Let's talk about single-speed bikes

In My Humble Opinion
21

My only experience is with the bike as primary transportation in a place with unrelentingly flat terrain (barring a bridge now and again). I have had a single speed bike and a three speed bike and there isn’t really a dime’s worth of difference in practice. Hauling groceries or kids over the bridge in a bicycle wagon is easier with three speeds but not markedly so.

However, when it comes to maintnance, repair, changing tires and so on, the single speed is easier. Given the prevailing rainy and muddy conditions, fewer moving parts = fewer things to go wrong. And in light of the sheer number of bicycle thefts, that a single speed is cheaper is also important.

22

Really the weight you can save is not much. Single/fixed gear fanatics will tell you it saves heaps but we are talking a kilo or two. Unless you’re competing in a climb competition, compared to the total mass of bike and rider it’s chickenfeed.

I’ve never come across anyone I can’t leave for dead riding a fixy on ordinary mixed terrain, and I’m not much of a cyclist. On the flat and on the downhills they don’t have the gearing to keep up.

Single speeds are OK if you are doing short trips about town and have no need for speed, and not too much by way of hills. They have essentially all the advantages of a fixed wheel and don’t have one of the big disadvantages. The main thing they lack is pose value.

The whole “lack of maintenance” thing seems much exaggerated. I ride to work every day of the year and some years do up to 150 miles a week training. I sometimes forget to have my road bike serviced for up to 18 mths, and my commuter bike might go several years. The latter is over 10 years old and just had its first major overhaul of the gears. Neither bike has ever let me down in terms of gears at all.

Sure, why not? What do you think the difference would be? There’s no difference at all at the front, and at the back the only difference is dealing with the chain tensioner when you are putting the wheel back on. That takes me all of perhaps 30 seconds if I’m being slow.

23

This article says basically what I would say but more eloquently.

24

[QUOTE=Princhester]
The whole “lack of maintenance” thing seems much exaggerated. I ride to work every day of the year and some years do up to 150 miles a week training. I sometimes forget to have my road bike serviced for up to 18 mths, and my commuter bike might go several years. The latter is over 10 years old and just had its first major overhaul of the gears. Neither bike has ever let me down in terms of gears at all..
[/QUOTE]

You might be right about that. It seems to me that the people I know who have Bikes of Many Gears talk about many and various Fiddly Things they have to do to them for precision performance or some such thing. Since in my situation the best bike is one I do not have to think about at all, much less do anything to, and my idea of precision performance is getting home with groceries, kids, and myself all intact, I am left with the general impression that they must be quite a lot of trouble.

But it may be that talking about many and various fiddly things is just sharing a hobby. I have no way to know.

25

[QUOTE=Princhester]

Sure, why not? What do you think the difference would be? There’s no difference at all at the front, and at the back the only difference is dealing with the chain tensioner when you are putting the wheel back on. That takes me all of perhaps 30 seconds if I’m being slow.
[/QUOTE]

I dunno, but I see a LOT of people taking hours and hours to change the tires on their multi-gears, and the bike shops around here seem to do a nice business in changing tires… either you’re mechanically above average or there are a LOT of idiots out there (or both). While it may be no problem for you, for the inept it may be a factor.

26

[QUOTE=Marienee]
You might be right about that. It seems to me that the people I know who have Bikes of Many Gears talk about many and various Fiddly Things they have to do to them for precision performance or some such thing. Since in my situation the best bike is one I do not have to think about at all, much less do anything to, and my idea of precision performance is getting home with groceries, kids, and myself all intact, I am left with the general impression that they must be quite a lot of trouble.

