Fifty Plus (50+) - Singlespeed?

Hi, guys, I am new here although almost every time I enter some bike part search into google it refers me to a thread in this forum. So this is my first post but not my first visit.

I was wondering what some of you 50+ people think about singlespeeds. I converted a regular bike to SS last summer and didn't encounter a hill I couldn't ride up, although I know there are some around here. That particualr bike didn't last long - it was too small and I couldn't get the parts to make it fit economically. Eventually I bought an old GT Pantera frame with horizontal dropouts to make a SS out of but when I got it home I built it up as a geared bike with spare parts I have lying around so I could ride it while I was getting the single speed stuff together. It's GREAT. It's a little taller than a mountain bike would be and it makes a great bike for greenways when you have to ride on gravel. It's comfortable enough to take on long distance road rides when I feel like risking my life with North Carolina drivers, too.

Now I am really in a quandry. DO I want to keep this bike as a geared bike or continue with my SS plans? Most of my riding will be commuting, light touring, and knocking around town.

I am particularly interested in what you heart patients think about singlespeeds. Since I am a heart patient, my wife didn't think I should do the single speed thing, but like I told her: "Look, dear, climbing is hard no matter what gear I am in. If it gets that tough I'll walk."

What say you?

I grew up on a single speed as a kid. It was great to get rid of the SS. I like gears - they were a great improvement over single speed. If I want SS, I will just find an appropriate gear and leave the bike in that gearing.

I know there must be a lot more to SS than I suppose, but it just doesn't appeal to me. As far as "heart patient" I think it makes no difference. you can push as hard on gears as on a SS, if you want.

Fixed would be something else - I like free wheeling. Again, I am likely missing out on something important here. :D

The single speeds we had as kids weren't quite as nice as the ones around now, but one thing for sure is I never got off the fat tire thing!

But I understand your point - there's not a hell of a lot to be said for singlespeeding, unless you are just really pissed off at your shifters and drivetrain combination. It's metaphysical, I think. Now fixed gear is something else, and there are people who take those things off road. THAT's fringe.

http://www.63xc.com/

I would assume that most of us in the over 50 forum started off on single speeds. Last month while my wife and I were in Europe, we saw a lot of bicycling going on, as transportation, especially in Germany and Holland. It seemed like most of those were single speed. Not much steep terrain in the cities we visited.

We went to visit the Kröller-Muller museum near Arnheim, which is in a Dutch Nature Park. An option there is to park your car at the entrance and then ride into the park (and to the museum) on one of the fleet of well maintained single speed bikes that they provide. Then you don't have to pay the vehicle entry fee, AND you get some exercise. Those bikes were a lot of fun.

Where I live, in Berkeley, California, there is quite a bit of hilly terrain. Maybe if I were younger I could pedal up these steep hills on a single speed, but I really appreciate being able to shift down when I come to a steep hill now.

Bob

I recently put one together, mostly out of curiosity and partly because I had most of the parts on hand. Riding it has been a blast - very different strategies when you're out riding, the wind comes up, a hill presents itself and all you have is one gear.

I think everyone should have one.

Easy and inexpensive - I bought the Surly Singulator, a 42 Ultegra ring, a set of spacers, a 16T BMX cog and a SRAM track chain - Less than $100.

I am solidly with Denver Fox on this one. I love gears, even on flat land, where they are great for acceleration or for adjusting to wind conditions. (Have you ever crept for 25 miles / 40 km against a headwind, in a 45-inch gear? I have, on the coast highway going north out of Santa Cruz CA.) I also tend to be pretty sensitive to my crank RPM and appreciate being able to optimize it across a wide range of ground speeds.

The more underpowered the vehicle, the more gears it needs, and we cyclists are pretty underpowered compared to most other vehicles on the road.

I recently put one together, mostly out of curiosity and partly because I had most of the parts on hand. Riding it has been a blast - very different strategies when you're out riding, the wind comes up, a hill presents itself and all you have is one gear.

I think everyone should have one.

Easy and inexpensive - I bought the Surly Singulator, a 42 Ultegra ring, a set of spacers, a 16T BMX cog and a SRAM track chain - Less than $100.

How much trouble did you have tuning your chain line?

I tried the Singleator/spacer route the last time and concluded that the spacer kit I got was inferior. The setup I was planning for this frame was a full blown singlespeed setup with dedicated hubs and all. The great thing about a conversion, though, is that you have way more gearing options.

Without a doubt get a singlespeed.

I re-did an old Italian frame as a singlespeed and it's now my favorite bike.

