singlespeed vs gears « Singletrack Forum

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singlespeed vs gears

66 posts & 42 voices | Started 6 months ago by aw | Latest reply from Bez

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DIS - Member

Went through a period of only single speed for couple years but now have SS hard tail and a new recently acquired FS (never ridden FS till 2 months ago and i am quite surprised how much i like it!).

I love riding the SS, especially this time of year as things get muddy. Technically mine is a dingospeed (thinks that what you call them) I have two rings at front and back and have to change manually. Reason for this is i commute and ride of road, so its nice to have the two options.

Personally i think if you have got your gear ratio right for you then there's not much difference between SS and geared, if your fit and fast then you will be fast riding geared or SS.

Despite loving SS it is still nice to have a geared bike for longer rides or just something different. As said above if its got 2 wheels then its good, i just like bikes, SS, geared, fixed, rigid, FS or HT.

Posted 6 months ago #
Singlespeed_Shep - Member

giving you almost none of the advantages of either SS or gears, yay!!

2 speed pace, (not mine) and i've seen an Two speed orange with a hammerschmidt. And i know a chap who has a dead flat commute apart from a 20% climb so runs a pompino with a 50/34 up front and a 17t cog at the rear.

I never said it was a good idea. Just possible and works for some people. like those that run 3 speed

Posted 6 months ago #
bigdonx - Member

Have both SS & Geared. SS gets most of its use night riding off road in the winter. Mainly because it doesn't need much looking after, and because in the dark you don't get the same impression of how fast your not getting anywhere on flat bits!
The thing about SS is that your always in the right gear - cos you don't have a choice, so you just have to make it work - its a waste of time if you can't be arsed with a bit of a challege.
Couldn't ever see myself giving up gears though - SS is just a different option.

Posted 6 months ago #
van cough cough - Member

I ride singlespeed purely for reduced maintenance/cost reasons. No point in wasting hundreds of pounds per year that I dont have on maintaining geared bits.

After 2000 miles on the mmmbop all that has needed changing is the chain. Gears have never needed a twiddle at all. On this bike I run 3 x 9 SRAM X9, Connex 900 chain, jagwire full outers with middleburn cable oilers. So, maintaining geared bits so far since June on this bike has cost £15 (I buy 3 x Connex 900's from Ribble for about £45 after discount). 990 cassettes last an age if the chains are swapped out between 0.075mm and 0.1mm per link stretch and I am heavy.

Geared. Single speed is for BMX and track and children.

Posted 6 months ago #
rOcKeTdOg - Member

1x9/10 FTW

Posted 6 months ago #
ssjeff - Member

1x9/10 FTW

For The Weak?

Posted 6 months ago #
tazzymtb - Member

1x9/10 FTW

For The Weak?

For The W...........(rhymes with bankers)

Posted 6 months ago #
epicyclo - Member

To be fair there's nothing wrong with a decent set of gears on the road. There's everything wrong with derailleurs though.

A Sturmey-Archer 3 speed provides enough gears for any occasion if you gear the middle gear at the old standard for a gentleman's bike, ie around 60-65".

Then you have a low gear around 45", which is approx what your SS mtb uses, so that's good for any hill or when you venture offroad.
The middle gear is good for general work and commuting.
The top gear at between 75-80" is roughly where you'd set your lightweight road ss, and it's nice to have for downhill.

Thus all needs are covered. Your gears will cost about the same as a decent cassette and will outlast several derailleurs and cassettes. People were getting 50,000+ miles out of those hubs 70 years ago, and they're even better now. A suitable chain will cost about £10 and outlast a derailleur chainset.

I'm not biased or anything

Posted 6 months ago #
Bez - Member

In an attempt to respond to the OP rather than willy-wave...

You're contemplating a road bike, I assume? If so the main difference IME is that a singlespeed has a sort of terminal velocity. You can go faster, but can't sustain it. This means pedally downhills become sluggish and you can't carry speed from a sharp downhill through a subsequent flat bit. On my commute it makes roughly 15min difference at most over about 1h45m, using a 42:16.

But singlespeed is of course minimal maintenance, which is a bonus on a winter commuter.

Posted 6 months ago #
epicyclo - Member

Bez - Member
...the main difference IME is that a singlespeed has a sort of terminal velocity. You can go faster, but can't sustain it. This means pedally downhills become sluggish and you can't carry speed from a sharp downhill through a subsequent flat bit...

I agree, that's the biggest disadvantage of SS. Not the climbing, but the descents.

Paradoxically, the answer is to gear a bit higher. You'll still manage the climbs (and get stronger) and have a bit more gear for the downhill.