But it may be that talking about many and various fiddly things is just sharing a hobby. I have no way to know.
[/QUOTE]

Well, to expand: cheap and nasty derailleur gears will go out of adjustment more quickly. If you buy mid to upper range it will take longer. All do go out of adjustment over time. But we are talking a long time. My commuter bike is mid to low range quality and it needs adjusting every couple of years. And when they do go out of adjustment that means noisy shifts, or some noise as you ride caused by things being out of alignment. That isn’t really a big problem. At the extreme you will get an inability to shift to the highest or lowest cogs. Which would leave you (a) better off than someone on a fixed or single speed who don’t have any gear range at all and (b) able to get home. It’s not a big deal

Broomstick people who are taking hours and hours to change a tire on any bike, or who are taking their bike to the shop to change a tire, are mechanically inept or just don’t want to do it themselves. You sound (and I don’t mean this in any insulting way) as if you just don’t know what is involved with geared bikes. If you are a person who can change your tires in 15 min on a single speed, you can could change them in 15 min 30 seconds on a derailleur geared bike.

Actually, depending on your setup, you’d probably find the latter faster: fixies and single speeds don’t have a chain tensioner and simply rely on wheel position to get chain tension right. On a derailleur bike, the wheel just self locates. On a fixy or single speed you have to play around with wheel location in the rear dropout to get chain tension right, which is an extra step.

27

Having read Princhester’s cite, all I can say is that I was not aware that riding fixed wheel was some sort of fashion statement until now.

I’ve been racing and riding cycles for, well for rather a long time, and cycling itself has for almost all that time been a pretty unhip thing to do.

It’s fair to say that I’m a very experienced rider, I’ve taken part in many facets of the sport, from grasstrack racing, cross, mountain biking through to orienteering.

Fixed wheel is not something I would consider to be a fashion thing at all, not many regular club riders choose it, and quite a few of those probably don’t have the skills or tried it and found it wasn’t for them.

All the same, it has its plusses and its minuses, but to appreciate them properly you really need plenty of skill, and to be using your machine much more than the odd few rides around town, so you would need to be a regualr club rider doing maybe 5000+ miles a year.
Fixed wheel isn’t about hard, or cool or fashionable, it is about function, a tool for a particular job, during the main season I don’t use fixed at all, except maybe on the rollers when doing some conditioning work.
During the winter or early season its a useful tool for improving your pedalling action, and its good for hillclimbs.

It does sound like someone has made it the latest thing after having seen a few folk riding it.

My view is, don’t go fixed unless you have a genuine use for it, and make sure you have a front brake, but do not use a back brake - you have a risk of locking up and falling off good style.

28

I rode a singlespeed mountain bike for a long time - just stripped it down recently as the frame has cracked. I had a lot of fun with it - the main reason for riding it initially was that you need to be an animal to ride a singlespeed off-road at speed. Climbs in particular can be brutal, it’s a great training device. I got very experienced with it where I could take on most trails at a comfortable pace. Riding it in anger though really was tough - it’s not just the aerobic strain, but the pain you get in your lower back and arms from turning such a big gear over the rocks.

I ride a singlespeed cyclocross bike as a commuter - this is an extremely cool bike, a specialised tricross if any cyclists know it. Whilst it’s fantastic for commuting, I do regret not being able to ride it off-road due to lack of gears. I run a 42 x 16 ratio, which is fine on the roads, but impossible for me on even very moderate off-road climbs.

Two other things about singlespeeding - road or mountain it is always slower, often substantially so. It’s always in the wrong gear: you’ll be miles behind on the descents because you’re spinning out like a crazy person, and the climbs will be more draining. Very, very fit mountain bikers can reduce this time gap on the trails, but for 99% of people the SS is a lot slower.

You’ll also hear stories about how the SS is hard on your knees. With sensible gear choice I don’t think this is true at all - and it’s something I’ve spoken about plenty on cycling boards. I actually have a knee problem that flares up badly when I am hiking - I’ve never had a single problem turning the singelspeed.

29

[QUOTE=Broomstick]
I dunno, but I see a LOT of people taking hours and hours to change the tires on their multi-gears, and the bike shops around here seem to do a nice business in changing tires… either you’re mechanically above average or there are a LOT of idiots out there (or both). While it may be no problem for you, for the inept it may be a factor.
[/QUOTE]

The only difference with changing a fixed vs multi-speed bike is getting the wheel on and off; and that takes 20 seconds. The people you see taking hours to change the tires would take hours to change the tires on a fixed gear bike. Tire changing speed isn’t a factor in the fixed vs multi-speed discussion, IMO.

