Hello

This is a newbie question.

I see a lot of bike messengers riding single-speed bikes.

I could understand that they find derailleurs either not strong enough for intensive, daily use, and/or requiring too much maintenance, but… considering 1) the distance + effort they go through each day, 2) IGH is a technology that's as old as derailleurs while 3) requiring very little maintenance… I was wondering if there are technical reasons for messengers not using a 3-8 speed IGH instead?

Internal-Gear Hubs

Thank you.

More topographic.. Ie Hills, Y/N

I'm not a urban bike messenger, but I suspect some of the single speed use is part of a general minimalist, keep it simplest and sturdiest philosophy. As an urban utility riding bicyclist for the most part myself, I like IGH bikes just fine, but I ride at a more relaxed pace with many stops. A messenger riding the same streets would be riding faster and looking to make as few stops as possible. My IGH bikes have the venerable Sturmey Archer hubs, not the fastest shifting technology.

I thought it was the whole bicycle messenger culture thing. An IGH wouldn't be as cool. I think there are a lot of people that put as many miles on derailleur bikes for training or touring.

So a priori, there is no technical reason as to why they would ride 100km/day + hills instead of installing a IGH that's sturdy enough to withstand that much work?

Are most of them single-speed or fixed gear? I was under the impression that one motivation for messengers going to fixed gear originally was that most potential bike snatchers didn't know how to ride them back then. So the thief would hop on the bike, pedal a few strokes and then try to coast around the corner at which point he'd be flung off the bike and the messenger could retrieve it. Fixed gear also has an edge when dodging in and out of heavy traffic by quicker control of speed directly with the pedals.

An actual questionnaire of those who Are Bike Messengers would be a more direct way to get a Why, answered .

Rather than ask Cubicle dwellers writing Here , on their jobs.

He makes sense once in a while.

I have been an avid reader my whole life and I can't remember the last time I had to look a word up, but that was a new word for me.

+1. If you really want a cogent answer, try posting in the Singlespeed, Fixed-gear Forum. Preface your question with a request that you want to hear from current or former messengers. There are a few that frequent that forum.

No, of course there is no technical reason, it mostly image and preference, and as noted, fixed gear bikes are less likely to be stolen. Also, most large cities are fairly flat, at least in the business districts so climbing long and/or steep hills isn't an issue. San Francisco is an obvious exception but most cities aren't like that.

No merit; That latin expression is used in French.

I can understand fixies offering finer control of the rear wheel when going through traffic, although riding that fast between cars is a recipe for an early death, but that doesn't answer the choice of a single speed bike, be it fixie or freewheel.

I will. Thanks for the tip.

It's not a word, it's two words; a priori. I'm a bit surprised you've never run into it before as it's not that rare a usage even in English writing.

Maybe it is what I read then; mostly science fiction and fantasy novels.

Quite a bit older, actually.

Which is what this forum has mostly become...

Winfried,
In San Francicsco in the 80's when I lived there the Bike-Messengers hung out at a particular City Park , between Calls .

Perhaps Paris France Has one too, to go do a Survey In-Person to ask the current Messenger crowd, That 'Why'..

San Francisco definitely has some hilly neighborhoods, but its financial district is actually pretty flat.

In the early 1990s most messengers in Portland, OR rode derailleured bikes. Fixed had taken over by 1998. There was a shop downtown that specialized in track bikes even. Now that shop has moved out to the outskirts and messenger count is down to 30%, maybe less, than at the peak. Deliveries by cargo bike ard way up since then, however.

My impression is that messengers favored fixed-gear bikes both for the better speed control and reduced chance of theft and being single speed was a side effect since multi-speed fixed-gear hubs are rare. [Yes, I know about the Sturmey-Archer 3-speed fixed but that's the exception among IGHs.]

The clothing that people wear, especially in cities, is not 100% a matter of functionality.

Similarly, the vehicles that people ride, especially in cities, is not 100% a matter of functionality.

That's what I've always thought. The messenger culture is more of a counter culture.Not that it's a bad thing.

The couriers I know ride a variety of different bike setups.

Minneapolis is about as Flat as Paris..

I built up a wheel for my SS bike using a Sturmey Archer S2 2 speed hub. It adds some weight, but not much, but it gives me a slightly lower gear for hills. It's clean and simple - no shifters, cables, and such and works great. I am not a messenger and can't speak for them; however I would bet that some of them do run this hub.