"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Singlespeed in a Crit?

1J3.(b) For road races, only a bicycle with a freewheel and one
working brake on each wheel shall be used, except as allowed
elsewhere in these rules.

Looks like a singlespeed is legal, has anyone ever done a crit using a singlespeed?
Yes, I'm thinking about it, once I check out the lay of the course.

Even with a flat crit wouldnt this be dumb?

Even with a flat crit wouldnt this be dumb?

Quite possibly, but humor me. ;)

Even with a flat crit wouldnt this be dumb?

yes

You CAN do it. SHOULD you do it? No, not unless you want to get dropped sooner rather than later :p

i did a crit last year where I never once shifted gears so I have thought about trying it for kicks.

i didnt get dropped and it was actually my first 3/4 race

I think it's a great idea, that way when you get dropped you can blame the bike.

Az

Chipcom - I'm not saying that if I saw you out there, I'd gap you off the back - but I'd sure be thinking that someone should gap you off the back.

Looks like a singlespeed is legal...
I'm thinking about it...
May I ask WHY?

You can ride a single speed on your training rides with your buds. Under certain conditions you could actually improve your conditioning riding single speed and being pushed hard by others.

Why go to all the trouble it takes to find yourself at the starting line of even the most modest contest, and then let all the other riders have an equipment advantage over you? Unless you could actually WIN riding the danged thing and want bragging rights, or don't care much about winning, I just can't see it.

Yeah, the bike, that's why I lost...not because I am fat, slow, old and out of shape!

I've done a lot of fast group rides over flat terrain on the singlespeed, using about 85 gear inches. This being a Cat5/Citizen crit and my first race in 30 years, I was just mulling options to avoid risking the road bike. I guess another option might be to get some brifters to replace the bar-ends on my old Bianchi and use that bike.

Or, I could just HTFU and put everything on the line, including the road bike.

Yeah, the bike, that's why I lost...not because I am fat, slow, old and out of shape!

I've done a lot of fast group rides over flat terrain on the singlespeed, using about 85 gear inches. This being a Cat5/Citizen crit and my first race in 30 years, I was just mulling options to avoid risking the road bike. I guess another option might be to get some brifters to replace the bar-ends on my old Bianchi and use that bike.

Or, I could just HTFU and put everything on the line, including the road bike.

Go for it. If its dead flat, shouldn't be a problem.

Might want to go up a tad on the gearing. With an 85 in. gear, you are spinning about 95 at 25 mph, about 115 at 30 mph and for your sprint, a whopping 150 rpm at 40 mph!

Sure you can, a few years ago someone showed up with a single speed bike to a mass start hill climb race. I bet it was under 15lbs too, cheater...
I can't see it working too well for a crit though.

how'd he do?

CC racing is like botto entering the Priesthood. Who woulda thought?

Well thanks for humoring me as I thought out loud here in BF. I can always count on you guys to let me make an ass of myself, because you already know I'm an ass. :D

I already called the LBS, gonna throw some cheap Tiagra bits on the Bianchi and make it my crit bike.
The La Raza is just too darn purdy for crits.... crap, so am I...imagine the worldwide mourning if I messed up this pretty face and luscious bod! Well we'll just have to risk it, besides imagine how much more cash my pinups will catch if I croak!

CC racing is like botto entering the Priesthood. Who woulda thought?

http://www.impawards.com/1989/posters/were_no_angels.jpg

last year at the 4/5 race at Dilworth, some self-styled bad@$$ rode with a singlespeed in the crit. it was quite a hilly one too, and he stayed with the pack till the end, even though only about 20 of 50 finished. i was impressed. speaking of which is anyone doing Dilworth next Saturday? it promises to kick ass as usual.

I'm in for Dilworth if I can get someone else from sunny, scenic Fayettenam to carpool out there. If not I think it's a good weekend for a solo vision quest style 6+ hour ride.

CC, Pcad pledges $20 if you race with those SPD sandals.

if you've got gears, use 'em.

http://www.horrorphile.net/images/the-exorcist-ellen-burstyn-and-max-von-sydow.jpg

Go for it. If its dead flat, shouldn't be a problem.

Might want to go up a tad on the gearing. With an 85 in. gear, you are spinning about 95 at 25 mph, about 115 at 30 mph and for your sprint, a whopping 150 rpm at 40 mph!

that sounds like fine gearing to me..

At our local crit (Gainesville, FL) somebody in the Cat 3's was single speed. (I am making an assumption here that he was legal and wasn't fixed gear.) I don't remember seeing him spit out the back so I'm guessing that he hung in for at least pack fodder.

