One as of now. I try to keep one or two around becuase I always have a family beater who needs it-- my clan seems to breed crap bikes.

When you take an old crank out of a paper bag, 3 things happen.

1. The counter person doesn't know what it is and tries to sell you a new bike.

2. The counter person has a look on there face like you just took a lump of doggie doo out of the sack.

3. The counter person asks about what kind of bike it's out of and has a general interest in the bike and helping you put it back together.


If you're not a #3 type of person, I'm not sure why you're working in a bike shop, but there are a lot of posers out there.


And in no corner of cycling are there more posers that single speed. I look at single speed as a rejection of $5,000 road bikes, pricey gear and the endless banter about bike weight, training methods and gruppo wars.

It's just you and the gumption to peddle--- the trendy *fixie* shops springing up aroud the USA---well, all I can say is, Yuck!