Let's talk about single-speed bikes

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am trying to understand why someone would ride one, either a fixed-gear or a regular one. I’ve read the wikipedia page on it and it really hasn’t answered my question. Namely, given the functions of multiple gears, what are the benefits of using a single speed?

I ask because a friend of mine is looking into buying a bike and he’s been sold on a single-speed (not a fixie) by another friend, because it’s “low maintenance” and looks cool. I told him that I’ve been riding a multi-gear bike daily for over ten years and the time/money I have spent maintaining my gears is quite minimal, and certainly not worth giving up the benefits of having several gears. As he is not a regular bike rider and certainly doesn’t need anything high-performance just yet, I think for him, a single speed would be more trouble than benefit.

But in general I’m just curious about these things, because I see them all the time as I bike around the city. What’s the difference between a single speed bike and a regular bike with a broken shifter? Why do people choose single-speed bikes?

Thanks!

2

Single-speed bikes are simple and straight-forward. I imagine selecting one would be for similar reasons to selecting an automatic transmission over a stick shift (less to worry about). Also, if speed is not a requirement, most of the gears would not be all that necessary, I would think.

I’ve got an 18-speed bike, but rarely use more than the mid speeds. I did a mud ride last spring and used the lowest gears, but it’s rare that I’d shift that low. One other occassion I’d shift down to 1 or 2 would be if my quads were blown out from a hard ride and I had a hill to climb. Actually, at the end of that mud ride I think I pedalled home in 2 or 3 (because my quads were blown out from such a hard ride). This is an unusual circumstance, though, because I usually wouldn’t ride so hard without working my way up to it. I just went overboard (and boy did I pay for it).

3

Your friend may want to look at a three-speed – gives you a gear for uphill, another for downhill, and a third for cruising along – and very, very easy to take care of. No derailleur!

4

Fixies are becoming really popular around here. I can’t imagine trying to climb (or descend!) California Street on one of those things.

As an anecdote, in the past two weeks, I’ve witnessed three bikes wipe out on the streets. All three were fixies. I have no idea if this menas fixies are inherently more likely to be in accidents or if it was just a case of three people learning how to ride the things and not knowing how to ride near streetcar tracks.

5

I’m wondering if your friend is intimidated by the notion of gear selection. It can seem confusing at first, and it’s not necessarily intuitive how one should optimally use the front and rear derailleurs together. Unfamiliar technology can be scary to some folks. Maybe you can scare him the other way, into getting a multispeed bike so as not to overstress his knees. :wink:

6

Tell me about it.

We were in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, and i followed my usual practice of going to Golden Gate Park and renting a bike.

I rode north out of the park to Anza, west to 30th Ave, north to El Camino Del Mar, then east and along past the Golden Gate into the Presidio, down to the cemetery, up to the Arguello Gate, and back to the Park.

There were quite a few times during that ride when i was in first gear (Anza between 27th and 28th is almost goddamned vertical), and i simply cannot imagine trying to ride regularly in SF on a single-speed bike. Admittedly, i’m far from a pro rider, and i’m not especially fit right now, but there are some hills that i just don’t think could be climbed with a fixie.

7

Fixed gears are the quickest way to get in shape. You can do a track stand. They’re cool.

8

I bought an old steel frame with the appropriate drop outs and built a fixer from that. It cost about 200$ total. There were a few reasons I wanted one.

  1. I already owned 5 bikes and wanted something which was substantially different ride. This turned out to be true, fixed gear riding feels very different and is challenging in ways that geared cycling is not.

  2. I rode with my wife and her friends a lot and I wanted something that would make that work out better. It did not make riding with slower people harder.

  3. I had heard that fixed training was good for your form and pedaling efficiency. I found that after riding the fixer for a couple days in a row my range of cadences improved. I would feel the need to shift less when on a geared bike.

  4. At the time (2002) these style bikes were starting to get trendy and I wanted to be cool, like all those kids. This part was quite fun, people always ask about it.

I don’t ride it outdoors as much as I used to. I moved to a new place where the wind is a huge issue, and pedaling into the wind for an hour or two at like 40 or 50 rpm, then turning around and spinning at 150 or 160 for is hard. It’s also fun to use on rollers. If I am using it regularly on the rollers I can spin it up above 180 RPM.

9

I bought an old steel frame with the appropriate drop outs and built a fixer from that. It cost about 200$ total. There were a few reasons I wanted one.

  1. I already owned 5 bikes and wanted something which was substantially different ride. This turned out to be true, fixed gear riding feels very different and is challenging in ways that geared cycling is not.

  2. I rode with my wife and her friends a lot and I wanted something that would make that work out better. It did not make riding with slower people harder.

  3. I had heard that fixed training was good for your form and pedaling efficiency. I found that after riding the fixer for a couple days in a row my range of cadences improved. I would feel the need to shift less when on a geared bike.

