Originally Posted by
Markok765
Why should I do this?
Now, don't take this personal, but as a rule of thumb, if you have to ask why you should be considering singlespeed riding, you shouldn't be considering singlespeed riding.
Anyway, if you build up an SS but don't really commit to it, that is, if you don't ride your SS a whole bunch, and subsequently don't develop the associated riding skills, your range and performance will be limited by the bike. If you go for it and keep it up, riding several times a week, you'll learn to climb and descend at speed with only one gear (id est, hammering uphill and spinning high-cadence downhill.) You'd especially notice the effect of your singlespeeding when riding other bikes; for geared mountain or road bikes, it's an amazing way to tune your form and spin.
My advice is don't jump right in if you're a beginner mountain biker. There was an interview I saw once with some Olympic XC rider, who they asked what his biggest mistake was in a race. He said that one day he deciced to ride singlespeed since he had tried it and liked it the day before. He performed horribly, and said something like, "Sometimes, gears are just better." Learn how to mountain bike with gears, and perfect your mountain biking later with a singlespeed, if it floats your boat.