Mountain Biking - Single Speeders. What and Why?

Discussion in another thread sparked my brain to open up a seperate discussion.

Who here rides a single speed?

What is it? (Frame and Specs) and of course pics if you got them.

Why? Many non-SS riders don't understand the attraction. Tell us why you made the switch.


Do you still ride a geared bike or are you fully committed to the Single life?

Ooops forgot my story:

Me, single for about 1.5.

Bike, cheap steel frame from Nashbar I purchased for $35.00. That and a bunch of parts I had laying around. Changes depending on what parts I need for another project.

Currently:
Nashbar frame,
RS Psylo fork,
Front hub is a Marz 20mm, laced to a Sun DS-1 rim.
Rear is an LX hub laced to a generic rim.
Cane Creek S-2 headset (cheap spare I had)
Thomson Stem (spare I had)
Coda Flat bar (spare, but want to go back to a riser)
Deore LX levers
ODI grips
LX older style vee's
Cheap generic post
Whatever seat I have available.
WTB Primal Raptor tires.
Race Face Turbine LP cranks and RF bottom bracket.
Not using a chain tensioner because my gear ratio allows for perfect chain length.

Why? I had spare parts, thought I'd give it a go.
Love it, love the simplicity. I can ride it through almost every trail. It's a great workout. I sometimes don't make all the climbs, but get about 95% of them.

It's different.

I switch back and forth between it and my full squish geared bike. Depends on what my buddies are riding. I've got one or two SS buddies and a lot more geared buddies.

If I wanted to go single speed and make it up any of the hills I ride, I'd have to have something like 22/22 gearing, which would be useless on any flat or downhill terrain. Doesn't seem practical to me.

If I wanted to go single speed and make it up any of the hills I ride, I'd have to have something like 22/22 gearing, which would be useless on any flat or downhill terrain. Doesn't seem practical to me.


But you get stronger when you ride ss/fixed.

But you get stronger when you ride ss/fixed.

The trail I rode last weekend has about 1000 feet of climbing to the top. The first part of the ride is ALL uphill, and the second part is ALL downhill. I just don't see myself standing up to pedal for an hour straight or however long it takes to reach the top.

I ride geared for XC and ss for everything else, i love the simplicity, the smoothness, and the feeling of being different, its also practically maintenance free, and saves a fortune on parts. And i can still paste all my mates into the ground when they use their geared bikes and im on single speed..

Been riding Single speed for bout 3 months now and love every minute, lots of people think it isnt versatile enough, i disagree with this...

Pictures of my single speed steed are in my signature under DMR...

And im not totally commited as i need gears for Xc because the terrain around here is hilly, and much more energy effecient to use gears for XC..

Been SS for about a month.

Well I am building up a SS MTB, not just SS but rigid. Why? Not sure....no wait well I want to look like a bada$$ :eek: Ok just kidding :D I am goign this route because I am cheap and wanted to try a SS/fixie. I was going to do a roadie but I don't have a MTB right now so I figure I should have one. I miss the mountains, been a while since I rode out in the woods.

I just finished my conversion. Problematic shifting and a general lack of money prompted the change. I love the elegant simplicity. I have two bikes, I am a committed single-speeder, a fixed gear road bike and my single speed mountain bike. To understand the attraction, imagine your best ride ever, then picture that without the added distraction of shifting. I cannot tell you how many times a potentially great ride has been squandered by problematic shifting.

Me just getting into riding mountain bikes was thinking of setting up ss. where I ride, appalachains of Virginia its up and down and steep at times too but mostly when I am heading down I am not spinning anyway because of the technical difficulties. Coming from a cyclocross background I have no problem getting off the bike and running. Ocassionally on a fire road I could use the big ring but thats it. I have an old Paramount frame that would make a great SS. The other day I went out with a friend on a $1600 dollar bike that stopped shifting when the mud froze in his gearing. Mostly it would be all about the fun and challenge.

