[Closed] Who still rides singlespeed?

Four bikes here, three of which are singlespeed or fixed.

Kona Unit - singlespeed
Two road bikes - fixed
One road bike - gears

Junkyard - lazarus

I ride a steel Love hat

Ann Summers or Specialist online for that?

I only got my first one last July. Most used bike since, loving it. (Karate monkey.. an older one)

tazzymtb - Member

all of mine are rigid! it helps with technical riding at speed as I cant see the scary bits through the blurred vision so just go for it

This is the sort of wisdom that is too advanced for bouncie gearies. 🙂

Still SS and rigid here. Even did the World Solo 24s on a rigid SS and did ok for my age group.

I'd sooner ride my bike than operate it.

However I will put gears on my bike when I get old and frail - although I'm not sure I have sufficient intellectual capacity to twiddle all those levers.

Ann Summers or Specialist online for that?

[img] https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPVPB5v356ul4Rv1wnxpPpKsRzZCSeEC45s7YHA1DBhEPUQ4bo6Qvs691p2w0fkdw/photo/AF1QipOYAJ_V4nAc2xOuZT10xIVDFI1j7Se1lXedfG2N?key=SnFzWURFX0RTQVhmTGNMd0RnQVZoNHJKRWxCVFlB [/img]
853 Steel frame, carbon rigid forks, carbon bars and post. Just a beautiful thing.

Yes, my Inbred 26" SS with EBB. My go to bike for most rides.
[IMG] [/IMG]

Skinny steel, rigid forked, mismatched plus size wheels & you know what...it's bloody ace.
My only bike for a few years.
Still is really, as the multi-geared bouncy thing has only ever come out for loony day trips to BPW.

Im with tazzy.

My two bikes in the UK are both rigid SS. I love them.

I do have a geared full-sus in france, but the gnarr there deserves it.

I agree that, in a hair-shirt kind of way, regularly riding rigid, improves my bike handling on the more technical stuff I ride when in the Alps.

100% single speed for last 15 years, my only bike;

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epicyclo - Member

However I will put gears on my bike when I get old and frail - although I'm not sure I have sufficient intellectual capacity to twiddle all those levers.

I'm already old and frail and I still prefer riding a rigid singlespeed. Old and stupid maybe?

This thread didn't turn out like the OP expected. SS rigid here, it's splendid in a stupid way.

100% rigid here, often fixed, sometimes singlespeed. No multi-gears. All On-one frames for off-roading at the moment (Inbred, ScandAl and Pompino). All proper wheel sizes, too. All with square taper BBs, all with Hope Mono-Mini brakes. No need to change my stuff that works really well and suits my riding. Some of them even have QR seatpost clamps.

Just bodging my first.
Had a road fixie for a bit years ago, but I don't think that counts.
🙂

Rigid and retro.
Should be light, cheap, simple and fun.
Perfect for an hours blast from the door.

I have only ridden a rigid single speed 26 inch mtb in the last year .The geared one is buried under about 3 other bikes at the back of the garage

Not anymore, I sold my Niner One9 Scandium last year because I just wasn't using it. It sat in the spare room looking sad so I sold it to a mate.
Bloody loved it though, built up as bling Niner RDO as you could possibly get.
Rode out with a small, but perfectly formed, group of SSer's on Thursday nights and Sunday mornings.. We had a hoot.
Many memories of doing Charlie the Bikemongers SS Dorset hack with another 200 odd SSer's a few years ago.

SS rigid. retro Kilauea with modified dropouts. Ace.

Still fairly new to the ss world but used mine all winter and loving it 🙂

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Yep. after a brief foray back to rear mechs and cassettes and shifters, I stuck the SS kit back on it-

[URL= http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag344/PJC142/P1230001.jp g" target="_blank">http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag344/PJC142/P1230001.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Steel, 26", small frame, 150mm forks.

I'm trying to think of a tidy way of SSing my FS bike that doesn't involve a rear mech looking tensioner.

out last night on the ss Jones, out tonight on the sheep, will be riding the big black rooster at the weekend...

*starts singing special brew by bad manners*

"I love you, yes I do
Cause I know that you love me too
I love you, yes I do
Gona spend all my money on you
Woh woh woh woh"

This thread didn't turn out like the OP expected.

I'm actually very pleased that there are still so many out there.

That Ritchey is causing a stirring in my nice places.

Thinking about it, my SS was the first bike I rode this year.

[url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5834/23805785000_eb154aef2c_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5834/23805785000_eb154aef2c_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/CgCSuY ]First crash of the year. #mtb #2016 #ThetfordForest #flatearthsociety #singlespeed #singletrack #churchofsingletrack #berm #crash[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/pimpmasterjazz/ ]Neil Cain[/url], on Flickr

I'm just about to singlespeed my Puffin, picking the new rear rim up from the powder coaters on Friday, can't wait 😀

good work swavis! Mine's still SS. I've got a XTR 10 speed shifter, XT block and chain for mine, but they're still sitting in the spares drawer!

