Why would a SS make you more supple?

I haven't read all the posts but IMO riding SS does make you fitter, depending on a few things. When I went SS on my commuter I had to work much harder on the same route to keep a decent cadence, and the only places I spin out I don't think I'd really be getting much training benefit on a geared bike anyway.

I'd have thought that would have to equate to better fitness?

I know that I get up most hills faster on my SS now than I used to with gears. That is purely because I hate walking and so I'm forced to ride faster, grind my way up, rather than be lazy and sit and spin like I used to. I have no idea if that makes me fitter.

I think riding my SS works my upper body more because I'm forever hauling on the bars trying to get uphill.

Also, I think it has made me a better rider as I concentrate on flowing about more, I don't break really hard at corners and then pedal away, because it's normally the wrong gear so I'd rather not pedal… I could have done that on a geared bike, for sure, but SS just pushed me in that direction naturally.

ooOOoo – Member
Why would a SS make you more supple?

You can pedal at a much higher cadence than you would normally on a geared bike.

The extra weight is not sufficient to make any real world difference unless you're a serious racer pushing things to the limit (do you suddenly ride dog slow when you fill your Camelbak more than usual?).

Some of us notice a bit of extra weight more easily than others. 😉

As for it being more efficient than a geared drivetrain, when it's on the workstand I can spin the drivetrain on my SS, backwards or forwards, much more easily than my geared bike, there's so little resistance in it. Yes it's incremental, and may not be detectable on the trail, but it's a nice feeling knowing that virtually all of the feeble power in my flabby legs is being transferred directly to the back wheel.

You can pedal at a much higher cadence than you would normally on a geared bike.

You've not really thought that through have you?

You know what he means – eg you learn to spin better because you're often forced to ride at higher cadence than you would naturally choose.

Souplesse it's called in France – which translates to supple in English but I'd say that he should have said "SS makes you pedal more smoothly" which may well be true.

As for it being more efficient than a geared drivetrain, when it's on the workstand I can spin the drivetrain on my SS, backwards or forwards, much more easily than my geared bike, there's so little resistance in it.

I am guessing there's something else going on, there shouldn't be any difference.

crikey – Member
You've not really thought that through have you?

If you read my original post you'll see that I have, and you haven't.

Hold on, SS is being sold as the answer to everything?

It makes you stronger because you can't spin, and makes you more supple because you have to spin?

The only thing it does is place a mechanical limitation on your riding speed thus forcing an adaptation, which you can do to a far greater extent using gears sensibly; want to push a bigger gear up hill? Then change gear. Want to spin along like crazy on the flat? Then change gear.

The weight is a non-issue; it's such a small percentage, especially in the context of mountain bikers with baggy clothes and camelbaks full of rubbish.

dunno about fitter but after doing puffer SS i feel stronger than ever

riding in a local race on my SS i managed to ride up stuff id run up in previous rounds , i managed to sit down on stuff id previously stand riding up

and consistancy – every one of my laps was 13 minutes , those on gears started off similar – but got slower 13-13.5-14-15 etc

All my riding this winter has been on an SS

crikey – Member

It makes you stronger because you can't spin, and makes you more supple because you have to spin?

The only thing it does is place a mechanical limitation on your riding speed thus forcing an adaptation, which you can do to a far greater extent using gears sensibly; want to push a bigger gear up hill? Then change gear. Want to spin along like crazy on the flat? Then change gear.

Thing is you don't do these things on a geared bike, whereas a ss forces you to.

Hold on, SS is being sold as the answer to everything?

Hardly.

I am guessing there's something else going on, there shouldn't be any difference.

Well, my geared bike also has a chain device. And weighs a good 5lb more than my SS. And cost approximately ten times as much. 🙂

Crikey, do you do rides with any variation in terrain at all? And do they involve lots of hiding under bridges? 😉

Oh smoothness then, I get that. Suppleness is useful for bike handling, but I did wonder how a SS would make any difference for that.

Well anyhoo I ride SS effectively on my flat commute. I doubt it would be any good for the fitness of my knees off road. I think I naturally pedal slowly, like my dad

Any time I try high cadence it just feels awkward and like I'm making a meal of things.

Thing is you don't do these things on a geared bike, whereas a ss forces you to.

Maybe you don't, but I certainly have.

Crikey, do you do rides with any variation in terrain at all

Yes. That's why I don't ride SS.

…and I don't really see that daring to disagree with the STW SS posse can be classed as trolling.

no, not the answer to everything.

for almost all of the time it's a total inconvenience. still good fun though, and it forces me to work harder on climbs, yes i could just change gear to make it harder, but i'm lazy so that would never happen.

i especially enjoy the 'steering with your feet' thing which i find almost impossible to explain…

I doubt it would be any good for the fitness of my knees off road. I think I naturally pedal slowly, like my dad

Any time I try high cadence it just feels awkward and like I'm making a meal of things.

Erm you can re-train your cadence, it requires more than just "trying it", and I think it's well established that the whole "ss damages knees" thing is a myth.

I find that carrying 20kg's of extra weight makes you fitter.

Personally I would say that a SS makes a person fitter for two reasons:

– You pedal harder up hills thereby developing leg strength and promoting adaptation to slow twitch muscles

– You spin faster on the flats and therefore a person's avg HR rate will be higher for a given speed. Lance Armstrong avg cadence was around 10 – 15 rpm higher than other riders as pedalling a higher cadence vs slower cadence is proven to be more energy efficient.