30

[QUOTE=Princhester]
Broomstick people who are taking hours and hours to change a tire on any bike, or who are taking their bike to the shop to change a tire, are mechanically inept or just don’t want to do it themselves.
[/quote]

I believe I said as much.

I have only owned and ridden single-speed bikes. I want to clarify that these are freewheel bikes - frankly, before this thread I had no clue there was such a thing as a “fixie” and frankly it sounds sort of retarded to me as a concept, but hey, whatever. I don’t care what other people ride, and I am as unhip and unfashionable as a person can be on a bike so it barely registers. Anyhow, one of the reasons I have never picked up a multi-gear bike (though by no means the only reason) is all the people I have seen struggling with them over the years. It’s just not worth it to me. Even that additional 30 seconds on the tire change is just not worth it. If you gave me a mutli-gear bike I would problably never even touch the gear shift. What you, and other folks who keep trying to convert me to the Church of Multiple Gears do not seem to comprehend is that, really, I do not want to be bothered, As I said, I bike in very, very flat terrain. On the rare occasion I meet an upward incline or shift to a dirt trail I just pedal harder. I am not in a race, a competition, a club, or anything of the sort. I am not interested in somehow “improving” myself as a bicyclist as my skills are more than adequate for what I do already. After nearly 40 years of braking by back-pedaling hand brakes are annoying and, given my total lack of practice with them and tendency to forget about them, potentially dangerous in a traffic situation. Since I have no reason to give up my current bike, which has faithfully served my needs for 30 years, I don’t want to be bothered make that transition either. What I currently have serves every need I have and I don’t want to be bothered to make a change I see no need to make. Get it? I’m happy with what I have. Arguments that I would “go faster” or something would be “easier” or would be more durable (more durable? I paid $100 for my bike and I’ve had it 30 years - c’mon) or whatever just don’t make an impact. I did put a rear-view mirror on for when I ride in traffic and I did buy a helmet a few years back because I thought those would, indeed, be value-added. Oh, and a “luggage rack” over the back wheel so I have a place to strap down my flight bag when I bike to the airport to go flying. I’m willing to make changes when I feel it benefits me but so far no one has been able to convince me that a mutli-gear bike is, in any way, going to improve my situation.

I don’t care if people ride 3-speeds, 10-speeds, 20-speeds, or 1000000000-speeds. I don’t care if they want a carbon fiber frame, or a titanium frame. I don’t care if they ride penny-farthing bikes, or unicycles. What I don’t understand is why some people get so worked up about this that they have to convince me that the bike I ride is “wrong”. If I want to ride the same dorky utility bike I’ve had for 30 years, yes, the purple one with the magenta and yellow flames, why does it bother them so much? I swear, it’s like people who feel they can’t go for a walk in the woods without special “walking shoes”, a specific walking outfit, a half hour series of stretches, and 3 liters of water to consume over a half-mile trail. Good lord, just find a comfortable pair of shoes, jeans, and a t-shirt and freakin’ go for a walk. Why complicate simple things?

Oddly enough, in 40 years of riding bikes this has never been an issue for me.

31

[QUOTE=The Cocky Watchman]
You’ll also hear stories about how the SS is hard on your knees. With sensible gear choice I don’t think this is true at all - and it’s something I’ve spoken about plenty on cycling boards. I actually have a knee problem that flares up badly when I am hiking - I’ve never had a single problem turning the singelspeed.
[/QUOTE]

I don’t get it about the knees either - when I trashed my knee in high school soccer riding a bike was part of my rehab. No problems with it being a single-speed, either. Have to wonder if maybe they’re using the wrong size bike, or OVERdoing it (nothing like being a weekend warrior to hurt yourself)

