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Ever ridden in the Chilterns in winter? Awful chalky grinding paste. liked it so much I rode nothing else for nearly 4 years.
I saw the SS riders on here and wanted to find a way to be like them somehow..
I like it.
It likes me.
Now ride pretty much exclusively on SS. This year I've won more stuff xc racing than at any point in last 20 odd years. I'm 51. Does SS get you fitter? I'd say yes.
I also did it to get chicks.
Epping forest mud.
Had all the bits to build a bike bar the gears and was curious about SS. I loved it immediately and now ride SS most of the time. I do sometimes tire of fending off slavering women and adoring would-be disciples but on balance it's worth it.
I also did it to get [s]chicks[/s] men with beards.
I have an SS-specific Salsa Selma frame that I got from the classifieds on here, but really it was a process of mechanical evolution, borne of other moving parts breaking down.
Forks packed up. Got some carbon rigids in the meantime while they were away getting serviced. Liked them so much that the suspension forks never went back on.
Alfine 8 hub packed up. Bought a cheap wheel and some SS spacers as a meantime thing while Alfine hub was [s]being serviced[/s] pronounced dead by the bike shop. After a little experimentation with gear ratios, found a combo I liked and never looked back.
Had one puncture too many and went tubeless.
If I keep paring the bike down at this rate I'm going to end up riding a fixed-wheel unicycle.
Whilst the Isle of Wight is hilly, none of the climbs are that long, amd most of my riding is fairly gnar-free XC. I find there's maybe only 1% of any ride where I miss having either gears or suspension. Also enjoy bombing past people on climbs where you can hear them crunching and munching their way through a series of problematic gloop-infested gear changes when the trails turn to porridge.
I am looking to build one up under the guise of "My current commuter is too small for me" and it will be an SSCX or SS road bike depending on the wheelset I put in it.
I love riding my cross bike off road and the face of the mamils on 5k full suspension bikes as I ride past them down a descent they are all umming and arring about. That makes me want the cross bike, the single speed is to just make my legs hurt over winter and make my legs look more like a german track cyclist.
The cool kids made me do it and its a great excuse for another bike
I have a beard, I want to be more successful with the laydees, it's a bit niche and I wanted to fit in on here
Natural progression 😉
??
That would be the reason I would go for it. Drivetrains are expensive, yo.
I was told by a former riding 'mate' that I was too fat/unfit and would never be able to ride SS....
nothing like my pig headed ignorance to get me motivated
The world champs were in Afan in 2001, I lived in Bristol, it looked a laugh so cobbled a SS drivetrain onto my old Kona and talked a mate into driving me over. First SS ride was from the start line, always had one since.
The period a few years ago when Shimano/SRAM prices went a bit mental as the exchange rate shifted. Tried it once and found it wasn't as hard as it looked, makes sense you're actually going slower than everyone else most of the time, just pressing on the pedals harder.
Now I keep using it as it just feels better, going uphill the pedals have to be pressed harder, gears feel a bit wierd! Added advantages is it's (generaly) cheep, I always seem to snap mechs off when I go back to gears, it's nice being able to take corners tight or not worry about leaving space through rocks.
Bought an Orange R8 frame at a bargin price and wanted it built up sharpish, went SS (with a suspension fork - I'm not a total masochist!!) and absolutely loved it, easier to honk it up hills than I anticipated, more fun, much quieter, lighter, less maintenance and, aye, it looks beautiful. Wouldn't get rid of the geared full bouncer but the SS is the ying to its yang. Love it. N+1 means I'm now contemplating a rigid SS 29er...
New transmission after winter on SS = £30.
Cost of servicing rigid forks = £0.
GB
I have only been rising one for a year. Got it to make riding with non-cyclists more strenuous. The elegance and simplicity of the singlespeed solution is a real attraction but the plusses of ease of maintenance and lack of wear have become more apparent as time goes on.
singlespeedstu - Member
Is no one going to admit that they did it for the attention?
I would but as both a jonny-come-lately and riding it it mainly with family and non-cycling mates - it has failed spectacularly!
Summer 2012.
So I could grow my beard...
I was told by a former riding 'mate' that I was too fat/unfit and would never be able to ride SS....
this too
he was wrong
Had spent many winters riding fixed on the road, so when I came back to cycling, and singlespeed mtbs were mentioned started looking around, found one going cheap, bought that, got hooked, sold it to build a better one, and love it to bits, no gears no suspension, just feels proper. Tempted to try singlespeeding a cross bike, probably try one over the summer.
