Thursday, November 25, 2021

Single Speed - I can't get away from it

Single speed (SS) has been part of my biking life since I was a kid when by dad fixed up this old fat tire Schwinn. At first I was disappointed that I didn't get a smaller wheeled bike popular in the late 60's. Then I discovered that once I got that thing wound up that it was a rocket ship. No one could touch me on the famous salmon pink super cruiser. 


Fast forward to the early 2000's when on a whim I bought a Gary Fisher Rig SS 29er. That bike changed everything (again) and I've not been able to break away from single speed bikes since (even though I attempted to several times, I just keep going back). 


I successfully raced SS against geared bikes for quite a few years making many people whimper as I passed them with on a one geared wonder. I've had a lot of single speeds...I get rid of one thinking "I'll be faster on gears," or "Ooh Ahh, I need that (geared) bike..." only to go back again and again to SS. Well now I'm convinced that geared bikes can be fun and have a great place, nothing is better for me than a SS.







This last summer I build up a Chumba Stella Ti as a geared bike, but after a few months it morphed into a SS, then a rigid SS and I can say I've never been happier. 



How does this happen I ask and why does SS make me a happier rider? Why are my average speeds in hilly terrain faster on the SS? I don't know, I've pondered this many times and I still don't have any good answers. The simple truth of the matter is that I love riding one geared bikes and I have no intention to stop any time soon.