i currently ride a fs but was thinking of begginning a ss build for autumn (im skint so starting early) as the f/s maintainance was a pain.
do i need very strong legs to keep up with geared riders and will i find it very very hard at first?
one of my knees is not a strong as it was due to an op so part of me thinks its a bad idea…

If you're riding on steep stuff it really doesn't do knees any favours. Should be ok if you pick the right ratio though. 32:18 is a bit kinder on knees.

Takes a while to get the strength, but it won't slow you down much apart from where it's so steep you have to to walk and road or flat stuff.

So its slower on hills, and the flat and roads… 🙄

whats the plus side…?

32:18 is a good choice if hilly, you'll find it too low if your local woods are like mine

the legs will come, and the attitude if you're a spinner at the moment. Then when someone asks "what is the plus side" you can answer them by showing them your @rse as you disappear up the hill leaving them winching up 🙂

or you will fek your knees … could go either way

wrote a response, then deleted it, cant be ar%*ed.

You need to be stronger to ride SS but it will come quite quickly. it is fine for up to 300Metres of ascending anything more and I cant generate the power/speed.
You wont be slower up as you need to go faster to avoid stall speed power churning but you will be much more tired…. I am quicker up on SS on local stuff. Depends where you live if i was in Lakes I would not be using the SS ever but smaller hilly stuff it is perfect IMHO – especially as I am no fan of maintenance

No, just Big knackers and a beard. 😉

whats the plus side…?

There isn't one.

Stick with your gears.

Mate of mine recently got an SS and I've had a few goes on it, admittedly only around the flat plains of Thetford forest.

It wasn't as hard work as I expected it to be, although I suffered up a couple of the short, sharp bursts. Something that in time, your legs would get accustomed to, perhaps.

In races that I've done where SS'ers have been present, it seems to be very condition dependant – I've had them fly past me as they are obviously fitter, but then get to a squelchy/boggy section or a steep hill and I've span past in a nice easy gear while they've been puffing & wheezing just to keep moving……repeat as required for the whole lap. The worst combo for them seems to be slippy climbs as they need to stand for power, but the weight transfer all goes a bit to pot & the rear wheel easily spins.

well i live in east anglia and it isnt "hilly" round our way but a s a reasult any slope is seeked out on club runs and there are actually quite a few (just not very long climbs) but as said earlier i only want to do thisto avoid loads of maintainence in the crappy winter weather, thats the main drive..well only drive really.

Been riding bikes for 30 years on and off – had a singlespeed when I was a toddler. It was alright for getting about the kitchen and the living room.

Many years later I converted a mountainbike to singlespeed – possibly wanting to relive my toddler years. It was pretty good for getting around the kitchen and the living room again. For anything else my geared bike was far superior.

If you're riding on steep stuff it really doesn't do knees any favours.

I propose that if any-one trots out this shite they get a 24 hr ban for being an idiot. One last time, SS isn't going to kill your knees… 🙂

Will you need stronger legs? well sort off. Up any decent hill your heart rate will go straight to L3 but only really on steeper hills, and surprisingly it's mostly about balance rather than al out strength. personally I think my upper body gets a far bigger work out, as you end up sort of "rowing" the bike up hills. Rest of the time (flat and DH) you'll be pretty much in your recovery zone.

So its slower on hills, and the flat and roads…

whats the plus side…?

You could say that about all bikes though really, right? Don't compare SS to regular riding it won't stand up to the scrutiny. Without getting too bollocky-****-shite about it, it's just a different challenge to regular riding, You know? It's physical, it's about challenging one-self.

Try it, you may like it, you may not, up to you

SS is rubbish. I'd not bother.

I've concluded my SS is for when I have a weak willpower. Normally I'll drop into a different gear and just granny up a hill taking the easiest route, with SS you're forced to attack it. I do both. Both are enjoyable at times.

Can someone let me know just when I can expect my knees to be buggered please? A 6 or 7 year gap aside, I've been riding singlespeeds for over 30 years now and my knees are still working fine. Am I doing it wrong?

edit: oh never mind, I'll go and ask some of the old chaps next time I go to the track. Lots of them have been riding fixies for 60 years, they'll be able to tell me.

Why not just try not touching your shifters for a week, see if you like it.

Normal legs will be fine, but you will need to grow a beard, however…

Got my first single speed Dec, I'm using 32.18 and there is only one slope on my local flatish loop I can't get up (usual ride it 34.34 on XC bike).

My knees definitely suffer a bit more as you put alot more pressure through them, but I've got dodgy knees anyway.

I still haven't quite got the hang of 'spinning' I seem to end up bouncing up and down off the saddle when trying to keep up a half decent speed.

Plus is definitely getting home, bike covered in mud, and just chucking it in the shed not worrying about it.

"Lots of them have been riding fixies for 60 years"

they'll regret it in time, you mark my words.