I have a hardrock SS 15in silver with black flames.Its pretty much stock, ditch witch rims,hussefelt cranks. I'm getting ready to upgrade the tires to K-rads or Hollyrollers and add a E-13 bash guard.I use it for jumping and urban riding. After spending a couple of hours around town on it, it gives a pretty good work out.
http://img204.exs.cx/img204/6904/street43bp.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

haha...no singlespeed for me yet.

http://www.thuan.org/photos/profile.jpg

5 reasons... all equally valid

-simplicity. plain LOOKS wayyy better
-no maintenance. mud on/in shifting drivetrain = clean clean clean
-LIGHTER. ooh boy yeah
-quiet as a mouse (w/ shimano freewheel)
-lastly, i never used the gears i had on my trail anyways... 33x17 is perfect compromise



oh yeah, on the road, i made the switch from gears to fixed. looks like im never going back to clusters again

I dont know, i can see why people want single speed stuff but i dont think i will ever change it. I like having the modulation, sometimes im feeling really lazy and use different gears then when i really want to go.

I switched for durability and ease of build reasons. I wanted something easy to maintain and wouldn't be likely to break. I use a hadley hub with some fixings to make it SS.

I personally don't think there is more soul to it, or feels its superior. I enjoy it and will likely keep running it on my djer. But I wouldn't do it on my trail bikes :)

Yea thats just the thing, i have to have one bike for everything. So I dont find it sensible, since i got my x7 setup though i have had no problems with shifting.

hadley hubs? Are those the ones that have a very loud tick tick sound?

I think those are King hubs.

Hadley's are loud as well. I love it :)

aaah those!!! THose are horrible things! I remember a guy on a trail had one i could hear him from a mile away, im surprised the fishermen did not swear at him for scaring away the fish

Not using a chain tensioner because my gear ratio allows for perfect chain length.

With vertical dropouts? What is the ratio?

Hadley's are loud as well. I love it :)

Mine is quieter than I expected.:( Maybe it will get louder as it breaks in.

My 240's are the most silent hubs i have used. I love those things

started geared like most people, went SS a few years back while living in NJ (converted a Salsa Ala Carte to EBB). Moved back to Australia and went back to gears. WAY too steep and hilly for me right now out here. A lot of the climbs in my local parks are VERY steep so SS was killing my knees. Maybe after a year or so of full on riding I could go back to SS but right now, my knees are more important to me. I still love the feeling and simplicity of SS and would like to get back to it. I kept my Chris King SS wheel, ready to burn some "loud" singletrack when I'm ready.

Mine is quieter than I expected.:( Maybe it will get louder as it breaks in.

Thats what I found anyways. Its not as loud as a king but much louder than shimano. Took a few weeks of riding to get the noise good and obnoxious though

I'm with notfred. I would like to build up a SS to mess around on. But as my main bike, it just doesn't seem feasible. I grind up hills at 32:34. Going SS can make your legs stronger. Still, I could never imagine running 32:16 around here. At the same time, I guess, I've never done it, so I don't know the possibilities. I can do things on my bike now, I didn't think I could before.

you would be surprised about how you use your gears wrong. Instinct tells you to slam down to your smallest gear for the climb, but that is often not necessary, and you learn how to use what you got to get 'er done.

Ok, now I'm a little confused....

I thought I was going forward by thinking of a new ride, new components, new forks (or fork)...

Suddenly, every bike I see now has a single speed, no clipless or clip toes, no forks, no disk brakes, nothing... :eek:

Don't tell me you got the SSs from walmart too !

You guys are crazy, I admire you all, but still you are all nuts... :D

My bike has a suspension FORK, a Judy TT. Heavy, but it is tough and works. Ok. I use Ritchey Logic clipless pedals. Ok. I use a SRAM X.7 as a chain tensioner. Ok. No shifters, and my rear wheel is about 3/4 pound lighter without the rest of the cassette. To complete the package, some sweet Avid SD7 V-brakes haul things down RAPIDLY.

This is my singlespeed.....a bog standard XL 221v.

http://www.thylacinecycles.com/gallery/album03/THY_DuskStencilAlley03

21.5lbs of STEEL, BABY! YEAH! :D

*cough* okay, why singlespeed? Well, for the majority of riding I do, you don't need gears. That simple.
Of course, if you live in the middle of Nepal, then gears are probably the order of the day, but for me, singlespeed is cool. You get on and ride. Clean the chain a few times. That's it.

It's the bike I ride most of the time, and I've been riding predominantly singlespeed for quite a few years - probably since 98 or 99.

If I got a DJ/Street bike i'd try it out. But not on my FR/DH bike.

