Thinking SS...

[benp1]

Gah, all this SS talk is making me miss my El Mar. Alternator drop outs were great

Maybe I'll get an EBB SS steel bike again one day. It was great for local stuff

[grmtylr]

Gah, all this SS talk is making me miss my El Mar. Alternator drop outs were great

Maybe I'll get an EBB SS steel bike again one day. It was great for local stuff

My El Mar was probably the best frame I've owned.
I swapped between full ridid and bouncy forks on it every now and again but it was really flexible and would do pretty much anything. The alternator dropouts were bloody brilliant, simple yet absolutely solid with no slipping etc.
I had cable, mech and shifter than I could stick on the frame in about 10 minutes and have it running 1x10 which was brilliant.
Biggest regret I had was not picking up a Ti El Mar then I had a chance to.

I've just started running a SS bike again recently, built up a Trek Crockett gravel bike which is great fun and bloody fast, problem is I'm not as fit as I used to be!

[Al]

Gah, all this SS talk is making me miss my El Mar. Alternator drop outs were great

Maybe I'll get an EBB SS steel bike again one day. It was great for local stuff

I’m embarrassed to tell you it’s got gears on now Ben!

[ChrisF]

A lot of love on here for single speeds!
I’ve been riding ss off-road almost exclusively for ages (18 years or so). A bit less so in the last year as my fitness has dived a bit. I commute on a Genesis Day One too, have probably done 10k miles on that. Some learnt lessons/tips:
Just convert your existing bike with a chain tensioner, don’t worry about getting a ss frame. Use a single cog and spacers on a standard free hub.
Be prepared to be hooked and find yourself buying a ss frame! For years I never owned a geared MTB.
Realise that the prettiest MTBs are all singlespeeds.
Don’t worry about your knees - mine were f**ked before I started riding ss (3 lots of cartilage ops, ex fellrunner). The ss makes em stronger I reckon.
Riding in hills is better than on the flat, provided they are not too big - I live in the Peak so moderate hills.
SS is great for long rides, if you are adapted to it. Pick a ratio that suits you, 32:18 off road on a 29er round my way, maybe 32:20 loaded up is a starting point. I think DayOne is 42:18 for a road commute.
Expect your arms, shoulders and lower back to feel the strain to start with.
Every hill you climb is a win, every climb you walk, well, it’s coz you’re on a single speed innit?
I’ve got an El Mariachi with Alternator dropouts- this is my favourite frame so far.
Be prepared to see your local rides in a different light.
Enjoy!

[redefined_cycles]

What a lot of amazing advice and education and, well, single speed love (and some slight loving hate).

Learnt so much in such a short space of time over the few days. Really do appreitae

Admittedly I did on first (on the first night after opening the thread) night go to bed thinking "what on earth am I doing" as my 40 miler (which I'm trying to get hang of riding back these days in prep for the 'Going Full Retard'* ride) is 1500ft total elevation with the main hill outbound - being 0.6 miles and 7 percent gradient average which gives me around 300ft climbing total I reckons which I complete at a pace of around 8mph with all my work gear in the BPing bags. I use a 34/28 ratio or if I want lots of pain and suffering for the rest of the ride a 34/25 would be manageable justabout.

Anyway, soon after I had that absurd thought (of chuckin in the towel) I read the comments of how wonderful SS is even in the hills Like it was said, "whats there to lose" and "its so cheap"** so here we go I suppose...

So, if my regular ratio for the main (first main one and the one thats significant in my head) climb is done at 34/28 ratio.... and I dont wanna walk any of the way to work. Then what ratio should I start my experimention with... I'm thinking 34/16 and then swap the rear cogs*** as needed to suit.

*the BB200 off course

**that wasn't actually said in them words but I hadn't realised I could convert my freehub to an adaptor for SS (thanks yet again) and using my current 11spd (see ***) chain and tensioner means

*** Seems an 11 speed chain doesnt work with the sprockets that come with the DMR conversion kit as its too narrrow (according to a review who got round the issue by) so sandwiching the appropriate sprocket from my currebt cluster should fix that and allow me to experiment... suppose I'd have to start off with chain at biggest length, so with biggest sprocket, then work downwards to remove teeth/links.

[redefined_cycles]

A lot of love on here for single speeds!

Every hill you climb is a win, every climb you walk, well, it’s coz you’re on a single speed innit?

Be prepared to see your local rides in a different light.
Enjoy!

1. There is...

2. Is that called a Win-Win

3. My commutes were getting rather dull anyway... Hopefully the continuous coasting and losing time therewith won't mean its a -ve light

[redefined_cycles]

Suppose I need to be starting off with a 34/20 ratio and if thats doable drop it to a 34/18 to make less coasting on the flats etc...

[ChrisF]

Redefined- if your commute is a road one, I think those ratios will be too low. You’ll be spinning out for much of the ride. I use 42:18 on my road commute on a heavy bike with a pannier and chunky heavy tyres. It’s 13mile each way with around 700ft climbing on the way home. With that gear I find up to 10% climbs an effort but ok. I have a 15% climb up to my house and that’s pretty hard for me.

If you’re stuck with a 34 front, maybe try a 15 rear? If using a sprocket with spacers on a standard free hub try to use a sprocket with a wider base otherwise it can dig in to your free hub.

[ChrisF]

Oh and don’t worry if the climbs feel harder than you want. One thing that SS will do for you is make you better at recovering after big efforts

[redefined_cycles]

Whoever said 34 and 16t is a genius. Just been out for a ride and went towards the steepest (not actually but lingest steep hill) hill nearby. 1 mile of 351ft lovely elevation divided into a few pockets of 10 percents and mostly around 5 percent. Usually I'd be in my lowest gearing by the top and also panting and puffing.

Stayed in 34/16 for the full ride and surprisingly the hill wasn't too bad. To be honest I did think momentarily that I'm gonna have to get off just now (dropping gear wasnt an option in my head), but managed to get up it all... The flats weren't too bad either and not much coasting needed to be done. Biggest surprise was when I got home I noted a personal record on a short section of DH that I've done 7 times over the years and probably giving it some!...

Something a little pure about just having one gear (or did many already say that... already )...
Cannot wait

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/KW09WHMCuZ

[BobCatMax]

I think we have a convert!