BikesDirect single speed cruiser (Gravity EZ Cruz), commuting day one: the ride to work.
I live about 5 miles from work, and it's a pretty easy ride. My route avoids tangling with many cars, and it's overall a slight downhill ride.
I outfitted the BikesDirect single speed cruiser for commuting over the weekend, and took it for a few short shakedown rides, but didn't ride any distance until this morning for my ride into work.
As in the short test rides, the bike was quite, smooth, nimble, comfortable, and fun to ride. The key for me was to just set a comfortable cadence without trying to push too fast. Due to the relatively low gearing (44 tooth chainring, 22 tooth cog, 165mm crank arms) it's easy to want to get the bike going faster than you can pedal. Getting into the mindset of not rushing and finding a comfortable cadence was key. For me, that's about 60 to 80 RPMs.
The quietness of the single speed gearing was very nice. My Electra Zarape makes a typical clacking noise when coasting. In contrast, the single speed is dead quite when coasting, which actually comes in very handy at intersections, allowing me to hear distant oncoming cars more easily. I also realized that it made it easier to accidentally sneak up on pedestrians walking in the middle of the steet (why do they do that?!) so I should probably add a bell.
The saddle was very comfortable, and the old-school geometry made it easy to occasionally stand on one pedal or the other to stretch my legs out and get off the saddle for a minute when coasting.
One note about the saddle: about 4 miles in, it started squeaking and then loosened. I stopped and tightened it. Apparently when I initially tightened it, I didn't have the angle adjustment teeth aligned correctly, so after some movement, slack developed. A quick re-adjustment and tightening with vice grips (in my opinion, a must-have for the old style of saddle hardware), I was on my way again.
The included handlebar grips have a waffle texture, which provides a sure grip. They are rubbery feeling and relatively soft, but unless you wear gloves (which I only do when it's cold) they may be a bit coarse on the hands. They didn't really bother me, but if I were riding longer they might have. At this point, there is a definite possibility that I'll upgrade the grips. I have a feeling I'll know within a couple days. The fact that I notice them at all is probably a good indication that they should be changed.
Whether riding my 24 speed hybrid, or my 3 speed cruiser, I've always gotten to work in about 25 minutes. The single speed cruiser took me 28 minutes, but that included the 3 or 4 minutes I stopped to adjust the saddle. So, time-wise there was no difference. That works out to an average speed of about 12 miles an hour.
Overall, I was very happy with my maiden voyage. The tougher ride will be on the way home. It's a slight uphill ride, and usually into the wind. It takes about 10 minutes longer than the ride in. I'll update again after my ride home.