By the way, I love loud rear hubs- The louder it is, the better quality hub it is i always say :D
Oh and they're good if you're pushing up a track and there are people coming down, you can hear their loud hubs a mile away, giving you plenty of time to get off the track for them.

2002 Cannondale CAAD5 Hardtail
Carbon/Ti Lefty 100mm
Mavic Crossmax 24h UST
Yeti Carbon Bar
Easton EC70 Carbon pole
Flite saddle
Coda Tarantula Cranks
34x18

Why?

1. 18lbs
2. Simple
3. It's like being 7 years old again

Ok, now I'm a little confused....

I thought I was going forward by thinking of a new ride, new components, new forks (or fork)...

Suddenly, every bike I see now has a single speed, no clipless or clip toes, no forks, no disk brakes, nothing... :eek:

Don't tell me you got the SSs from walmart too !

You guys are crazy, I admire you all, but still you are all nuts... :D

Hahaha, well some of us do different things. But in reality, I will never use clipless, I will never go without disc brakes. On my adult sized bmx I run a rear disc and SS. It all depends on function. :)

i ride a fair bit of SS. two fixies on the road, and one mtb SS that gets about 1/3 of my offroad time, sometimes more depending on my mood.

ionic johnny rotten frame, surly karate monkey rigid fork on it right now.

pics from some local stuff, and some high up pass rides.

Pic two looks like it could be a jump. And pic 1 is a sweet boulder to play on. Little ramp and you could do so much. We don't get many rock formations like that :)

yep. on the other bikes, that rock can be a jump. my SS isn't nearly as beefy as the others, so it rolls alot of stuff instead of airing.

and that rock is pretty cool. tough to get up on the SS, be the other (can't see in the pic) side rolls right down nice and smooth.

more pics, 'cause i can't sleep, and why not have a little vanity once in a bit, right?

Discussion in another thread sparked my brain to open up a seperate discussion.

Who here rides a single speed?

What is it? (Frame and Specs) and of course pics if you got them.

Why? Many non-SS riders don't understand the attraction. Tell us why you made the switch.


Do you still ride a geared bike or are you fully committed to the Single life?

I bought my SISS in 2003 really just to try out the single-speed thing. I quickly found out that I liked to ride it more than my full squishy geared machine! Of course I like the simplicity – it’s especially nice in the winter months. I also like the pure feeling of just riding. However, it’s the suffering that’s got me hooked. Let’s face it; if you ride hard, you like to suffer. Nothing will make you suffer more than climbing hills on a single speed!

My mtb steed is a 2003 Bianchi SISS. I’ve done much in terms of upgrading including a tubeless wheelset, a Fox F100X fork, Hope disc brakes, a Thomson seatpost, and Easton bars. I’m currently building a single speed / fixed gear machine for the road.

http://www.bikegreenecounty.com/photos/Mtb55.jpg

I agree with the suffering bit. I am a newbie to SS mountain biking, but I rode a single speed road bike all summer. Going up one particularly nasty climb that went up about 400 vertical feet in about .75 miles, I came to love spinning at 40 rpm, standing and grinding, just doing whatever it took to keep the pedals turning.

With vertical dropouts? What is the ratio?


Regarding the perfect chain length is a function of the length of your chain stay, not your gear ratio. When I was building it, someone gave me a link to a website where you plugged in your chainstay length and it would provide you with the proper ratio to avoid a chain tensioner.

Me, I got lucky and kept a couple cogs on the freehub to find the gear I liked best. Just worked out that my preferred gear ratios allowed for a perfect chain length.

As for me, I wanted to be able to swap out a different cog in the back depending on which trail I might be going to. I will most likely keep the 32x18 95% of the time, but one trail in particular will need to be a 32x21, because it climbs a whole bunch. That way, I won't have to break the chain to get it right.

I rebuilt my old steel kona last summer and made it a single speed, mostly out of curiosity. I liked it so much, it became my commuter bike. Still have my full suspension bikes, but they are trail specific, (there are trails you just have to have gears on ;) But anything with small to moderate climbs, the single speed gets all those. Rigid fork too. ouch.

I dig the control, the feedback from the trail, and just the general responsiveness from a rigid frame and fork. That KONA "A" frame is sort of interesting though, a full suspension single speed might be fun, anybody here ride one?

