I think I've lost my mind. single speed for commuting, maybe?
 

I've got a flat 7 mile commute. I'm thinking about getting a single speed for the winter or what ever time. what would be a good gear combo for this type of ride. I know nothing about single speeds but I want it to freewheel and have brakes other than that I'm open for suggestions. Oh yeah its gotta be red I really NEED a red bike. Am I better off with getting a frame and building it myself. I do have the skills. I want this to be a nice commuter not a race bike so I guess an older mountain bike frame would fill the bill nicely. Suggestions for components are appreciated. If I build this thing I'm gonna kill my co- worker that suggested it :) Oh yeah and I would love to see some of the single speeds that fellow forum members have built up from scratch.

This may be presumptuous of me, but I assume that in WA you would have both Kona and Norco dealers at your disposal, seeing as how you're so close to BC, Canada. Running with that assumption may I suggest that single-speed, MTB-like commuters are readily available at hand in the form of the 2010 Kona Humu and the 2011 Norco Skull. Two unusual, yet cool steel-framed (almost BMX-like) bikes that should be a blast to ride, stand out from the crowd, and, best of all, are red! Kona went with aluminum (and black paint) for 2011 so a 2010 might be found for a steal. Conversely the Norco offering is brand new and may not be available yet.

Another off-the-wall offering that I find intriguing is the new Torker KB2; a "Kickback" 2-speed bike that has an undeniable coolness factor, even though it's not red. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it's big brother, the Graduate, which, while not a single speed, for 2011 comes in red (or at least a red-ish color). I only mention it since I think it would make a great winter commuter. In any case I am curious to see what you end up buying/building. Good luck! :thumb:

Find an old rigid MTB frame and build it up. You can strip it down for nothing, a rear wheel can be built for less than $80, and you're in business.

Here's my singlespeed which (when I'm cleared on post-op to start riding again) will become my commuter again. It's a 1988 Trek 400 I pulled from a dumpster and dropped a 1991 Shimano 105sc crank onto (with a single ring). I built the rear wheel with an IRO high flange fix/fix hub and the whole thing runs on a 44/18 gear for 65 total inches of hill climbing power. I'm splitting the fenders with a pair of reacharounds to clear 30mm CX tires for the winter.
I have a 24 - 30 mile r/t commute, depending on the route; including some long climbs between 5 and 8% grade.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-a...80086_4550.jpg

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http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/.../images/3q.jpg

:innocent:

I'd recommend something around 70 gear inches. Maybe a little higher if you don't have a lot of stop signs.

My 89 Trek 660 fixed gear. 42x16 = 69 g.i. Good for around town. In summer, I like to go up to 75 or so for better cruising in the country.

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My fixed gear's a 46x16 and L.A.'s not all flat. It's a comfortable ratio for me for any distance (my commute's around 13 miles each way). If it was all flat here, i'd probably bump the ratio up a bit...or maybe not.

I just had to say, my commute bike is a Giant Halfway. I think the front ring is a 45 and the seven speed rear cog is 13 - 28 ish. Its got 20" wheels. I plotted the gears once I think top gear was ~74" low gear is probably in the 50's. I use every damn one of those gears on my "flat" commute from Hillsboro to Forest Grove and if there were more I'd use them too.

H (wuss)

i commute in seattle most days with a fixed gear.

15-20m round trips, depending on the day.

have a regular road bike too, ride that alot.. mostly on weekends.

so, no, you're not crazy.

Surly 1x1 it's my all time favorite bike. Or if you don't want to spend money on the frame then just get an old MTB with horizontal dropouts and do a conversion.

I'm kinda waiting for my son to grow up to a 14" 1x1 but I think it's still a few years off. OP could look for a pumpkin orange one, that is at least as cool as any red bike.

I had a single-speed built from an old Raleigh road frame. I isn't intended for commuting, so it doesn't have fenders or a rack.

That said, I fell in love with single-speeding. I'd like to build another, but using a mountain bike frame for more clearance. Then I'd have a low-maintenance commuter bike.

My commute is flat, I run my single speed at about 65 gear inches (46x19 gearing with 700x32 tires). I'm not strong or fast, and this seems to work fine for me.

If you want disc brakes, you'll need a newer frame and fork that will support them.

I have a pretty flat commute - 6 miles each way and ride a fixed gear IRO most of the year. I think the gearing is 44x18 and it is good for everything around town except for the major climbs like Flagstaff and Lee Hill.

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flat 7 mile commute. Do it! I'm all about a fun project. I've built up a couple of SS/Fixed gears through spare parts and craigslist finds.
Btw.. in case you didn't know, you can take an older freewheel wheel and thread on a bmx freewheel. You might have to redish your wheel.
Or.. you can get a freehub body and buy a SS conversion kit.

I have a brand new SS conversion kit I'm trying to get rid of. It comes with spacers, lockring, 16t, and 18t cog. PM me if interested.

