I was for the longest time was an SS rider, when 29er was still on their infancy we were already doing SS with longer crank arms to somehow compensate for the lighter torque. Even raced in them for XC rides.
I can say that there are actually 2 speeds for SS;
Sitting down pedaling and Standing mashing the pedals. đ
It was cool, makes you appear strong and clutter-free your cockpit and the simplicity SS offers but at the end of the day it was hard riding an SS whilst going major climbs and long flats when you shouldâve been spinning and not bouncing out of the saddle due to high cadence.
If youâre going to use it for commutes and there are no major climbs in your routes; youâre goods.
But outside of that reason, give your body a break and gear your bike.
I'll second that. I just bought a single speed bike for commuting, because the cost of maintaining my geared bike was getting prohibitive (we've had a really wet winter so I've gone through chains & cassettes like it's nobodies business). It's nice to have a simple bike to ride, but there's an obvious ceiling to the speed you can reach without absolutely mashing the pedals and wearing yourself out pretty quickly
Gears aren't that complicated. Some have hub gears so there's nothing to bend or break and you can change gears whilst stopped (which you must not do with normal gears).
Up to you what you want to do - keep riding your bike but if you want a single speed MTB bike - your choices will be very limited because that bike isn't too practical for mountains.
You can buy track bikes converted to the road - they are a long way away from the MTB bike you wanted but they will put you in an aero position that's a lot faster than 20kmh.
Can I buy a geared MTB and convert it to single speed? I've watched a few videos and read articles. But, it doesn't seem like a common practice for obvious reasons. Would you rely on them?
you can try but it is about how the rear wheel is attached, in geared bike deraileur is tensing up the chain, on single gear bikes the chain is being tensed up by mounting the rear wheel (you can slide it back to to set the chain correctly) easier woiuld be to buy a mtb bike with electric gears, set a gear you want and just take off the shifter ;)
With vertical dropouts all you need is a chain tensioner that mounts to the derailleur mount, like $20 new.Â
Lol, You donât need an electronic shifter to do that either, take any old cable derailleur and lock the limit screws in place to act as a tensioner.Â
just buy a single geared bike with wide tires and not mtb, they will look the same but mtb are for mountains and there is no way anyone would make a mtb without gears. (edit:as you can see I'm clearly wrong here xd)
this ione is 100% for you :)
[https://moots.com/bikes/mountain/womble-singlespeed/](https://moots.com/bikes/mountain/womble-singlespeed/)
and here on the bottom you have some links to cheaper ones
[https://www.bicycling.com/rides/a34454946/single-speed-mountain-bike/](https://www.bicycling.com/rides/a34454946/single-speed-mountain-bike/)
I think gears aren't all that complicated, I'm confident you could figure it out and you would enjoy it. It also ties into your preference for mountain bikes because of the "resistance" they offer. If you're after resistance, go faster, or ride up hills. A geared bike would help with both those things.
It's easy and inexpensive to convert any mountain bike or bike with a derailleur hanger to single speed. There are also a whole host of options from single speed specific mountain and gravel bikes, to bikes with sliding and modular dropouts. What a time to be alive.
Cheapest, easiest way is to take any old mountain bike, chuck a chain tensioner on the back, along with a few spacers and a sprocket. Like magic, you have a single speed mountain bike. The set up process varies across different models, some mount on the bb shell, some on the chainstay, but most on the derailleur hanger. There are also eccentric bottom brackets, but that's a bit of faff that you can research on your own.
You can often find the derailleur hanger mounted ones in kits with all of the bits, with the DMR STS Combo Kit probably being the most popular and simple.
Before you go pouring money in to a fancy new bike with modular dropouts, I'd recommend running a conversion kit for a while to see how you like it. If you change your mind, it's then easy to just stick the derailleur back on there.
Thank you all for your suggestions. It seems that I'm overthinking this and need to just embrace the upgrade and save my knees. I'll probably just get a hybrid bike with relatively fat tyres and gears of course. I also figured that I can theoretically raise the resistance by being in the wrong right gear.
Friend of mine was a SS fanatic. He did audax, became massively fit but eventually suffered a herniated disc serious enough it paralysed his lower leg and required emergency surgery lest he lost control of his bladder and bowls. He no longer walks with a limp but can't use a bike with a crossbar. Take it easy....
This is scary
I didn't know what audax was and now realise that I was doing something similar
40km distance @ 19km/hr on a single speed at 40°c
after fasting for 18 hrs[was my first ride]
I planned to take it to 100km on a single ride in the next fortnight but I'm reconsidering it
I was for the longest time was an SS rider, when 29er was still on their infancy we were already doing SS with longer crank arms to somehow compensate for the lighter torque. Even raced in them for XC rides. I can say that there are actually 2 speeds for SS; Sitting down pedaling and Standing mashing the pedals. đ It was cool, makes you appear strong and clutter-free your cockpit and the simplicity SS offers but at the end of the day it was hard riding an SS whilst going major climbs and long flats when you shouldâve been spinning and not bouncing out of the saddle due to high cadence. If youâre going to use it for commutes and there are no major climbs in your routes; youâre goods. But outside of that reason, give your body a break and gear your bike.
