Doncha' mean deraillered gears?
Cyclists who ride internal hub geared bikes in the winter are :roflmao: not :cry: . No maintenance at all commuting all last winter on my Sachs/SRAM 7speed. Nor this Spring.

SS Rocks
 

Ooh Ooh, I wanna play. I love these threads when I get to show off my SS. 1985 Trek 460. $160 all in:

http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/5687/trekss5ek.jpg

Help me, I find myself agreeing with a statement by the chronic curmudgeon.

As mentioned by several others, I like the simplicity of a SS. I first entertained the idea on a ride where my front derailleur broke and left me in the big ring all day. I began to notice that when I would get near other riders there was a lot of shifting going on. Clunking, banging, and noisy shifting. The SS is quiet, efficient, and with a 48/17 works good for almost everything. Some hills are a little tough, but I haven't run across anything here that I have had to walk up. Oh, and it's one less thing to worry about.

Shows that there is still hope for you; your brains haven't turned into mush yet. :) Try taking the cure and ride a simple Torpedo or S-A 3 speed.

Doesn't the rush hour come with a fixed/free flip flop? If not, why not just buy a new fixed/free wheel if you're only going to ride fixed occasionally?

It was a momentary delusion. Everything is back in focus again, that was scary.;) Why would I do that? I would just ride it as a singlespeed and I'd be carrying the extra weight of the internal hub.

My fixed is super light (less crap on the bike), quiet (no chain slap, derailler rattling, etc. when curb hopping), and fun. I ride fixed to improve my stroke, cadence and endurance for mountain biking. There's so little on the bike that it has a minimalist elegance that the designer in me appreciates. Since the chain is so straight and attached so directly, it's more efficient than a geared bike in the exact same ratios, so it's fast.

What a handsome machine.... I love those older Trek lugged steel frames. I have a 660 that's a little small for me but it's still a wonderful ride. A couple of months ago a fixified Trek similar to yours went for over $500 on eBay.

Very nice.

Why do that? For the same reason that you probably would consider shifting gears on a high powered sports/muscle car. Sure you could drive off in high gear, go up and down hills; never shift gears; the power is there. IMO seems pretty silly or obsessive to make a deliberate decision to make your cycling more difficult unless a workout is the desired goal. In that case a one speed balloon tired bike with a rusty chain found at any garage sale for under $10 should work; duct taping a few cinder blocks somewhere on the frame (or maybe in a backpack) would be a simple and cheap way to intensify the workout factor during commuting and be very reliable as well.

Hey I-Like-To-Bike, I was just wondering: were you attacked by a pack of fixed gears and single speeds as a child? You seem to have an aversion to them. I don't care for derailed bikes all that much, not to say I won't own another one, but you don't see me out hatemongering the multi speed bikes. It seems to me like you have this thing where "Fixed gear and single speed is stupid" and "the whole world should ride ancient 3 speeds to prove how awesome I am". Maybe I take you wrong, but you seem to pop up in *every* thread about single speeds or fixed gears and proceed to tell everyone how backwards they are for not embracing your philosophy of 3 speed freedom. I have nothing against geared hubs, but don't bash peoples love for them just because I like fixed gears better.

This is not a personal attack. It just doesn't make sense to me. If you are so bent on staying away from single speed/fixed gear bikes, why do you pop up in *every* thread about them? Are you trying to "save" us from our errors?

Again this is not a personal attack. If I had money to burn, I'd have a coaster braked 3 speed at home just waiting for jaunts around the block and cruising rides and commutes. And I'd also have a rohloff 14 speed tourer and a single speed road bike, and the list goes on. I LOVE bikes. But just because I don't like a certain type of bike (derailed bikes) it doesn't keep me from coexisting peacefully with people who do like them. Why can you not coexist peacefully with those of the single speed/fixed gear persuasion?

Are you singuluphobic?

You do misread and extrapolate your own imagination into what I have written.

BTW I like single speeds bikes, especially balloon tire bikes. Rode my 1950's Schwinn knee action single speed from Philadelphia to Easton (80 miles) on the Delaware Canal Tow Path in the 70's. I was the only one of the group who stayed on the path because everybody else had narrow tire bikes with butt hatchet seats. Also took that bike from Philadelphia to Atlantic City on some kind of charity ride back then. Also would use it on occasions for commuting to work in Phila. when I had more time and was riding for comfort, not speed. I know the advantage of single speeds in their environment. I have yet to hear of the advantage of spurning the capability of coasting that didn't sound like a smoked up conceit or fetishism. Unless such macho (or is it masochistic) setups really do attract the ladies to the rider, which I suspect is another fantasy.

So nice you wanted to ask it thrice?

Yeah, I triple posted it to get my point across. LOL. Stupid bikeforums.net today, its acting really funky from my network. Don't know if its the server of the network. Should run a few traceroutes.

Anyway, I see where you're coming from, and on many of your points I (*gasp*) agree with you. I just thing your anti-fixed gear evangalism is a bit overpowering and it doesn't quite make sense to me. Then again, fixed gear doesn't make sense to you, so I guess we're even lol.

Take care,

The server's been doing weird things lately. I've seen lots of double and triple posts recently.

I choose a singlespeed bike because I was riding in Chicago on the flats thru nasty winters complete with all the salt Streets and Sanitation uses to keep the ice off the roads. I wanted a bike that was easy to maintain. I set my gear up in the middle of the range (42-17) to give me easy starts and good cruising speed, granted my top end isn't what it on a road bike but that's not the point. I don't find riding it difficult in fact I'm ok with the fact that have to I spin fast when I'm riding fast. I like the simplicity of the bike.

