Single Speed for Commuting?
 

Does anyone use a single speed bike to commute? Not a fixie, I find them dumb, but just a simple, one speed bike that you can coast on. Just wondering if you ever have trouble with hills or any other gripes

Sorry, I guess according to you I'm dumb. Can't help you.

I use both singlespeed and fixed, and that's all I use. No geared bikes for me. For city riding I prefer fixed, for long distance rides out of town I use singlespeed freewheel.

Why do you say fixed gears are dumb ? Is it because you don't have enough skill or fitness to ride one ?

Sorry, it's not that I find them dumb, I just don't prefer them. I like being able to coast and lean on turns without worrying about my pedal touching the ground. And I'm in shape :)

I have logged thousands of miles on my single speed crosscheck. Works great until I find myself riding into a stiff headwind on day 4 or 5 of my commute. Then again I live in a part of Austin that's pretty flat. About a 400 foot change in elevation and that's it.

I'd like to try SS myself, but every time I think that I've found a good gear combo from my 3x8 to try, the wind mocks me.

I had a SS (Langster), I wanted to use it for commuting and general noodling around town, but I just couldn't be happy with the single gear ratio. I "auditioned" the idea of a singlespeed by riding my road bike for a week with the same combo that the Langster had, and I figured it would be doable-yet-difficult depending on the hill. I considered changing the gearing to something more hill-friendly, but then I'd end up twirling the crank pretty quickly at only moderate speeds on the flats.

I ended up selling it, but only partly because I wanted to stick with multispeed bikes; there were other reasons that had nothing to do with it being a singlespeed.

My complete commuter rig consists of 2 bikes. One is a multi-geared mule w/panniers and a trunkbag. It's used to haul in a weeks worth of clothes/food on Mondays. The rest of the week I use a fg w/a seatpost rack/trunkbag combo. It's big enough to haul my daily work clothes and empty food containers home. The same bike used to be a ss, but I decided to try fg and never went back. It's a great combination that has worked well for me for a long time. My daily is 41 mi rt w/a 500 ft homeward climb for the last 7 miles.

My favorite commuter is a SS. I have some steep hills that I hit with my SS at times and it forces me to HTFU. Whenever I go up a steep hill with a fellow rider on my SS I always jet up to the top and wait for them because I don't have the option of going in to my granny gear. I think it's a friggin' great way to commute.

SS is fine and fun if you are up for it.

One caution is that if you ever decide to haul front and rear racks or pull a trailer, you can be fairly limited. Once I decided that I needed this option, I sold mine and got a 3 X 7 with friction shfiters on a Surly LHT. I don't miss the SS, but it wasn't a bad bike.

My commuters have the following amount of gears:

fixed / singlespeed / 3 speed IGH / 10 speed / 12 speed

and they're all fun in their own way. IIRC I find the geared bikes get me to work the fastest. Then again, my fixed gear and ss bikes are not geared very high 76 and 66 GI respectively.

I usually ride geared to work and 9 times out of 10 I hammer to get the best workout I can. I've built up a SS cross check and been riding that but I'm starting to feel limited after just a few rides. Go uphill and I can hammer, flats I can spin out at a high cadence and then any downhill is limited to coasting or spinning out. I'm starting to think I'd rather be able to hammer up, down and flat as well. Spin high cadence wherever I am, or grind a big gear wherever I am. Gears are a great invention.

I think the argument that you just have to go faster on a hill SS is hollow. Gears are no there just to "make it easier", they are there to make you faster in all situations. If you are on SS and beating geared riders to the top of a hill then its fitness and the other rider taking it easy uphill. I think I'll be switching to 1x8 and if I want it SS just stop shifting.

I use a single speed exclusively for commuting. Hills and headwinds come with the territory. The key I think for single speed is to gear it correctly. And when I say correctly, I mean for you and your type of riding. You can gear it for hills but suffer on the downhills and flats or you can gear it for the flats and downhills and suffer on the hills. You need to find that happy medium and gear it there. For me it is a 44 x 18 for about 66 gear inches. Your gear inches might be different.

Personally Like the simplicity of it all and it works well for me. I did go out and buy a trailer and the single speed was tough so I built up a 1 x 9 speed that does the trick. Even though I have the choice to take either bike to work, I always pick the single speed. It is not for everyone but works well for me.

