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whats there to get? it's a bike.
[i]The whole niche / lets grow 'wacky' beards thing winds me up[/i]
define a wacky beard? i think mine is 'traditional' i'd like the circumstance to shave it into a decent set of burners though
Bunch of luddites...mate bought one..steel rigid for a while....then fitted rebas...then swapped to On One scandium frame...thinking about putting gears on it now....quite sweet really watching mountain bike evolution all over again!
Not really practical for real hills either...cue response from online riding gods who ride up 1 in 3 hills in the 36-16
oh and they are really anti-social cos you can't chill with your mates on climbs either!
And yes I have ridden one!
they're an anti social bunch.
Well i find i am, faster on the climbs as you need to commit to them therefore you reach the top generally quicker than the average geared rider. So you end up waitng at the top and have recovered nicely for when the others arrive all puffed out. = anti social
Along the flat, if your riding with a fast bunch who are big ringing it, your spinning like a fool and breathing heavy, therefore can't speak to clearly = anti social
On the descents, you need to pump the terrain more to retain speed, put in bursts of power now and again, i find this not a problem on the techy stuff, but the fast pedally flowing trials i can't go a fast as i'd like to, about the only negative, this can mean you maybe holding up riders behind you =anti social.
Not really practical for real hills either...cue response from online riding gods who ride up 1 in 3 hills in the 36-16
You're right, they're impossible to ride in the Lakes or the north Pennines. Just can't be done. Nope, impossible.
Anybody who rides with me will tell you I'm a better stronger rider on SS. If I have gears I always be at the back on climbs, but with SS I'm nearer the front. I get off and walk about the same amount on both.
Part of that is because I'm 100kg and I'm fearful of getting out of the saddle and putting the pressure on with gears because of destroying the drivetrain, and snapping a chain. The other reason is because I get lazy, and on SS you can't do lazy.
And it's right to call it single SPEED because we go the same speed everywhere - up down or flat.
For me it's just another bike. When I fancy a change from my full sus I jump on the singlespeed.
Can't afford gears. I have two bikes and can only afford 10 gears across both. 🙁
the whole stupid beard thing does look a bit sad, is it still going?
Can't afford razor blades. 🙁
For me:
I want something cheap, that I can use to get to work every day and that either won't get stolen in Glasgow or if it does won't matter a huge amount.
I've recently dabbled- although only on my commuter so maybe there's something about MTB SSing that I'm missing, but FWIW:
Lighter
Cheaper to run (in theory- doubt I'll see this for a while yet)
Keeps you working a bit harder (good thing)
Coasting down anything that looks like a hill is boring
Some hills are very hard work (and offset the lightness to some extent)
So while I'm not in a huge hurry to put my gears back on my commuter, neither am I about to rush out and take the gears off my MTB. I guess there's an attractive simplicity to it, but (for me anyway) it wasn't the revelation that some might make it out to be- it's just a bike with no gears on.
I got one recently for riding around Delamere. Not particularly hilly, very muddy (especially over winter) and also good excercise.
I'm hoping the SS will save my Full Suss bike's bearings and drive train from getting knackered and also give me a little more fitness so that when I take the full suss out into the peaks or wales I'll be able to go longer/faster etc.
So far I really like it and find the riding a little more challenging and exciting.
I like SSers, they make me laugh and remind me of religious people. It never ceases to amaze me how illogical people can be.
Ive got 27 Single speeds - all mounted on one bike so I dont have to ask those questions about what gear ratio to use.
after 20 years of riding mountain bikes I love sinlge speeds.....I own a big bouncy thing (no, not a space hopper) and race an ultra light hardtail as well, but the joy of stomping past a load of wheezing, granny gear spinning "real" mountian bikers on big climbs in the peak district, scotland, north wales is amazing.
If you don't get it, don't do it.