  4. At the time (2002) these style bikes were starting to get trendy and I wanted to be cool, like all those kids. This part was quite fun, people always ask about it.

I don’t ride it outdoors as much as I used to. I moved to a new place where the wind is a huge issue, and pedaling into the wind for an hour or two at like 40 or 50 rpm, then turning around and spinning at 150 or 160 for is hard. It’s also fun to use on rollers. If I am using it regularly on the rollers I can spin it up above 180 RPM (for maybe like 15 seconds).

10

Thanks! Great reasons. It sounds like (for me) it would be a good second bike to play around with, and maybe ride in group rides where the speed is a lot slower than what I am accustomed to?

So is it true that there really isn’t a difference between a single-speed and a regular bike with broken gears? I left my old bike in the snowbank over the winter, I pulled it out and the shifter snapped off in my hand and the freewheel didn’t work - looks like it turned itself into a perfectly good fixie! Maybe I’ll scrape the rust off and give it a go …

(note, I am not seriously considering taking my broken carcass of a bike out on the road.)

11

That is one thing I liked using it for.

Single speed indicates a bike which freewheels, like a geared bike with no cables or a BMX bike. Fixed is a bike which has no freewheeling, so if the bike is rolling you are pedaling.

There are “flip flop” hubs which you can mount gears on both sides. Many people mount a BMX cog on one side (these freewheel) and a fixed cog on the other. I would recommend this. You can also put on different sized cogs.

To convert a regular bike to a fixed you need horizontal dropouts. These were more common in road bikes prior to the 90’s when vertical became the standard. Which is why mine was built from an old bike I purchased at a swap.

The drive train can be “tracksized” which means the cog and chain are wider. I have only used standard size which is the same as geared bikes. I have heard “tracksized” is more durable, and the chain is less likely to drop.

Have someone experienced show you how to put the rear wheel on because chain tension is critical. Most people use bolts and not quick release for the rear wheel and it gets tricky mounting it and keeping the chain tight, and the wheel straight.

Some people do not use brakes with fixers. To do this you need to have a great deal of skill.
Sheldon Brown is a good source of information.

12

Fixed wheel machines tend to be significantly lighter than geared ones, and the fact that the chain will not unship when riding over very rough ground can be useful.
Cyclo-cross riders for many years often chose fixed wheel becuase you spend one third to half your time running with the machine on your shoulder.
After you have finished your cyclo-cross event a fixed wheel machine is very much easier to clean and maintain.

Without gear and all the parapahalia, fixed wheel machines can be very cheap to buy and maintain, and they are not as attractive to thieves who generally fall off in their panic to rush away.

Fixed wheel machines can be useful if the grip is uncertain, such as in frosty conditions, because applying the brakes can lock up a wheel readily in such weather, but on fixed you can slow down smoothly and very subtly.

Fixed wheel is usually excellent for specialised hill climb events - in these events you start on the lower slopes or the very bottom of a steep hill, and you are timed to a finishing line somehwere near the top - advantage is very light weight, you do not risk unshipping the chain when trying to change gear whilst maintaining drive through the pedals, and fixed wheel rolls around better than gears, it helps reduce the top-dead-centre effect.

You would be surprised at just how fast you can pedal when you know how, I have been able to spin fixed wheel downhill at well over 180 rpm.

You have a far better ‘feel’ for the road, the machine gives you better information about the road surface.

When you arrive at traffic lights, a good fixed wheel rider can often do a standstill trackstand, so you don’t have to put your feet down - its just a matter of pride than anything but it does look quite cool - you can do this on a geared freewheel machine but it is very very much harder.

You tend to ride fixed wheel with a ratio that is fairly low for riding on flat ground, so something like 48 tooth chainring to 18 or 20 sprocket is fine.

When we do time trial racing in the early season, we will often use fixed wheels for the limited gear events - these are event set up mostly for competition training purposes, and the size of the largest gear you are allowed to use is limited - this helps reduce the chance of early season injuries. On a geared machine its something of a pain to adjust your deraillers to ensure you cannot select too high a gear, but on fixed its easy, select your two cogs and off you go.

13

I bought mine for 50.00 (it rang up for 75.00 and I bitched until they adjusted it to the 50.00 price tag. It later dawned upon me that the 50.00 was for an unassembled one in a box :smack: ). I get a lot of compliments on it.

I read a coffee-table book years ago that listed the quintessential versions of many items, based on the criteria that they be the result of a preschooler’s drawing of any given thing: dog = bull terrier; house = balloon frame Queen Anne; Jeans = Levis straight-cut, etc. My bike fits that esthetic. For me, life’s furnishings should be no more complicated than was promised by the illustrations in my Dick & Jane reader.

14

I will own & use nothing but single-speed bikes.

