I'm a strong rider, so I don't have to shift often. I sometimes challenge myself to take a whole hilly ride in one gear. I can manage.

But I am not taking the gears off my bike. When I want them, they're there.

And I do not see the appeal of single-speed freewheeling bikes. I don't know if I ever will. They look nice, sure. They're lighter, but their light weight does not make climbing hills as easy as it is with a heavy bike with low gears, so forget that.

It's a fad.

San Francisco is insanely hilly. I am astonished that people thought it would be a good idea to build a city there.

If you ride San Francisco up those crazy hills without shifting gears, you'll get strong. Then one day, you'll be dead tired and will curse your decision which may have been based on machismo more than anything else.