32

Broomstick look, I am not going try to convert you to the church of the multispeed bike. But not all of us live in a place that has the physical contours of a billiard table. I agree that your bike fits you needs, but do realize that your needs are not everyones needs. For me, a 56 year old weekend warrior, a single speed or a fixie, would mean that I would be severely limited in where I could ride. I just don’t have the power to weight ratio to power up the hills without gears.
But some of the comments I see here against multispeed bikes are frankly silly. Hours to change a tire on a multispeed? Either you were observing the most mechanically inept person on the planet or someone is stretching the truth just a tad. The bike rack for the top of my car requires that I remove the front wheel off of my bikes. This takes about 15 seconds. (Gotta love quick releases) Taking the tire off the rim requires a set of tire spoons, and about 30 seconds. Honestly the longest part of a tire change is feeling very carefully around the inside of the tire casing to makes sure that the thorn or piece of glass that caused the first flat isn’t still in there to cause a second flat. Since I really hate getting two flats in a row, I will inspect the outside of the tire, the inside of the tire and run my hand around the entire inside just to make sure.
Honestly a tire change is under five minutes. Rears are about 30 seconds longer than fronts.
As far as bike shops fixing tires goes, lots of people can’t be bothered. I have seen entire families come in with flats on each of their bikes to my local bike shop to get them fixed, because they can’t be bothered. Since the entire family is often riding single speeds, this is a function of their laziness, not the complexity of their bikes.
Stranded? In all the thousands of miles I have ridden on both trails and road, I have been stranded once. A flat tire, and I didn’t have all of my tire changing stuff with me (shame on me) so I had to walk to the local bike shop. Needless to say, I bought what I needed. I now carry adequate supply of tire changing stuff on each bike instead of moving it from bike to bike which allowed Murphy to leave a couple of things out that day. Since single speed bikes can also get flats, I don’t see this as a slam against multispeed bikes.

33

[QUOTE=Rick]
Broomstick look, I am not going try to convert you to the church of the multispeed bike. But not all of us live in a place that has the physical contours of a billiard table. I agree that your bike fits you needs, but do realize that your needs are not everyones needs. For me, a 56 year old weekend warrior, a single speed or a fixie, would mean that I would be severely limited in where I could ride. I just don’t have the power to weight ratio to power up the hills without gears.
[/quote]

If I lived in a place with hills I’d be right there with you. What I can’t figure out are the nutcases here, where I live, who insist on the necessity of being able to change gears "to handle hills’. WHAT hills? Sure, the ones that bike up to Wisconsin where they have hills, or who take their bikes on vacation, that’s fine, but I’m talking about people who probably haven’t been more than 50 miles from where they were born going on and on… geez, these people wouldn’t know an honest hill if they rolled down one.

There are a LOT of mechanically inept people. Trust me. I’m no mechanical genius, but in office work I’m always the one stuck changing toner or prying paper jams out of things because people are stupid about these things.

Well, my bike doesn’t have a “quick release”, but gimme a wrench, it comes off just fine.

What’s a “tire spoon” and why can’t you use your fingers like I do?

Yeah, people are stupid AND lazy.

I don’t bother, because I don’t go far and my husband will come get me if I get a flat. But yeah, I’ve had plenty of flats on my single-speed. Is it more likely? I think where you ride is a bigger factor than what you ride when it comes to flat frequency.

Now, the rims on my wheels ARE sturdier than those on my mutl-speed bikes, but there’s no reason that has to be. There are certainly multi-speed bikes that are built stronger than mine. I think sometimes people are just cheap and, again, lazy. I do have a weight penalty for the heavier rims, but considering everything else it’s not an issue with me. More durable multi-speed bikes are either heavier than the flimsier ones, more expensive, or both. If you’re too cheap to buy quality you’ll suffer. Me, I opted for mechanically simple and durable. I could have bought a single-speed even cheaper than i did, but those didn’t meet my admittedly modest standards.

34

Extra thick knobby tires, Kevlar belting, thorn proof tubes… What is this ‘flat tire’ of which you speak? :smiley:

35

OK, though this thread has been focused on fixed-gear bikes, I can offer my reasons for choosing a single-speed bike. It’s a 1937 Corsair. That’s right, it’s 71 years old, and in excellent condition.