Just got a road (bike fixed) gear for the commute - so the Kona will now be retired, and I'll probably look for a Salsa frame. I will never ride a geared bike on the road again. Can't explain it, but fixed is just perfect for the road. Everybody should try it at least once. Don't think I could go fixed off road with a fixed, that's a bit rough...

Jerry, you might know the trail that I will need the 32x21 gear. Ever ridden Mohican Wilderness?

Everybody should try it at least once. Don't think I could go fixed off road with a fixed, that's a bit rough...


I did a 50 mile ride last year and one of the guys riding with me was on a fixed mountain bike. It was a Gunnar. The guy was an animal. Nice guy, but an animal.

Imagine pedaling straight for over 4 hours. Sure we stopped to rest, but if we were moving, he was pedaling. Killed us on all the climbs, but we'd catch him on the descents.

I've ridden a couple of buddy's SS and I can honestly say I just don't get it. I know there are a lot of people who live and die by it - and more power to them if that's what they're into - but, my personal opinion is that it's A LOT of extra suffering on the climbs and nowhere near as fun on the descents so, really, what's the point. I guess if you ride XC you have to have some level of masochism inherent in your psyche but SS riders take that to a whole other level - we're talking chains and whips type level here! Crazy.

Yep. I say, ride whatever you want, whenever you want wherever you want however you want. As long as you are not hurting trails, I wouldn't care if you brought a track bike off road.

Yep. I say, ride whatever you want, whenever you want wherever you want however you want. As long as you are not hurting trails, I wouldn't care if you brought a track bike off road.
Now that would be interesting! :lol:

I can imagine the attraction to SS/fixed, but if you ride challenging XC trails and are concerned with performance, then SS/fixed is not an option. It depends what you want out of your ride, I guess.

I almost always ride against time, so no SS/fixed for me. But I bet I would enjoy one in certain terrain and with no time pressure.

I can imagine the attraction to SS/fixed, but if you ride challenging XC trails and are concerned with performance, then SS/fixed is not an option. It depends what you want out of your ride, I guess.

I almost always ride against time, so no SS/fixed for me. But I bet I would enjoy one in certain terrain and with no time pressure.


I'm absolutely certain that there are a lot of people that would disagree with you.

Off the top of my head, Travis Brown. One of N. America's top Pro's. Usually races a SS with moustache bars and hammers.

Sure, very few top XC Pros use SS, but there are a few. Plus, with the state of Norba and the XC courses nowadays, I can imagine a trend towards bikes with NO suspension. The courses are getting more TAME every year. But that's another debate!

I can imagine the attraction to SS/fixed, but if you ride challenging XC trails and are concerned with performance, then SS/fixed is not an option. It depends what you want out of your ride, I guess.

I almost always ride against time, so no SS/fixed for me. But I bet I would enjoy one in certain terrain and with no time pressure.

Concerned with performance? Performance of what? I ride SS because I am concerned with performance of my heart , lungs, and legs.

Please tell me that you ride sometimes for fun. You know tooling around, stopping to pee, BSing with friends.

I just built a SS with a combination of old junk I had lying around and a few new parts I had to buy. I built it solely for something to pedal around the neighborhood with my kids. I just can't see myself climbing aboard my racing bike (and putting on my bike shoes) just to ride to the pool and back at 7mph.

The bike is built but needs a bit of tweaking to get the chain tension right. The tensioner I bought isn't working quite right (probably due to an installation error) and I haven't had time to mess with it yet.

Frame: Cannondale M700 (ca. 1993)
Fork: Rock Shox Mag 21
Drivetrain: Shimano LX (34x20 using a BMX cog)
Tensioner: PYR Single Speed Tensioner
Brakes: Coda cantis
Wheels: original Ritchey's with LX hubs

The hardest part about building this bike up was the fork. My original rigid fork had long since been thrown away. The replacement fork (a mag 21) had a broken brace from a shipping accident. The head tube is 1 1/4" so it was VERY hard to find a new fork. I ended up buying a used Mag 21 on eBay for $20 just for the brace.

Another challenge was getting the BMX cog lined up properly on the rear hub. I ended up taking apart two old Shimano cassettes and using the plastic spacers between each cog to fix the BMX cog in place and then locking the whole thing down with the original cassette lockring. I know they sell spacers to do this for you but I wanted this bike to be as cheap as possible.