What is it you dig about your Single Speed ?

[Coffee Snob]

Ive taken a real notion for a single speed bike.

I realise that I have to try and get an older steel frame bike that has horizontal dropouts so as I can tension the chain and I am on the lookout. I ride a 105 Cannondale caad8 and it has a toptube of 545mm, when I check out steel frames from the 80s I think my size translates to 21-21.5 inches which is the seat tube length and no mention is made of the crucial actual top tube length 

Im checking the inventory lists of local auction houses as a steel bike can be picked up as cheap as chips and at least I can sit on what is for sale. If I bought an ebay frame with seat tube sized in inches and no top tube dimensions then the results could be catastrophic. Whatever bike I buy will of course be stripped to the absolute bare essentials and I hope to have a very nice single speed conversion which I will have a local company strip the colour from and respray a nice shade of vibrant orange.

What is it that floats your boat about your single speed and id love to see pics.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

For most folk, it doesn't really matter what the top tube is, unless it is right at the far end of the bell curve. Stems come in a range of lengths and will compensate for a range of top tube lengths. If you want to get anal about it, just think how much reach changes as you go from tops to drops to hoods.

[jsabine]

You don't really want a stem that's too extended or too stumpy though - a TT that will leave you with about an 80-140mm stem works for most people and looks right on most frames IMO. (And yes, that range is greater than the range of TT lengths you're likely to see for most frame sizes.)

Most 80s steel frames are likely to have a top tube similar to the seat tube length or a little smaller. How the seat tube has been measured is left as an exercise for the reader, as is the conversion from inches to mm (given that multiplication by 25.4 seems to escape some sellers), but in any case as LWaB implies, catastrophe is unlikely.

a nice shade of vibrant orange.

I find oxymoronic bicycles so, well, so charming. But no doubt you'll find supporters of this particular perversion here.

[Gattopardo]

I like the simpleness and that you pedal when you want and coast when you can.

[PaulF]

I like the simpleness and that you pedal when you want and coast when you can.

This plus the lack of maintenance and the adoration you get as a singlespeeder

[T42]

Acme of urban chic, but not for old buggers like me.  I still suffer from an ACL injury sustained going up a 10% on 42/23 in 1986.  Or was it 1896? Damn...

[Coffee Snob]

I like the simpleness and that you pedal when you want and coast when you can.

This plus the lack of maintenance and the adoration you get as a singlespeeder

I think the simplicity will be a huge plus.

[Ningishzidda]

I rode a track bike with a front brake for several years commuting in the seventies.
When winter came, a pair of full mudguards were fitted with insulation tape. ( The days before zip-clips ).

I think ‘ease of cleaning’ was the biggest bonus.

The chain was 1/8", had a ‘split link’ connector and the chain could be removed with use of a small screwdriver, cleaned and replaced during lunchtime.

[Gattopardo]

I like the simpleness and that you pedal when you want and coast when you can.

This plus the lack of maintenance and the adoration you get as a singlespeeder

Ah sturmey archer 3 speed

[Mr Larrington]

The lack of a freewheel

I may yet rebuild my Revell Romany as a singlespeed but that would have to wait for access to warm enough weather to do Stuffs outdoors.  And money

[LEE]

They are so simple to maintain, especially if they have disc brakes.  Just add oil to the chain occasionally.

I tried Fixed but I regard coasting down hills as one of life's great pleasures.  My Orbit still has a fixed sprocket, as a "get me home gear" should the freewheel explode.

Like Fixed though there is a freedom to them.  When you have 33 gears you find you are never in the best gear, there's a feeling that there will be a more suitable gear either up or down.
Having just one gear means you ARE in the best gear and you can just get on with pedalling (sometimes, on steep hills, this may make your eyes tend to pop out).

Orbit


Pinarello, now sold.


Genesis Day 1 (replaced the Pinarello, the bike that sold me on single-speed and disc brakes).

[sojournermike]

My last single speed was a mountain bike and was a complete hoot. Stand up to climb, stand up to negotiate anything vaguely techy, sit down and spin like mad on any road downhill. I also had a road peugeot thatI enjoyed too. Same principle for climbing and setting off, otherwsie just spin and coast. Easy peasy.

[Coffee Snob]

Single speed dispenses with what I consider the biggest pain in the hole on a bike.......the front derailleur. Im definitely gonna get me a single speed for commuting and days when I just fancy a change.

[Coffee Snob]

They are so simple to maintain, especially if they have disc brakes.  Just add oil to the chain occasionally.

I tried Fixed but I regard coasting down hills as one of life's great pleasures.  My Orbit still has a fixed sprocket, as a "get me home gear" should the freewheel explode.

Like Fixed though there is a freedom to them.  When you have 33 gears you find you are never in the best gear, there's a feeling that there will be a more suitable gear either up or down.
Having just one gear means you ARE in the best gear and you can just get on with pedalling (sometimes, on steep hills, this may make your eyes tend to pop out).

Orbit


Pinarello, now sold.


Genesis Day 1 (replaced the Pinarello, the bike that sold me on single-speed and disc brakes).

What chainring and cog ? Is that a 42/16 combo you are using ?

[LEE]

Single speed dispenses with what I consider the biggest pain in the hole on a bike.......the front derailleur. Im definitely gonna get me a single speed for commuting and days when I just fancy a change.

In my opinion there's a big case for building a single chainring, geared commuter.

Something along the lines of an 8-speed cassette with friction shifters (downtube or bar ends).  That would be cheaper than chips to build and not much less reliable than a single-speed/Fixed.