Smooth, very quiet, and really simple. 40x16 is not a bad gear that lets me get up any hill. One just has to adjust one's body and brain rather than one's gearing.

You'll love it and it will make you a stronger rider.

I re-did an old Italian frame as a singlespeed and it's now my favorite bike.
You'll love it and it will make you a stronger rider.

I have an old Chiorda with chrome lugs and have come across a fixed gear rear wheel I'll be putting together over the winter, so next spring I'll be "experiencing the experience". Single speed sounds more appealing to me than fixed, but...
Part of the single speed/fixed gear appeal is the clean look of the bike without gears and cables hanging all over. The other attraction is the "return to simplicity' aspect.
I don't expect to be riding it all the time - I don't really enjoy the days commuting into a strong headwind, a fixed gear/single speed for commuting would probably make me want to take the bus on those windy days!

Without a doubt get a singlespeed.

I re-did an old Italian frame as a singlespeed and it's now my favorite bike.

Smooth, very quiet, and really simple. 40x16 is not a bad gear that lets me get up any hill. One just has to adjust one's body and brain rather than one's gearing.

You'll love it and it will make you a stronger rider.

That's true: from the SS riding I have done it's more of a mental adjustment than a physical one, although there is some of that, too.

I'm a heart patient (no big deal, just atrial fib), turn 60 in January, and I built up a singlespeed four or five years ago. I don't ride it as much as I'd like--I don't ride anything as much as I'd like--but it's a lot of fun, and I know it's made me stronger. I live in the Sierra, and I can climb hills in the SS now that I could barely climb in my 26-26 granny gear on my other bike a couple of years ago. Over the same course, my normal rides, it's not appreciably slower than my Atlantis. I can't figure that out, but it's not unusual for people to say that.
I put fenders on it for winter and keep it at work (in Reno, in a flat valley). I can ride at lunch, and maintenance is just hosing it off and lubing the chain. I also use it in Yosemite Valley during an annual family trip and take it to the Bay Area sometimes when I visit relatives there. It's always fun, and provides an answer to "But you already HAVE a lot of bikes":
"Yeah, but I don't have one of THESE!"

How much trouble did you have tuning your chain line?

I tried the Singleator/spacer route the last time and concluded that the spacer kit I got was inferior. The setup I was planning for this frame was a full blown singlespeed setup with dedicated hubs and all. The great thing about a conversion, though, is that you have way more gearing options.

First ride - noisy as heck. Went back home, loosened the retaining bolt on the Singulator wheel, moved some of the spacers around (mine is a Wheels Manufacturing kit) and put it all back together. Silent and no problem since then.

I too thought about a full-on conversion, but didn't feel like messing around with chain length and the vertical dropouts. But, I had all the pieces and parts so - here we have it.

You SS and fixie guys are bent on setting cycling technology back 100 years. :)

Seriously, I CAN understand the attraction and the simplicity and purity, just as I fully appreciate both chamber music and a big symphony. The only thing that disgusts me are people who saw the derailleur hanger tabs off of their dropouts.

You SS and fixie guys are bent on setting cycling technology back 100 years. :)

Seriously, I CAN understand the attraction and the simplicity and purity, just as I fully appreciate both chamber music and a big symphony. The only thing that disgusts me are people who saw the derailleur hanger tabs off of their dropouts.

AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

Perish the thought!

I have seen a used frame, though, with the derailleur hanger broken off, though, and it's only for safety's sake you'd want to dress it up a bit...

I'm not 50 quite yet but after reading the text content and intellect in this forum I feel I should be here. I'm nearing 40 and I love my single speed I converted from an old Schwinn Super Le Tour. I used to race my dirt single speed before I decided that I may be getting to old and finding not enough time to train as I would have needed to to stay competitive (not to mention it starting taking longer to get back up after crashing). So I turned to the road for my single speed crave. I cannot knock geared bikes as I believe that cycling is cycling and it is to ride that is important but if I were to choose between the two I would go with single speed (at least as long as my knees would let me). I find that even with one gear you can get many great training regiments. Using wind and hills, I can obtain my interval sessions and the flats to just spin and recover. The clean looks and simplicity is great.

First ride - noisy as heck. Went back home, loosened the retaining bolt on the Singulator wheel, moved some of the spacers around (mine is a Wheels Manufacturing kit) and put it all back together. Silent and no problem since then.

I too thought about a full-on conversion, but didn't feel like messing around with chain length and the vertical dropouts. But, I had all the pieces and parts so - here we have it.

