[Closed] who rides sspeed and why

Singlespeeding is for attentionwhorists and nichemongers with no thumbs.

TBH I'd give it a miss or you'll end up like wokboy 'tollah.

Jesus rides a single speed.

It's because he kept getting his long robes caught in the dérailleur so it was just easier to go single speed.

I ride SS mainly because I am too stupid to work gears.

I think part of why I tried it was the niche/fashion thing. But I had ridden a couple of times with SSers who seemed to do OK on them. I did some test riding on my geared bike by sticking to one gear only and felt that I could go for it, at least in some circumstances. The final decider was a night ride a few years ago on my 3K+ FS machine, which after an hour in the mud was reduced to a three speed (largest rear sprocket and the front rings). I decided then that maybe a 2nd winter/hack/knock about would be a good idea especially if it was SS. It's been great. So much so that as unemployment has forced me to sell things this year, including 2 bikes, it was the FS that went and the SS that stayed. I just enjoy the ride and I think I do get a sense of satisfaction from riding/clearing stuff on it. It can be hard at times. I find lots of consecutive ups and downs very hard but I've been amazed at some of the "big" hills I can get up on it. Technique is as important as strength/fitness IMHO. It is different and I find that it doesn't necessarily cross over on to my geared bike strangely.

Give it a go. Unless you live in the Lakes/Wales/Scotland. Well anywhere with REAL hills and lots of them.

geetee1972 - Member

Jesus rides a single speed.

I thought jesus rode cross?

All the girls like singlespeeders.

Ride it because it's easy, relaxing and low maintenance. Currently on a Gary Fisher Ferrous 29er with on one carbon forks.

Giving it a go this week - only on the road though. Will let you know how it goes!

noone we just pretend too on here and gullible fools actually try it in the real world. We sit in the cafe at trail centres with out 8 inch dandy horses and laugh at them.

I thought jesus rode cross?

Genesis Day One Cross for commuting here.

In the past I've used both hardtails and road bikes for going to work, geared and ss. My commute was consistently quicker on a ss than with gears. Don't know why.

I also prefer the simple look of them.

Jesus rode fixed (but not in a noncy fakenger style-tho probably in brogues...twonk).
Oh yeah....me and dunno.

im building an SS bike up soon...using a Kona Humu frame with a 29er steel fork..because i have the frame/fork and stuff to build it lying about and cause a mile from home is a flat multi option/tracks woodland to go ride at night this winter so one would be ideal for around there... 😮

I ride SS (a Genesis iO frame built up with my choice of bits) because it's perfect for the trails here. It's simpler, less maintenance and lighter. It can be ridden flat out or chilled. Sure, it takes a bit of grunt to get up sharp hills, and slow speedy rooty sections are a pain in the back. In the UK, I used to ride mine on 7 Stanes trails centres, Lakes, Dales etc. You can ride a SS almost anywhere, as long as you have power in the legs. And they are lighter to carry up steep stuff when you do have to give up.

Specifically, the iO is a sweet riding frame, and the integrated chain tug thingamys are great. Assume the newer ones still have them...

Only tossers ride SS

FACT.

SS makes your knob look bigger and i need all the help i can get in that dept

I tried it 3 years ago. I'd just had my hardtail stripped and powder coated, and as I was stood in the garage one evening gazing at my naked frame I thought - well, it's now or never.

I bought a kit off Charlie and fitted it out as a ss thinking that after 3 weeks I'd have scratched that itch, I'd be able to recoup 2/3 of the outlay from some other gullible fool on here, and would be qualified to rubbish it as nichemongering from a position of strength. I was convinced that ss was only for those with legs hewn from tall oaks, and lungs like dustbin liners. Not for the likes of I, who tend to get our clothes from the far end of the clothing racks.

But it wasn't as hard as I thought. With a dose of bloody mindedness I could get up far more than I'd imagined, and the stuff I couldn't get up - well it was the bike's fault of course. Once I'd overcome the idea that there was one gear but three alternatives (sit, stand, get off and push) and all were equally valid methods of propulsion, it got easier still.