Bigger boys stole my gears... 🙁
DrP
My SS is an Ibis Tranny. It seemed a bit pointless to have it and not SS it. I love how rear triangle adjusts to take up the slack in the chain.
Had an Alfine 8 and decided to try changing for a ss set up. So much nicer. I felt more in control on the climbs. The aesthetics are also fantastic.
My names Luddite and I'm a bike tinkerer, there I've said it.
I wanted to build one out of my "junk".
Would like to polish it now but not possible, perhaps I should just roll it in glitter!
because PQ did......
It was an excuse for a new bike 😉 there is a local grass track league near me and after a trip to the velodrome Idecided to get something with a flip flop hub. I tried I out singlespeed at first and loved it! I actually flipped it over to fixed today but not sure how long it will stay like that for.
My mate suggested we do SSUK at Drumlanrig. He bailed to go to a wedding but that was the start of it for me. I started with an old frame I had spare and bought cheap bits to build it up. When that was knicked I bought a scandal with horizontal dropouts. I like being able to put some nice stuff on the SS as I'm not spending lots on gears. I don't do it for the attention but it is fun when somebody says you can't ride up that on a SS and you go and do it. I think I push myself a bit harder on the SS and I think it makes you better rider, gives you a better feel for grip.
because PQ did
Is he still around?
Did you ever give him his bikerack back?
I started ssing because it seemed to confuse the hard of thinking.
singlespeedstu - Member
because PQ did
Is he still around?Did you ever give him his bikerack back?
no,'off the map'
and it's my bikerack now 😉
But really I was riding an old Pug road bike lost a jockey so SS'ed it to get home, good old Cool Tool. didn't fix it for a few weeks found I was quicker on, most of, my regular routes. Liked the 'just riding' so the rigid '92 Kona got the SS treatment ad well.
Nice to find a use for a hardtail frame I had gathering dust, saves the good bikes from winter trashing, makes local trails harder/more fun (26" wheels though so can't claim they came alive), makes rides with non-bikers harder/more fun.
Apart from that it's rubbish. And cheap, and nice looking, and light.
Beard in rear mech incident...
Initially, Just to see, and the aesthetics
I bought an Inbred 29er in 2006. Brant said he would sort out some gears later but I never bothered. SS 29er makes great sense.
i) To have a winter commuting bike with a drive train that might last more than one winter.
ii) To cheaply resurrect an old bike that otherwise I would have finished with.
iii) An excuse to take it easy on downhill and flat-sections and be able to blame the drive train spinning out for riding slowly.
iv) The thought of riding a niche gear ratio involving prime numbers e.g. 37:17 🙂
When the n+1 bikes itch started for me, my original intention was to build a 29 with an Alfine 11 hub - mostly for the low maintenance aspects.
As this not long after the Alfine 11 first came out, there were varying contradicting reports on the reliability - and the order process seemed a bit confusing, as the hub, the cable guide, and other mounting kits seemed to have to be ordered separately - I turned to idea on it's head and built the 29er with gears and converted my Genesis Altitude to singlespeed.
I struggled a bit with larger hills, at first, but recently changed from 32:18 to 32:17 and have now fallen in love with the SS - for local night rides.
I still bring the 29er out for longer days with more hills, but the singlespeed is just a joy to ride, and it's certainly improving my fitness.
About 5-6 years ago, I was out riding with dot from here and he'd cobbled together a singlespeed. At the first notable hill he shot up it, leaving me and the rest for dust. When we eventually got to the top he was hunched over trying not to be sick and looked awful. I thought wow!- look what a singlespeed can do and look what it does to you. I was intrigued, so cobbled one together myself.
@yak I rode the very same climb on a singlespeed this afternoon, did it a bit quicker than 6 years ago but still felt like puking at the top 🙂
Curiosity and I was fed up destroying drive trains in the noxious filth that local trails consist if for ten months if the year.
stevenmenmuir - Member
I like being able to put some nice stuff on the SS as I'm not spending lots on gears.
I like that, that has just helped me justify spending some money on my Unit!
Because I'm a stubborn northerner, living in the south west. I use it to help improve my riding mates fitness......he he he
Road: fixed builds fitness faster and improves pedaling
Off road: first mtb was a rigid Kona Unit 29er SS because I though it would build skills and fitness faster. Second is a Genesis ioid Alfine which is now SS again.
And I quite like different.