No need for the vertical dropout dillemma, either. You could go for the White Industries ENO hub with the eccentric axle if you are willing to pay the freight, but if what you are riding now works don't fix it.

After reading some of the replies here I decided to convert an old Trek road frame I have to SS and keep the bike I just built as a geared bike. It's a kind of a bass ackwards way to go about things but life is like that.

I already have a Singleator and I just found a Suntour freewheel hub with the right spacing and drilling I want. That way I won't have to deal with spacers and all I need is a freewheel and I'm good to go. It looks like ALL the fixies and singlespeeders here are riding road frames, so I'll join them.

I'm not 50 quite yet but after reading the text content and intellect in this forum I feel I should be here. I'm nearing 40 and I love my single speed I converted from an old Schwinn Super Le Tour. I used to race my dirt single speed before I decided that I may be getting to old and finding not enough time to train as I would have needed to to stay competitive (not to mention it starting taking longer to get back up after crashing). So I turned to the road for my single speed crave. I cannot knock geared bikes as I believe that cycling is cycling and it is to ride that is important but if I were to choose between the two I would go with single speed (at least as long as my knees would let me). I find that even with one gear you can get many great training regiments. Using wind and hills, I can obtain my interval sessions and the flats to just spin and recover. The clean looks and simplicity is great.

Ah, yes, I remember when I was almost 40. It seems like it was only 12 years ago...

Why, I could climb a telephone pole if I could stay on it, ride a century in four hours, rode offroad with no suspension at all, and my training rides were all uphill - both ways - and I was thankful.

I play guitar, too.

Ah, yes, I remember when I was almost 40. It seems like it was only 12 years ago...

Why, I could climb a telephone pole if I could stay on it, ride a century in four hours, rode offroad with no suspension at all, and my training rides were all uphill - both ways - and I was thankful.

I play guitar, too.

And I remeber when I was 40, it seems like just yesterday :) I'm thinking you caught on to my Segovia signature. Are you a classical guitarist as well?

And I remeber when I was 40, it seems like just yesterday :) I'm thinking you caught on to my Segovia signature. Are you a classical guitarist as well?

Well, I guess you could say I was once: I studied the classical for about 5 years, but the money was in playing steel strings, so I got out of touch with it.

Segovia was head and shoulders above everybody, wasn't he? I can't even think of anybody to compare with him, although I do like John Williams and the Romero Brothers a lot.

Well, I guess you could say I was once: I studied the classical for about 5 years, but the money was in playing steel strings, so I got out of touch with it.

Segovia was head and shoulders above everybody, wasn't he? I can't even think of anybody to compare with him, although I do like John Williams and the Romero Brothers a lot.

I agree with you. He didn't get the name "Maestro" for nothing, eh? However, I must say that his playing wasn't always the cleanest in tone, know what I mean? John Williams is simply a machine. I don't think there is any piece that he can't play extremely well. I heard from the classical guitar forum I go to that someone was able to see him in concert and was able to get backstage. They said that Williams simply played a couple of short run scales and was warmed up enough for the show . . . amazing. Pepe Romero I feel is falling in Segovias shoes as Maestro. His name is coming up so much more now than before. Juliam Bream and Manuel Barrueco is another of my favorites and there are so many new young guitarist coming up such as Ana Vidovic from Russia and Xafei Yang from China. Both women and very talented . . . cute too!

I had some Julian Bream on CD, but his playing just left me cold.

I used to get a magazine in which Sharon Isbin was a contributing editor, but oddly, I have never heard her. I have talked to people who really like her playing, though.

I have an Angel Romero CD around somewhere that my wife has played to death: I had a chance to see them all play at a college once and missed it.

I had some Julian Bream on CD, but his playing just left me cold.

I used to get a magazine in which Sharon Isbin was a contributing editor, but oddly, I have never heard her. I have talked to people who really like her playing, though.

I have an Angel Romero CD around somewhere that my wife has played to death: I had a chance to see them all play at a college once and missed it.

I first thought about that from Bream too. It was when I heard his lute works is when I started appreciating his style of playing. I think he uses his lute technique on his classical recordings too. I am a big fan or rennaisance music. My reportiore is loaded with it. Sharon Isbin is a very good guitarist. I believe it is Acoustic Guitar where she had a classical column (not sure). I would be kicking myself in the a$$ if I missed a concert like that. They are becoming more and more rare, not to mention expensive. I think we got off track of the cycling part of this forum, eh?

