Single Speed 101

August 5, 2003 on 3:18 pm | In Mountain, Product Tech. |

“Ride to the gear” became my no-geared mantra during Knobscorcher.  The Tsali, NC, race course, with its gently undulating loops, was the perfect place to take out my recently reincarnated ti-hardtail. The event opened my eyes to the appeal of the singlespeed riding subculture. For many reasons, Singlespeeding is what has been missing in my cycling. Many years of off-road riding in all its disciplines, ten’s of thousands of commutes, ‘cross and road races have one thing in common… Gears, gears, gears.

Gears are definitely the Achilles Heel of today’s performance bicycles. When they work, we’re happily cranking along. When they skip, we are unhappy and often cursing at them, or the people perceived as possibly responsible for our transmission woes. When it comes to maintenance and replacement, We’ve all been fed-up with dirty cables, bent derailleurs and hangers, and worn-out chains and cassettes. Honestly, the bulk of Bio Wheels Service Dept revenue comes from gear issues. So what happens when you take those gears away?

Top 5 things you lose when you say no to gears:
1) a couple pounds, if you run affordable parts now.
2) that whackity, whack!
3) the option to take climbs “at your pace”
4) an excuse to stay at the shop (basement or local) listening to music your baby don’t like while working on your bike
5) respect for riders whining about their gears.

Top 5 things gained by single-ating;
1) the lightest bike you’ve ridden in a long time
2) a perfectly quiet ride
3) new respect for long climbs
4) time to take your sweetie out to listen to their favorite music
5) ability to trail-fix into a single speed, and still set the pace on your next group ride.

Things you’ll need to make this happen:

• Now that you have a sweet dual suspension, that hardtail on the hook will do nicely.
• a Surly singleator, unless you have horizontal dropouts
• a freehub cassette spacer conversion kit, or a new rear wheel built on Surly Hub.
• If your bike has a crappy old fork with an outdated 1″ steerer tube, do not fret. Bio Wheels can order you a Marzocchi  (85mm only) to retro-fit your old frame.