It was a very unfulfilling riding experience – too high a gear to get up steep climbs, too low a gear for the flats and downhills. It just seemed to suck all the joy out of the experience of forward motion.

I agree that being stuck on one gear with a dead gear system is no fun at all. But riding an effective SS setup has felt strangely unrestricted, as I recently found out.

How do I feel about it at the moment? It's a bit like running around the hilltops naked. You feel somehow free. 🙄 😆

I like it good enough for me

Had several SS over the years, started on a DeKerf and now have 2, one a 2-9 Kona and Curtis 853 SS, Both are rigid, both are just perfect for where I ride.
Never tried to be the fastest downhill, but can grunt up just about anything on Mendip.
There is no fuss to SS, it's just riding a bike with nothing to worry about.

I never have a bad ride, just different speeds to push the one gear round.

Managed to make it up a big (well for this areas standards) relatively steep climb for the first time on me ss roadie today. I'd always got up 3/4 the way then ran out of steam when it gets steeper. It's a very rewarding feeling and much better than when I used to spin all the way up in the easiest gear on my mtb.

I read a quote on here which sums it up nicely "rather to have triumphed with your own power than that of a derailleur" or something like that!

Least inspiring description of cycling ever

Ah now, you know that's not a description of cycling. It's just one of many different aspects of cycling I enjoy.
I hear what people are saying about SS, and if you enjoy the challenge of labouring up a steep climb in a big gear and feel "restricted" by the "fuss" of gears, fair play to you. Different strokes and all that, but it's not for me.

So cycles without gears are the Astras of the bike world then ? O shit how common, got to find a new niche, ermmm fixed mtb perhaps ? No way who would be that daft

You'd have to be insane. Fixed MTB? Last year's fad? Get your beard shaved off. Fixed cyclocross is where it's at now sunshine.

pompino-icr by Jon Wyatt, on Flickr

Yes yes yes thats it at last EUREKA !! now off to build a fixed cyclocross dandy horse. Niche-tastic.

_tom_

"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft… As for me, give me a fixed gear" henri desgrange; L'Équipe article of 1902

You'd have to be insane. Fixed MTB? Last year's fad? Get your beard shaved off. Fixed cyclocross is where it's at now sunshine.

Guess what my winter ride is going to be 🙂

"I still feel that suspension is only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a spring? We are getting soft… As for me, give me fully rigid"

– Miketually, various STW threads of the last few years

How do I feel about it at the moment? It's a bit like running around the hilltops naked. You feel somehow free.

'You are progressing well, young Padowan'

😛 😉

The Deja Vu thread on singlespeeds.

I think everyone in our little riding group (once known as Peak Midweek, but no more) have had a flirtation with singlespeed, and some have found it so much fun that they have stuck with it. In my case it the flirtation has lasted, erm, 8 years, I rarely ride a geared mtb.

Whether you're fast or slow, can ride big hills or rocky descents is more down to the rider that the number of gears. Singlespeeds are generally slower than geared bikes, however, singlespeed riders (especially in hilly places) are often quicker than your average geared rider, it's a well known fact.

too high a gear to get up steep climbs, too low a gear for the flats and downhills. It just seemed to suck all the joy out of the experience of forward motion.

it goes from being in the wrong gear almost all the time to being in the right gear almost all the time.

How do I feel about it at the moment? It's a bit like running around the hilltops naked. You feel somehow free.

I love that. In fact, it's the singlespeed for me today now

Van Halen – Member

my hamster ate my singlespeed.

Single speeders ate my hamster that ate my singlespeed?

DaddyJim – Member
Single speeders ate my hamster that ate my singlespeed?

Talking about hamsters – they are very useful for cleaning chains. Just hold 2 in your hand and run the chain between them while lubing it. Try not to get them too close to the derailleur because it eats hamsters. (Yet another reason to ride single speed).

When finished return hamsters to their cage in daughter's room.

it's f****ng zen. had one for about 3 months and am amazed how much i like it.

Yes lets talk about hamsters. I had one once called Carrot, he was cool, until he escaped out of our window. Never saw him again. (Sobs).

"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft… As for me, give me a fixed gear" henri desgrange; L'Équipe article of 1902

That's the one! 😀

Lol what utter arse
He didn't mind using the artifice of wheels, a chain, pedals…a frame etc.

Single speed riders use the part of their brain previously needed for gear selection to ponder serious questions whilst out riding….which best bitter to purchase post ride….how long to grow their beards….which dress to put on with those strappy sandals 😉

I have discovered that when singlespeeding a reasonable XC distance (60km today), I can breathe through my bumhole. Completely necessary because the top-end was trying very hard not to puke down my nice “Singletrack” cycling jersey. Post ride, my legs feel like they have been attacked with hammers.

So I have been scouring the WWW looking for more justification to continue flagellating myself on it. And found it! The erudite article is a fun read as long as you are not offended by strong language.
CLICK HERE – SfW

Yes lets talk about hamsters. I had one once called Carrot, he was cool, until he escaped out of our window. Never saw him again. (Sobs).

You do know he was probably eaten by a cat, don’t you?

What? I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is. No point in pretending otherwise. Helps no-one. It’s a tough old world out there, it doesn’t pay to be cosseted from it’s harsh realities.

I only have 1 bike now, so I feel gears are required to do it all.

My scandal was SS with carbon forks. I decided to fit 100mm forks with gears and promptly ruined it.

There is no fuss, perfect trail centre bike, if you like to pedal like an idiot to maintain the flow, necessary to smile excessively at the end of every run.

Christ alive Buzz! You’re turning into even more of an evangelist than that Cando bloke!

😉

Elfinsafety – Member

Yes lets talk about hamsters. I had one once called Carrot, he was cool, until he escaped out of our window. Never saw him again. (Sobs).

You do know he was probably eaten by a cat, don’t you?

What? I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is. No point in pretending otherwise. Helps no-one. It’s a tough old world out there, it doesn’t pay to be cosseted from it’s harsh realities.

Nah he was the ‘face man’ of the hamster world, escaped from a maximum security prison for a crime he didn’t commit and now a hamster soldier of mercy, fighting the good fight against hamster opression everywhere.

Christ alive Buzz! You’re turning into even more of an evangelist than that Cando bloke!

Lol!

No, I’m just expressing myself; I’ve not gone all glassy eyed just yet! Around the end of Autumn I will choose whether to put gears back on or not. ATM, it’s 60/40 to stay SS.

One of the best things with ss is blasting past fancy geared ego chariots with one gear and some attitude. Proofing it’s not the bike it’s the man on it that counts.
An analogy: In cycling YOU are the engine – A good 4L v8 engine can pull away in third and still do 100mph in the same gear. A 1.0 ford fiesta needs all its gears.
So ask yourself: what are you???
An anti social muscle machine that makes a load of noise and charges around like gengis karn with a firery anus.
Or
A regular everyday does the job no frills fiesta that pootles to tesco with “steps” on the stereo.

“BROTHERS AND sisters . . . the time has come for each and every one of you to decide, whether you are going to be the problem or whether you are going to be the solution!”. V8 or fiesta?