I'm thinking of finding a garage sale beater bike and cleaning it up for riding around town. I was thinking of looking for that single gear adapter for the back, that replaces the rear derailleur, and maybe leaving the front derailleur and chainrings on. Either that or just use the middle ring as a single speed. Find a cheap rack to bolt on the back, and bolt a milk crate to it to hold things. This would let me ride around town on errands and let the car sit in the driveway.

I never understood why anyone would convert a bike from geared to ss other than loosing a little weight. Leave it geared and when you want ss, just don't shift but leave yourself the option of shifting if you want/need to.

I never understood why anyone would convert a bike from geared to ss other than loosing a little weight. Leave it geared and when you want ss, just don't shift but leave yourself the option of shifting if you want/need to.

Losing weight is something.

They're fun to ride and you don't have to rely on self-control if the going gets tough. You have to deal with what comes at you with the tools you have.

But really, most SS/Fixie owners do them for fun with leftovers. I didn't convert a geared bike, I built up a frame I had retired. Better to be a SS than to hang from a hook in my shop, no?

http://www.thaicycling.com/webboard/images/6391.jpg

I have a Giant Halfway single speed folding. I think when you ride a single speed you will be more relax than when you ride geared bike, do not have to think what gear to use. Bicycle is suppose tobe simple, deraileur is any thing but simple! I have no problem with my heart but sometime have knee pains when going up hill. I have many bikes but I use this ss most of the time.

I just recently built up a fixed for the winter. Gearing is the issue, I started with 52x16-too tall for the hills, tried 42x16-easier to brake with the pedals but spinning like crazy on the flats, finally settled on 42x14 a little tough negotiating these northern Nevada hills but man what a workout. Lots of cycling in a small time on this badboy!

http://www.thaicycling.com/webboard/images/6391.jpg

I have a Giant Halfway single speed folding. I think when you ride a single speed you will be more relax than when you ride geared bike, do not have to think what gear to use. Bicycle is suppose tobe simple, deraileur is any thing but simple! I have no problem with my heart but sometime have knee pains when going up hill. I have many bikes but I use this ss most of the time.

My old road bike has a friction shift front derailleur that I would habitually look down to see where my chain was going, not a good idea in traffic. Click shift simplifies that a lot, singlespeed even more so.

I just recently built up a fixed for the winter. Gearing is the issue, I started with 52x16-too tall for the hills, tried 42x16-easier to brake with the pedals but spinning like crazy on the flats, finally settled on 42x14 a little tough negotiating these northern Nevada hills but man what a workout. Lots of cycling in a small time on this badboy!

I heard I am getting a Christmas bonus: enough to get that ENO eccentric hub if I want it.

Hmmmm.

Singlespeeding......

Heart patient.........what does the doc say? Max heart rate? ??

How are your knees ?

They don't need to be perfect, but if you have any problems be careful. I rode one of my single speeds 130 miles one day last summer. My knees are not that good, I have a little arthritis. If I don't ride the singlespeeds all the time I'm fine. I ride a century and about 75 more miles every week. I can't ride the singlespeeds all the time I have to switch to the geared bikes to rest my knees.
Singlespeeding will make you stronger faster than just about anything. Except maybe riding fixed.

A little light touring........

If you will be carrying much weight, or going to hill country, or places where you don't know if there will be huge hills, have a geared bike. If you do heavy touring gears are needed.

Make a nice singlespeed and have a nice geared bike too.

I have ridden 50 miles into a headwind on a singlespeed more than once. For long rides gear a little lower than you think you should, then little by little test out your gearing choices. For headwinds and long rides, be sure to keep you drop bars so you can get low when you need to. Without the gears, you will like the advantage of being able to get as aero as possible. Aero bars are great on long rides too. I have my drop bars twisted in a funny looking way on my long distance single speed so that I can sit up high when needed and get much lower when needed. It looks odd.
The red and yellow bike has the bars twisted for long rides. The black bike is a single speed coaster brake hub laced to a decent 700 c rim almost matching the front rim.

Singlespeeding......

Heart patient.........what does the doc say? Max heart rate? ??

How are your knees ?

They don't need to be perfect, but if you have any problems be careful. I rode one of my single speeds 130 miles one day last summer. My knees are not that good, I have a little arthritis. If I don't ride the singlespeeds all the time I'm fine. I ride a century and about 75 more miles every week. I can't ride the singlespeeds all the time I have to switch to the geared bikes to rest my knees.
Singlespeeding will make you stronger faster than just about anything. Except maybe riding fixed.

A little light touring........

