ever wish you were strong enough to ride single speed ?

[ChrisF]

No why? Beyond knob waving I really can’t see why you’d want to put yourself at that disadvantage

The why is always a tricky one. Simplicity is a plus point. Lack of maintenance, I’m a lazy bike cleaner so yep to that. I think advantage/disadvantage misses the point a bit, it isn’t all about efficiency for me, most of my rides are local loops of a few hours to a day or two, not very far or very fast.

The experience of riding SS is a bit different to geared. It’s more involving, my mind doesn’t wander as much (Not much in the way of flat spinny stuff Local to me). It’s fun and good for my brain chemicals

[ton]

some good points made on this.

but i have to say, my reasons are purely because i dont want to pay for expensive bike parts anymore. and the cheaper more reliable older stuff is getting less available.

it is the tight arsed yorkshire man starting to shine through...............

[sean_iow]

my reasons are purely because i dont want to pay for expensive bike parts anymore.

You'll be able to get more wear out of SS parts before you have to change them. The used cog on the right still worked fine right up until the point the tooth snapped



On a geared bike I'd have had to have changed it a long time before then as there's no way it would have changed gear.

[jameso]

but i have to say, my reasons are purely because i dont want to pay for expensive bike parts anymore.

Kind of how I started. I had a good trade price rates at Madison at the time but still got bored of how service-needy a lot of kit was and still is. And cheap or not, it still feels wasteful. I either spend too much time servicing or got lazy and realised something's gone past the point of servicing and needed new parts which was kick-myself annoying (yet I still prefer cup n cone hubs and keep on top of those?). Sus forks were the nail in the coffin of bike tech for me but the state of drivetrains after an hour on the trails or a winter of use was part of it too. Partly why I got into road bikes - kit lasts ages in comparison.

100s of £ worth of drivetrain parts being run for hours in a wet, gritty environment always seemed daft. As I get older I'm getting more concerned that my idea of a perfect IGH for MTB* won't be ready in time for when I need it : )

*the answer's not a Rohloff for me.

[Scud]

For me i ride a SS road bike in winter with 46/16 gearing and a SS gravel bike with 45c tyres and 40/16 gearing, for me it is certainly not about willy waving at all, i think it best suits certain areas of the country unless you are super strong, places with shorter climbs, ones you can get up and recover on the descents. I find long, shallow climbs, harder than short, sharp shocks.

The main reason for me is that i enjoy the physicality of it and the fact that there is a certain technique to it, i was a rugby lad for 20 years, so prefer a low cadence grind up a slope rather than spinning, and i like that on SS bike you have to think ahead, you have to look at the upcoming terrain, you have to try and carry speed down a slope so it carries you up next hill and you have to try and carry momentum, all of which i think makes me a better rider overall. I like that i am out of saddle having to muscle bike about, whilst friends on full sus bikes are sat there just spinning away.

Plus where i live is really sandy, so in winter components get ground away and it feels like natural interval training, especially on road bike SS, i have a number of routes that link the climbs in the area, attach the climbs, recover on descents, spinning pedals in between the climbs, mean i am naturally doing 11-12 hard intervals with zone 2 spinning in between.

Try it, i hadn't properly until about 6 years ago, now i am a true convert, but it will click with you if you do like it and you enjoy its limitations, as you have to accept that 95% of the time you will be in the wrong gear!

PS if you are buying a frame specifically for SS< get one with an EBB not horizontal drop-outs if you can, lot less problems

[ton]

jameso, i asked about a rohloff on a earlier post. i wont be buying one.
i had a hours ride on one on wednesday. not for me i am afraid. it was a well used one on a thorn.
it felt kind of spongey when pressing on the pedals to set if, if you know what i mean.
also very very hefty. like riding with a pannier, but not.

[PaulE]

Just re-built an old frame of mine as a singlespeed yesterday, and took it out for a first ride last night. Despite being on 36-16 it was great, I think I'll stick with the bike but maybe drop down a few teeth. Got some big silly ritchey bars which I bought from you on there ton.

What 9 speed bits do you need? I found a few mechs, chainrings and cassettes when looking for ss bits...