Cheers. It currently looks like a singlespeed but has 3 gears, but they come at a weight penalty I'm not willing to put up with any more 😉

[url= https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1470/26278673956_3c433f2154_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1470/26278673956_3c433f2154_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/G3a5es ]Puffin rear wheel[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/swavis/ ]Gavin Belton[/url], on Flickr

Yup , we've got a pair of el mariachis , a 456 and a black Sheep . For local stuff and the FoD its brilliant .

I'm actually very pleased that there are still so many out there.

but your employer would prefer it if we bought lots of xt dinner plate cassettes and the mechs that go with them! 😉

Andy R - Member

"However I will put gears on my bike when I get old and frail"

I'm already old and frail and I still prefer riding a rigid singlespeed. Old and stupid maybe?

There is a point where you start to weaken, but that's why god invented the Sturmey-Archer 3 speed hub. 🙂

I'm old enough to remember the following phases of riding SS in the western world:

1. normal (fixed was also normal), derailleurs existed but were for those with pretensions to being fast, and actual racers, but most geared bikes had 3 speed hubs.
2. unusual
3. stupid
4. eccentric
5. niche
6. trendy (but proved too hard for the emaciated fashionistas)
7. just different

But all through those periods, single speed bikes have been the most common sort of bike made, and the most reliable. Folk are riding them long distances, up mountains, loading them with excessive weights, with minimal maintenance, and still managing without gears.

Aye. On-One Inbred 29 SS, done morzine, Wales, and South Downs. But I have a FS for most days, just ride it when out with the kids, or very muddy rides. I'm getting too old to stomp it up the hills anymore.

853 SS inbred,on 26' wheels and still loving it

This

Since the day it arrived its been my most used and enjoyed bike by far

Pretty much given it up.
Race a basterdised SS 29erCX thing now and again.
Raced SSUK last year and then didn't convert it back to gears which was just a ballache when I needed to use that bike.

Basically can't be arsed anymore. I generally want to go faster (or slower) than the SS would allow.

but your employer would prefer it if we bought lots of xt dinner plate cassettes and the mechs that go with them!

I think they're pretty cool about Mr P's fetishes. 😉

Collecting parts for a 2nd. Steel, rigid, 26", 1"1/8th.

Oddly my ss is a summer bike, it's a track frame with fixed so no brake hanger or fittings for guards. I love riding it, have had fixed ever since I borrowed my dad's

My mtb has gears, I think one derailleur is the correct number for me for offroad

In 13+ years of mainly riding off road and commuting I don't think any geared bike has come close to the idiosyncratic joy or riding SS

Currently the owner of a sscx, fixie and SS MTB, love them all.

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Second ride on my Singular Swift SS last night. Beach between Highcliffe and Barton, Dorset that appears at low tide.

New cleats, SPD's, lumps of soft beach gravel and a SS conspired to fall of at 0 mph but looking around, I seemed to be caught in a light beam...

I find there is a feeling on the SS of symmetry underneath me with the bike. I don't know if its the lack of chainrings, sprockets and wheel dish, but it's got a levelness to it, that i'm assuming is the SS, rather than the 29er. Do others feel this?

I've ordered a 17 to change from the 32/20 that will get me more faster and more comfortable/ less spinny on the flats. Also gets me a prime number gear with a 17 and the combined 51, which seems to be good for chain/ ring wear I think. Hopefully still be able to manage the hills. Have to see. Kind a feeling it a bit more, though missing the outright speed rush without the gears.

I felt the 29er wheels did carry a bit more in the gravel lumps a few extra feet, enough to keep going, where the 26er might have been stopped. The Fatty could float over the real loose stuff though, but on semi hard the X kings's worked well up front. I like this tyre, it seems to roll well and grip well. A good tyre for someone looking for a much as both as he can get.

Edward

Commute on a single speed with balloon tyres, and have 2x SS Mtbs as well as something with suspension and gears. I generally find it very liberating on the SS; forgetting about gears and just riding when it's been a while

There's a large proportion (statistic not validated) of people who have posted here have a singlespeed which is deliberately set-up with old tech; 26", 1 1/8" etc.

Personally I want my singlespeed as capable as my geared bike. Good fork, lightweight wheels, good tyres.....just no gears.

It's understandable that the lack of gears is seen as a retro experience and this is embraced fully. But singlespeed can still be at the cutting edge.