If you will be carrying much weight, or going to hill country, or places where you don't know if there will be huge hills, have a geared bike. If you do heavy touring gears are needed.

Make a nice singlespeed and have a nice geared bike too.

I have ridden 50 miles into a headwind on a singlespeed more than once. For long rides gear a little lower than you think you should, then little by little test out your gearing choices. For headwinds and long rides, be sure to keep you drop bars so you can get low when you need to. Without the gears, you will like the advantage of being able to get as aero as possible. Aero bars are great on long rides too. I have my drop bars twisted in a funny looking way on my long distance single speed so that I can sit up high when needed and get much lower when needed. It looks odd.
The red and yellow bike has the bars twisted for long rides. The black bike is a single speed coaster brake hub laced to a decent 700 c rim almost matching the front rim.

My max heart rate is 120, which sounds low but I take drugs to keep it down. You'd be surprised at some of the rides I take where my partner's hearts are revving at 200+ and I am still around 120. And, no, I wouldn't do any loaded touring unless I knew the terrain would be flat on a SS.

My knees are pretty good - they're one of the few things I have that's still good.

I have noticed that most of the singlespeeders and fixed gear guys have road or track bikes here. I mostly have mountain bikes because the roads are too dangerous here. However, for rail trail and some street riding I was thinking about moustache bars rather than drops, although you can't get as low. I never got used to aero bars (but then again I never twiddled with the setup that much).

My max heart rate is 120, which sounds low but I take drugs to keep it down. You'd be surprised at some of the rides I take where my partner's hearts are revving at 200+ and I am still around 120. ).

That does not sound safe to me, did you already talk to the doctor about this kind of exercise?

I never understood why anyone would convert a bike from geared to ss other than loosing a little weight. Leave it geared and when you want ss, just don't shift but leave yourself the option of shifting if you want/need to. I agree with you completely, but of course this doesn't give you the option of fixed-gear, as opposed to freewheeling single-speed. I would like to try a multispeed fixed gear internal hub, but the Sturmey-Archers are very rare and very expensive. (Jim "CyclArt" Cunningham has one, but all of his personal bikes are way to tall for me to test-ride. I asked him about how to pedal the S-A ASC through gear changes, and he replied that "it shifts YOU.")

That does not sound safe to me, did you already talk to the doctor about this kind of exercise?

I am not sure what you are asking me. Are you talking about cycling in general or singlespeeding?

If the former, yes, my doctor knows what I am doing. The max heart rate is the key, not the excercise itself. If you are talking about the latter, you have probably read posts here that there are strategies for dealing with hills and such. The one thing you can't do is approach a hill on a singlespeed/fixed gear with a geared bike mentality. You are going to have to get out of the saddle at some point and the question is when, or in my case, for how long. There will be times when I am just going to have to walk until I get stronger, but that's probably true for everybody. But, like Denver Fox has already said, you can push too hard on a geared bike, too, and it requires concentration to keep from over-revving your heart.

I don't have a lot of experience on a SS, but the hard core SS guys have a Zen like approach to it I just scratched the surface of.

Finally, times have changed for heart patients. It used to be that you couldn't do certain things because of a "weak heart". That's only true to a point - for the most part you are allowed to do whatever you can do. Chest pain or shortness of breath will prevent you from over exerting yourself, and it's only because I stay in that heart range determined by actual treadmill testing that I have the endurance I do. This is true for everybody; I just notice it more.

Here's the kicker: the more I excercise, the more new blood vessels form in damaged sections of my heart muscle. This "collateral circulation" replaces the circulation my heart lost when the arteries feeding it became occluded. Although growing collaterals takes a LOT longer than a surgical bypass, I am convinced that doing this the natural way is preferable to the invasive methods, if you are not in imminent danger.

Tests have shown I have increased circulation around my heart, and empirically I see that I can do more things at the same heart rate than last year. By the end of this summer I expect to be almost as strong as any other guy my age, although I may never be completely "normal" again.

Whatever. I'll take it. Like some posters have noted, there are perfectly healthy people who can't do what I do.

[QUOTE=michaelwlf3]I am not sure what you are asking me. Are you talking about cycling in general or singlespeeding?
QUOTE]

I don't know enough about medicine to understand. I was just wondering about doing something that would normally raise your heart rate, and have the meds keep it slower. Now I understand, thanks.
I have alread lost one relative to a similar thing and I take one to the doctors frequently for the same thing, so it's something I think about. Good luck, I think you will get strong and fit very fast singlespeeding. :)