Every now and then you’ll get somebody walking into the shop looking for a single speed bike.
Often I would look at them and think why? One gear on a bike Don’t you know that gears were invented to give us a mechanical advantage so we can climb hills with ease and then speed of down them?
If it wasn’t a BMX or a track bike I thought it was really a crazy idea, but how do you know if you never try. So I decided to convert my hard tail mountain bike into a singlespeed.
The bike wasn’t a dedicated single speed frame so I was lacking the necessary horizontal dropouts. I removed the cassette and replaced itwith the correct amount of spacers and the single 16 tooth rear cog.,removed the large front chain ring and got rid of the granny ring as well leaving just the 32 tooth middle ring on the front. A chain tensioner took place of the rear derailleur and the shifters were put back in a box.
The first thing I noticed about the bike was that it looked so simple,clean and fast. The removal of the 27 speed group set definately lightened the bike however was this weight loss enough to allow me to climb hills?
THE TEST RIDE
The first ride was hard...the hills were too steep and you could never rest it was just pedal, pedal, pedal. I was sure these single speed riders had no idea.Now the dilemma do I put the gears back on and call it failure or do I go for another ride?
THE TEST RIDE TAKE 2
I went for another ride this time it seemed to be a bit better, sure it hurt and at times my thumbs were still looking to change gears for me, yet on this ride I noticed a couple of things, carry your momentum and back yourself when you come to a hill and most times you will get over it.
It has now been 3 months that I have ridden only the single speed. I’ve even completed my first ever single speed mountain bike race, with a better time than usual and I am definately hooked.
The great thing about a single speed bike is that they demand more pedaling power due to the nature of having no gear options, so you get your fitness up quickly. They are quiet when you ride them no noisy chain slap, you get cheered as you conquer hills in a race and they take very little time to maintain.
If you want to convert your bike to single speecome in and see us at Torquay Cycling. Conversions can be done for as little as $189.00. Winter is the best time for the conversion as you're group set will be spared the wear and can be put back on when the mud clears up.