Re. Genesis gearing.  I think it's 43 x 17 (68"). White Industries freewheel (I can't believe there's anything better) and a reversible SJSC "Thorn" chainring.

I deliberately went for odd numbers so the chain doesn't become "tooth-specific".  I found that running even numbers resulted in a rough feeling if I refitted the chain links on the "wrong" teeth.

The Orbit has classic 72" gear.  48 x 18 I think.  1/8" chain. It's such a light, and sprightly, bike that 72" works on the hills as well as 68" on the Genesis. 
I geared the Genesis down slightly as it's my winter "Hack", spending more time avoiding pot holes and gravel at night that blasting along sunny country lanes.

Anywhere around 70" is a good starting place I think.  It depends on your local roads, it's fairly lumpy around here.  If I lived in Lincolnshire I may have gone nearer 80", but then again headwinds are a real killer on Single-Speed/Fixed.

If you can afford it then look at the W.I. Freewheel and build your bike around it.  It's something you will keep for decades.  The £5 options have square bearings, tend to be oval in shape, and a tragically short life.

[interzen]

Single speed dispenses with what I consider the biggest pain in the hole on a bike.......the front derailleur. Im definitely gonna get me a single speed for commuting and days when I just fancy a change.

In my opinion there's a big case for building a single chainring, geared commuter.

I had a brief flirtation with 1x transmissions - 1x9 on the Salsa MTB and 1x10 on the fat-bike, before they were converted back to fixed and singlespeed, respectively. Fixed/singlespeed and disc brakes is a combination full of win.

It fell into the 'nice if you like that sort of thing' category - personally, I didn't. I'm that used to riding fixed, even off-road, that 1x really didn't do it for me and singlespeed just feels 'wrong' to me. Having said that, if you live somewhere psychotically hilly then a 1x transmission (1x9/10, IGH, whatever) makes a certain amount of sense. If I were going back down the geared route, it'd be a hub gear - cassettes are a faff and front derailleurs are the work of the devil.

Don't know whether they still do it, but a few years ago Edinburgh Bicycle did a 1x commuting bike (may have been 1x8 - details are a bit hazy) - they sold rather a lot of them, I seem to remember.

(gears of choice are: 36x17 fixed on the Salsa, 26x15 on the fat-bike and 48x20 on the fixed Surly Cross-Check)

[Coffee Snob]

A chaining and rear cog combo that is usable for up to about 6% and doesn't spin out on the flats, what w o lux you suggest ?

[interzen]

I should also point out that I have a very nice (IMO) singlespeed/disc-brake wheelset listed on eBay at the moment - it even includes a White Industries freewheel 

[robgul]

Fixed for me with an 80s Claud Butler 531 frame - was running with bullhorns but now have drops on it (and TWO brakes!) and upgraded the saddle to a Brooks B17.

From my website (can't remember where I cribbed the text from?):   The single gear with an absolutely basic drive-train gives minimal friction. With a reasonably low weight bike on 23mm tyres the responsiveness is fantastic. You kick down, you shoot forward. The lack of a free-wheel gives an amazing intimacy with the road. The lack of gears is not much of a problem - it's more a state of mind.  Going up a hill you just step on it, going down you just pedal like mad.  And ... you are never in the wrong gear!

This machine has ridden the London Sightseer Audax about 5 or 6 times - the ideal bike for the event.

Rob

[interzen]

A chaining and rear cog combo that is usable for up to about 6% and doesn't spin out on the flats, what w o lux you suggest ?

Pick one.

I tend to go for gears that will get me up things - I'm big and heavy, plus I'm more of a spinner than a masher anyway. This is the main reason the gearing on my fixed 'cross bike is low, even by flatlander standards. The 36x17 on the Salsa will get me up a good chunk of off-road stuff in the North York Moors providing the climb isn't overly technical (I've done the Dalby Red Route on 65" fixed before)

Unlike some, I have absolutely no qualms about getting off and walking should the terrain or the state of my knees demand it.

[T42]

When you have 33 gears you find you are never in the best gear, there's a feeling that there will be a more suitable gear either up or down.
Having just one gear means you ARE in the best gear and you can just get on with pedalling (sometimes, on steep hills, this may make your eyes tend to pop out).

Having 33 gears means you can usually pedal close to your optimal rate.  Having just one is like a stopped watch: it's right twice a day for a very short time.

[zigzag]

single speed is great for simplicity and training, good for audaxes too, and just as fast as a geared bike. here's the thread on building my last one - quite an amazing machine.

[Kim]

My Brommie was a single-speed for a couple of weeks.  I admired the lightweight and the simplicity, but it's better now that I can ride it to places that aren't central Birmingham.

[sojournermike]

When you have 33 gears you find you are never in the best gear, there's a feeling that there will be a more suitable gear either up or down.
Having just one gear means you ARE in the best gear and you can just get on with pedalling (sometimes, on steep hills, this may make your eyes tend to pop out).

Having 33 gears means you can usually pedal close to your optimal rate.  Having just one is like a stopped watch: it's right twice a day for a very short time.

Yes, it may always be the wrong gear, but you just have to get on with it. No point in complaining. In acceptance lies contentment;)

[Ningishzidda]

Mine had a 52 x 18 ( 78” )

When I put all its details in my super-duper power & kCals spreadsheet, it tells me I would have been doing 17 mph at 76 rpm for a power output of about 135 -140 Watts.

Well, it felt right at the time.