Posted 6 months ago #
slimjim78 - Member

I finally got the SS bug this year and have added a SS MTB and Road bike to my stable.
For the last 6 months I dont think ive ridden a geared bike once.

My commute to work, although reasonably flat, is 13 miles each way and ive loved every single sped mile.
I honestly cant see the point of gears for shorter journeys now.

The feeling of beating a hill that looked daunting with only one gear far outweighs the pain of getting up it!.
Plus my fitness has gone to a new level whereby all of my riding partners can no longer keep up with me off road, especially uphill!

If you have naturally strong legs you will not regret keeping SS. The (lack of) upkeep through winter is such a big plus too.

If you have weedy legs, you probably wont enjoy it. (haters must fit into this category).

I honestly never thought SS would be for me having dabbled a few years ago and hating it. My current SS MTB was bought almost by accident I gave it a fair crack and boy am I glad.
Once your riding technique has altered to suit, its the shizzle.

I should add that geared bikes still very much have a place in my collection. Long road rides, very hilly off roads etc. Whats nice is they stay in good shape for longer as they get less abuse.

Posted 6 months ago #
fontmoss - Member

If you have weedy legs, you probably wont enjoy it. (haters must fit into this category).

Single speed is fun regardless of leg (or willy) girth. If you want to hurt yourself on a road bike then you need gears- regardless how much of a hero you are on a ss then a long flat bit needs a big gear to really motor and bury your legs. I'd say ss road bike is better when it's hilly, I find it very dull on the flat.

At the end of the day it's a bike, arguing whether it's logical to ride it with or without gears is beside the point-you're putting on lycra to go ride for hours and end up back at home. It's meant to be fun not an exercise in logic. FWIW go borrow a ss and see how you like it, if it makes you smile then maybe it's the one to go for.

Posted 6 months ago #
slimjim78 - Member

no quite, my point was shorter & flatter rides are fine on a road SS.

My commute averages 20mph on one gear and it barely ever feels dull.
Certainly there are occasions where you would like to drop a gear but in the end you just learn to spin faster.

If you have a very hilly or very long commute, then gears would certainly feel more comfortable and probably be more efficient.

SS would still feel more epic.

Posted 6 months ago #
Northwind - Member

bullheart - Member

But if you don't have gears, then you don't have the 'bottle it' option when doing something tough. Like a hill.

Yes you do, you can get off and walk.

Posted 6 months ago #
slimjim78 - Member

walking is for quitters.

Posted 6 months ago #
radoggair - Member

gears here and dont think i'll ever try SS

I'm in the dont get it camp.

Road - why would you want to!! I've ridden with some and they get to about 30mph and its all over for them. Whats the point in that?. As for climbing, well how about if i match your 42:14 gear or whatever you ride using my gears but wait, as the hill starts flattening out i'll just pop it down a few and see ya

mtb - again limits what you can do and achieve. I dont think anyone could be faster round a course on a ss than a geared bike. Thats why all pro's ride gears

So..... me personally, gears are quicker by a long shot and those who ride 'faster' than there mates who have gears obviously have slow mates.
If its your thing then good, stick with and ride how you want to but if it came down to whats quicker, then gears is the answer

Posted 6 months ago #
rOcKeTdOg - Member

tazzymtb - Member

1x9/10 FTW

For The Weak?

For The W...........(rhymes with bankers)

ssjeff - Member

1x9/10 FTW

For The Weak?

loving the insecurities chaps

Posted 6 months ago #
Northwind - Member

slimjim78 - Member

walking is for quitters.

Yet I've never been for a ride with a singlespeeder that didn't involve them walking while I was riding.

Posted 6 months ago #
deviant - Member

Yep, some of the more honest SS'ers on here have admitted their rides usually involve getting off to walk at various points ....and as others have said, I believe the pro XC riders use gears. I wonder why this is?!

SS'ing is cheap and low maintenance, I get that....but it does limit most people's riding hence the pros not having anything to do with it on road or MTB.

It's niche though and certain STW'ers love that!

Posted 6 months ago #
samuri - Member

nowt wrong with going for a bit of a walk or just coasting.

I have absolutely no problem with watching my geared riding partners shoot off when we come to a downhill bit. Clearly singlespeeding isn't right for all the elite geared riders posting for whom every second is important but for normal people it's nice to just roll and you can still get yourself up to a reasonable pace with a quick burst of the legs every now and again.

Posted 6 months ago #
epicyclo - Member

deviant - Member
...and as others have said, I believe the pro XC riders use gears. I wonder why this is?!...

Could it be they're racing?