My full sus singlespeed and DH bikes with all the best kit on were the most fun, and often fastest bikes I have owned. I can't wait to get the time to build a new singlespeed trail bike, but with contemporary geometry and wheel size.

I still ride my Genesis Fortitude SS, but of late just commuting as all of my other riding (on and off-road) has been on my GT Grade.
(Lost interest in MTBing a bit.)

Yes, sscx (On-One Pompino) is my only bike. I'd probably only swap it for a Ti version.

I wish I hadn't read this thread. Having decided to buy a Canyon CX, I now find myself gazing at a Genesis Day One Decade. 😕

I do, in fact later last year a friend asked me "are you still riding that singlespeed".

It's a way of life (or a easy life) I cant remember which. 8)

It's a way of life (or a easy life) I cant remember which.

unique looking riders, odd language and terms of reference that normal riders do not understand, a strange addiction to self flagellation

its a "singlespeeding cult", at least I thinks that's what some mincers on gnarpoons called me as they were sweatily biffling up a climb as I scampered past with a cheery wave

Genesis day one decade owner here, buy it kryton57, great bike...

My issue is I'm thinking of converting my hard tail back to singlespeed thanks to this thread..

Is anyone able to comment in the difference between the Decades [i]"Mjölnir chromoly AKA ‘Thor’s Hammer’ and pronounced ‘Myol-n(ee)r‘ (rolls off the tongue, eh?). Our double-butted, cold-drawn, seamless, Taiwanese chromoly tubeset also goes by the aliases of 4130, Cr-Mo and Chromo. It’s a like-for-like replacement for other, identical branded chromoly tubing and ultimately means a saving can be passed onto you via either a healthy price drop or a little more room for up-speccing elsewhere without sacrificing performanc"[/i]

and an older day one discs' Reynolds 520?

Edit, scratch that:

The raw material used for Reynolds 520 is essentially 4130, so the difference between 520 and 4130 is that 520 refers to the finished tube sets from Reynolds, while 4130 is simply a steel alloy that other manufacturers use to make their own tube sets competing with Reynolds 520.

Now I've a choice between a Day one disc at £520 or the Decade at £699!

Pretty much, 520 is just a product (a tubeset), you could go to a go to a tubing manufacturer and ask for an identical set of tubes and call them "custom butted 4130", or kung-fu, or DN6, or Dave, the choice would be yours, Reynolds just charge a bit more for the benefit of their experience in determining those specific tube profiles and butt lengths. 525 is the same, but made in house by Reynolds rather than in Taiwan.

Or in between, an Arkrose for £600 with Hydro's. 🙂

phutphutend

I can't wait to get the time to build a new singlespeed trail bike, but with contemporary geometry and wheel size

very much looking forward to seeing your singlespeed as well. The stuff you've done so far is stunning.

I started mountain biking with a rigid single speed using a converted, unnamed frame. Then moved up to an On One Inbred rigid SS 26", Genesis iO 26" and now to a Mk1 Singular Swift rigid SS which is the best of the lot.

I can't see me ever getting rid of that unless it breaks and I upgrade to a new one.

There's a large proportion (statistic not validated) of people who have posted here have a singlespeed which is deliberately set-up with old tech; 26", 1 1/8" etc.

Personally I want my singlespeed as capable as my geared bike. Good fork, lightweight wheels, good tyres.....just no gears.

I use 26" wheels and 1 1/8 because the are just as good to me as a wheel 1/2 inch bigger and a head tube a fraction of an inch bigger. However, all my components are good (light weight and reliable which is actually what matters) and makes a very capable bike. If I had a geared bike it would be exactly the same but have gears...

Kryton57, the decade has a nicer colour scheme, the matt black front end and the white gloss looks stunning... Think the tyres are a bit bigger too

Mine has 26" wheels. Inch and an eighth headset, threaded bb, it's stuff that just works. And there's the beauty of ss.

aa - Member
Mine has 26" wheels. Inch and an eighth headset, threaded bb, it's stuff that just works. And there's the beauty of ss.

Mines exactly the same. It was built when those things were the best you could buy. And in many respects they still are. I don't need a tapered fork because it's 2% stiffer, a press fit BB is just utter junk, my 90mm stem works with the frame geometry, a 35mm stem wouldn't. Wide bars, short stems, long, low, slack is not better, just different.

phutphutend - Member
There's a large proportion (statistic not validated) of people who have posted here have a singlespeed which is deliberately set-up with old tech; 26", 1 1/8" etc.

Well, mine's a 69er, so old tech I suppose, but I've not ridden anything that I've felt is an improvement. It's just built with stuff that I particularly wanted, so that'll be Hope brakes and hubs, Middleburn cranks, SKF BB, Chris King and HBC drive train, Renthal bars and stem, Sun Ringle rims and Chunky Monkey tyres.

