Sell me on it.
 

I turn 34 in three weeks. I wanna get back on a bike. I LOVe the idea of a single speed. Last time I was on one was when I was 8 and I had a Seattle Seahawks bike! It seems to be such a pure form of biking and that appeals top me. Will it help my legs get stronger faster? is it bad form to swap out drop bars for straight bars? Surly SR or Kona PaddyWagon? Other less expensive options?

any help from you guys would be great

:popcorn: it's fixed/ss love story time!

i enjoy not dealing with gears, you just go, usually fast : ) it's a huge feeling of freedom being able to go wherever you want around town fast and light, and i recently discovered the thrill of flying down winding bike paths (when they're clear of course :) )

Yeah I feel like with any gears you essentially have to stop pedaling (or apply less power) while shifting gears, and I feel like sometimes I end up in the wrong gear at the wrong place no matter how much I pay attention (which feels like work). Maybe its easier for some people?

But for me, a single speed or fixed gear is way better, always a straight chain path (essential for getting all the power), never a messed up derailer, less cords in the way, and on a fixed gear even one less brake caliper and lever, and no cable going all the way to the back, plus I can pedal slower instead of grabbing a brake lever if I feel like it. I'm always in the same gear which means I'm already used to the gear on any terrain and have at least 3 less things to think about (which gear, hows the chain path, how fast to pedal).

On the other hand people with weaker knees and legs will usually prefer a choice of gears. It's like the sub-title for this forum on the main page: "I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"

I would go with a road or CX geometry: Dawes SST, Bianchi San Jose, Van Dessel Country Road Bob (I wants), etc. A tight track bike is not a good way to get back into the flow of cycling. Also if you end up hating one gear, any of these can get switched to an internal gear system.

Sure it is..a track frame is fine.
Some people dont want a heavy ass, slow turning bike like the ones youve listed.
It really depends on what kind of riding he plans to do.

Any good SS's with straight bars? or is that a change I would need to make?

You can cold set a lot of frames to respace them for a internal gear hub if you must, but those bikes
you listed are all good for starters. Personally I need at least one bike with track geometry
and at least one bike with more relaxed angles.

I'm 34 and just started riding regularly for the first time since I was in middle school. It's been great for me. I had chronic knee pain which has since gone away since I started riding. In 3 months I lost 2 pant sizes and feel stronger and more energetic. I went with a Surly Steamroller. I wasn't totally sure if I wanted to go fixed but I gave it a shot and really love it and picked it up almost immediately (after a little practice on an empty playground at night so nobody could watch me forget that I couldn't coast). There should be nothing wrong with switching to straight/riser bars. I personally really like pursuit bars because straight bars don't feel very good for climbing out of the saddle on hills.

I would say to test ride those bikes if you can find them and buy the one you like the most. Good luck and keep on riding!

Hey OP if you want to get back into cycling on a budget single speed that is really nice check out the Trek Soho, same price as the Kona but better for entry level riding.

The straight bars allow for a more upright position much like you will remember from your youth, but it still looks sleek and will feel fast with it's 27" wheels and thin tires. It's extremely light and nimble, and you can upgrade it easily later down the road depending on whether you decide to lean towards cruising or going faster.

There is a good looking upgraded Soho too with some innovative features, about $350-$400 more if you have it to spend.

If you want to recapture the feelings you remember from that first mobility as a child, get a bike like this rather than what all these kids are recommending. You will avoid back pain and have a better transition back into cycling.

Your initial impulse for a single speed is a good one to get what you want, ignore the kids telling you that "fixed gear" or "Track bike" is what you should get, it's utter bollocks and you will not experience what you remember. Those might be fun to try if you decide to get into more than one kind of cycling, but initially you've already got the right idea and I'd recommend you go with it. What they recommend simply isn't made for what you desire.

Good luck and ride safe!

I don't think we need any more people riding SSFG.

Did you see Dewey Cox? You don't want none of this ****, man.

You mean FG sans SS, because there will be more SS riders and fewer FG riders in the future. So you'll get what you want (to be cool) by just doing nothing as long as you stick with FG and remember to wear the clothes of the other gender, whichever you are.

There are already far more SS riders than FG and always will be, it doesn't seem like it in here because they are out riding their bikes while most FG riders are still picking out an outfit and updating user profiles with pictures of themselves

whatever, just ride a bike

straigh bars are really cheap, so i would worry more about the rest of the bike and then if you want to change the bars, craigslisting the drops or whatever it comes with will probably pay for a pretty good set of flat bars.

Yeah, and most SS riders are buying Trek Sohos with 27" wheels. You have no idea what you're talking about.