[Leerowe76]

I think it just depends what gearing your using tbh, I've rode one or two over the years but not owned one, I would certainly have one in the future or if one pops up cheap enough and just find the gearing that fits the bill in terms of my own fitness

[jameso]

jameso, i asked about a rohloff on a earlier post. i wont be buying one.
i had a hours ride on one on wednesday. not for me i am afraid. it was a well used one on a thorn.
it felt kind of spongey when pressing on the pedals to set if, if you know what i mean.
also very very hefty. like riding with a pannier, but not.

Same here, I love how direct, light and efficient a SS is but IGHs can lose that. I don't think you really lose much efficiency in most gears, it's just a feel thing. And the weight on the back isn't ideal if you're riding unloaded. A Rohloff is great at that far end of the scale, the SS at the other. I'd like something in between and closer to a SS. A 3spd could do it.

I liked the idea of SRAM's e-bike drivetrain. Really heavy-duty cassettes, 8spd, wider ratio / bigger gaps. I hope the development and volumes in E-bikes will end up giving some of us what we want for geared bikes. Less of the Shimano fine-tuned perfect cadence racer-pace shifting approach (as good as that is).

[lune ranger]

100s of £ worth of drivetrain parts being run for hours in a wet, gritty environment always seemed daft. As I get older I'm getting more concerned that my idea of a perfect IGH for MTB* won't be ready in time for when I need it : )

*the answer's not a Rohloff for me.

Out of interest, why’s that?
I’ve used one for 20years and can’t think of a deal breaking reason why not to use one for UK year round MTB except for the initial purchase price.
I have no interest in getting into a spat about it. Just intrigued really. You sound like you’ve put some thought into it and often appear to talk sensibly on here.

EDIT: beaten to it by Ton

[fatbikephil]

OK I'll wade in as a late adopter / borne again / evangelist-as-a-result SS'er (aka tiresome bore)
I started it as a winter thing but at the beginning of this year I fancied doing the Highland Trail SS so switched the Jones to single speed. Previously my favourite trail was a steep techy climb in a 26-46 gear. I didn't mess around, just got straight into the big hills and accepted the walking. With the lockdown nonsense it made sense to stick with it due to limitations on where I was going thinking that the gears would go back on once I hit the big stuff again. But the bug bit. Suddenly I'm looking at the back end of the bike and thinking "no more dangly thing to smack off rocks, no more monster cassette, no more chains wearing out in a year, no mud or snow blockage, 650g's less weight, no angst over what gear to be in" and suddenly I'm putting the day the gears get refitted further and further back.

The Cairngorms loop was the valediction, despite the suffer fest of the last 60k (which tbh wouldn't have been that much easier with gears). Its a different riding style with more walking to be sure but the benefits are more than cool factor. In particular on nadgery, techy, rocky downhills its brilliant - no chain flapping around and you do notice the lack of weight on the back end. (for this reason I'd never contemplate a rohloff on a mountainbike). As you are moving around the bike a lot more plus standing up, sitting down, pedaling fast, pedaling slow, walking, freewheeling a lot; it (seems) to be much better for your (well my) body. No more sitting for hours locked into one position pedaling away (well you know what I mean) Its helped my dodgy knees no end and my duff back seems much happier. I'm also now much stronger on those short sharp punchy climbs and I enjoy hill walking!

Lack of fitness isn't an issue, its just down to choosing the right gearing. Go low. Ignore the net advice and go with 32/20-22 for a 29er. If you don't do much road then go lower still. The only fitness advice I would suggest is to get your core strength built up if you get into it in a big way (actually we should be doing this anyway) as you benefit from good core stability when standing up pedaling at a low cadence. (Low cadence is 30rpm!)

But its not an affectation by any means. It offers genuine benefits and takes you one step further away from the 'more is more' marketing bullsh*t

[jameso]

Out of interest, why’s that?
I’ve used one for 20years and can’t think of a deal breaking reason why not to use one for UK year round MTB except for the initial purchase price.
I have no interest in getting into a spat about it. Just intrigued really. You sound like you’ve put some thought into it and often appear to talk sensibly on here.

EDIT: beaten to it by Ton

Ha, a spat over choices of gearing on a bike would be daft eh. I was genuinely eyeing up the Jones-Rohloff combo in the classifieds yesterday but that would be for the kind of extended riding trip that work seems to get in the way of

[lune ranger]

Sounds like a dream combo to me.
My Rohloff was bought for such a trip and I’ve never looked back.
Must admit to considering a switch to SS for a while to see what the fuss is about.

Any recommendations for a QR SS hub that isn’t too spendy?