Nothing cutting edge, for sure, but just stuff that works and keeps on working. And I know I've banged on about it before but it (Hummingbird) is one superb handling bike.

PrinceJohn - Member
Kryton57, the decade has a nicer colour scheme, the matt black front end and the white gloss looks stunning... Think the tyres are a bit bigger too

I agree, looks like the winner so far, just need to make sure my work bonus isn't a cock up and actually ends up in my account at the end of the month before I pull the trigger.

I really miss my Kinesis Decade Versa SS, I wish I'd have kept it. Hopefully this might take me on new (CX) ventures!

My SS bike has just been 650B+'d, but I am sure it will go 1x1 again.

Just built up a SS road ENO wheel to replace my difficult to justify SS road bike.

Really don't ever think I'll be going back to gears anytime soon. Been soley SS for 6 years now.

Caad10 SS 46/18 for summer commute

Pompino 44/18 for winter commute/general duties

Swift 32/18 or 20 for MTB

Planning a SS steel/ti disc gravel type thing to maybe rule them all.

[url= https://flic.kr/p/FkiFNP ]Karate Monkey Flickr[/url]
Karate Monkey Ops, my most favourite bike ever!

Yes, it's ace. 26" steel love hate, fixed carbon forks and chunky tyres. Hope bearingy bits and rnr blue to avoid winter maintenance. Now stop talking about it and get out there.
[url= https://m.flickr.com/photos/69739720@N00/25272374840/ ]Flickr love hate mud[/url]
[img] https://m.flickr.com/photos/69739720@N00/25272374840/ [/img]

I'm back in the gang.
First ride this morning, it was bloody lovely!
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[url= http://postimage.org/ ]image[/url]

New wheels and a conversion back to rigid. Dead on 9kg.

[img] https://goo.gl/dWv55k [/img]

AdamML - Member
Yes, sscx (On-One Pompino) is my only bike. I'd probably only swap it for a Ti version.

Ti Pompino is very nice. Shame they only made one.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4009/5123805495_64f67b818e_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4009/5123805495_64f67b818e_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

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Finally popped Juan's cherry properly with 60k at a cold but sunny CyB today

Ti Pompino is very nice. Shame they only made one.

That is a lovely looking bike.

Yes I have 3 mountain bikes all rigid single speeds. A cool old school 853 steel, 26" wheel, carbon rigid fork, middleburn crank, square taper bb, bike. Also 2 black sheep single speeds - a 29er and a fat bike. Love them all!

How many of you have a suspension fork on your SS's?

Yes- 150mm, 20mm axle, 35mm-stanchioned goodness 😀

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Fat, fully rigid and singlespeed. Niche box checked 😉

[url= https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1541/26487005225_c4a3b7770b_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1541/26487005225_c4a3b7770b_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/GmyPRT ]More singlespeed fat biking[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/swavis/ ]Gavin Belton[/url], on Flickr

thegreatape - Member
How many of you have a suspension fork on your SS's?

That gets stored in the same box as the derailleurs... 🙂

[quote=thegreatape ]How many of you have a suspension fork on your SS's?

Me
I think it depends on where you live/mainly ride though

Swoopy woods and grassy climbs it's fine
rocks and mountains less fine

There are hardcore exceptions to this rule and fat gives a few " of "travel"

29er Inbred - SS Rigid, Never liked how this rode with gears or a bouncy forks & prefer this set up

Inbred 26" - SS & Reba's (it just rides better with a bouncy fork)

Scandal 29er - Has many guises - SS - rigid - 1x10 - 100mm or 130mm fork - rides great in all of them. At the moment it' s1x10 with a carbon rigid fork..

Kona Paddy Wagon - Bought last year off fleabay for a steal with the intention of doing some nice long road rides....After a few altercations with motorists I've decided road riding is not for me anymore & it sits in the turbo for winter usage.... may try & get out on it again in the summer..

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As I started the thread I suppose I should add a picture of my one geared bicycle.

Well, thanks to this thread 3/4 of my bikes are singlespeed...

How many were SS before?

A question for those SSers who have disc brakes - do you use any form of chain tensioner to compensate for chain stretch?

track dropout and a bolt up axle here, haven't adjusted the rear brake in 2 years

[img] ?oh=5cfa57e1c84616bc870c016cac34ec4f&oe=57AD9192[/img]

my fave singlespeed.

whitestone - Member 
A question for those SSers who have disc brakes - do you use any form of chain tensioner to compensate for chain stretch?

Eccentric BB on my Sanderson. If the wheel needs to come out then it just goes straight back into the dropout, no fiddling with track ends or tugs.

Same here. EBB shell and insert on the singulars, philcentric on the normal English BB shell on the other.