I personally think anyone who gobs off about a topic based on narrow minded stereotypes "bearded luddites etc.." without having had personal experience of the topic is a big hairy nob face....so there! 😛
after 20 years of riding mountain bikes I love sinlge speeds.....I own a big bouncy thing (no, not a space hopper) and race an ultra light hardtail as well, but the joy of stomping past a load of wheezing, granny gear spinning "real" mountian bikers on big climbs in the peak district, scotland, north wales is amazing.
If you don't get it, don't do it.
I personally think anyone who gobs off about a topic based on narrow minded stereotypes "bearded luddites etc.." without having had personal experience of the topic is a big hairy nob face....so there! 😛
sorry for the double post......ok.....so i'm an IT luddite......bugger it's not a stereotype
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I've got a rigid SS and a geared full susser (and had a hardtail too at one point). Each have their advantages and disadvantages and both can be fun to ride. There's nothing to "get" with SS other than it's a different style of riding.
I never intended to get a mono-ratio. I was asking around for a nice light hardtail, and a mate gave me his old steel oner frame, then I found that it was a really enjoyable bike to ride in the endlessly rainy muddy claggy summers we get these years.
It's nice to have a few bikes to choose from....
This thread is why I love STW. Pointless, amusing and deeply deeply uninteresting to 99.73% of the population 😀
Part of that is because I'm 100kg and I'm fearful of getting out of the saddle and putting the pressure on with gears because of destroying the drivetrain, and snapping a chain.
I'm 110Kg and love getting up and stomping. I have snapped 4 chains in the last 2 1/2 years but have only had one gut to stem incident. I vowed to just change chains after 0.75 on the wear indicator now. I want to try this SS thang tho. It looks fun. I've got all the kit I need now and this winter either my 853 or 456 will become SS.
I cant speak for serious off road use on the SS(see other bike)but cant be faulted for canal work commute (nice and flat all 8 miles) and also quality for arsing around on the local jumps and "urban riding" so it has my vote.
I have too many bikes, all sorts, ride them all but my 'bag of bits' SS is my fav, just grab and ride, but I do live in Devon so only little hills really!?!
Bikes are cool.
Pushbikes that is.
Hardtails look better singlespeed.
No worry about chain slap.
Don't have one myself, but can see the attraction.
Kramer - MemberHardtails look better singlespeed.
No worry about chain slap.
Don't have one myself, but can see the attraction.
Suck it up big boy, you can try mine next time we have a ride and see if you can overtake me on the descents *then* without doing a superman in front of the walkers 🙂
See, I ask a simple question and get all of this back, 😆
For the record I ride a full sus bike, lots and lots of gears, and every other bit of new technology that is in the modern world, (apart from grizzly bears zip tied to the handle bars). Although I do have a beard, shaved short to match my ever balding head!
Before moving Down Under I used to ride my bike around Hamsterley, in all weathers, and never had trouble with my gears. The bike got very muddy, took it home, cleaned it ready for next time, easy.
Now I live in a world of almost continuous sunshine, and still no trouble with my gears, and no desire for SS either.
I also don't see the point of road riding, or bmx's!
I bust a mech on a ride a while ago and did a successful trailside singlespeed conversion, It was rubbish. Spinning out on every descent and grunting up every climb at a stupid low cadence.
I can see the appeal for winter flat woodland or for a jump bike - but for every day trail riding - dinnae be so daft laddie
Bikes are cool.
it dont even matter yo.
singlespeeds have their place
as do road bikes
and shoppers
etc
Got a full suss but spend far more of the time on my rigid ss these days
Think you either get it or you don't
I find it more of a challenge especially in the Peak, Scotland or Wales
Got tired of the bills for a full suss as well
Its just another bike isn't it. What's all the fuss about? Mike Ferrentino has a point this month .............
They're fast. I know 'cos I got overtaken by a bloke on a Pompino with 52/12 ratio (down A316). Anybody from here BTW?
