+/- of riding SS

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rogerzilla

Legendary Member
It's been said that SS has most of the disadvantages of fixed and few of the advantages.

It is lighter (but not as light as a fixie can be, since you need a rear brake)

It's simple, but single speed freewheels are rarely well sealed and need maintenance.

It won't help you turn the pedals on climbs.

It isn't like going for a long walk (a fixie is).

It won't make you look as cool ;-)
 
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smutchin

Cat 6 Racer
Location
The Red Enclave
OTOH people are less likely to accuse you of being a hipster daffodil
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
It's been said that SS has most of the disadvantages of fixed and few of the advantages.

It is lighter (but not as light as a fixie can be, since you need a rear brake)

It's simple, but single speed freewheels are rarely well sealed and need maintenance.

It won't help you turn the pedals on climbs.

It isn't like going for a long walk (a fixie is).

It won't make you look as cool ;-)
But when you build one from a donated frame/fork and (mainly) old parts from your box of old bike bits...
  • The bike is still light
  • It uses an old freehub which has never needed much maintenance
  • True that steep hills are a nightmare because of the deadspots in the pedal stroke, but 7-10% is 'character-forming'!
  • The downhills are much LESS character-forming, which is A GOOD THING! :whistle:

And...
  • If I want a long walk, I go for a walk :okay:
  • Who wants to look 'cool'? Trying to look cool is NOT cool; real 'Cool' is looking cool by accident! :laugh:
  • You don't have the expense of buying a new frame with horizontal dropouts (much more expensive than a chain tensioner)
 

silva

Über Member
Location
Belgium
A fixed gear is a minimalistic setup.
There is little to go wrong and what is left is simple enough to give even a two lefthands a DIY chance.
A singlespeed has the freewheel which can and does go wrong (it did for me, a sudden rainfall or temp drop below zero and freewheeling forward, not funny along the road in the middle of nowhere).
Another bonus of fixed gear is the ability to push back to slowdown, leaving the brakes only for emergency needs.
Little drawback: when people see you pedaling standing they think the opposite of slowing down. Or wait, did I say drawback? They stop to allow you passing alike you're the King, so just push a couple times back to make them stop then push forward again and wave to the People. :tongue:
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
All my bikes were single speed till I turned 18 and got a racer. We didn't call them single speed, it was just your bike. Used to ride over to,Buxton and Hayfield etc. I remember the odd hill but we could get up most them. If you couldn't you walked. No idea what gear ratio I ran, that didn't interest me, as long as I could fix punctures I was sorted. Anything more serious it was find a phone box and call home.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
I have a single speed town shopper Genesis day 10. Gearing is 72" It has around 21/22 mph top speed. I find I ride it harder than a geared bike. I spin on the flats around 17/18 mph but stand up to power up short inclines.

Ive naturally lowered my cadence on the SS. but I tend to spin more on a geared bike
A well maintained bike will last, a poorly maintained wont. whether SS, fixed or geared
 
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anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
Been riding SS exclusively for about a dozen years now (making use of regular old freehubs). No minuses for my style of riding; I’m not usually in a big hurry, and rather enjoy grinding my way up the Sussex hills. Were the local gradients steeper, it might be a problem.

shwW28X.jpg


The mechanical simplicity also served as a gateway drug of sorts to working on my bikes myself.

I’ll admit, whenever I try out something with gears I think “Wow, this is kind of nice.” But I have no plans to go back.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Been riding SS exclusively for about a dozen years now (making use of regular old freehubs). No minuses for my style of riding; I’m not usually in a big hurry, and rather enjoy grinding my way up the Sussex hills. Were the local gradients steeper, it might be a problem.

View attachment 483687
Ha ha - we do have climbs like that round here... (that one is the 25% section of 'Mytholm Steeps', Hebden Bridge)

620420865_cd3cef6bbb-jpg.jpg


There is no way that I would try and ride up that in my 52/19 ss gear!
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
Been riding SS exclusively for about a dozen years now (making use of regular old freehubs). No minuses for my style of riding; I’m not usually in a big hurry, and rather enjoy grinding my way up the Sussex hills. Were the local gradients steeper, it might be a problem.

View attachment 483687
A pedant writes: That's one's in Kent aksherly. Not far from Darwin's house.

I've long since reached my bottom gear by the time I reach the really steep bit on that hill. So you could say I ride up it on single speed.
 

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
A pedant writes: That's one's in Kent aksherly. Not far from Darwin's house.
Yes, I believe that’s a view up Downe Road, one of the hills masochists can choose on the way to Cudham. If memory serves, that defeated me a number of years ago, though I don’t remember what I was riding. Nearby Church Hill, on the other hand, has been vanquished (just) at 70” - though it's only the last bit that's the killer.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
A pedant writes: That's one's in Kent aksherly. Not far from Darwin's house.

I've long since reached my bottom gear by the time I reach the really steep bit on that hill. So you could say I ride up it on single speed.
Do you qualify for a Darwin award if you get to the top without falling off?
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
Do you qualify for a Darwin award if you get to the top without falling off?
It's actually not that bad a hill. It just has a few metres of bonkers gradient right at the top.

But I'm strictly a geared rider so shouldn't really be in this thread ;)
 

anothersam

SMIDSMe
Location
Far East Sussex
I can see the appeal of fixed (if I squint really hard!), but take away the ability to freewheel and you take away one of the main pleasures of cycling: the free ride (if you ignore that you're forever paying in advance). Plus you really do have to pay more attention, which is contraindicated given how often I’m awheel thinking about almost anything other than the bike I’m on.

But if it does go wrong it can be a little alarming.

Fixed going wrong and SS going wrong are usually several orders of hurt apart. I’m sure the mechanically adept have it well in hand, but those of us who are forgiving of a little slop ride easier knowing we’re not as likely to be sitting on a potential catapult.

Do you qualify for a Darwin award if you get to the top without falling off?

Here’s one I made earlier – not that it applies here, I hasten to add

QngyPy9.jpg


It won't make you look as cool ;-)

On the contrary, I’m always being asked about my fixed (usually when going up hills), thus collecting the same cool points – at least until I correct them, which by solemn SSer’s oath I’m bound to do. Evidently not everybody examines drivetrains as closely as we here.
 
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