Riding nothing but a Singlespeed.

Just wondering how many of you ride nothing but singlespeed.

+1.

Yep, since Christmas at least, last ride on the 456 was 17th December.

tick

barring the road bike , yes!
not ridden anything else for 2 months at least

Just SS'd my on one 456, so that means only my CX bike has gears, and I'm on the lookout for a SS steel cx bike too..

For the last 10 months or so, I've ridden a 6-speed cargo bike for my 3-miles-each-way commute, but otherwise I'm singlespeed only.

Kielder 100, Hamsterley Forest (including riding 25 miles each way on the road there and back), Swaledale, the Lakes, Dalby…

meehaja-when you find one ,57ish tt….HOLLER!!!I want one so bad.Actually I'm thinking more monstercross-more or less cx but clearance for 40c tyre and discs.I tend to get carried away when I ride off road on the cx (its been round cyb!!).Will end up getting a custom but its difficult finding someone who can meet my requirements/expectations.My money is on 18bikes at the mo.

On and off for the last ten years, now though for the first time I don't even own/want one.

Do bikes have gears now?

me too

I was for last 9 years then this winter i have been seduced by the alfine ,, but i am building a rigid SS 29er

out of interest… will riding a ss bring my fitness up quicker than with gears?

Did it for 3 years. 29er SS fully rigid as my only bike.

Loved it for 2 and a half years, then my knees started to complain.

They are too precious to argue with so i'm now back to gears.

Have not ridden with gears for months, but springs coming so maybe time for a change – but feel a real need for belt drive so maybe SS will be my ride this year

Over a year for me. Fully rigid. One 29er Rig and a Whyte 19. Can't imagine going back really, bizarly I find it easier than with gears, what's that all about?

big-chief-96 – Member
out of interest… will riding a ss bring my fitness up quicker than with gears?

It's just the same really, it depends how much effort you put in.

It's just that single speed is more enjoyable and you feel more variation in a ride.

"out of interest… will riding a ss bring my fitness up quicker than with gears?"

You can try singlespeeding without any outlay whatsoever by following these 3 simple steps.

1. Select a gear (any gear, it doesn't really matter – it's going to be the wrong one 90% of the time).
2. Cut both of your thumbs off.
3. Ride.

Off-road for over a year now.

bizarly I find it easier than with gears, what's that all about?

yeah i feel a bit like that, i think its just conditioning from pedalling harder when you see a hill

it might be that Im too thick for gears 🙁

I've only just started ss'ing about 2 months ago. I quite enjoy it on my local rides, as it's sort of rollercoastery, no excessive climbs, all can be blasted up.

I really don't enjoy it on my commute though, as I'm spinning like a madman, and getting nowhere. I'll eventually go to a faster gearing, but I'm not ready for it offroad yet.

Feel like a right divot hammering legs round on the way to work, and doing about 15mph!.

Yep. Been doing it for 5yrs now… but… knees don't like it anymore so the bike's in bits right now waiting for a 1×9 setup. It was good while it lasted though. I'm gonna miss climbing like a rat up drainpipe while everyone else grinds it out in the grannyring 😥

Not looking forward to gears again. Ridden a few mates bikes recently and just can't get the hang of keeping momentum up without my gear.

Interesing, was wondering if there are certain rules that have to be followed before you can call yourself a singlespeeder, ie length of time riding one or not owning a geared bike. That sort of thing. Thinking there will be some folks that say you can't call yourself a singlespeeder if you also ride a bike with gears. At the SSUK champs a couple of years ago I was struck by how many little gangs there were. It felt like there were different levels of Singlespeeding, dependant on how long you had been doing it for and how niche your bike was. Had a great time but felt like you had to serve a long apprenticship before you would be truly accepted.

theres prob a lot of truth in that whether its conscious or not

cant abide folk that take it too seriously and by that i dont mean expensive bikes* but people who think its somehow anything other than playing about on bikes at the end of the day

*quite the opposite, the folk i know with expensive ss bikes are lots of fun and v down to earth

I think what happens is a lot of folks ride singlespeed to be a bit more individual or hardcore and to increase that you then have to go fully rigid or get a 29er or fit some funny shaped handlebars or grow extravagent facial hair:wink: I met some top folks at SSUK at Drumlanrig especially everybody that did the big Saturday ride, got the feeling that most of the folks out on that day were relatively new to it.

Sort of. Commute on a fixie road bike, presently using my "spare" bike for off-road duties which is a '95 Cindercone with only on gear.
Main bike has a Rohloff, so cheating a bit, but still no derraileurs 🙂

iv been on a ss for about 2 years now and still loving it hurting but loving it.