Yes. I ride a geared carbon fiber road bike on weekends but for commuting I prefer the simplicity of my steel single speed with rear rack, front basket and bullhorn handlebars. Yeah, you are frequently in the "wrong" gear but that just kind of keeps it interesting. I have to get out of the saddle for hills maybe half dozen times on a nine mile (one way) commute and I have to go slower than I prefer on other sections.Since the majority of my commuting is in the dark this doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Also after riding hard on weekends being forced to go slower and "smell the flowers" is appealing.

Part of the experience I like is having a bike where you just throw a leg over the bike and go, like when you were a kid - no specail shoes, no spandex. I know you could do the same with a geared bike, but for me it's just not the same.

I'd always run my commuter bike as a SS/FG (flip-flop hub), because a derailleurless drivetrain is easier to keep clean and properly adjusted.

However, when child #2 was born in January, I knew I'd want to be able to tow a 2-seat trailer uphill without punishing my knees. So now I run a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed IGH. The middle gear preserves the original ratio, and that's where I keep it almost all the time.

I commute on my Fisher Triton and I love it. It has a flip flop rear so when I want freewheel, I got it. When I want fixed, I got it. When the weather turns bad and winter is here, I'll switch to my Redline Monocog 29er. It's a little slower but fun nonetheless. The area I commute in is flat as a pancake so I have no gripes other than my route is too short (just over a mile). Total trip time is 5-7 minutes.

My commuting bike is a SS. As a previous poster mentioned, I tried a few gearing options on another bike and ended up with a gear that I liked. I am running a 46t chainring and a 17t BMX freewheel. My commute is city roads with a few short hills. I spin out going down the hills and frequently have to stand on the pedals going up. Still it is a good compromise. I am actually contemplating a switch to an IGH, though.

-Gary

I have either SS bikes or converted all my geared bikes to SS........not sure why.........just love em.......
Maybe the same reason I am a telemark skier.........way less efficient skiing but I love it..........
SS as my good bike buddy says, " 75% of the time you are in the wrong gear." :-) If you are worried about hills or pulling something or having it loaded with panniers, etc. just gear it down so it is easier to pedal.......
I have strong thighs and have always been good up hill so I don't mind grinding it up or standing and pedaling.
I carry a heavy laptop in one pannier and tons of food, clothes ( I work 14 hour days so I need three meals-cheaper bringing than buying cafeteria food. Also I use reusable containers........all part of the environmental reason for biking,etc).......That is my "training." Anyway, many of us use SS bikes for all sorts of reasons.........
It can be done..........easily.........just not as efficiently (speaking for myself).......

I commute a total of 250km a week and I lean into my turns and never have I ever had my pedals hit the ground... but i'm riding a track bike and not a conversion too. I think you're thinking about those...

if i am not mistaken (please correct me if i am, seriously) i think 76 GI will produce about 25 MPH at 100 RPM.

i ride every day here in the mecca of east bay cycling (Danville blvd) and i can assure you NO ONE will pass you at that speed (aside from the odd paceline) for a couple of flatish miles between walnut creek and alamo.

I prefer my single speed machine for commuting because maintenance is quick and easy.

I ride about 70 gear inches and can get anywhere I need to go, but I sweat more than I do on my bike with multiple speeds. I don't mind being sweaty and like not having to tinker with my bike very much, so for me it works well.

I ride a 2010 Trek District 2. It is a SS/FG as it has flip-flop hub (I have it set to only SS). Used to ride a geared bike but found myself never chnaging gear and always wanted to try SS. That was enough for me to get one and never look back.

As other says, it all depend on the area you are. If there is a lot of hills, some folks might say that you are just crazy. Not me as I see them as a challenge and a very good way to keep improving your strenght. Hills, downhill, winds.. all that is part of what you will hate at first but get use too it after a while. Just have it geared the way you like it.

2 of my bikes are SS, I'm converting one more, and I'm leaving my grocery bike with the gears just because I don't feel like messing with it.

I ride my commuter at 44/17, which is 70 gear inches. It's a little tall for a couple hills around here, but I can usually grunt it out and make my way up them. That one is currently also my rando bike and I use it for 100k - 150k rides. If the hills get too steep, there's always the 24" gear; get off and walk.

My SSCX race bike is currently geared 38/18, which is 57 gear inches. It's a good gear for dry, flatter courses or light mud over hardpack. I'll drop it to 38/19 or 38/20 for super mucky or really hilly courses with short straightaways.

I commute about 150 km / week on a Surly Cross Check SS. I'm currently running 39/16 which feels about right, I coast on steep descents but can keep up on flats and manage climbs. May drop to 14 as my shape improves. I've noticed that my commute is faster since I ditched gears, I think mostly because I'm faster uphill. It's also much harder though, but I see it as better workout :-)