I did in the end convert the HT back to gears. But only after I'd bought a dedicated ss frame. Why do I do it now. Because it's fun. I don't particularly have a bike for specific tasks (I have a FS, HT and ss) and while some rides might be better suited to one of the others, I've raced, done all day rides, and one hour blasts after work on it. Some days I fancy it, some days not. It's just a slightly different sort of bike in the end.

I was sceptical but it's depressingly flat near me, so there's no excuse really.

I like that it's so much quieter and simpler than a conventionally geared bike.

On one hand it's more difficult because you spend much less time at your 'optimum' cadence/speed, but on the other hand you're never trying to find the right gear - it's just a case of grit your teeth and endure the pain.

Because you spend more time out of the saddle I've also ditched the suspension fork and it's much better (for the commute, anyways...)

I wouldn't want to [i]always[/i] ride ss, but it's definitely a lot of fun.

And girls will find you irresistible

Bike wise I just converted a normal steel hardtail (Sanderson Breath) from gears to ss, figured if I didn't like it there wouldn't be much lost.

SS Bike ?

[img] [/img]

I ride a 456 with a doofer to set chain tention as non slidey.

Why, because when short of cash to replace worn cassette and chain i went ss and found i could ride just as much as i did before it made me commit to steep climbs instead of sit and spinning, which is fine if you like spinning, i never did.

I also found it improved my reading of the trails to maintain flow on non steep descents, when it was time to wind up the speed, pedalling like a fool helped my recovery times as the short bursts of effort were good for cardio.

It's definitely not for everyone and certain trails would make it very hard work, unless supremely fit and strong.

My suggestion for the curious would be to get a conversion kit and chain tensioner and fit it to your HT(if you have one) and try it for a dozen or so rides.

It will feel hard work at times, but pacing yourself, learning to alternate between ascending stood up and sat down will save your legs a little.
You'll find you'll spin out occasionally which can be frustrating if you want to go faster(as i did at GT all weekend) but the rapid pedalling intervals do wonders for your cardio recovery rate.

Enjoy.

Oh oh - I know the answer to this one.......

Because it's there

But the Ayatollah is right - I'z tosser.

I was sceptical but it's depressingly flat near me, so there's no excuse really.

Cripes, flatland is where I really hate riding my SS! Its not a happy bike pootling along and wants to either be muscled uphill or thrown down it.

I ride my SS because its different from my geared bike.

Of course, the main reason I SS is because it makes me the Off-Road King and irresistable to women and men. When I pass, a choir of angels can be briefly heard, and if you look closely, you will see that I am permanently lit by a ray of sunshine.

Gears are for gayers conversely there is a register for singlespeedophiles so it depends on how you roll

I do it cos this chainring is lush 😉
[IMG] [/IMG]

I ride ss in winter mud - never mind cleaning the bike, I often find my clothes in a heap in the garage a week after the last ride so maintenance-free usage is the main attraction

I'm not very fit but it is surprising what you can get up when there's little option other than a walk. I'm OK on shortish rises but longer climbs (NB round here that's more than 200metres of trail 😳 ) I struggle

Despite the above, really deep gloopy mud is a bugger if you can't gear right down and spin gently but, funnily enough, road sections are what kill me most (in comparison to my geared mate). I get to spin like buggery while he ambles along (and then I'm knackered for the next harder bit).

So then, the 2 main drawbacks are down to the lack of a variable gear ratio 😯

Its just such a pleasure, thats why. Just hop on, chill it on the flat, put some effort in to the hills and the woods, and get fit by accident.

Get home, bung it in the shed.
Don't even think about it being muddy.

Its not like doing games in your pants. Its more like getting out and having a ride in the mud when you really need it.

Easily the best itch I scratched.

I'm just getting into it. The bike feels really light. The gear spins freely. Hills can be hard but they will make me hard. I'm going to continue until the end of October and decide if to put some gears on.

