Riding Singlespeed on the road

I’m a lightweight (SS-wise, not physically).

26″ wheeled ‘urban’ MTB SS – running 40:16 which is fine for pootling to and from work for me. not massively fast on the flats but easyish on the few hills we have round here and good for the plenty of wind we enjoy.

slainte 😀 rob

I’m also Bristol, so 40 X 16. We have a few hills…..

42:13.- parts bin build…short 5 mile blast to work can be fast or easy depending on your mood. – no real hills to speak of
Chuck it in the bike shed, dont worry if it gets kicked about, ride home, repeat.

42:20 on a loaded surly cross check, 7 days to ssec in Belgium.
That is a good offroad or loaded bike onroad ratio.

42:16 or 48:18 on a surly steamroller. It works. Attack climbs and carry your speed, don’t touch the brakes

Just like offroad ss. I don’t find it tedious but it’s pretty twisty and hilly round here. If you live in Norfolk you might find it repetitive.

One of the advantages of offroad ss is your gears don’t get f**ked up with mud. This is not relevant on road as gears seem to last years.

I have a Langster for sale at the moment. has a flip flop back wheel with fixie one side and ss freewheel on the other. Dead easy to use and easy to swap gears.

size is XL which is a 58 seat c-t and 58 top. Polished frame. All good condition. Used mainly as Fixie on road but not had much usage except when my winter bike was in need of tlc. Being away with my job more means I ‘m just not around enough to use this as well as other bikes I have in garage.

I have an advert in the For Sale section, just search Langster.

The frame has just actually been dropped off at Specialized shop as when cleaning for sale I found some corrosion, I think, and they are going to try to get a frame replacement. Therefore the bike for sale will hopefully be a brand new frame with the original wheels and bits(not that there are many bits on a fixie/ss).

Running 42:18 on my Roadrat and (just) manage a very hilly 5 mile commute here on Dartmoor. About 5 mins quicker than on a geared hardtail too – much more fun although admittedly more knackering. If I’m honest there is one hill on the way back which I have to push for about 100yds, but it’s one of those classic Devon inclines where you struggle to keep the front wheel planted anyway.

I actually bought all the kit to convert the RR to geared before we moved here, but not sure I’ll bother as it’s too much fun as it is. I still like having the geared bike as a backup though.

I’m also Bristol, so 40 X 16. We have a few hills…..

a few… i have glos rd that one long hill in the morning and redcatch/totterdown on the way home

I too have a part of Glo road, and up Cromwell Road every day…

Park Street every time I go up to Ashton Court after work or for the Monday Cheesy rides………

I commute on singlespeed using 32:16 ratio. In winter most of the route is on road / tarmac

48-16 on my langster was great for relatively flat Northamptonshire. Not quite as fast as my geared bike, but it definitely made me work hard on climbs and improved my fitness loads.

I don’t how people running 48 16-17 can manage to maintain 90rpm for any length of time….thats 35mph (57kph)!!!
I ran 39-16 all last summer for a 19mile (one big hill) commute and averaged 28-30mph average most days,which is about the same average speed as the 3rd cat crits I race.
Or do you just pedal REALLY slowly??

im a spinner so the 49-16 gearing suits me fine avrg about 18-25mph most of the trip apart from the one steep hill on way home which im strugling with atm

My morning commute is ~20 miles and it takes me just over 2 hours usually, giving an average speed of around 9mph

On the way home I take a flater multi-user route and cover the 18 miles in around 1 hour 40 minutes.

Looks like I would be getting overtaken quite a bit if the respondants in this thread lived round my way!

Spinner?! 49-16 at average 21mph is average cadence of 54rpm…..your knees must ache a bit 😉

all that gumf dousent really bother me it gets me 15 miles and still able to work after its actualy the only road going bike iv owned that i am fully happy with bar the creaky bb lol
just one guy on a cinneli(sp) track bike on my rout i want to try and catch…
YEAH RIGHT !

Rorschach – Member
Spinner?! 49-16 at average 21mph is average cadence of 54rpm…..your knees must ache a bit

Huh? Which idiot taught you maths?

Hang on I’ll get a pen this time…
49-16=3.0625
700c @23c=2.1m dia
54 revolutions per minute
Divide by 1.6 for mph
Yeah you might have a point Mr Barnes 😳
A hundred lines “I will check my workings before posting on STW” o.k??

ok, a 3 to 1 ratio with 700c wheels (48-16 or close)

90rpm is 20ish mph which is the kind of tempo you can bowl along all day

140rpm (which is the maximum that an average joe can either hold on the flat for shortish bursts or live with downhill without getting flicked over the handlebars when riding fixed) gets to around 30mph

note that I’m not being too specific on the numbers, because the odd tooth change doesn’t make that much difference and your cadence goes up and down but you don’t worry too much about it cos you have no choice 🙂

I ride fixed in and out of work every day and year round, I’m no riding god but I find it good to keep me fit and it’s beautifully low maintenance

😛 to u lol dident think it was that bad

Yeah you might have a point Mr Barnes

I’ve been drinking for several hours this evening as well 🙂

FWIW, I run 48×19 with 25mm tyres on my pompino. I need to find another 7rpm from somewhere to break the 200rpm barrier (or find a bigger hill)

At 200rpm the flux capacitor kicks in and you go back to the future…

48/18 is my usual. CTBM’s comment about attacking hills is bang on.

I’ve done some reasonable length rides in the Highlands on my single speed, eg Dingwall/Ullapool/Ledmore/Bonar/Dingwall, and also the Bealach sportive to name a couple.

700c @23c=2.1m dia

Where “dia” = circumference? 🙂

Its shorthand for us drunk people….

42/18 fixed here. Find it’s perfect for recovery rides & working a spin. Hit 34mph down hill last week according to my computer – don’t know what cadence that is but it made the other rider I caught & pass lol!

usedto, then i got an alfine hub, best of both worlds.