing tyre can be a faff with alfine

depends how hilly I take my 32:16 SS to work in winter is dooable but hard on some of the steeper climbs never thought of changing the gearing personally. Obviously gears will be “better” if you ean more adaptable but at a cost with alfine try SS then just try 1×9?

I do a 48 mile round trip on my fixed Bob Jackson. Been doing it for years, route isn’t massively hilly but I love the simplicity and efficiency of the set up. As a bonus it’s very quiet 🙂

Plus you can ditch your rear brake. 😉

So the next step has been to ‘fix’ the 69er… watch this space! Can do a mostly offroad commute…

On a serious note, you’ll get massive legs too!

i reckon i might be able to work out a flatish route.
ive only done it once,when my car was in for a service or something, and got lost (as i normally drive along the dual carrigeway)

I commute on my SS mountain bike, knobbly tyres and all. Have about 1600ft to climb into work over 10 miles, so nice & easy, and about 1950ft on the way home, with a long climb to get back into the village. 1st week was knackering, but it’s easier now, and my fitness has improved a lot because of it, especially with all the snow. I use 34:17.

I’d try SS 1st, then as Junkyard said, switch to 1×9 maybe.

any of the online route finders do elevation too?

I did 11 miles each way SS for a while. It was fine, in the sense that I could do it and whatnot. My working hours were long and irregular though, and my mood and motivation was a fairly variable thing. On good days, coming home in the light it was usually a breeze. After a draggy toss of a day, in the rain, carrying a load of books it was unpleasant and I often wished I had a lower gear or 8.

🙂

It takes about 10 seconds longer to take off an Alfine hub gear than a single speed hub with lock nuts;

select 1st,
pull plastic gearcable holder on the hub around with one hand,
pull off the hexhead cable crimp with the other and releasing the cable,
loosen the axle nuts and pull off/out the tensioner a bit to loosen chain as with a SS bolt on hub…
now thats not exactly hard as folk keep saying 😮

any of the online route finders do elevation too?

walkjogrun.net does I think.