[ton]

i have a ECR, so gonna buy a velosolo spacer kit with a 20 sprocket. oh and a tuggnut thing.

anything else i will need ?

[Huwblut]

I’ve ridden SS exclusively since around 2014 on my Pugsley and Stooge. Like others I’m sold on the simplicity and general cheapness. I managed a blue badge on the BB200 32 x 19 with a combination of pedalling, walking and freewheeling. Interestingly the flexibility in my dodgy right knee improved no end post ride. Would highly recommend giving it a go. I’m 51.

[fatbikephil]

i have a ECR, so gonna buy a velosolo spacer kit with a 20 sprocket. oh and a tuggnut thing.

anything else i will need ?

SS chain as normal ones will be too narrow.

[FLV]

I used to ride SS a bit and have just converted my hardtail again. I'm keeping the sus forks on for now tho.

I've swapped gearing to 30:20 which is loads better for hills than the 32:20 I had on. It's a bit of a chore on the flats, though that's only now and then.

As others have said, just pick a gear and have a go for a bit.

A Rohloff is great at that far end of the scale, the SS at the other. I'd like something in between and closer to a SS. A 3spd could do it.

I'd love a 3 speed. Even a 2 speed.
Keep getting tempted to try a sturmey hub, but I think I know how it would go...

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'd love a 3 speed. Even a 2 speed.
Keep getting tempted to try a sturmey hub, but I think I know how it would go...

At present, my SS is actually running a 2spd Sturmey kick-back hub. Sadly, the disc version is akin to rocking horse poo, I got mine through a friend of a friend in the US. SA in Europe had no idea what I was talking about when I asked them. Works well enough and looks just like a SS - no cables, shifters, etc.

[Scud]

What about running it as a dinglespeed Ton if you're are worried about a climbing gear, so two rings up front and two cogs at back, as long as the combined number of teeth adds up, then you should be able to lift chain off and flick it to other combo, so 32/16 ( = 48) and 30/18 - (48). Gives you an easier gear, or you can go the other way if you have to ride flattish terrain to trails, and run 32/18 and 34/16 or similar...

[holdsteady]

I'd love a 3 speed. Even a 2 speed.
Keep getting tempted to try a sturmey hub, but I think I know how it would go...

At present, my SS is actually running a 2spd Sturmey kick-back hub. Sadly, the disc version is akin to rocking horse poo, I got mine through a friend of a friend in the US. SA in Europe had no idea what I was talking about when I asked them. Works well enough and looks just like a SS - no cables, shifters, etc.

that's an interesting idea, might look at getting one to breathe new life into my pompino

[voodoo_simon]

Four recent threads into one photo
-Exposure lights
-singlespeeds (hence the post!!)
-those moments
-night riding

[belugabob]

I'd love a 3 speed. Even a 2 speed.
Keep getting tempted to try a sturmey hub, but I think I know how it would go...

Dinglespeed? - 2 cogs at either end, sized so the same chain works in either pair.
Not tried it myself, and not sure how you go about changing gears, without removing the wheel, but a guy had one at the SSUK event, in Swanage, a few years back

[FLV]

I'd love a 3 speed. Even a 2 speed.
Keep getting tempted to try a sturmey hub, but I think I know how it would go...

Dinglespeed? - 2 cogs at either end, sized so the same chain works in either pair.
Not tried it myself, and not sure how you go about changing gears, without removing the wheel, but a guy had one at the SSUK event, in Swanage, a few years back

If it worked without loosening the wheel I'd be up for it. But I don't think it does.

[jameso]

If it worked without loosening the wheel I'd be up for it. But I don't think it does.

I thought of using a dingle with a dangle for extended touring - use a Rohloff tensioner or similar to keep it in place but you'd be able to swap ratios fairly easily. A sub-1:1 climbing gear for big passes and a useful SS kind of gear for everything else. But in practice you'd always be straining up shorter hills, only changing it on climbs long enough to justify the swap over.

[JohnClimber]

jameso, i asked about a rohloff on a earlier post. i wont be buying one.
i had a hours ride on one on wednesday. not for me i am afraid. it was a well used one on a thorn.
it felt kind of spongey when pressing on the pedals to set if, if you know what i mean.
also very very hefty. like riding with a pannier, but not.

Don't give up on Rohloff until you've ridden an MTB with one as well.

When this is all over you're more than welcome to test ride mine, but the frame may be a little small for you