Mountain Biking - SS or geared?

Hey all. I've been around the scene for a while. Not this whole forum but this is the best one I've found with down to earth people. Anyway regardless.

I have a singlespeed built up that is fine and all great, I just need to throw a front brake on it to be "legal" for the race. (wors.org) Anyway that isn't the problem. I'm just debating on taking the singlespeed out for a fun race, or take the trusty geared bike out that weighs about 25-26 lbs. Its nothing special but it works fine. This is a relatively flat course so I'm thinking if i did the SS i need to change my cog, no big deal. But I haven't ever done a SS race.

So any opinions about ss vs geared on a race for the first time. i only race for fun and expect to just finish but as fast as possible. anyone have opinions? i am 50/50 on what bike to take

Take the SS.

Where are you from in Wisconsin? My hometown is Three Lakes, close to Rhinelander or Eagle River if you know where those places are.

Sorry, no advice on the bikes :p

Take the bbike with gears.

For a first race I would definitely go with the geared bike. I don't know about the races where you are but around here the single speed class does the same (long) course as the experts.

Where are you from in Wisconsin? My hometown is Three Lakes, close to Rhinelander or Eagle River if you know where those places are.

Sorry, no advice on the bikes :p

im in eau claire, just doin the rapids wors race. just can't decide on what bike to take!!!

For a first race I would definitely go with the geared bike. I don't know about the races where you are but around here the single speed class does the same (long) course as the experts.

this isn't my first race, i guess i didn't make it clear. this would be my first ss race. i've raced a bunch on geared bikes before

im leaning ss style, thats what i roll around town now, but i don't know. i guess this is a pretty chill course and i want to take advantage of all the fast parts as possible and not get screwed topping out on the ss, i dunno!

by the way its gonna be a mud-fest, its supposed to rain all weekend and it has been for the past 2 days, that should make it interesting, maybe ss is the way to go?

Sounds like you really want to go SS, so that's what I'd take. You'll have fun either way!

Sounds like you really want to go SS, so that's what I'd take. You'll have fun either way!

i guess but i don't know. im a geared rider on XC courses. i dunno. i will have to set the SS up for riding XC. its pretty much good to go besides a front brake. i dunno. i think this will just be a trial and error race. i don't know about the SS. i like to go fast, but damn the SS is so tempting i dunno. I could prolly go faster on the geared bike but overall I dunno, the SS might be the ticket. Has anyone been in this situation before?

IF it's a mudfest, then definately the SS, nothing really get gunked up.

IF it's a mudfest, then definately the SS, nothing really get gunked up.

oh yes, the ss i think its gonna be, im not 100% yet, but damn im undecided

mudfest it will be, singlespeed it will be. too bad it won't be dry. look up the weather for wisconsin rapids, wi for the weekend. not a fun one to camp at. dammit!

im gonna setup the ss with an extra break. im also gonna ride in a class that i haven't before, awesome!

I don't know what mountain bike races are like in Wisconsin, but I did the same race here in California two years in a row and the 2nd year was on a single speed. And I was faster on the SS! The reason is that I tend to spin really low gears up hill and the SS forces me to grind a bigger ratio. The only time the SS slowed me down was one downhill section where the grade wasn't quite steep enough to let gravity take over.