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single speed road bikes that is. every where i look their doing them. kona, charge,cotic,on one,giant dolan and pearson to name but a few .now i want a road/cyclocross machine but i find myself being lured more towards one of these.i do live in the relative flatlands of Norfolk so i don't have to worry about hauling up big hills but i m not sure of the benefits. does anyone have one of these ? are they a good idea or am i just being fooled by trendy advertising ?
they're good fun, cheap and virtually maintenance free
but you can't change gear
not quickly anyway
My only question... what happens on the day your totally shattered and just want a easy gear to bumble on home...
I bet you would be about ready to kill anyone that says MTFU to you then 😉
Do both! get a Specialized Tricross Single.
I know it's a spesh but they really are quite good. Just sold mine that have been commuting on for 2 years (job move :().
They are quick(ish) comfortable and easy to maintain. If your commute is anywhere near as pot hole ridden as mine was, it's absolutely ideal.
ROADRAT isn't a singlespeed road bike, it's a "fit whatever you want" geared/non-geared, disc/non-disc, road/off-road mongrel.
yeah i know what you re saying about the roadrat but they sell it as a single speed if you buy it complete. i just think it would maybe be frustrating to only have one gear on a road bike but they are the nice looking bikes imho.
Fashion is a fickle fing! See what gets washed up by next year's tide of new-ness...
It is said that Norfolk road club runs would have been mostly on fixed gears all year round until well into the 70s.
The benefits are to be found in the absence of gears. It's not "better", it just has no unnecessary features. 🙂
i've a fixie with a flip flop hub. originally the fixed side was 20t and the freewheel 22t meaning if i couldn't hack it i could turn the wheel around and have it a little easier.
now it's 18t both sides. fitted a new freewheel and haven't used it.
front is 46.
singlespeed road is boring, but fixed is fun. imo.
Well worth a plunge IMHO. I don't get the fashion angle of these with the narrow dildo bars etc, & too often people seem to fix on this image, but as a simplistic idea they are fab. I started with a Bianchi Pista in 2007 as I loved the retro styling. Fitted some Nitto drops & that is the only change, apart from rear sprocket tinkering. It comes as a 48 x 16 stock set-up, which was slightly high - now at 48 x 20, with 48 x 18 getting put on if I'm up to the extra work. Rides great & it just gives a different angle to riding on the road. Just under 40 mile commute in total.
i just think it would maybe be frustrating to only have one gear on a road bike but they are the nice looking bikes imho.
Then get a bike that can be run either singlespeed or geared. That way, if you don't get on with it as a singlespeed you can just throw gears on it. This is sort of the idea behind the built up ROADRAT. The rear hub has a full size shimano splined freehub body, so you can put a cassette on it; there is full routing for gear cables; and the hubs and frame can take discs if you want.
It is said that Norfolk road club runs would have been mostly on fixed gears all year round until well into the 70s.
Well it would make sense there. Makes a lot less sense here, hence why the fixed sits unloved in the garage (got ridden a lot more before we moved to the top of a hill).