Wel, I'm just ****in with ya. It's still a sweet bike and that's a good attitude. If it works for you, no need to replace it.

lookin at 32:17's bike. I'm not knocking it because it loks like a nice bike, and probably suits him perfectly.

But, can you explain what the whole single speed/ simple is better thing is all about. I persoanlly don;t get it. I like having a plush ride, i like having many gears, and i just don't seem to see what's so appealing about simple and one speed.

if anyone can elaborate on this without denouncing me as a hater, i'm not trying to hate. I'm trying to understand the mentality behind simple, no suspension single speeders

Read all about it here, here and here. Let me illustrate. I have an MTB and a road bike. On my MTB, I use at most about 6 out of 21 gears (all on one ring) in a ride (not a lot of climbs here). On my road, I'll use 3-4 (one ring--52) over a 50 mile ride in rolling hills (I have rather strong legs from doing many squats over the years). Now, I'm doing a conversion on my road bike, which has horizontal dropouts. I'll probably use the ratio that is the average of those 4 gears (all in succession) and subtract 1-2 teeth (probably 52-17). Take away extra cogs, derailleurs, pulley friction, crooked chainline, longer chain (and sometimes looser), extra chaingrings, shifters/cables, and you've got a more efficient and lighter machine. I'll do a cassette hub though, so that way if I decide to go someplace with mountains for a tour, a temporary return to gears won't be too hard. I'm too much of a wimp to do that to my MTB yet, though.

Nothing to get. It's a bike.

Here is a good link about the question you pose.

Specifically about fixed gear off road.......Many points apply to singlespeeding as well.

i guess it's just preference. Yah like what yah like. I still like all the bells and whistles.

You don't have to mess w/ the adjusting of derailleurs. When you're going on a trail you dont have to worry about something happening to your derailleur like a stick getting caught and breaking it.

I recently converted a road bike to a SS (soon to be a fixie) and love the simplicity of it, I can just go, and not have to worry about changing gears.

It's all preference.

This pretty much sums it up.

I could state that I am much faster climbing and much better at techinical singletrack since I abandoned my geared full suspension bike for this (which is true) but the reality is: I like riding fixed gear bikes on and off road.

Ride what puts a smile on your face.

I dislike front derailers, and love rear ones.
Each to their own.

exactly, I hate front derailleurs

I run 36T up front and 8 speeds in the rear and that is perfect, i think.

I'm a 38T ring to a 11-30 cluster, 20 lb bike. No problems here flatland speed or extreme climbing.

And no chain rattle. Never found I shifted off the mid ring offroad, the outer rings were useless, 36T a bit too slow.
I'm running 7 speed, mostly because my only good Mavic rear is 7 hub body.
Bust it and we go 8.
This summer that wheels gonna DIE!

Yo tambien. FD's are nice if they are dialed in, if they are not, they're hell. What I hate more is adjusting FD's. RD's on the other hand are heaven to adjust.

No way I'll ever bother with a triple crank unless I'm using the mid ring mount single for a straight chainline.
If I'd build a front der' bike, a double -34T and 42T I guess.

Try shifting the front der' climbing. Not.
Gravity runs...you don't need to pedal much.

35 pound bike and I'd be into front der's, or hauling camping gear miles =gears.

exactly, i found i never shifted out of my mid ring, EVER. i ride some street and DJ so i like the 36 on there, most of my off road stuff is like hucking and freeride oriented stuff not much XC action or big climbs, and on those my bike isn't much suited to climbing so on the long climbs i generally walk it.

What part of So Cal, and how crazy are the hills? I'm in San Diego, and I couldn't imagine being able to do some of the hills I can now on a single gear. Some of them are just super-steep... others are steep, rutty, rocky and technical. Without a 'granny gear' I'd have to walk up most of them.

I guess the real question is, how many hills do you have to get off and walk as compared to before, and if the answer is 'none', is it because you prefer inherently less 'technical' rides?

I live in Altadena, right at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. They are pretty steep - elevation gain of 1,200' in 2.5 miles is not uncommon. I don't walk very often but there are some secions that are so loose and rocky that I do walk up. I definintely walk some sections that I could ride before but not that many, just takes a different style - a lot more standing and mashing. My bike is much lighter (~19 lbs) so that helps as well. I like techincal rides quite a bit but don't really care about speed; I'm fast enough and I like the control that riding a fixed gear gives me to more than make up for it's drawbacks.

Nothing wrong with a little walking(running) the bike once in a while - it's good 'cross training.

Heres my rig. Pretty much stock Trek 4300. I changed the seat and the grips, also added some bar ends.
If i start to improve Im going to change the fork eventually.

Hope to see you on the trails, ChainRing.
Here's my weapon of choice (after spitballs of course):

Nice, what kind of riding you do?

wheelies, mostly.

I ride this bike for XC mainly, although it does get called into service for occasional DJ and Urban.

Glad it works for you. I'd be in hell with a single speed. I used no less than twelve of my gears on my ride today, and being able to tweak for the terrain, my state (i.e. mitigate my suffering), etc. Maybe if I were young, small and wiry, but I'm an old Clydesdale with bad knees.

Also, I ride with other folks, so the 'do my own thing' isn't as social. It's definitely an interesting, personal, ascetic take on mountain biking. Your bike is still a work of art.

A lot of people claim that SS riding will improve your knees. I am not saying it does I am just throwing it out there. I just sold my geared bike and my homemade SS to get a SS with sliding drops. It is a On-One Inbred and I will post pictures once it is built. Now my only mountain bike is a SS, it is a big step for me but I have been using the geared bike less and less.

My rig:
94
GT
RTS Team

Light and quick… but soon to be replaced.

Heres my bike after everything was added, sorry about the first picture i didnt realize how blurry it was until just now.

i love those pedals