Lookin at somevon Bikesdirect. I can get one free shipping and no tax. I can't build one for that. I don't want to put a lot of money in this since I don't know if I'm gonna like it or not. Its gotta be able to take fender and I'll go the singlespeed route not fixie

I'm thinking of turning my crappy box-store mtb into a fixed single speed (no freewheel) with front disc brakes. I plan on replacing the rear sprockets with ss specific ones (bigger teeth) and getting a new crankset. My ride is mostly flat too, so a 3:1 ratio would be decent, I think, especially in the winter. Most people with this setup will get a 42 tooth front and 14 tooth rear, which are common enough to be found in most shops.
I need to gain some more knowledge before diving in, but I think it will be a great winter bike if I get it done.

I ride a fixed gear KHS 100 (retail around $400 or so) with a 48 x 17 on moderately rolling terrain between Reston, Virginia and Washington DC. My commute is 21-25 miles each way, depending on the route I take. Once you get used to it, you can go up almost anything in the fixed gear. I have done Skyline Drive (Front Royal to Big Meadows and back), and a few years ago took it to Colorado to do "Ride the Rockies", where the toughest day was a 22 mile climb up Independence Pass-- from Aspen towards Leadville. Great ride! However, the downhills are brutal (I ride 2 brakes for that reason).

Think about going fixed. I found that riding single speed gives you none of the advantages of riding fixed, and only the advantage of being able to coast.

Oh-- and age has nothing to do with it. Although most fixed gear riders are in the lower age brackets, I am in the 50+ category-- and have done over 20,000 miles on it in the last 5 years.

Enjoy your bike (and you're right-- there is something about a red bike--even though my fixed is yellow :) )

train safe-

I love both of my fixed gears which I use for commuting, the first one is my Raleigh Record Ace conversion and the second is my Windsor Hour. Give it a try and get a nice chaingring and cog configuration so that you dont blow up your knee caps if you live in a hilly area =) I live in Miami, which is flat so it doesnt matter to me

You don't even need to build up a new wheel or buy only a bike with horizontal dropouts like the other posters suggested. With a vertical drop out bicycle, just buy a gusset singlespeed conversion kit and a Surly singulator chain tensioner and blam-o instant single speed conversion. No need to redish the rear wheel. There's cheaper versions of the singulator made by other companies too and you can even go to a shop and ask to see if they have old cog spacers to fill up the cassette instead of buying the Gusset conversion kit. I did this on a modern road bike with vertical drop outs and it works great.

If you live in a relatively flat area, singlespeed is ideal for the winter since it is so low maintenance. Just clean the chain and lube it up/wipe off and you are done.

there are a lot of people on here[myself included] who commute singlespeed regularly. there are weeks during the summer where i dont even touch my gearzzz bike. that means 300km weekly on 47/16.

Love my geared bike and my fixed/ss (which is fixed 99% of the time) and the fixed is the commuter so you arent crazy. I really didn't think I would like fixed, I bought it because it was cheap when my former geared commuter was stolen. The bike shop insisted on me trying it fixed and just ended up giving me a cog and lock ring and now I am hooked. The only time fixed is bothersome is if gets vertical or have to hop curbs any other time is a blast. If you get a ss bike at least try it fixed for a week or two, cogs and lockrings are dirt cheap.

7 flat miles? Meh. No problem. I would do it on my old 7 mile commute and it had some hills.

Having built one up from scratch myself including a sandblast/powdercoat of the frame/fork I'll side w/this guy...unless you're determined or lack the fundage right now. But, you're definately not crazy. I went to a fg after riding ss for about a year. My loaded commuter is a multi-speed and for the rest of the week I ride fg. I use a seatpost rack/trunkbag rig on the fg.

My partial parts list: 80s Fuji Del-Rey frameset, Tektro dual-pivot 40.00 www.bikeisland.com, 103mm Sugino bb 35.00, Sugino Messenger crankset 75.00(48t x 170mm) www.universalcycles.com. I bought the wheelset off ebay from Crosslakes Cyclery(?) in Minnesota for 100.00 shipped. Got a 1/8" chain from www.harriscyclery.com. Think it's a Sram/Sachs chromed...all I know is that it's heavy. I use Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x25mm because I HATE flats. Had pedals, hbrs, stem, saddle, etc so I saved money there. 48x16 gearage. Black w/red accents, ie handlebar tape, red/black saddle cover, red rims. Oh yeah, and the guy who did the sb/pc job saved the chrome tips even though I didn't ask him to. It's a nice touch.

Btw, Mr. Caloso that's a real looker of a bike you've got there. :thumb:

+1 Thats what I love about my bicycles !

Single speed is fine for commuting -- I did it for a couple of years. Well, fixed and single.

Ratio I like is closer to 60" than 70" -- mostly because I don't mind coasting (on SS obviously), and when it's windy a 70+ gear sucks in my opinion. Actually, so does a 60 - but it's more tolerable.

I use gears now. The novelty of SS wore off, and I like to carry loads on my bikes ;).

Its not crazy to go SS I actually considered it a a few weeks ago. I decided to stick with gears just because if I pull a trailer they come in handy. Also the single speed bike's frame I had wasn't commuter friendly. My current backup commuter is a SS folding bike. =) The Bikesdirect SS are so cheap I kinda want one, but I don't really have a use for one plus I have a SS frame I should build up instead and I think I already have all the parts.