The worst combo for them seems to be slippy climbs as they need to stand for power, but the weight transfer all goes a bit to pot & the rear wheel easily spins.

This is the only time I have problems on my SS – but then you just view it as a challenge, trying to improve your technique re balance of weight over front and rear wheels whilst out of the saddle.

Stronger legs – yes, fitter – yes, if you do it often enough for long enough.

IME it makes you much more focussed on the use of momentum and to some degree, line choice, since you don't have the luxury of nice easy gears to dig you out of a stall. What comes with this is a certain attitude of acceptance of difficulty and (at least for me) an improved tolerance of pain.

You don't really get more tired on a ride, since although your peak effort is generally higher, on the flats you can't use gears to keep challenging your legs, so it works out about the same.

I also get far more personal reward clearing tricky climbs and sections on the SS.

As nickc says, its just different. Definitely more fun with a splash of fitness involved, but thats true for mtbing in general.

whats the plus side…?

your friends will be in awe of you
the girls will be all over you like a rash
bmw's will swerve to avoid you.
traffic lights will always be on green
you will never wear out your jockey wheels
you shifters will never need repiring
your gear cables wont stretch
if your not your moms favourite… you soon will be
children will cheer you on whenever you pass them.

( all of the above applies unless your name is Stu or Sheldon)

i could go on but i think you get the idea

Well, not being as big and tough as some of them ^ 🙄 it's a trade-off for me: There are odd hills that I can't get up (I only ride the new forest which is largely "gently rolling" if you're generous but it does get muddy and there's also plenty of loose, flinty gravel to loose traction) but I also can't really keep up on the flats. I don't mind that though, and overall I imagine I'm about as fast as when I ride geared because I'm a lot faster up less steep hills (through necessity).

I think it's strengthening me up quicker but that's mostly because I'm lazy and it makes me work.

Seems daft to me to imagine that there's not a greater POTENTIAL for knee injury IMO – at peak climbing moments you're pushing harder and "rowing" the bike also means that your lower leg/ankle is moving through a variable angle whilst doing so. On the flat you're not pressing hard but you're going at higher revs than your geared mate.

The stuff about the 60-yr old riders is like saying that your gran smoked 60 a day and lived to be ninety.

Try it. If your knee hurts, stop.

sofaking.

You're my hero.

When I grow up I want to be just like you.

The only "difficult" moments are when your geared mates slow down at the bottom of a climb causing you to lose momentum, which is a pain. The answer to that therefore is to always be in front.

The best advice is to just try it and see if you like it.

i only want to do thisto avoid loads of maintainence in the crappy winter weather, thats the main drive..well only drive really.

Alfine?

you don't need stronger legs to SS, you get stronger legs from SSing
"singlespeed make you strong like bear!"

sofaking.

You're my hero.

When I grow up I want to be just like you.

i didnt say i was a singlespeeder.

you dont want to be like me. i have bad habits and some very strange friends 😈

i didnt say i was a singlespeeder.
you dont want to be like me. i have bad habits and some very strange friends

It's easy to tell that you're a singlespeeder from all the attentionwhoring you do.

I didn't know you had any friends, though you just knew some other attentionwhores….

The worst combo for them seems to be slippy climbs as they need to stand for power, but the weight transfer all goes a bit to pot & the rear wheel easily spins

Hmmm, you just described last night's ride perfectly.

ononeorange – Member
The only "difficult" moments are when your geared mates slow down at the bottom of a climb causing you to lose momentum, which is a pain. The answer to that therefore is to always be in front.

Too true. Though I find shouting 'elite single-speeder coming through' normally clears them out of the way sharpish. And makes them even more aware of your superiority.

there is more annecdotal evidence pointing towards SS/fixed helping knees rather than buggering them

the issues arrize when you have tools doing big skids on fixies = **** knees

i know my gammy knee likes SS over gears …..

singlespeedstu – Wag

whats the plus side…?

There isn't one.

Stick with your gears.

^I may frame and hang that. best answer to the singlespeed debate ever!

and I was joking about teh knees earlier hmkay? the only thing that ever buggered my knees was my road bike … oh and that crash last year but that bike had gears too

get a hardtail frame that'll take gears or ss or an alfine.

then if your not man enough you don't like it you can change 😉

I ride SS on my commuter, me likey 😀

personally if you have a history of knee issues at all i wouldnt. its great and I love it but i can often 'feel' my knees a bit after a few rides.

I'm a recent convert to SS and feel it has brought my overall strength and fitness on. I think when you have gears the inclination is to gear down when you get out of your comfort zone; SS shows that your comfort zone is probably far higher than you suspected.

It's brilliant, if u relish a bit more challenge than a "proper bike". an the knee thing i recon its just down t the person, i broke me kneecap a couple of years ago an started ridin ss soon after, live in the lakes an there's only the very hardest hills u can't get up, i only get off on garburn a similar amount t me proper bike. to conclude get one, you'll either love it, or not