atombob

With the weather turning a little better I'm lookng at building another commuter bike but I want this one to be simple and light. I've decided to keep my other commuter the way it is and just leave the rack and fenders on and use it as my rain bike. I like the idea of a simple single speed road bike for summer and fall but I wonder if anyone else uses one for commuting?

bbaker22

I have occassionally commuted on one of my singlespeeds (30-40 miles RT). My singlespeeds are geared for the mountains around here, so I need to be patient on the long flat sections. Costs me a little extra time each way. I don't choose to use my SS very often for commuting, but one seems to always be functional when my geared bikes need maintenance.

baker

DanO220

Lots of people commute on single speeds and fixed gear bikes. Have you checked out that forum? You seem ripe for indoctrination into the cult. I dig a single speed myself. But my current commute has some significant climbing. So I'm running two chain rings with my single speed rear hub for the forseeable future. Now if the terrain you're planning on cruising is flat or rolling a single speed would rock.

DanO

bostontrevor

No!

Wait...

Yes!

All I've got in my stable is singles and fixed right now with the exception of a brank spankin' new shifty that I'm working on selling off as quickly as possible. There's a lot to be said for a low maintenance pedal-and-go setup. My route's only 11 miles round trip, but I have a friend who does that each direction on an old fixed Miyata.

Plus it's hard to beat when it gets real ugly out there. There ain't nothing more self righteous than pulling onto the median on your beat-up fixed gear mountain bike to help push the guy in the Jeep through the intersection.

Jinks

I commute on a converted fixed gear 1980's Fuji Ace. I go about 8 miles one way with just a couple small hills. It's alot more fun and challenging, and maintenance is a piece of cake!

smurfy

I ride my old mtn bike fixie w/studded tires during the winter, 14mi round trip and running errands. The salt and slush is hell on bike components here. Last winter my ft. derailler froze solid, no amount of work could get it to work right again, had to toss it. Also the Suntour Perfect freewheel froze onto the hub, could not get it off, would not even budge. Fixed gear eliminates these problems.

Fixed gear rules for commuting! Well, that depends on your local terrain, conditions, etc.

Poguemahone

I regularly commute on a fixie, and one of my main beaters is a Peugeot UO8 converted to fixed gear. My advice is to first figure out an appropriate gearing by using a bike similar to the one you want to fixie, and noting which gear combos you use the most (I have setups of 42/15 and 42/16 on my fixies, but that's a comfortable gear for me around here. You will vary). The other bit, which is a point of debate amoung fixed riders, is to ride with a front brake-- I'm a big believer in a redundant braking system (the other brake is the back hub) in traffic and am too old to care about cool. If you decide to go with a freewheel in back, ride with two brakes.

Fixies are good commuters. Like all bike set ups, there are advantages and disadvantages. I've found I need to overhaul the rear hub and bottom bracket on my fixies more often than on geared bikes-- they seem to be pretty hard on bearings in the drivetrain. Not sure why this is.

filtersweep

Fixed gear here. It has made me much stronger as a rider.

2manybikes

It doesn't get any better than that!

2manybikes

I built a 700c road bike with a rear SS coaster brake last year. It's a bad weather bike for sure, with full fenders. It takes no time at all to clean it. Everything is pretty well covered from the elements. The brake works great in a downpour. I had no troulbe with it in sub freezing temps last year. I built it out of junk lying around, it weighs 22 lbs. It's a cheap steel frame. Looks like a fixed gear bike unless you look very close. I would highly recommend one for bad weather.

pgoat

ss is all I commuted on for years. with the exception of an occasional flat (my commuting tire advice - kevlar belt good....tubulars bad), I busted two or three chains in about 8 years and that's only cause I'm A) a porker and B) so cheap that I buy my ss chains for $5 at sports authority (the ones they sell for kids' bikes). That's it.....no muss no fuss.

In other words, everything said above is true - ss or fixies are fun and reliable, great to lock up with no worries (assuming it's not a thief magnet) and so on. That makes them Ideal commuters. The one caveat is definitely the hills. I messed my knees up pushing even a upper 50s or 2:1 gear, just sitting and spinning over the 59th st bridge everyday. I finally went to gears in the last year or two for commuting but I love my ss for everythng else. The good news is your commute is a known route you can plan, so you need only gear low enough for your steepest longest hill and no lower. If your commute is flat your choice is clear.

If you're gonna do fixed, I might suggest for commuting that you do a flip flop hub - I have found my resolve against wind or gravity can be less when it involves riding TO work (ugh) or even riding home if I am mentally beat enough. Just my two cents....do check out the SS board, tho, for more learned opinions.

lilHinault

I'm riding an SS around for not commuting (I'm self employed) but recreational rides and working into doing my errends by bike, and it's fine. The gearing on mine is a bit tall, 48-16? I think? Whatever's stock on the Langster, and I'd NOT recommend it on hills, but a SS is so nice and simple, and in my life when I had a bike with speeds I never changed speeds for commuting/errends anyway, just kept it in one speed.

Check out the fixie/SS forum too.

Camel

I've been commuting on my celeste Bianchi pista.. FUN!

cryogenic

shew... that bike is hot. I like it lots. I don't think I could deal with no brakes around here, though. It's not even drilled for brakes, is it?

rykoala

I too commute on my single speed road bike. Here's a page with details about the bike:
https://r2.hostrack.com/ryko/singlespeed.html

I really do love commuting on such a simple bike. I run a freewheel (42/16) and two brakes, and a flat bar. I love this setup. I can get just about anywhere around town with it, and my commute is pretty flat. I say go for it. It makes derailers look silly.

folder fanatic

I went "simple" a few years back. Unfortunally or fortunally, as you look at it, both my beater and good bikes are three speed hub geared bikes since I live around lots of hills and am getting on in years. These bikes combine the ease of a one speed and fixie and the assistance of gears (I still only need a few of them). You can't beat the simplicity of non-derailleur hubs and the clean, uncluttered look of these bikes! I gave away to charity my last road derailleur equipped bike.

blipzandstripz

One disadvantage of commuting on a fixed-gear is that where I work the outside smoking area is right by the bicycle rack. I don't smoke, but now I have to answer questions from clueless people on why the bike has no gears and do the pedals really go around whenever the bike is moving and things along those lines.

Plus, I actually got asked to remove some anti-government stickers from my bike because they were disturbing some people who had nothing better to do than smoke their life away while looking at my bike and wondering how much of a commie/terrorist/satan worshiper I really was.

Camel

Hey thanks! I like it a lot too. It's (as Sheldon Brown said it would be) a "hoot to ride".

As far as brakes go-the original fork was not drilled for a brake, but I found another fork with the same rake/thread length/color match that was drilled. So I ride with a front brake. The rear is not drilled, and really can't be without having a builder re-weld a new brake bridge (I've no interest in doing that).

I wouldn't ride a fixed gear without a front brake, nor a singlespeed without front&rear. I've allready tossed&snapped my chain once, if it happened on a down hill, I would have either locked up my rear (chain wrap) and crashed, or been riding brakeless and had to use my hands/feet on the tire to stop & probably crashed.

* jack *

I've got an old steel MTB with a flip/flop hub, it's my bad weather commuter.
3 out of 4 of my closest cycling buddies commute on SS or fixed road bikes.

Camel

Ha! I smoke (a lot), and the brilliant "powers that be" where I work (a Medical Center) also made one of the large bike rack areas, a smoking area. I work an off shift, so I don't lock up there, or I'd allways be fiddling with my ride. I do get to check out all kinds of nifty rides as morning folks come in, while taking a nicotine break. I occasionally get chastised by my fellow commuters for my evil nasty habbit...