Is a single speed not fixed?

[simon.r]

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Anyhow, single speeds aren't single speed, are they? They go faster or slower. That's more than a single speed, by my reckoning.

On the other hand, in French it can be single speed, because they use vitesse to mean speed and gear.

I hope I've clarified matters somewhat...

 

[Sharky]

Now which camp are you going to put a Sturmey Archer 3 speed fixed gear bike in?

Cheers Keith

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Unless it falls off, all wheels are fixed, though.

 

[Acesand8s]

As i understand the terminology is like this: a Fixie is a fixed-gear-bike-with-no-brakes, or, a fixed gear bike has a single ring and a single cog where the cog is fixed to the wheel. Yet there are fixed gears that are instead fixed to the wheel via a synchronizer and have interier hub gears, as far as a single speed it is abike with one ring and one cog or another set up where there is only one set resistance for the rider to pedal. But there are still some exceptions.

 

[Acesand8s]

Technically User is not correct regarding if it is the wheel or hub, ad a special hubed wheel is needed, yet that pretty much means the whole wheel since it is almost always faster and cheeper to just by a different wheel when the hub is not what you need than it is to completly re-spoke a wheel hub. And that hub is the difference, sort of. If you try to single speed a new road bike with verticle drops, HERE IS THE DIFFERENCE: a single speed is just getting rid of the shifting capability and keeping a little chain tension, but you can keep the same hub. But trying to put on a fixed hub wheel is a nightmare, because the reverse tension is extremely hard on the tensioner, if it is a spring or wheel hanger single speed kit, thus in these fixie conversions the solution is to add a horizontal drop kit of some kind or even mod the frame.

 

[GrasB]

Must try and track down one of those Sunbeams with a bottom bracket gear just to add to the confusion

There are various hub-gear & multi-speed crank hubs one could have that allows for more than one gear with a single chainring & single rear sprocket!

You can even have a gear ranged hub which is steplessly adjustable between the top & bottom ratio (free wheeled)

 

[Dan B]

My single- sprocket no-freewheel bike is ridden on the road, so to avoid confusion and engender clarity I refer to it as my "road bike"

 

[Sharky]

I only took my bike into the LBS to check the brakes and it came out fixed

 

[martinclive]

I can do anything from 0 to 30mph on my 1 gear bike so how is it a single speed?

 

[benb]

So if a spoke breaks and I fix it, am I then riding a fixed wheel?

 

[derrick]

It's lucky we ain't talking rocket science.

 

[Archie_tect]

Perhaps we should... things might become a lot clearer.

 

[youngoldbloke]

A single speed bicycle may have a fixed wheel, but, on the hand, might have a freewheel. A fixed wheel bicycle is usually single speed, but might not be, and cannot freewheel. Flip flop hubs are threaded to take a fixed cog on one side, and a freewheel on the other - thus the same bike might be either fixed gear, or not .......

 

[4F]

Fixed is fixed and single speed isn't, hope that clears the matter up