Got a couple of races coming up and wondering whether SS will slow me down overall. I might 1×9 the swift, however I haven’t had gears for a couple of years now and I’m a bit scared of all the jangling bits.

I went from ss to 1×9 when i got a fatbike because i’m not man enough to ride a fatty up hill without fitness compensation.
It’s not made me ride any faster though. My legs just spin at different rates while I keep going the same speed…

Interesting point. So, if I put gears back on the bike would I travel at the same speed overall and just be less tired due to less resistance on the ups? UUUmmmmmmm…

I put my old Inbred on 1 x 10 last summer, for a few months. I’m faster in SS mode, but quicker on the road etc. Want a tip…get a wobble ring off Tazzy. Seriously.

Wobble ring will work equally well with 1×9 too.

I’ve got a wobble ring round me waist 😳

What’s all this wobble ring business about then?

i went from SS to 1×9 this winter as i wasn’t strong enough after a lay off from the bike. I’d defo say SS is faster but very dependant on the course if you can stay on the bike then its faster!

good luck!

The main route I’m concerned about is the IOM end2end, I hear that there are some sizeable road sections where I could be left for dust if I go 32/20 or 18…. As I couldn’t manage marathon climbs on 32/16 or lower..

i went from years and years of racing SS to 1×9 and i’m definitely faster now, all those times you’d be ‘recovering’ and spinning out on a SS you can keep the power down with gears

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I’m faster in SS mode
I’d defo say SS is faster

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That’s because you use gears to make things easier and not to go faster!

Can someone explain what a “wobble ring” is please, not keen to google it at work 😉

ds3000 – Member
The main route I’m concerned about is the IOM end2end, I hear that there are some sizeable road sections where I could be left for dust if I go 32/20 or 18…. As I couldn’t manage marathon climbs on 32/16 or lower..

Rode the IOM last year… as I remember most of the road was at the start, and yes.. if you are aiming for a good time then you need to be fairly quick along here. If its the same course as last year then there is a steep bridleway climb after the initial long road section and it was a real bottle neck. I was mid way through the field and had no chance of riding the first climb as many of those that had flown along the road section ground to a halt when it became mildly technical and everyone behind was forced to walk as well.

That said there is still plenty of time to over take as the ride goes on – depends how serious you are about it I guess. For me IOM was a lovely route, but if I ever visit the island again I’d rather do it with out the other 1499 mtbers…

I changed my Swift from ss to 1X9 and I find it is a much more versatile bike now. Riding it with a ss set up was great but making the switch to a 1X9 drivetrain was cheap and I find I cover ground on it more quickly.

The road section on the E2E must be around 14 (ish) miles and I reckon that that for most of it I was clocking around 20mph and over on a geared bike.

There are a few smaller climbs on the road section which dropped the speed slightly and the road section took around 44 minutes.

My current Kona singlespeed 29er is running a 32×18 and it’s pretty much game over by around 17mph, so I would personally lose quite a bit of time on the road bit.

The first big climb being the Ballacob starts straight after that road section. It’s very hard to clear this climb due to the number of people that walk it. Even if you’re capable of riding it, it’s pretty much impossible to get past.

You’ve then got the 2nd climb out of St Johns. The field has spread out a bit more by now, so there is more opportunity to ride it.

I’m still undecided if I’ll be using my singlespeed for this years E2E.

The wobble ring is an elliptical ring (not biopace) that appears to make pedalling alot more efficient
Rotor make one but is quite expensive and tazzy has persuaded goldtech betd to make some which the boys have been prototyping and using with great feedback- check his profile for more info

May be all be snake oil- I cant try one on mine because i run middleburn unos and one’s to fit direct arent in production yet but have had a quick spin on other peoples bikes and it does appear to work