Rode one of my geared bikes for the first time in ages on Friday and struggled a bit. It’s not the best peddling bike in the world, I kept being in the wrong gear as I’d forgotten what my thumbs are for. My back hates me and my knees hurt.

thepodge – Member
I used to be able to walk my singlespeed up hills quicker than my mates could pedal up with these new silly big cassettes

NSIBS…

Well of course you did. That’s hardly a revelation though.
Uphill off-road there quickly comes a point where it’s easier faster and less effort to get off and walk.

But it’s still far more rewarding and impressive if you push on through and keep riding.

Or you could give up and walk I guess. But don’t kid yourself you be done something awesome by doing so.

thegeneralist – Member
… But don’t kid yourself you be done something awesome by doing so.

That’s how I’d describe pedalling when walking is quicker and more efficient.

When I’m out riding, I like to ride. Otherwise it’s a walk with luggage.

When I’m out riding, I like to ride

Me too. The only time I have to get off and carry my bike is to get over stiles. I don’t have to walk up any of the hills in my area.

What about some hike a bike?

Tinas, alt bars are your friend for hand issues and bigger rubber at lower pressure.

Already on a fat bike with foam grips, just bought some fleegles.

As for climbing, its just different, sprint up the shallow bits and use the momentum on the steep sections (and pick a gear you can just about keep on top of).

What about some hike a bike?

<splutter!>This is STW</splutter!>

Even going uphill is anathama, anethema, ana, a PITA to many on here. Hike? a bike? Are you mad?

Went out on the SS road bike today. Hard work into the wind and felt pretty tired in the legs which didn’t augur well for the biggest and steepest hill of the day which is basically getting back home. I was thinking I might have to walk parts of it but just managed it.

Took my ss for a nice flat spin round tentsmuir today.
It was easy and i was always in the right gear – win!

@dazh has a good point. First time i tried to do a hilly ss ride off road i tried a 15% climb and ruined my back

Bloody love steep climbs on the single speed. Its got to the point before now on really silly bits the bike is stalled where I’ve had to side hop, bunny hop and generally try to be a really fat, crap, trials rider until I can get to a point that I can get a crank revolution in again to clean it. Tip top fun. Also odd that i usually end up gurning past folks pushing Geary bouncy things up where their fashion for 1x dinner plate has not worked as well as a advertised

SS makes a man of you but so few have the bottle to stick it for long enough to become the rider that they really could be.

I’m missing mine after it cracked, but not getting out much currently so can’t really justify another yet.

Another aspect now I’m back on gears is that for short, sharp obstacles like banks and bombholes, before I rode a ss I’d gear down, lose momentum, and either spin or loop out. Now I just throw myself at it and more often than not make it.

I don’t have to walk up any of the hills in my area.

I reckon you’d have a job on down here. Feel free to pop over and have a go 🙂

Also odd that i usually end up gurning past folks pushing Geary bouncy things up where their fashion for 1x dinner plate has not worked as well as a advertised

This is ridiculous. You are a faster rider than these people. It has nothing to do with fashion or dinner plate sized gears. If you are going to gloat, gloat about the right things.

Or do you mean that all these Olympic XC riders with their gears are also slow fashion victims?

I’ve passed SSers on climbs before, and been passed. However a bit more pertinent is that I’ve ridden with much better riders than me, when they were on SS, and had to wait for them on roads and flat bits, despite me being way behind on climbs.

Folly to say that SS is faster. Everyone knows it’s not.

jameso – Member
SS makes a man of you but so few have the bottle to stick it for long enough to become the rider that they really could be.

I hope not, my girlfriend likes a singlespeed.

If you want to SS then fine, but don’t brag about it.

I hope not, my girlfriend likes a singlespeed.

Then she’ll be all the woman she can be – better get a few more miles on your SS every day to be sure you’re man enough for her 😀

Folly to say that SS is faster. Everyone knows it’s not.

It depends … I’m generally no slower locally (Chilterns, it’s no lake dist) over a 4-6hr ride on SS comapared to gears. When I’m fit, it can be faster. Ridgeway double ITT record was held by a SSer and it took ages for anyone on gears to beat it. It’s not a particularly SS-friendly route either. It’s just what you prefer and what suits the terrain, or not. Remember, it’s lighter and everyone knows a lighter bike is faster ; )

I’ve noticed the hill phenomena and I think it’s a mental thing, as much as technique thing. With riders that are faster than me I will pass them on a lot of hills, not all, because I have to, or I stop due to lack of speed. Steeper hills I stop and walk and they pass me. C’est la vie.

Momentum is the key, you can’t change down so you mentally can’t bail to a lower gear, just grit your teeth, clench the other end and blast up as fast as you can until your legs or lungs run out. It’s not big or clever, just the way it is. Oh, and very manly too, I tell Mrs root.

