All about Singlespeeds

Why?

Some say singlespeeding is just a fad, perhaps, but this fad has been in effect since long before "mountain bikes" came along. However, what really makes it fun now is the advances in frames, forks, and tires. For me, tires make the largest part of the SS fun factor. I run BIG tires, especially on the front. I have not found very many suspension forks that I like the handling and durability of, so I use a rigid fork. Some say that it is not truly rigid because there is a 3 inch wide tire mounted on the front wheel. A Nokian Gazzaloddi downhill tire pumped up to a maximum of 20 psi. The grip and cush of this tire combination has to be ridden to be believed. It doesn't have as much travel as a suspension fork, but it grips and deforms around roots and logs extremely well.

None of this really addresses "why?", does it. hmmmm...did you ride a bike as a kid? What kind of a bike was it? I bet it was a singlespeed, though you didn't think of it that way, it was just "my bike". Where did you go on your bike? If you were like me you went all over, your range increasing as you got older, sometimes you went alot farther in only a matter of weeks. What happened when a hill presented itself to your path? Did you just stand up and grunt up that hill as far as you could? If you couldn't make it to the top, did you just jump off and walk? Did you ride some trails on that bike? Was it, for awhile, the most precious thing you owned?

Did it have gears? NO!

Singlespeeds these days have the feeling that we had as kids, but the bikes are REALLY NICE. Even the cheapest beater SS is pretty good. The feeling is the same, but magnified. We are ADULTS now, it says so on the label, bigger, stronger, richer even beyond our wildest kid dreams. We've got jobs, or at least had a job once, got cares, worries, responsibilities and seemingly less time to do something fun. Something that has the carefree fun feeling we had as kids.

Well, for some, a singlespeed bike puts us there faster than anything else we've tried. And its not as hard you think. Nor is it easy. But if you've been biking for awhile, consider yourself somewhat fit or maybe saw someone have a fit, and are looking for something a bit simpler than the infinite upgrade path of the modern mountain bike industry, then singlespeeding might be for you.

How?

Just stand up and grunt up that hill with out shifting, thats how.
While this is true, it is surprising how much of a difference a pure singlespeed drive train is compared to a multi-gear drive train. Resources:

My SS's

Full Custom Vulture hand built by my bud Wade and painted brandywine over pearl by Derrick The Red Haze Vulture

The BrewSSki