just how good or hard is single speeding ?

looking to go 29er on the cheap and my local LBS is selling a cannondale cheap and wonder if I should give it ago ? I live near swinley and the chiletrns

Single speeding is great.

You learn to pick good lines and charge at hills.

Make you fitter.

Cheaper to run too.

Done swinley and Chiltern on mine.

To begin with you wonder what the hype is all about and from then on it makes sense especially this time of year.

Never tried it off road but I commute on one and love it.

Haven’t used gears since Christmas and in this kind of mud it hasn’t slowed me too much. Before that i did one night ride in October SS and that was it. Not sure I am ready for a long day out yet but I keep being surprised what I get up eventually. Have an Alfine rear wheel to go back on for long days and a 150mm full sus for bigger riding but for local stuff I am really enjoying it, and I really didn’t think I would. It is also surprising some of the guys I ride with (dark cyan!) that they can’t drop me.

I think the ratio on the dale is 33t front and 20 rear , hopefully that will be how enough ?

Have a female friend who said why would you want to single speed don’t get it.

She is 50 this yr.

Had a go on mine and was flying and loved it.

Go for it. Perfect bike for trying out SSing and will be great in the area you ride, especially in current conditions

It can’t be that hard – I do it and I’m an old duffer of 60.
In fact, the older I get the more it suits me…..

I got one just before Christmas haven’t stop riding it…. Great bike and saves the full suss for dryer trails.

It’s good fun. Old familiar trails become fresh.

It’s harder than gears but not as hard as you think, and you soon adapt. I love it, and I’m no whippet.

I also love the simplicity, and once I’m spun out, just letting the bike roll while I enjoy the ride.

You’ll also be quicker than you think, especially in current conditions. As your geared mates whinge on about chainsuck, you just keep rolling.

I’ve been riding SS for a few months now, I’m not even sure I’ll go back to gears in the summer. I’ll certainly always have an SS built up in the future.

33t front and 20

‘Standard’ on a 29 is 32:18. 33:20 is a bit easier, you’ll be fine. You may want to put a 19 on the back in due course.

Singlespeeding is only for attentionwhores and 29ers are for people that can’t ride for shit.

Quite good, I’d say 7/10

Quite hard, I’d say 7/10

I don’t think it’s the epiphany that folks say it is, but there’s things to be gained from it. Best lesson I learnt was how light a bike could become and what that meant it terms of handling.

I like this…[/url]

Singlespeeding is only for attentionwhores and 29ers are for people that can’t ride for shit.

Only half true in his case, entirely true in mine.

Singlespeeding is only for attentionwhores and 29ers are for people that can’t ride for shit.

… and there seem to be more of us every day!

how light a bike could become

yup, in fact I think if I was going to do a weight weenie bike, it would be the SS, that’s where the biggest payback would be IMO. I’m really tempted to make a bloody light carbon SS (currently on steel).

Fontmoss.

Are you trying to say i’m not an attentionwhore? 😆

Do it.

Mines an old kona, not a ‘proper’ beardy 29″ niche machine but no mechs to clean or fiddle with in this weather is perfect…

Its not like the weather is gonna improve, simplicity And minimal maintenance wins over all other things when the weather is shite….

Brilliant. Although I am currently geared again due to a bike reduction programme. A ss 29r will be on the cards later this year i hope.

Much reduced chance of mechanicals and not as hard as you might think but needs a different approach and the right saddle position matters too. Spinning out on long road sections is the only real suffering imo.

Cheers guys for the encouragement , just need to save up for one now but the dale looks good for the money !

Come back and let us know how you get on.

Come back and let us know how you get on. bugger

I’ve now got a single speed road bike for commuting, running 50-18, first time out on it today, also first time riding a road bike or SS.

Was hard work, but I’m going to stick with it for a while, in fact the drop bars were probably more of an issue than SS, may have to change to flat/riser bars.

Richie use the search someone wrote up extensive reviews of that Cannondale a few weeks/months ago.

Yep, the only downside is spinning, then either change the gearing (dead simple!) or go with the flow.

Great fun…
Love mine.

Love mine. Steel, rigid, clown wheels, it’s got the lot. Drag it from where it was hung three weeks ago, jump on, pedal & steer the thing.

Its a mountain bike so don’t do long road sections.

@T2S Love/Hate – loved mine, has a really active flex at the back – the bike that got me started SSing. Sadly the frame is in a box in the shed now as I’ve switched to 29 (Swift). If Dialled made a L/H 29 I’d be very tempted …

Sometimes harder (uphill), sometimes easier (flats or downhill, when you spin out and there’s no point trying to go faster).

Swinley’s perfect for ss, 90 minute blasts, no cleaning afterwards, still a good workout. Was out this eve on my 29er ss at minley which is pretty similar with a few mates, only sections I would have rather had gears for were a couple of fire road or road sections, where my legs were going like a monkey having tinsel pulled out of its arse!

Its great, the only way to ride and its only as hard as you make it…

I think it will be great for swinley …

Single speeds are exactly the same as 3x10s – your never in the right gear on either.

I’ve had one for a week.
I’ve commuted on it and taken it around nant yr arian.
I’m becoming a convert and love its silent simplicity.
I had to swap the ratio to 33:18 though as it was way too spinny, even uphill.

I have mixed feelings on rigid SSing (after only getting into it fairly recently after years of swearing by the advantages of gears and suspension.
It’s fun, mostly, but I do find there are still times I’d like gears (when I’m not feeling I want to attack every little uphill or drag), sitting down and trying to mash a 33:18 causes me back problems to. The rigid part is hmm different, it’s a bit like night riding, you have to concentrate much more and you end up feeling you’re going faster than you really are so it can be fun. On the flipside my wrists ache after a couple of hours and some trail features that are a hoot on a FS are now just a PITA on a rigid.
It is nice getting home with the bike caked in mud and just needing to blast it with a hose then squirt the chain with GT85 to stop it rusting rather than having to clean the drivetrain etc.

You wouldn’t catch me on a single speed 29er.

Chilterns / rigid / ss here – it’s good, less hard the more you do it )

I do sometimes adapt my routes a little or just suck it up on group rides though.

It’s no more or less right than a full set of gears and suspension in this area. Just comes down to what you enjoy riding.

@OP you will discover depths of your lungs you didn’t know existed, you will learn to listen to manage your heart-rate and breathing when climbing, and if you give it some you’ll be left in no doubt the next day you’ve been riding.

It’s a good thing.

@OP you will discover depths of your lungs you didn’t know existed, you will learn to listen to manage your heart-rate and breathing when climbing, and if you give it some you’ll be left in no doubt the next day you’ve been riding.

It’s a good thing.

This – I use mine when its to icy for the road bike to simulate intervals – the route to trails includes a Cat 4 (25% in places) road climb which has me standing up with my lungs on the bars, plus the cleaner / less maintenance bike issue – come home, aim hose, lube chain (maybe) put in shed.

I find it weird to describe bit it is very satisfying in a strange kind of way.