BTW I was refering to this:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-57D...juana_warning/

You do realize that FG is a niche market with (far) less than 1% of total units sold, compared to mobility oriented bikes such as the Soho, which make up over 18% of the market, above everything else except mountain bikes (and only because most "Box store" bikes now sold are "mountain bikes" but used as mobility bikes.

It will never get any larger than that because for the person looking to get around, jump right back onto a bike from youth or ride everyday as a way to get around, SS is better, though a internal hub bicycle is even more useful.

FG will always be around, but it'll never be more than a fad because it is impractical as transportation.

For most people, easier is better, they can have more fun on an SS and they do already too. It doesn't seem like that here because this forum doesn't discuss SS, because any thread started about SS is unanswered or swamped with high school kids complaining that FG is cooler.

It's very likely that there were more Soho bikes shipped than ALL FG bikes this year.

It's very likely that 0 bikes are shipped with 27" wheels in 2008.

I initially said nothing about how your advice should be taken with taken with a grain of salt, based on your lack of knowledge about wheel size.

I directed my comment to the OP, and in a joking manner. Did you watch the video? Why are you SO serious about how FG is only for poseurs? Take a chill pill, guy.

Noob or very young you are. 27" is accepted layman for 700cc, which could possibly mean little to a guy who last rode regularly when he was 8, probably on 20" wheels, back when all the adult bikes in NA rolled 27".

And yes, still being produced and sold.

I'm not serious about it, it's 99% factual, most of you are fadsters, no reason to be serious about it.

What I'm doing is giving the OP an opportunity to hear an opinion on his original inclination, as usual it was being drowned out by the teeny-bopper fixed gear losers not giving SS it's space on the forum.

Like it or not SS is way more useful for entry or re-entry level cyclists, and way less likely to turn them off of cycling with a bad experience (jumping on and riding as though it were a regular bicycle ending badly), ridiculous experience (meeting fixed gear persons in person) or painful experience (getting immediately back into cycling on a stiff, twitchy bike that has your head at teh same level as your ass in order to be cool)

This guy has the right idea for himself right out of the gate and almost none of you could respect that enough to actually anser his question. Way to push bicycling!

Country Road Bob
 

I bought a Country Road Bob this year,disk breaks,i love this bike, i respect it so much now, i call it Robert!Iy's everything i always wanted in a SS and then some...Super Well PLEASED..in Ohio!

Now that's a recommendation, honestly never heard of country bob but I googled a few pics, i wonder if I can get those at an honest price here

there's nothing special about a single speed w/ freewheel.
if you're going to coast, not having gears is pretty silly.

-1. Many people ride single speeds for the simplicity, lightness, and perceived lack of maintenance. One could easily argue not having gears is silly regardless of whether the bike can coast or not. Would be nice if the fixie riders on this forum acknowledged the forum is also supposed to be a resource for singlespeed riders.

+1. I have very little interest in riding a bicycle that requires me to compulsively pedal or fall off. On the other hand, I could easily see the virtue of a singlespeed on relatively flat terrain where high speeds aren't necessary. And yes, the "scene" attached to FG is perhaps the most annoying one in cycling, besides that attached to road cycling.

Sold on a production bike? No.

And no one uses 27" as a 'layman's term' for 700c. They are 2 distinct tire sizes, and you are giving out faulty information to tell a guy just getting back into cycling that they are interchangeable. And it's 700c not 700cc.

You are seriously talking out of your ass. Talking like Yoda doesn't make you right.

Furthermore, I don't participate in the 'SS is for *******' arguments. SS's are great for people getting back into cycling and are only familiar with old friction shifting and are on a budget. Nothing wrong with a bike with 2 brakes and freewheel.

People with no sense of humor and misinformation turn more people off to cycling than the existence of a fixed cog on the other side of their flip-flop.

Take a deep breath before your next post, I think you're projecting a bit here...


My advice is this;

1) Get a bike with a flip flop hub. That way you can try fixed gear, and if you don't like it going to single speed is only a matter of flipping the rear wheel around. Shouldn't take more than 5 minutes total. I bought my bike with the intention of getting a single speed, it came from the lbs store flipped to the "fixed" side of the hub, I decided to give it a shot. After a week I was really enjoying fixed and it's pretty much all I ride now. The other bonus is that with a flip/flop you get two cogs, so you get a bike with two gearings to try out and play with straight off the rack.

2) Give road bars a try before switching to flat bars. You can ride the tops of road bars just like flat bars, and you have all the added positions as well. Think of road bars as flat bars with drops, since you aren't really losing any hand positions by using a road bar. If you just prefer the aesthetics of flat bars you can craigslist your drop bars and buy a nice set of flats with money left over.

I never understand this. Cycling is an individual sport, I get out, I pedal, I don't run into any scenes getting from point a to point b, I don't understand the argument. It's not like if you own a fixed gear you're going to be required to attend monthly skid and trackstand competitions to renew your fixed license...