Hardtail’s, Singlespeed, winter, training, these words often get thrown together!
But why so?

Mud clearance? Easier to clean?

I’m struggling to find these as a worthy reason let alone any other reasons!

Please explain?!

Less maintanance, minimal drivetrain to get clarted up..

Really, its just a perfect excuse for N+1.

My hardtail is lighter than my Full Suss. I dont need the 6″ travel bike when i’m going 4mph through thick mud, so why carry the extra weight.

My hardtail is also Alfine hubbed, so there’s very little to jam up, and no maintenance required after every ride.

Them’s my reasons.

Suppose seems fair enough.

Initially, the forks on my full sus cost more than the whole single speed build… (now been upgraded)…
That, plus the fact that in deep craggy mud, gears rarely work anyway!

DrP

some FS bike seem to eat suspension pivot bearing in bad weather too

(not in my experiance though)

Makes no odds, based on last ‘summer’ the ground conditions were pretty much winter all year round 😉

Does this mean I need to buy a summer bike then (as I only own a hardtail) 😕

Does this mean I need to buy a summer bike then (as I only own a hardtail)

Of course it does… 😉 8)

I just can’t be arsed to clean out all the little nooks and crannies on my FS after every bloody ride. And if i don’t, then the bearings all get siezed up, and if i clean it with the hosepipe, the water gets in all the bearings and they sieze up. And if i do it properly, with a bucket and sponge and cotton buds for all the hard to reach places, in -2 with a biting easterly wind, at night, because there isn’t any daylight left by the time you’ve had a decent ride, i end up with frostbite.

So, I ride a hardtail which is considerably less nooky and cranny-ey, and more tolerant of a blast with a dirtworker. And a singlespeed for when it’s really shit, which positively relishes a clean once every blue moon and an occasional wipe of the chain with an oily rag.

I do still ride the FS in winter, but it has to be worth getting out and cleaning after.

Does this mean I need to buy a summer bike then (as I only own a hardtail)

+1, don’t think I’ll convince the missus.

I explained to my wife that I needed a winter bike to prolong the life of my full-sus – thus saving us money.
I’ve since bought a second winter bike saving us even more money.

Times are hard and we all need to do our bit.

Generally speaking, a HT or SS is worth less than a FS bike, so physcologically, it doesn’t feel quite so bad as you grind along with all the moving parts covered in about 2″ of thick gravelly mud 😉

Have you seen what North West of England grinding paste mud does to moving parts? The price of having the LBS replace a full set bearings and pivots on a VPP full suss soon convinces you about the relative benefits of a hardtail for winter

Moneywise….

Bearing kit + pivots + LBS labour to fit them all = same price as a half decent hardtail frame

I explained to my wife that I needed a winter bike to prolong the life of my full-sus – thus saving us money.
I’ve since bought a second winter bike saving us even more money.

Times are hard and we all need to do our bit.

Tremendous…that lad deserves a medal.

HT all year round for me…it requires more skillful riding 😉

Shall I continue?

My winter bike is rigid with hub gears – it gets ridden to and from work everyday off road and it would be a pain having a bike that I either had to constantly be cleaning or spending a lot of money on replacing the bits I hadn’t looked after.

it requires more skillful riding

refuses to get fished in 😉

Summer is for showing off to the girls just how awesome your bike handling skills are and winter is for gaining said skills while everyone else is sitting in watching gash in the attic.

Mad skills are gained far quicker in sketchy conditions with no spensions to disguise your shortcomings!

In North Wales we have rock and lots of water, but very little in the way of muddy trails so there’s little need for seasonal bikes. Do people really spend a lot of time riding through paths of crap like that above?

Do people really spend a lot of time riding through paths of crap like that above?

There’s a choice in the UK at the moment?

Do people really spend a lot of time riding through paths of crap like that above?

That’s pretty much every trail round here at the moment, if your not on the road or a hard pack trail that’s it.. 😥
I went to a rigid singlespeed in the end cos anything more is pointless..

Pretty much like that round here (Kent) too. ……………….Which is why I ride my 10 year old single pivot Scott instead of my Zesty.

Trouble is, the zesty has hardly been out of the garage for 6 months

Do people really spend a lot of time riding through paths of crap like that above?

Used to before I got a road bike, yeah.

It’s rarely fun at the time, but it;s still a bike ride eh?

When it’s like this I mostly ride on the road, these days. But yes, it’s exactly why a lot of us who ride the Chilterns keep a rigid singlespeed and call it a winter bike

rob1984p
while everyone else is sitting in watching gash in the attic.

You keep your hookers in your attic? Harsh, man, that’s harsh…………….

It’s a roadie thing, cos people didn’t want their bling italian fancy bike corroded up with road salt.

There’s almost as much mud round here in summer as in winter, and just as many rocks, so there’s sod all difference in bike requirements. I’d love to know how you lot manage to spend all summer on dusty trails…

There is an argument for a mud proof bike but a SS isn’t it. Still needs its chain cleaning which is the most important bit to clean, and still eats pads. Belt drive hub geared hub braked bike might be worth it, but like I say you are pretty likely to need it in summer too.

If mud and hoses destroy your bearings them you need a new bike.

In the perpetual winter that seems to have descended on the UK since the last warm summer on record – 1976 – (I think I bought that record) any bike’s likely to get shagged without sweet love, care and attention.

Oh, and I only have a hardtail, so what else would I ride? Single speed might save on this however.

[/url] 2013-02-20 13.11.16 by

Offcamber round 5 was a tad sticky..

It was so bad up here last weekend I went fully rigid and ss as it was hanging in the garage feeling unloved….

Cove Hummer FTW 😆

IMAG0094 by the_lecht_rocks, on Flickr

Soft ground and low speed: less or no suspension needed. Cheaper bike wear out no regret. Extend operating life of expensive bike.