single speed advantages?

walter

Fourth Party
is that it?

not at all, for me its the simplicity of going out and just riding my bike. No worries about being in the right gear for a climb, I just stand up and mash away. Less mechanical issues is also a plus. Where I ride the majority of the time, the ss is all I need. Its fun, easy to maintain, simple and better exercise. There are many of us here that ride single speeds as a primary bike, both 26" and the ever more popular 29er. I have a beautifully built up geared bike that literally sits in my shed, I always reach for the SS, I just enjoy it more. Alot of people say it brings them back to when they were a kid bashing around on a bmx bike, for me, it just suits my style a bit better.
 

VanDbtRiver

Well-Known Member
lose the weight of 8 cogs, chain links, deraileurs, two chain rings, cables and shifters and you gain the mecanical advantage of many other things i dont understand
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
simplicity and low maintenance are it's most significant advantages. in the first stage of la ruta this year, going through the mud and beyond it, i was constantly passing multi-speed riders cleaning chains, fixing chains, lubing chains, and the same with derailluers. i didn't have to lube my chain once and obviously had no shifting issues. my chain never broke during the race.

in that one single gear, it's a much more efficient system. there is alot less friction from pullies and extra links. the lack of chain slap also makes some strides in efficiency. multispeeds have the ability to be much more efficient in nearly every other gear though, if used properly by the rider.
 

elzoller

El Guac-Oh
definitely agree with Walt's & Sean's thoughts....plus

On cold rides, like today,I used to have a hard time shifting because my thumb just would go numb...with the SS, no shifting, so no need to use my thumbs!! ;)
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
I had(R.I.P.) a trek 8000 SS 26" and I would love it for the sheer need to pick smoother lines and concentration on conservation of momentum. You really need to be a lot smoother on the SS for it to be efficient. Plus I think it makes the legs that much stronger just to be able to mash those pedals over the hills. They are great. I'm working on another SS in addition to my geared 26's. I love the geared bikes first, the SS is a close 2nd.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
not at all, for me its the simplicity of going out and just riding my bike. No worries about being in the right gear for a climb, I just stand up and mash away. Less mechanical issues is also a plus. Where I ride the majority of the time, the ss is all I need. Its fun, easy to maintain, simple and better exercise. There are many of us here that ride single speeds as a primary bike, both 26" and the ever more popular 29er. I have a beautifully built up geared bike that literally sits in my shed, I always reach for the SS, I just enjoy it more. Alot of people say it brings them back to when they were a kid bashing around on a bmx bike, for me, it just suits my style a bit better.

Non-SS isn't fun? Better exercise? Those 2 just aren't true, IMO. Simplicity and ease of maintenance are huge advantages of an SS bike. It's also lighter which is another really cool thing especially on hills, at least going up. In terms of right gear, I think that's all in the rider's head and an SS allows you to understand that much better.

There's also a training side of it which you can get into. But I don't know if that's what you're looking for. I'm just putting my SS back into commission for use now that winter is coming.
 

walter

Fourth Party
Norm, for me, it is more fun and better exercise. If I am on the gearie and I am by myself like I usually am, I can spin easier gears to make things alot more easier. On the ss, there is only one gear to punish myself with. Whether Im on the flats of the hills, there is no making it easier. Fun wise, well, I just get frustrated when shifting becomes an issue. No shifting issues, no frustration. Any bike you ride, geared or ss, is going to provide a huge amount of fun and exercise.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Norm, for me, it is more fun and better exercise. If I am on the gearie and I am by myself like I usually am, I can spin easier gears to make things alot more easier. On the ss, there is only one gear to punish myself with. Whether Im on the flats of the hills, there is no making it easier. Fun wise, well, I just get frustrated when shifting becomes an issue. No shifting issues, no frustration. Any bike you ride, geared or ss, is going to provide a huge amount of fun and exercise.

But then isn't that just then describing you, not an inherent advantage of an SS bike?
 

walter

Fourth Party
pretty much, thats why I started off my first response with "for me". I did mention the whole easier to maintain thing, which could go for anyone.
 