I don't ride my bike as if I'm a racer. I have no illusions about my abilities in that area, but I haven't noticed that SS handicaps me in my times for a decent ride.

If I wanted to go fast I'd ride my motorbike.

Posted 6 months ago #
tazzymtb - Member

I believe the pro XC riders use gears. I wonder why this is?!...

and yet chaps like djay birch and john mylne regularly win races against geared riders on single speed niners? It's down to the rider.

Posted 6 months ago #
69er - Member

radoggair - Member
gears here and dont think i'll ever try SS

I'm in the dont get it camp
- yes, you are. The following confirms it!

Road - why would you want to!! I've ridden with some and they get to about 30mph and its all over for them. Whats the point in that?. As for climbing, well how about if i match your 42:14 gear or whatever you ride using my gears but wait, as the hill starts flattening out i'll just pop it down a few and see ya

mtb - again limits what you can do and achieve. I dont think anyone could be faster round a course on a ss than a geared bike. Thats why all pro's ride gears

You've proved yourself right - singlespeed is not for you, and you don't get it!

So..... me personally, gears are quicker by a long shot and those who ride 'faster' than there mates who have gears obviously have slow mates.
If its your thing then good, stick with and ride how you want to but if it came down to whats quicker, then gears is the answer

I ride fixed to work (daily 40 mile round trip). It's hilly one end, it's not a problem though, and the fixie requires virtually no maintenance. Just new tyres when they wear out.

Singlespeed off road for the same reason really. It makes for more fun, more of a challenge. Going to try brakeless fixed off road for the same reasons.

If I were going racing I'd be with you and get the geared bike out though, or if i was going somewhere with actual mountains. Saying that I have done 100k races in Wales s/s but it was fairly hard...

Posted 6 months ago #
Tom B - Member

I guess it depends what you want from riding.....I race and want to ride fast.....gears are faster. I will soon be SSing my bike for the winter though, to save wearing parts out......I rode SS and rigid last winter, and really enjoyed it.....no more or less than riding my geared hardtail though. Its all bikes innit!

Posted 6 months ago #
69er - Member

Prezactly!

Posted 6 months ago #
buzz-lightyear - Member

I like it and would have continued if I wasn't so weak. It follows the principle of doing more with less. Anything that makes the bike simpler to operate makes the ride more fun. The simple lack of drag was one thing, as was always having a tight chain, lightness, no clutter on the bar, a neater looking bike, and not braking, not collecting mud, and coasting/pumping instead of pedalling, and sprinting the bike up short climbs, and not washing it.

It was the long draggy climbs that killed.

Posted 6 months ago #
jimmers - Member

To directly answer the OP's questions. I had a SS MTB and SS CX for a number of years. I had a 1 x 9 setup for the MTB when I went to Wales or the Peaks for example.

I have got tired of swapping the gears on my SS MTB so this year I got a geared long travel hardtail for something different.

It's all swings and roundabouts at the end of the day. But the bike I enjoy riding most is one with no gears though I live in an area where I can ride up most hills without gears.

Posted 6 months ago #
aw - Member

I started on gears (like most) then had a cheap conversion on a old crosser frame and an old kona cinder cone. Both I enjoyed immensely so I bought a brand new kona unit 29er.

I did really embrace road riding however when I got my boardman team carbon (geared of course) - a super bike...and this threw me into a real problem. Gears or SS?

When I went out on a ride with mates from work I had to ask all sorts of questions of the ride organizer like is the route hilly? off road or on road?

Then if I used my SS then at times struggled to keep up with the others depending on terrain.

If you do any sort of event like a sportive for us mere mortals SS is a non starter!

I have bought my Genesis flyer so lets see how it feels...

Posted 6 months ago #
cookeaa - Member

Both are great, at the minute I'm loving the simplicity and maintainability of my winter SS MTB... but come summer I know that I'll be keen to get out on the Geared HT/geared DH bike/Geared road bike, hopefully a winter of SS training will improve my general fitness for riding them too...

I still don;t get why SS seems so polarized in some peoples minds into "Love" and "Hate" camps... it's all good...

Posted 6 months ago #
drinkmoreport - Member

[quote]Obviously gears, SS is pointless, especially for road riding

no, its fine

Posted 6 months ago #
Bez - Member

"SS'ing is cheap and low maintenance, I get that....but it does limit most people's riding hence the pros not having anything to do with it on road or MTB."

What, you're suggesting that people who get free bikes and a mechanic to look after them tend to worry less about how much the bike cost or how much faff it is to hose the road salt off, and more about how fast it goes?

"Commuters have a different set of priorities", it says in my Big Book of Rocket Science.

Posted 6 months ago #

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