I have a Trek Cruiser, powder blue, & love it.

I once was on a 10 mile ride, in Summer, on a 10 speed. Broke down 5 miles out.
Nobody answered phone calls, so I got to push.

Never again.

Long rides=single speed.

15

  1. I live in Northwest Indiana, some of the flattest real estate on Earth. Hills are not an issue. If I come to one of the very gradual rises that locals call “hills” I have found that by simply pedaling slightly harder this is not an issue. Clearly, if you live someplace like San Francisco rapid changes in terrain elevation are more of an issue.

  2. Mechanical simplicity. If it breaks I can easily fix it myself simply by looking at it and making deductions. No manual or real mechanical knowledge required. I never have to worry about changing gears because I can’t. One less thing to worry about as I dodge traffic.

  3. Low maintenance. Much lower than yours. You have spent “minimal” time on maintenance? The only maintenance I have had to do in the more than 20 years I have owned my current bike is maintain tire pressure, wash off encrusted mud, and oh yeah, once in awhile I might oil the chain. That’s it I have never had to replace anything other than the tires. Which I did easily. Because it comes apart and goes back together simply and quickly and without the need for specialized tools. I can change out both tires in under 15 minutes without hurrying - how about you?

  4. Durability. Prior to obtaining my current bike I had broken the frames of two separate bicycles. I deliberately chose a somewhat heavy but very durable bicycle that I have yet to break, despite such insults as wiping out on gravel, falling out of the back of a pickup truck, crashing into obstacles, running over rocks, etc. I’ve certainly gone through some tires over time, but that’s it. Not that I intend to be so rough on my bike, but it does go outside with me and sometimes I’m a klutz.

  5. I don’t care about speed or distance. My bike is an excuse to get out and enjoy some fresh air and keep my butt from expanding to equal the size of my sofa. Since my bike provides all the enjoyment I ask of it I see no reason to spend a dime on a different machine.

16

Or it is something about you that scares the hell out of fixies. :wink:

17

Right. The popularity of fixies has about as much to do with practicality as getting a tattoo. Some dudes think fixies are “rad” “urban” “edgy” and other things which I could hardly care less about. It’s *style *not substance.

18

That may be a bit extreme. I’ve ridden 1000’s of miles on multi-speed bikes and never had any mechanical failure that prevented me from riding home. Certainly fixed gears are easier to keep running, but it’s not hard to get a multi-gear bike into “limp home” mode with only a few tools. Andy I’ve only had to do that once in the past 25 years of long rides.

19

That is not entirely true. They are a unquie ride, and have advantages. But some people do worship them a bit much.

20

For novice riders, fixies can cause more accidents. For one, you can’t stop pedalling and coast. So if your wheels are turning, your pedals will be. A lot of fixed gear bikes also don’t have brakes (some do though, often only a front brake), you use your legs on the pedals to decellerate slowly and it takes a LOT of work to slow down and stop quickly. So if you aren’t an expert rider, to avoid hitting a car, dropping the bike may be your best option. I tried one recently and prompty fell down because I could get it to stop without clotheslining a pedestrian.

Fixed-gear bikes are all about cadence and pedal stroke. Very much for an advanced rider. You have to develop really good skills or else you bounce in our saddle too much. The bike forces you to develop a nice smooth motion and efficiency in the way you use your leg muscles. It’s all about control and finesse.

I know a lot some die hard serious riders (the kind of guys who are bike couriers only because they never want to have to get off their bikes). And they swear by them. To answer the OP, it’s not about the “benefit” of riding them, it’s all about a purity of mechanics. A lot of riders ride them because they want minimal assistance and love the challenge. It’s not an easy bike, and that’s why they like it because they really feel “at one with the machine”. I have been told that once you master a fixie, the ride is sublime.

But those guys are really elite riders. Trying to keep up with their slowest pace makes me wheeze like I have emphesema. Personally, I don’t think I’d ever get one because I am not a die hard purist. I wan’t to work hard, but I don’t need to be “one with the machine” and I’m inherently too lazy.

Some of the real “benefit”: improved traction and control. You tend to be really solidly connected with the bike, more like it’s an extension of your body and it has greater feel. So over time you develop pretty insanely good control and you can ride better (surprsingly enough) on slippery surfaces than a normal bike.

I have no first-hand experience though, other than my one attempt/wipeout.

I can see getting a single speed, bike (those allow you to coast and usually have brakes). But fixed-gear bikes are too much for me. Fianceephone just got a frame and is slowly building single speed or possibly a fixie. She hasn’t decided. But she likes that kind of challenege and is a much more advanced rider than me.

ETA:

I agree with this. The elite riders I know who ride fixed gear bikes, really do worship them quite zealously as the ultimate biking experience. I understand that it’s great, but few people are really going to be at a level where they can appreciate that greatenss.