Our crit is pretty flat, just in case you were interested. I'm thinking that it is at most two gears. I wonder when was the last time somebody did it with a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub!

At RATL? There is one hill with a downhill following, and a false flat.

Nothing wrong with a single speed in a crit, as long as it's a freewheel and has brakes.

As for gearing, there's a saying a bike industry bigwig has for single speed bikes (he can't be identified because he deals with single speed companies).

"Why would I want a single speed bike? I'll be in the wrong gear 19 out of 20 times I'm pedaling."

note: he has a 10x2 road bike for his regular rides.

Someone with an extremely flexible rpm range should be fine. But if you don't, limiting your gearing to one speed is like, well, limiting your car to one gear. It reduces your viable speed range.

cdr

how'd he do?

I think he was top 3 in the 4's race.

CC, Pcad pledges $20 if you race with those SPD sandals.

I gotta use the new Sidi's that Cheri bought me for my bday. Even the king of freds ain't brave enough to race in sandals...or piss off the old lady.

of course you should race in the crit with your single speed, even if it's just to p1ss in the pocket of all the nay-sayers here. I don't know how well you race, but i think many 'racers' are just scared of the potential of being beaten by a guy with no gears.

90-95 gear inches may be better. especially if it's pretty much dead flat, but even with a hill of 3-4% or less it'll be fine if you're used to standing up steep stuff at 85 inches. you'll have to lean on the pedals a bit for the first 100 metres, though. there's one hill ride near me that i still do fastest (just) on the SS, even though it's a couple of pounds heavier than the race bike.

if SS was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for the likes of BF posters too.

i think many 'racers' are just scared of the potential of being beaten by a guy with no gears.

I think many 'racers', along with many *racers*, are just scared of the potential for some guy with an oddball bike taking out half the field in a bone jarring, teeth shattering crash.

how does not having to change gears take you out in a crash?

it's a legitimate concern for a fixed gear, yes sure, but SS? it's exactly the same as racing the entire race on a 20-speed without changing gears. and you have no problem with that, I'm sure.

in fact, in a cat 5 race, like this will be, i'd be more concerned over the possibility of some noob causing a crash by dumping the wrong gear, or changing the front derailleur instead of the rear in a panic situation, or dropping a chain mid-shift.

a SS has less to go wrong mid-race than a geared bike.

It doesn't.

But the preponderence of times I've raced with riders on 'different' bikes, they've either gone off the back very quickly, or caused a crash. Or both.

I'd steer clear of any single speed bike, like I steer clear of flat-bar bikes. And by 'steer clear', I mean I'd be at the front.

fair enough. difference is scary, isn't it.

enjoy your sprint

50x15 or 16 would work just dandy, provided you aren't a nancy boy.

50x15 or 16 would work just dandy, provided you aren't a nancy boy.

Have you seen Chipcom's pinups? ;)

At our local crit (Gainesville, FL)...Our crit is pretty flat...

In Florida?

Who woulda thunk it???

;)

I don't know how well you race, but i think many 'racers' are just scared of the potential of being beaten by a guy with no gears.



there has to be truth to this because I know for a fact this line of thinking exists in cyclocross racing.

I've done it in the past, prepping for a big points race. Similar gearing to Duke 53x16. Finshed in the field in a few "A" (1,2,3) training Crits using one gear. Gassed at the end!

edit: event was yelling at me for doing this at the time ;)

I rode the course today. It's a 1 mile loop. I saw no indication of where the start/finish is, so this is just my perception, hopefully CK can correct me if I am wrong and of course I'll go out to watch next week'r race.

The start/finish is a slight incline through a parking lot, followed by 2 90 degree turns, a modest downhill run leading to a short incline, followed by a longer incline, then a nice sweeping modest downhill curve leading to another 90, a short straight with a bump and a slight dog leg, then another 90 before the incline run to the finish line. If I were a little stronger I could probably do just fine with 95 gear inches...but I doubt I'm gonna magically get to that point in less than two weeks, so the Bianchi will get its new brifters and I'll use it. Call me a wimp, but I just don't want to risk my good bike for this race.

I think when I watch next weeks race I'm gonna watch the upper Cat races from that long incline...my guess is that's where the weaklings and fat boys get dropped. I got a lot of uphill intervals to do over the next two weeks if I don't want to be one of them.

I think that you could do the entire thing with a single speed EXCEPT for the sprint. Hope for a breakaway opportunity.

I've got a buddy who did it for the Gainesville crit. He came in 11th out of 65 guys at the starting line.

But he is a freak..