Wazu

New Member
Efficiency. A singlespeed's chain runs directly from the chainring to the rear sprocket and back. A geared bike's chain snakes around two jockey pulleys to a sprocket that is out of line (left-to-right) from the chainring by much as an inch. Even without the chainline issue the improvement is at least a couple percent, and compared to some of the more crooked chainlines you might run on a multi-geared bike, the difference can be quite a bit more than that. Believe it or not, you can feel the difference. Don't believe me? Find a bike shop that sells a few singlespeed bikes, and pull both a singlespeed and a geared bike off the rack. Now crank the pedals backwards pretty hard and let go. Notice how much longer the pedals spin on the SS bike? That's the difference in efficiency, and it's even more pronounced under load.

Maintenance. No derailleurs to adjust, no jockey pulleys to lubricate, no cables to clean. Most of the maintenance most of us do, other than tires, is on the drivetrain. With a singlespeed all you have to do is take care of your chain. That's IT.

Durability. No rear derailleur to tweak on trail obstacles, no shifters to go bad, no front derailleur to jam, no 11-tooth cogs to wear out early and force you to replace your cassette before its time.

Weight savings. 2 - 3 lbs.

Silence while pedaling. It's just plain less noisy with a SS.



Concentration. You don't have to think about what gear you're in. You don't have to plan your downshift ahead of time when you come to a stop in traffic. It's not like shifting is THAT much of a mental burden, but you'd be surprised how many brainwave cycles singlespeeding frees up for other things. Like paying more attention to traffic. Like paying more attention to your body english, line and speed when you attack that rock garden. Singlespeeding makes you a better technical rider.

Momentum. 1. On a geared bike, when you start losing speed on a climb, you downshift, and you let off the power to do it ... which slows you down even more. On a singlespeed, you stand up and hammer. You get more momentum going up the hill (although it can be exhausing at times!). 2. Because you know climbing can get tough if you bog down too much, you pay a lot more attention to preserving your momentum, and you're less likely to sap away precious momentum with your brakes when you don't need to. 3. Because you carry more momentum going uphill into difficult technical sections, you have an easier time getting through them in the uphill direction. Why is technical terrain harder going uphill than downhill? Speed.

Pride. Let's be honest here. It feels pretty good doing that bad beeotch of a climb in a gear twice as tall as you would have on a geared bike. And people that aren't ordinarily impressed by others' riding are sometimes impressed that you can ride a particular trail AT ALL on a singlespeed.

Elegance. A singlespeed bike has a really nice clean, elegant look to it, with no derailleurs hanging off various places, shifters cluttering up the handlebars, and shift cables running along the tubes.

Cachet. It's a fringe activity. You're a member of a pretty exclusive club if you're a full-time singlespeeder. won't be cool anymore, but I don't think where anywhere near there yet.

Making a statement. There are a lot of people who are fed up with planned obsolescence, Shimano's dominance of componentry, and/or the over-engineering of today's bikes. Some people like making a statement about one of those things, or about noncomformity, stickin' it to the man, or maybe something else they think singlespeeding stands for.

Boredom. Some of the people on this forum are extremely accomplished mountain bikers. They've ridden it all. Singlespeeding is a new challenge.

Makes You Stronger. Mentally and physically.

Also, when you pass gearies on hills you look great, and when they pass you, "Hey, I'm on a SS." Yer covered both ways.

Shifting. No mis-shifting blues. Lots of those, with resulting problems such as chain falling off, having to stop pedaling for a split second when shifting under load at times (loose momentum too), shifting between gears, when you are shifting your thumbs ain't on the handlebar where the really want to be and many more advantages to SS.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
i ride an SS b/c it makes me feel like a kid again, like when i was on my BMX bike hauling ass through the dirt lot next to my house. sure, it's nice that it's simple, and pure and efficient. but for me, it's all about just riding a bike.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Just for the record Wazu, you just got a FS geared bike, no? :D
 

ArmyOfNone

Well-Known Member
SS is the way to go hands down. Everyone has seemed to cover it well. If i wasnt a ghost this weekend i would have gotten to this one earlier.
 
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