What is the furthest you have ridden on a three speed?

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GarryG

Senior Member
Not sure where to post this, but intrigued to find out the sort of distances that people have ridden on a three speed?

Looking at training to do a ride on one in the summer, but not sure of a practical distance.

Garry
 

Rohloff_Brompton_Rider

Formerly just_fixed
200km on a 3 speed Brompton.
 
OP
OP
GarryG

GarryG

Senior Member
Looking at doing one of the Sportive Lakes vintage rides in July on the Hercules Commuter, it currently has inverted bars, but I'll flip the back up the right way for that.

The furthest route is 52 miles, hilly but not to steep I've been told.

Really need to get out riding to build up to it as not been out much in the last 12 months.

Anyone else fancy it?
 

Diggs

Veteran
I did a few laps of Ride London.......(not my best picture ever)
freecycle.JPG
 
Hi to GarryG. Back in the early 60's I rode from my home in West Vale, Kirkby to Queensferry,Clwyd and back in the same day on my 1937 Hetchins Vibrant Triangle track frame after it had been converted to road drop-outs. That was a distance of some 40+miles each way.
In those days one could ride through the Queensway Tunnel (old Mersey Tunnel) before 07:00hrs as I recall.
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
Only about 50 miles, but it wasn't the gears that limited the distance it was comfort- my Brompton really needed a better saddle.

Tommy Godwin used a 4-speed hub and he did some fair mileage. I'd wager a 3-speed would be good for half that at least.
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
Around 30 miles on a gas pipe special when a kid.
 
My l'il sis did what was her longest ever ride at that point on what started as a 2annahalf (one was slipping) speed Kingpin in 2010. It was 1annahalf speed for the last 10 miles. A 35-odd mile night ride, including Comedy Off Road section across Skipwith common, that my then 8yo led out from York Rally which featured a fairly impressive halfway picnic at Uranus with bonus marshmallow toasting on a Kelly kettle using spare spokes, and which about 30 cyclists of various levels of ability and experience and with an entertaining assortment of bikes turned out for, which still makes me smile when I think about it. It's not all about the bike.

Mind, we were in the LBS within a week getting her a nice Trek hybrid, and a couple of weeks later her partner (for whom it had also been a personal best distance) was in there buying one himself to replace the slick-shod hardtail he'd used, and between them they now have 6 bikes (I think) and a range of brevet cards and medals ranging from the pink 50s to an LEL one...
 
Just to legitimise my ride to Germany (from Ipswich, back in 1968), my friend Richard who came with me was on a three-speed Triumph Palm Beach. We did 1300 miles in just under 3 weeks. I still remember the climb out of Metz, which I had to do twice as Richard got a puncture on the way up and wrote off his tube. I had to go back down to get a new one from the town. We lived almost entirely on bread and jam, as I recall. We probably had £50 between us!
 
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