Gears – what's the fuss?

Is it a trend, for the challenge, or the complexity …………I just can’t see the attraction??
(I am however rather fit and probably spend far too much time in the pub)

(Welcome to invert world)

Just the latest fad.

It’ll soon pass.

It means that when you go somewhere you’ve never been to before, you don’t have to post stupid topics on here about “What gear ratio for Timbuctoo?”.

It’s a useful tool for the well endowed to make their manhood smaller.

It allows one to have to correct gear ratio more than once per ride. Its quite amazing – yu can pedal at a reasonable cadence uphill and down

You should try it sometime – or do you live where there are no significant hills?

Try it, you might like it…..

tj, you forget a singlespeed still has four gear ‘ratios’: Freewheel, sit down, stand up and get off/push. 😆

TJ – have you seen this? 😉

In my experience
1 gear = always in the correct gear!
Many gears = always in the wrong gear!

Julian – Ah – but I prefer to ride my bike not get off and push on every incline. I don’t have much of a tendency to facial hair and my name is not Ned Ludd

That should be your next sticker Charlie

“gears – what’s the fuss?”

Although my favourite out of all the ones that were proposed was:
SINGL SP D: cycling without the ease.

😉

I know that gears would make me go faster. But I like my single speed too much 🙁

I suspect singlespeeders lack the intellectual capacity and manual dexterity to change gear in the appropriate manner and the apropriate time and are covering up their disability by this cult of the singlespeed

Its possible they lack opposable thumbs.

teh evidence:-

Charlie – I bet you shave with a cut throat razor as well.

charlie don’t surf shave, he’s licked hair free by honey badgers once a full moon.

and I don’t think of them as gears, more as many singlespeeds 😀

TandemJeremy – Member

Julian – Ah – but I prefer to ride my bike not get off and push on every incline. I don’t have much of a tendency to facial hair and my name is not Ned Ludd

I have geary and singlespeed bikes. 2 of them have 8 speed cassettes though. All have 26″ wheels. This week i have a beard, most weeks i don’t though.

Its not that hard or silly.

fwiw, once you get used to it you can ride any climb stood up on 2:1 singlespeed that you could ride sat down in granny ring and all but the last 2 or 3 sprockets (depending on the ratios of your cassette). Even when its muddy. I have a skid-tastic intense system 2 on the back of my singlespeed and alightly harder than average gear ratio and I live in devon and ride to and then on dartmoor. If i ride around all day I take the geary bike. If i want to make a short or less challenging ride a bit more interesting, I take the singlespeed. I am not fit, and routinely come last or near last in xc and cross races. With one exception at the BBB where i came 3rd. (On a singlespeed!)

But you knew all that anyway. 🙂

[edit] Charlie also sells bikes with gears too, I seen it on his website. Yes, he has a website. Rumour has it he also has opposable thumbs.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much. I was only taking the piss. but you knew that anyway

charlie yesterday

Charlie ain’t that good looking.

Seconded that.

Gears are a wonderful invention.
Although putting them on the outside of the hub, what a bizarre idea. 😕

what an earth is the ‘correct gear ratio’ and who decides what this ratio is?

🙄

what an earth is the ‘correct gear ratio’

32:16 or, if you have weeds knees like me, 32:18.

Scienceofficer – Member

what an earth is the ‘correct gear ratio’ and who decides what this ratio is?

Its the gaer ratio at which your body is working most efficiently allowing you to use your muscles to the best of their ability.

Who decides? its a law! I am the law! You must bow down……….

Oops – got carried away a bit

SS is ok for us young un’s, we have the leg strength to climb hills and the fast twitch fibres to spin high cadence on the flat.

but one day that will all go; your legs will be flabby and slow – you will need a granny gear to go up any sort of hill and a dinner plate size big ring just to ride along a tow path.

I think gears are great, it keeps old folk cycling when normally they’d have to hang up there lycra.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

awww, tj I love a good protest. 8)

Here’s me racing on my ladies’ rigid singlespeed. Again, I managed not to get off and push at all that time.

It’s a useful tool for the well endowed to make their manhood smaller.

I find that winter riding performs that function perfectly adequately.

Who decides? its a law! I am the law! You must bow down……….

Oh, right. Uh, ok…

TBH I think, amongst other things, the fact that I’m often not in the ‘correct gear’ is what makes my SS fun.

Actually there is a speed at which human legs work most efficiently. I can’t remember exactly, though I’ve discussed it with a physiology/bio person in the past. Whatever speed that is, it’s the optimum for power transfer to a machine you’re powering and if you fall outside that you’re no longer working efficiently, even if it’s possible to work at that speed. But everyone’s speed is slightly different.

So there is a magic ratio for every incline. It’ll be different for everyone, and different for every incline. Which means you need an infinite number of gears to find it.

But all that supposes you care how efficiently you’re pedalling.

Its the gaer ratio

😀
scottish spelling i take it?
it’s a fair cop though. take trailmonkey for instance. he aspires to be a single speeder, has even bought a mongbred frame, but it remains unbuilt, as he knows that he will collapse in a tearful heap at the first incline, at his age. he is definitely ga(y)er.

Del.
😆