Of course the points made above are generally true for "average riders". Pros will always use gears to mash up hills and have a £1000 worth of power meter attached to the bike to ensure they are completing the correct training workout dictated by their coach.

It is possible to train within HR zones on SS. Flat road circuit on the fixie with appropiate gearing for base training. HR zone used so that the level of exertion doesn't reach the lactate threshold zone.

Whilst intervals can be accomplished on a turbo trainer with variable resistance. I had a road bike with gears and was never really comfortable doing intervals on the road due to traffic and other hazards. So I use a SS MTB on a trainer.

The type of riding I enjoy is long distance stuff and 24hr solos. Whereby a lack of gears is a mental advantage as it is one less thing to think of and one less thing to break.

My regime is specific to using the SS to the extent, for example, of practising steep hill repeats without hitting my lactate threshold which results in pedalling up the same hill VERY slowly many times. This way I can train the leg muscles not to tire as much as if I were to blast up a hill. So my "granny gear" is simply pedalling slower though the level of exertion will still be more than if I were using gears and therefore more tiring except I try to overcome this by performing such hill repeats.

It is a tradeoff in the end, but one that I enjoy 🙂

running too high a gear too soon can damage your knees but running the correct gear and labouring slightly isnt bad , its labouring continuously for a couple hours thats bad , if you told me to go ride the fungle path then id gear down to 32:20 as although i could ride it 32:16 id have sore knees at the end – thats when the damage can occur – not always but not a chance id like to take

would rather spin faster and be able to climb than have to grind out the climb

crikey – Member
Thing is you don't do these things on a geared bike, whereas a ss forces you to.

Maybe you don't, but I certainly have.

Crikey, do you do rides with any variation in terrain at all

Yes. That's why I don't ride SS.

So, you think it's usual to force yourself to do high/low cadence work with gears, but not on ss? Perhaps for those "into" training, but my point is that "normal" folk will get this kind of varied work-out on a ss but they wouldn't bother otherwise.

Interesting that you don't ride ss – it's often the folk that don't do something that want to argue against it.

Look at it simply, your knees are at the pivot point. You are putting alot of stress through that pivot. Once my fitness was on the up and after a long ride at Coed-y-Brenin I pulled my back out for weeks. No thanks!

thats user error as i explained. YOu could have quite easily done the same thing on gears !

it's often the folk that don't do something that want to argue against it.

And for that matter, you'll get a lot of SSers who are happy to admit that it's kind of retarded. 🙂

God, SSEC's going to be a laugh isn't it 😉

You think you could ride up the Fungle on a 32:16?

I know I couldn't.

It'll be full of unspeakable rotters comparing novelty sock designs. 🙂

choice is golden

certain courses dictate gears- Relentless & fyrish , certain its neither here nor there and you can use SS or gears , i wouldnt say SS was ever much of an advantage in a race tbh a pair of expert/elite riders of similar level one on gears one on SS – the geared rider imho will always win.

An expert/elite on SS vs a sharp end sport rider on gears an it would be a closer call

and expert elite ss vs mid pack sport geared should be expert/elite if the course suits SS

reminder to self – buy novelty socks.

crikey – The weight is a non-issue? Eh? So why the heck do people spend a fortune of uberlight components and bikes and not still ride 50lb Schwinns?

Hmmm these probably aren't niche enough. Must try harder.

I'm not arguing against SS, I'm pointing out the fundamental flaws in the arguments people use to suggest it is somehow better than riding with gears. I can do everything on a geared bike that you can on a SS, and being able to choose a gear ratio allows me to get exactly the same benefit over a greater range of speed and terrain.
SS places a mechanical limitation on your ride, that's all. I can choose to get exactly the same limitation.
SS isn't magical, its just biking.

You think you could ride up the Fungle on a 32:16?

I did it once on 32:18 on my 29er.

pushed up mount keen from the queens well , rode down glen tanar and then rode back over the fungle up past the guard !

Hence why id never do it again on 32:16 as my knees and lower back were in tatters for a couple days

To be fair the weight of a geared drivetrain isn't that much, but then I suspect a lot of SSers will be those luddite weirdos who don't have suspension either. They can be recognised by little stitch marks round their wrists from the surgery to reattach their snapped-off hands.

aye the weight difference isnt much , about 2.3-3lbs …. my bike with gears is 21.8lbs and without it(and a change from tubeless SB8s to tubed panaracer muds) is 18.5lbs , thats largely XTR stuff i removed as well !

Clubber, those are rubbish. You want some that advertise a company that only makes steel bikes (aluminium is imaginary remember), contain some sort of reference to drinking beer, commemorate an event that only five really really cool people attended, and were once used as a gonk-rag by Keith Bontrager. 🙂

Weight, people buy light stuff because they think its important.
How much weight does a SS set up save?
…and what % of a 120kg bike/rider/camelback/sock/beard is that saving?

some great stereotypes here for a monday morning – 68kg – non beard whoring non niche monger. its all about carbon here !

I'm not saying that ss'ing is the pantheon of mtbing, its just another area of our diverse sport.

"gonk-rag" awesome 🙂

To make myself fitter I ditched the singlespeed in favour of a xc race bike. Whilst I've got the 'bail out' option of gears they also give me the oppertunity to work even harder.
If you want to be serious about getting fitter use gears and don't granny out when no ones looking.