It helps to have a grippy bike so traction is not an issue.

Cycling to me is part fitness/exercise. I get more of a workout on SS with the limited time I have on a bike so it suites me.

Love my geared bikes too – fat bike good with gears but was also a blast SS.

Folly to say that SS is faster. Everyone knows it’s not

May be worth looking at some 24hr events over the Years and see how many ss riders have done rather well ?

May be worth looking at some 24hr events over the Years and see how many ss riders have done rather well ?

But would that have done even better with gears?

I’ve noticed the hill phenomena and I think it’s a mental thing, as much as technique thing. With riders that are faster than me I will pass them on a lot of hills, not all, because I have to

pretty much why I find myself passing pretty much all riders uphill. I am not fitter/faster than them but I have to go for it otherwise my cadence will drop too low. If I can manage to stay with a geared rider on the flat (usually after they have passed me!) I feel pretty confident that I will be passing them on the uphill as they simply won’t be putting as much effort in as they will just drop down through their gears getting slower and slower.

If they’ve won it, how can they do any better?

Ridgeway double ITT record was held by a SSer and it took ages for anyone on gears to beat it.

May be worth looking at some 24hr events over the Years and see how many ss riders have done rather well ?

These facts tell you nothing other than some really fast people like single speeding.

The fact that the ITT records specify who was on an SS suggests it is faster to be on gears, rather than the other way round.

Has anyone tried an ITT on both? The limiting factor on the Ridgeway would be lack of higher gear. I was in the big ring for loads of it.

If they’ve won it, how can they do any better?

Er.. post a faster time? We’re talking about overall speed here.

I feel pretty confident that I will be passing them on the uphill as they simply won’t be putting as much effort in as they will

Not all geared riders take the easy option!

I’m slow on a geared bike, I’m slow on a singlespeed. Prefer singlespeed. So much so I’m about to take the gears off my fat bike.
I do have a beard though.

Single speed world championship is on this weekend, anyone else riding it?

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Sswc Back in new Zealand again at the same venue as before, bad show. Its some global beardies very upset.

SS makes a man of you but so few have the bottle to stick it for long enough to become the rider that they really could be.

I have that tattood on the first half of my penis.

DrP

SS is faster till it’s not…..then it’s slower.

Re: Knees – I only struggle with prolonged high cadence. Heaving up a hill is fine as you are standing, which I suspect is better than sitting and spinning a low gear.

Sticking at it – Took me a good couple of years until a Singlespeed became equal to my full susser, rather than an occasional bit of silliness. Once my head worked out hills can be done, that climbs can be done at a lower cadence when conditions dictate, and the hurty back/shoulders/neck stopped, it started making sense as a regular bike 🙂

Ultimately its all silly as its grown up people cocking about on bicycles pretending like it matters. Bikes won’t save the world, its all gross consumerism that uses up valuable resources and energy for a hobby of decadent first worlders. Pick your choice of handicap, ss for hairy shirted gobshite luddites, gears that cost more, full squish and the latest fashion for the cool kids that get the hump when others don’t want or need such things. At the end of the day its all daft, so ride what you want, how you want and have fun on the way to the grave. Worrying about what others do and trying to make them confirm to your narrow world view, is just a path to stress and disappointment. Bit like turning up on a thread about single speeds to say how much you don’t like single speeds 🙂

See…..bikes is silly.

How many people have bar ends in their SS’s?

I did using flat bars, now on all sorts of alt bars that offend the dull buggers, but they work well so don’t need them any more. Still have some ergons and some silly light st solutions ones in the spares box though

These facts tell you nothing other than some really fast people like single speeding.

Yep, they stuck with it and it made men of them 😀 or, being a bit less silly, it’s sort of what I meant by

It’s just what you prefer and what suits the terrain, or not.

Stupid thing to do really but as the OP says it’s a lot of fun, usually just simple fun for simple people.

Hoo ar yoo kallin sympil?

+1 for what Tazzy said….
Been out on our Singlespeeds today it was ace x

There is that moment when you get to a hill and you feel like shouting out: “well, it’s you or me!”. In a way Henri Degrange got it right when he talked about hiding behind the artifice of gears, you just have to step up to the mark, there’s no hiding place.

I’m not sure I’d go SS full time for all riding though, there’s stuff round here both on and off-road that I’d struggle with on anything but a very low gear which would be completely frustrating on the remainder of the terrain.

As a training tool SS does have benefits but you could get the same effect on a multiple geared bike by just selecting one gear and not bothering to shift. This has the advantage that you could select different ratios for different rides without having to physically change the single cog. The downside is that you have the cop-out of just changing down if you bottle it.

I love SS because of the way it makes me ride. I also have a 1×10 hybrid for the other days. Just like the difference between my full bouncer and my rigid. I love them all.

Three pages and no one has mentioned gurning.

🙄