It's relaxing. And it teaches you to stand on the pedals every so often - which I have now started to do on geared bikes likes I always should have.

it's good fun? and while you pretend it's cheaper than a geared bike you spunk the same amount of cash but on flashier bits -everyone's a winner 😀

i have a ss bike just use it up lee quarry messin on the pump track,great fun

i 1st tried julian wilson's off of here, and i can't say i liked it that much as it felt like hard work. fast forward a few months and i built one, a slotty inbred, it was from then on my most used bike, i love it for just riding and now when i jump on the geared bike im distracted by gear selection etc and it feels all wrong, so i much prefer the ss, (now in dialled love/hate form). currently selling off a few things and if push comes to shove then all the bikes will go before the ss does.
i like the silence of the bike too.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......................

Got an On-one. Cheap and cheerful, ideal for the Cannock Chase especially in the winter. I'm also a tight wad who got fed up of chainsuck and mashing the drivetrain on my other bike every 3 months. Wet and sandy cannuk mud is very abrasive.

Only ginger tossers ride SS, fact 8) but they do have the ability to gobble (well jaffa cakes anyway) In reply to the OP .... just do it,get up to speed on it and dust the geared freaks.......

I had my first go at singlespeeding today. Did "Cycle the Wight" - a 100k road circuit of the Isle of Wight.

My cassette disintegrated after my chain slipped off at the back and got stuck between the cassette and the frame. My bodged repair left me with half a cassette - the half where the sprockets are stuck together - for approx 1/3 of the way round.

Technically I had 4 gears but i decided just to stick with one as an experiment and because I figured the less I changed gears, the better the bodge would work. Just stayed in the 4th smallest gear.

Can't say I enjoyed it. My initial impressions are, more sore knees, more sore arse, and my legs having to go like Wyl E Coyote's in the couple of seconds after he's ran off a clifftop in order to build up any kind of speed. Didn't find the climbing too bad though - that was probably the best thing about it.

Maybe it would work better off road and maybe you would have to adapt your pedalling technique. An acquired taste I think - one you'd need to work at acquiring.

... because it's all thats needed in epping forest and epping forest is close.

A busted geared bike does not feel the same IMO. Good job doing 100km!

buzz-lightyear - Member
I'm just getting into it. The bike feels really light. The gear spins freely. Hills can be hard but they will make me hard.

I'm going to continue until the end of October and decide if to put some gears on.

****PUSSY!!!

I needed a bike to race on, only cheap option was to put mtb tyres on my commuter, and so far I haven't had enough money to go geared.

ss rox!

none of that expensive stuff to break - and it takes me back.... 😯

Ride with gears in Wales though....

DO IT - LOVE IT

Go for it. The io is one of the nicest single speeds around. It'll make you look good.

My road bike is singlespeed, I like it a lot. Simple, looks good and doesn't make much noise. Makes riding more of a workout and gets me up climbs I used to struggle with in the granny ring on my other bike! Trying it properly on the mtb soon.

Have a iO, great bike for winter. I think I'd prefer the alfined version now though 🙂

built my SS up around this time last year in anticipation for the winter. my geared bike took a bit of a back seat during the winter and there was a period when it was SS all the time (lakes, wales, everywhere). really liked the challenges you face on every ride & my fitness increase.

but it started hurting my knees so stripped it and built my FS back up. i've still got the frame (DMR Trailstar) and probably going to build it again as jump/play bike, but it will come out on proper rides every now & again.

"****PUSSY!!!"

Oi! I'm trying to be pragmatic and not become a glassy eyed acolyte. I think the odds are I'll keep it SS over winter.

I have a question about SPDs. I popped them back on and I'm sure it help with pedalling and not getting bounced off, but I have less confidence on tricky bits.

Would you say that SPDs give more advantage on the SS style of riding than on a geared bike?

Some dodgy looking bloke sold me a brand new bike in a pub car park.
Told me it'd make me cool with the ladies. Told me I'd never need to buy my own pint or shine my own shoes after riding this bike.

It was only when I got it home I found out it had no gears! Rip off!

That bloke sold me two more bikes with no gears. Tall, skinny, glasses, bit of a c**t.

That was ten years ago and I've been riding bikes with no gears ever since. One day I'll catch up with the bugger.