First off, I do like the style of older bikes (though not the new “retro” styled bikes, they’re just wrong). I also like the extra fat tires, fatter than my old mountain bike tires, and the big cushy seat.

My bike rides like a Cadillac. Very smooth. Having a single gear isn’t an issue here, it’s pretty flat, so I can sort of choose form over function. But I also like knowing that if something goes wrong on my bike, I can fix it myself.

36

[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe]
OK, though this thread has been focused on fixed-gear bikes, I can offer my reasons for choosing a single-speed bike. It’s a 1937 Corsair. That’s right, it’s 71 years old, and in excellent condition.

[/QUOTE]

I would ride something else just because a bike like that would be so cool to own.

Ok maybe I’d ride it for the clubs retro-ride, but otherwise I’d keep it in the living room.

37

I love mine, had a ten speed when at uni which I hated. The tires were so thin if you hit a pebble I would almost fall off, the chain was forever coming off the whatsits, I had no use for different gears as I was riding for exercise. Traded it for a one speed and never looked back.

I like it because;

Nice thick tires, and very stable. I can ride over curbs without worry.

No tricky gears to send the chain off the rails.

Nice cushy seat, I never liked having to hunch over to ride my bike. I like sitting up and looking around.

It was inexpensive.

No one lusts after it and, as a result, I can chain it most anywhere without a second thought.

Of course, I was riding it around before it became retro and cool so what do I know?

38

[QUOTE=bannerrefugee]
That is not entirely true. They are a unquie ride, and have advantages. But some people do worship them a bit much.
[/QUOTE]

OK, but at least in the SF bay are they are more style than substance.

Princhester, cool link. I offer this quote from there"*Since you’re not likely to be drafting anyone on city streets, a track bike is a highly impractical choice of wheels. What’s more impractical is that fixed-gears often appear to lack brakes. The bike’s speed is controlled by the rider’s pedaling cadence — slow the pedaling, you slow the bike. Stop pedaling, stop the bike. This effect can be augmented by adding a front caliper brake, but that’s frowned upon by fixie fashionistas who do things like cut their handlebars down to a foot and don’t run bar tape or grips. The problem with using pedal cadence as a braking mechanism is that stopping is dependent on rider skill.

Now there’s the rub. Like trucker hats and PBR, what started as a bike messenger thing has become a fashion statement and status symbol. You’ve got kids in the Mission with the left leg of their jeans rolled up, a little biker hat on crooked, slip-on Vans, and a brand-new fixed-gear Bianchi; and they don’t know their ass from a light socket. Cadence? You may as well be talking astrophysics."
*

39

[QUOTE=Broomstick]
What you, and other folks who keep trying to convert me to the Church of Multiple Gears…[snipped]
[/quote]

Great Og on a cwutch, Broomstick, what side of bed did you get out on? I said single speeds were OK where it was flat, and I said what they lacked was pose value (ie nothing).

As to changing flat tyres, we now learn you don’t have quick releases and you have back pedal brakes (another complication, because you have that anti-rotation arm thing) and you’re telling me my multigear bike is slower to change a tyre? You have got to be frickin’ kidding me. I don’t care what sort of bike you ride, and single speed sounds perfect for your needs, but don’t expect to post factually incorrect information from the depths of apparent ignorance and go ape when someone corrects you.

40

[QUOTE=Princhester]
As to changing flat tyres, we now learn you don’t have quick releases and you have back pedal brakes (another complication, because you have that anti-rotation arm thing) and you’re telling me my multigear bike is slower to change a tyre?
[/quote]

Right. Because it’s inconceivable that maybe familiarity makes it easier and quicker to change a tire out. You find what I have to be finicky and difficult and I find yours to be so.

I stated that based on my observation that those around me take a long time to change the tires on multi-speed bikes. Frankly, I don’t know why these people - friends, family, neighbors - have such a difficult time of it, but watching their struggles over the years has been a factor in my avoiding multis. Well, maybe they’re all mechanical idiots. You can believe or disbelieve. That observation is one of the reasons I have not changed to a different bike.