I think you sports car analogy is appropriate for the SS/fixers who set up their bikes with 52-11, that does seem to be making it hard for no good reason but again that's not me, nor is it a lot of the folks I see out there. Most people I have met seem to have choosen pretty sensible gearing.

So many of your previous post have derided people who choose SS/fixed because they must only be doing it to be part of a cool (passing) fad. I did not choose it to be part of some sort of hip indy sub-culture (that just isn't me). In past posts you have told SS/fixie commuters to go to the SS/fixie forum. Not all of us fit into that crowd. I am a cyclist who chooses to commute on a SS.

It isn't the right choice for you but it is for me. Live and let live.

Good choice and makes perfect sense for commuting in flat Chicago if your priority is not reading high speed readings on cycle commuter.

I do not deride single speeds at all for commuting or the people who find that they fit their needs. Single speed bikes can be quite practical for commuting (especially in flat terrain) for the reasons you stated as well as other reasons such as low initial/recurring costs.

I consider fixed gear a bicycle of a whole 'nother coloe and breed. I place the fixed gear bike's inability to coast or set up pedals for a turn as such a severe liability/limitation that only masochists would crow about the advantage, just like ridiculous stiff gearing for hilly areas boasted about by some bold fetishists.

I-Like-To-Bike:

Would you care to tell us exactly how many miles you've logged on a fixed gear bike? Because I'm sure that such a strong statement on the relative disadvantages of fixed gear bicycles can only be made upon long experience and familiarity with the subject.

Is ILTB preaching about the evils of FG again? He did this before in a thread about FG Commuters. I just ignore his diatribes.

^^^^ To me there is such a profound difference between a fix
and freewheel it cant be described. People think the only difference
is that you cant coast. No one, including me, really understands until
they do it. The stuff they do, a gearie just cant do.
People have a hard time understanding / going against conventional wisdom.
I dont buy the 'fad' hipster stuff either.....It takes a lot of commitment to
be able to handle a fixie competently. I bet there are far more $3,000. CF
road bikes gathering dust in suburban garages than there are fixers.

You are sure of nothing, smart guy. I've got over 50 years of cycling on bikes always capable of coasting and the same amount of time being able to corner without making adjustments for pedal strike. I even know that cycling with a saddle on the seat post is better than without, and don't need to try the dark side to find out if I might like riding (or thinking) as if something is stuck where it doesn't belong.

Nope, the fixie cultists have taken over a discussion of using single speed bikes for commuting, AGAIN!

HMM..wonder why there are more fixie cultists talking about fixies than ss cultists talking about SS....its just plain more fun...period. The suppossed disadvantages to riding fixed are really just additional challenges for folks who want to make their ride more interesting.
I ride geared, SS, and fixed. Frankly, the geared bike bores the hell out of me for commuting. The SS is great on the singletrack, but I don't find it all that exciting on the road. The fixie makes road riding more challenging and interesting. My commute is 8 miles one way, and riding it fixed (with hills) actually makes it an exciting ride, and more of a workout. It may be an obsolete technology, but so are things like sailboats, black powder rifles, vintage cars and what not...yet people still use them for various reasons, mostly for fun, nostalgia, the challenge, whatever. Theres really no point in arguing against it...we all recognize that fixed gear riding has certain elements that can either be interpreted as disadvantages or additional challenges.
Anyway, to get back to the positive aspects of SS..my favorite part of singlespeeding is not the low maintenence or any kind of Zen feeling. Its really just all about the feeling of using 1 gear to whip the arses of my MTB buddies who ride geared bikes.

Haha... I better not let my wife read your post.

Three reasons, the second two being the most important, and first being my rationalization for the second two.

1) Having a dedicated fixie will force me to improve my fixie riding skills.
2) I really want a bike with a nice steel lugged frame that looks "pretty".
3) It's a good excuse, or at least some excuse, to get another bike (see #2).

At least I'm honest about my follys. ;)

I should ignore this flamebait, but what the heck, it's the internet, right? ;)

Nonsense. I regularly clock 25+ MPH speeds on my fixie/SS, with average commute speeds of 18+ MPH. (You're now going to claim that you don't have a problem with SS commuters, that's fine)

Or perhaps you've never given it the time and effort to learn how to ride it. For someone in a commuting situation where they must have a very high degree of control over the bike (snow, ice) and deal with traveling at very slow speeds (traffic), a fixed gear is much better suited to thier needs than a freewheel bike. For this reason (at least the former), many folks ride fixie in the winter months.

Many of us are one and the same (flip-flop hubs!) and both fixie and freewheel single speeds qualify as single speeds. Some of us are trying to share our passion for a somewhat obscure corner of bicycling with new people who may find it becomes thier passion as well. Instead of letting good enough alone, you have to crash our party with your fixie hatred! Oh, the humanity!!!

Please consume the last two sentences with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

What a great analogy! As a shooter and a cyclist, I think that BP and fixed gears both carry the same sort of fun that the more "user-friendly" tools of the sports just don't have. (Not that the other tools aren't fun, but BP and fixed gears have something unique that captures people's passions)

I don't really see it as any hate. For general use, a fixed bike simply isn't as easy to use/safe for most people. I think that's all he's trying to say, and it's a valid point.
The inability to freewheel is a handicap for most people, especially casual riders, or anybody who has experienced an unusually tiresome day. Stating that isn't professing one's hate for the breed, it's just the truth.

Commuting on a fixie isn't for everyone and I doubt fixie riders are trying to take people's gears away. I commute on a fixie and a geared mtb and I have two different riding styles and approaches, one for each bike. If the OP gets a flip/flop hub setup as fixed/free, he can try riding both ss and fixed and pick the one he's most comfortable with. As for the fixie cultists taking over this discussion about SS commuting, a fixed gear only has one gear which makes it a SINGLE SPEED.

Amen Brother!