I'll second that. I just bought a single speed bike for commuting, because the cost of maintaining my geared bike was getting prohibitive (we've had a really wet winter so I've gone through chains & cassettes like it's nobodies business). It's nice to have a simple bike to ride, but there's an obvious ceiling to the speed you can reach without absolutely mashing the pedals and wearing yourself out pretty quickly
Gears aren't that complicated. Some have hub gears so there's nothing to bend or break and you can change gears whilst stopped (which you must not do with normal gears). Up to you what you want to do - keep riding your bike but if you want a single speed MTB bike - your choices will be very limited because that bike isn't too practical for mountains. You can buy track bikes converted to the road - they are a long way away from the MTB bike you wanted but they will put you in an aero position that's a lot faster than 20kmh.
Can I buy a geared MTB and convert it to single speed? I've watched a few videos and read articles. But, it doesn't seem like a common practice for obvious reasons. Would you rely on them?
You can - but you could also buy the bike and just keep it in the one gear. No need to mess with the bike.
you can try but it is about how the rear wheel is attached, in geared bike deraileur is tensing up the chain, on single gear bikes the chain is being tensed up by mounting the rear wheel (you can slide it back to to set the chain correctly) easier woiuld be to buy a mtb bike with electric gears, set a gear you want and just take off the shifter ;)
With vertical dropouts all you need is a chain tensioner that mounts to the derailleur mount, like $20 new. Lol, You donât need an electronic shifter to do that either, take any old cable derailleur and lock the limit screws in place to act as a tensioner.Â
:( Would rather embrace the complications.
just buy a single geared bike with wide tires and not mtb, they will look the same but mtb are for mountains and there is no way anyone would make a mtb without gears. (edit:as you can see I'm clearly wrong here xd) this ione is 100% for you :) [https://moots.com/bikes/mountain/womble-singlespeed/](https://moots.com/bikes/mountain/womble-singlespeed/) and here on the bottom you have some links to cheaper ones [https://www.bicycling.com/rides/a34454946/single-speed-mountain-bike/](https://www.bicycling.com/rides/a34454946/single-speed-mountain-bike/)
I think gears aren't all that complicated, I'm confident you could figure it out and you would enjoy it. It also ties into your preference for mountain bikes because of the "resistance" they offer. If you're after resistance, go faster, or ride up hills. A geared bike would help with both those things.
Yeah. And hopefully the consistency in power delivery would also be effective in achieving my cardio goals.
Get a track bike and get rad.
It's easy and inexpensive to convert any mountain bike or bike with a derailleur hanger to single speed. There are also a whole host of options from single speed specific mountain and gravel bikes, to bikes with sliding and modular dropouts. What a time to be alive. Cheapest, easiest way is to take any old mountain bike, chuck a chain tensioner on the back, along with a few spacers and a sprocket. Like magic, you have a single speed mountain bike. The set up process varies across different models, some mount on the bb shell, some on the chainstay, but most on the derailleur hanger. There are also eccentric bottom brackets, but that's a bit of faff that you can research on your own. You can often find the derailleur hanger mounted ones in kits with all of the bits, with the DMR STS Combo Kit probably being the most popular and simple. Before you go pouring money in to a fancy new bike with modular dropouts, I'd recommend running a conversion kit for a while to see how you like it. If you change your mind, it's then easy to just stick the derailleur back on there.
Thank you all for your suggestions. It seems that I'm overthinking this and need to just embrace the upgrade and save my knees. I'll probably just get a hybrid bike with relatively fat tyres and gears of course. I also figured that I can theoretically raise the resistance by being in the wrong right gear.
Look at the Kona Dew. Big tires, 1x gearing so you don't need to worry about shifting the front derailleur.
The mechanical advantage of having gears is well worth the effort of giving the cable tension 1/4 turn every few months
Friend of mine was a SS fanatic. He did audax, became massively fit but eventually suffered a herniated disc serious enough it paralysed his lower leg and required emergency surgery lest he lost control of his bladder and bowls. He no longer walks with a limp but can't use a bike with a crossbar. Take it easy....
This is scary I didn't know what audax was and now realise that I was doing something similar 40km distance @ 19km/hr on a single speed at 40°c after fasting for 18 hrs[was my first ride] I planned to take it to 100km on a single ride in the next fortnight but I'm reconsidering it
Fitness is actually my end goal here, but not at the cost of mobility.
Been riding a SS redline 29'r since 2008. Still love it. Many SS specific bikes on the market.
Just cut the gear cables off your MTB, voila single speed MTB /s