I looked under the bridge, and guess what I spotted? Yep, a troll. Not only that, but an Australian troll. Singlespeeds are great. I've got one. Hardtails with 6" travel forks are great as well. I've got one of those as well. 6" travel full sus is great too. Got one of those. Guess what. The SS is the one I ride most. If you don't understand why, then maybe one day when your IQ gets higher than your shoe size, you may just begin to get an idea.
It might of been me going so fast I jumped through time and space and onto the A316. You'd never achieve that sort of movement on a geared bike.
Count Zero, calm down, 😛
When your IQ is as high as mine, then you might read my previous reply and not that I am an English Troll, not an Aussie Troll, 😆
But then again, you do ride SS more!
How many gears does chris hoy use on his track bike?
ohh thats right 1!
its all about personal preferance and mine is single speed, i ride a 2009 spesh p1 cro mo, i had a flow moe with 9 gears untill it was nicked from my flat at xmas last year, if it suits you to ride ss then ride ss, i have personally found i ride quicker on my ss than on a geared bike as i found i became lazy on climes relying on my gears to get up hills but i was on a crack-n-fail rize a few weeks ago for a ride and i made it up a clime easier than on my ss but it felt like i was cheating, is was slower and less rewarding on the crack-n-fail but like i said its all down to what YOU prefer, try a ss and see if you like it, if you dont then dont worry it wasnt for you!
I understand that different riders prefer different bikes, all I wanted to know is why do some riders prefer SS? Simple question I thought 🙄
I did say at the outset that you'd opened up a whole kettle o' worms with this one Todd!
... Unfortunately, it's often difficult to ask the question 'why?', beacuse certain biking 'cliques' can instantly regard this question as some sort of challenge to their zealously-guarded worldview... This said, I'm sort of 50:50 as to whether you are trolling or actually genuine in your seemingly naive questioning?
I am satisfied to see that pretty much everything I predicted at the outset of this thread has come to bear (pun intended). Singlespeeders really do have much bigger cojones, don't you know..? 😉
On a more [i]zen[/i] note, aside from the practical aspects of mud clearance / lightness / low mantainence etc. ... I think some riders prefer a singlespeed [i]hardtail[/i] - they're always hardtails - simply because it makes riding a more simple, zen-like experience... Which can't be a bad thing, surely?
I was forced to go 'singlespeed' during one ride last year when my rear mech fell to bits mid-ride. I must've found exactly the right ratio or something, because it was actually quite a good experience, flowing along nicely through the woods - I didn't miss gears at all - although I was only on gently undulating terrain (Swinley). Suffice to say though, by the time we got on the road to go home, I could barely keep up with my mate on a geared bike - who is waaay less fit than me - as I was spinning out like crazy.
As for several claims that 'it makes you less lazy (and therefore faster) going up hills'. FFS! That philosophy really seems to work for Lance, Contador et al. 🙄
... Otherwise - I'm really enjoing this pointless, amusing discussion so far on a topic that 99.7% of the population wouldn't comprehend!
(p.s. Welcome to Aus - I think most in the UK are asleep right now)
no_eyed_dear, It was a genuine question that seems to have been lost with some people. If some people want to get upset with the issue and throw abuse, then I am quite happy to throw some back. Does that make me a pommie troll? 😆
I knew that it would open up a can of worms, everybody has an opinion on here, and don't they know how to voice it!
Interesting to hear some of the opinions/excuses to ride SS though.
It does quieten down in the UK right now, then the forum starts to pick up late this arvo.
Never ever seen the point of singlespeeds, there's not a single advantage to be gained by a singlespeed over a working geared bike.
Pointless.
Tractors are cheap and good in the mud but I wouldn't drive one every day.
over a working geared bike
there's your advantage right there!
😛
[i]Tractors are cheap and good in the mud[/i]
There's another advantage, for a non-singlespeeder you're selling them quite well.
[url= http://www.sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html ]Sheldon Brown:[/url]
"Riding a singlespeed can help bring back the unfettered joy you experienced riding your bike as a child"
Click link above for a very good article from Sheldon 🙂