Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - What is this Single Speed Thing....

Pardon me for sounding ignorant; But I guess I sound that way because I am.

I'm a newby and have been visting this site for a while to help me choose a new road bike to get back into the sport with. I never gave a single speed a second thought as I just assumed the 20 speeds, etc was the only way to go.

Why would a person choose a single speed? Is it for a particular type of riding? My goal is fitness riding and longer 2-3 hour road trips on the week-ends.

Please excuse me for asking but I really am curious about single speed bikes and if I should consider one.

Cuz we're sick bastards who love pain and hate deraillures...

SS & FG equation

Less weight + fewer components = reduced maintenance + more time to enjoy the ride

Enjoy

Are the brakes like the coaster brakes on the bikes I had as a kid?

they can be, but most singlespeed bikes use caliper brakes (like the ones on a geared road or mountain bike).

then there are fixed-gear bikes (there seem to be more fixie riders than ss riders in this forum).

fixed gear bikes have no freewheel, so there's no coasting (just like a track bike), which also means that you can ride without brakes. you stop by slowing down the pedals with your legs. it's fun.

Here's what I wrote to someone who was visiting Boston recently and was wondering about the proliferation of singlespeeds here. He said it was the most eloquent explanation he'd seen anywhere, so I'll repost it here. There are also less tangible benefits (zen and all that BS) that I didn't touch on.

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Welcome to the great white South... or brownish grey at any rate.

There's lots behind your observations.

Singlespeeding is cool right now. This includes the fixed gear craze. It's a relatively inexpensive way to get an otherwise quality bicycle and for many is a way to ride a bike while at the same time snubbing the more common bicycle technogeekery that says more is better and newer always trumps older. It's a counter culture. Would you expect otherwise in the US city that boasts the most students per capita of all major US cities? Also, the young are invincible, so who needs a helmet? [ed: I too used to ride w/o a helmet, but I'm just calling it like it is!]

Like all popular counter cultures, its waxing popularity will soon force the cool seekers to move on to lesser known domains. See also: grunge rock, extreme sports. Having milked their cause celebre of its underground cachet, the pop culture hangers on will also move on, leaving behind the true believers. Or not, sometimes these things take a different course, eh?

On top of that, they make pretty decent bad weather machines. Without clusters to get full of mud, sand, and (god forbid) completely iced over, they can perform better in adverse conditions. A fixed gear extends this by offering the ability to sense one's traction on uncertain surfaces such as ice or snow, a means to slow your bike after your rim brakes have become completely iced over or contaminated with street oil, and operating at temperatures which cause a freewheel to cease working as the grease becomes too stiff for the pawls to properly reengage. On top of all this, you throw all that winter nastiness at bike much cheaper than your fair-weather ride.

Also in Boston's chaotic traffic it can be quite a task to stay in the proper gear. A singlespeed allows you to stop worrying about downshifting or upshifting at a moment's notice. Just stay in gear and use your muscles, occassionally mashing like a madman to get up to speed or spinning out when you've topped out the gear.

"Are the brakes like the coaster brakes on the bikes I had as a kid?"

Could be. However, some are re-dished road wheels with a BMX freewheel cog screwed on and some are free hubs with all but one cog removed and replaced by spacers.

Enjoy

I was considering a Felt F55 20 speed. I am sold on the Felt brand. I saw the Felt single speed in their catalog, the TK2, but I see no brake levers. Does this bike have a coaster brake?

Would this be a bike you SS experts would recommend? I do like the idea of avoiding the "which is better dura-ace or 105 shifters", etc. I can also appreciate the simplicity. However, in the real world, would a person miss not having the option to change his gear ratio during a long ride?

Thanks again

Here's that Felt thing idlynch mentioned:
http://www.feltracing.com/2005_bikes/large_photos/images/TK-2-copy.jpg

And that Felt thing is fixed so...


fixed gear bikes have no freewheel, so there's no coasting (just like a track bike), which also means that you can ride without brakes. you stop by slowing down the pedals with your legs. it's fun.

i think the brakeless single speed you saw was actualy a fixie or track bike.

go here http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed/index.html and read it, especially this http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html , it will explain a lot.

I was considering a Felt F55 20 speed. I am sold on the Felt brand. I saw the Felt single speed in their catalog, the TK2, but I see no brake levers. Does this bike have a coaster brake?

Would this be a bike you SS experts would recommend? I do like the idea of avoiding the "which is better dura-ace or 105 shifters", etc. I can also appreciate the simplicity. However, in the real world, would a person miss not having the option to change his gear ratio during a long ride?

Thanks again

No, that Felt is a track bike. It has a fixed gear, as was explained above, you cannot coast- if the wheel is turning, the crank is turning. You can ride such a bike without brakes by slowing down your cadance. A lot of track frames do not come with the provisions to run brakes. I'm not sure about the Felt.
That bike's suitability for fitness riding, 2-3 hour trips etc. depends who you ask. I like track bikes. Not changing gears or being able to coast can make the ride more interesting. Taking corners and hills are a whole new experience on a fixed gear. Some like it a lot.
For others, they are not comfortable bikes. The geometry is aggressive, the handeling is very quick, and the frame is built to be stiff, with 'comfort' coming second. Not everyones cup of tea for long weekend rides.
But see if you can take one for a test ride, you may get hooked.

As a beginner I would suggest not dropping tons of $ on a track bike like the felt. The geometry may not be suited for you so I would suggest converting an old road bicycle. This will give you a more comfortable ride while not breaking the bank. You can do this yourself by checking out the links above or contact your LBS and ask for their assistance in building one up(this may or may not be helpful as some people regard our little hobby as "silly") Read up a little more before you make a decision, you will find a lot of people that actually LOVE their bikes and how they ride. I think our attachment is far greater than, say, a roadie who needs to buy a new bike every year because it isn't top of the line.

BTW, most fixie riders choose to use brakes. Don't listen to these loonies. Brakeless is for the young and stupid(like me but even I still use one!) :D

i built up an old road bike i got for 15 bucks it took about 150 more and a couple of days and i love it. I have breaks front and back and always wear a helmet, i am young but not invinicible and i've come too close to getting broadsided not to wear one

i have a felt roadie, and it is a nice ride. used to be nicer when i had the better saddle on it. :) it is light as hell even taped up, and i can imagine their track weighs next to nothing... my conversion, on the other hand is pure 80s steel.

i want one of their track bikes, but i'm a bit hesitant to plunk down close to 1k on a track. it'd be a fun ride though.

i recently got on the roadie, and it is awesomely zippy. the fixie really helps with getting good form. i treat the roadie as a singlespeed, and never really switch gears...

why not try that on your current ride (pick your fav gear)? it'd be a lot like a singlespeed. try not to coast -- it isn't that hard!. if you enjoy that, visualize yourself with tighter control and a feeling of being directly in contact with your wheels.

jinx_removing: lots of roadies do have to have the latest and greatest, but some fixers on this board like the fancy components and the upgrades. i know i'm guilty of it. :)