Mtb why single speed

While they shifted nicely in the shop, they wore fast in poor conditions, could clog up in mud, ghost-shift on dual suspension bikes, slammed around like mad and dropped chains, and often detracted from the enjoyment of the ride.

With the singlespeed, this woes were conveniently forgotten, although unfortunately supplanted by a series of spectacularly bad singlespeed retention devices. Highlights including cracking dropouts, eccentric bottom brackets that creaked more than a rusty bed, and frames that required the rear brake to be removed to remove the rear wheel. However, these significant design flaws notwithstanding, singlespeeds are reliable, low maintenance bikes.

Early singlespeed hype waxed lyrical about the philosophical importance and the achievement of a transcendental state of zen. However, one of the great appeals of singlespeeding has always been the sense of smugness when powering past people on a steep climb. For that oh-so-sweet and impractically tiny range of gradients between spinning out like a medicated hamster and the abject misery and indignity of hiking, singlespeeding is pure, insufferable, and ineffably smug bliss.

While singlespeeding is, of course, a pursuit completely devoid of the vanity so prominent in cycling, there is no denying the satisfaction of receiving the admiration of surrounding riders as the singlespeed is slogged up the steep gradients at a startling pace the emotional collapse around the corner hidden from view. And, on the plus side, it means that your upper body actually does some work while riding, which may well assist with convulsion-inducing tinder profile pictures, should the young rider be so inclined.

Perhaps the best answer to the riddle of a rigid singlespeed is not to fight the major impracticality — but rather, to embrace it. The comedy of slamming a big climb can then outweigh the suffering in sheer stupidity. The steeper it gets, the harder it gets and the options you have are to mash the pedals as hard as you can or admit defeat, get off and push. With time, forcing yourself to push hard up the hills will make you a stronger rider, making hill climbs easier when you go back to your regular geared bike.

When you are not going uphill, you are most likely spinning fast, wishing you could shift up a gear. This fast spinning trains a smooth cadence and builds an efficient pedal stroke over time. Hit loose climbs and you'll be forced to keep a smooth consistent pedal stroke so as not to break traction at the rear tyre. Take this technique back to your geared bike and you'll be amazed at what climbs you can conquer. In addition to teaching you to spin more efficiently, the bike itself is more efficient too with a direct chainline and no derailleur pulley wheels to soak up your precious watts.

One pedal stroke on a single-speed and you'll immediately feel that direct attachment to the rear wheel. If you slow down, you will have to pedal hard to speed up again. When acceleration requires extra effort, you learn to keep your momentum as much as possible.

Singlespeed mountain bikes encourage you to carry greater speed through corners or over obstacles. As a result, your riding will become smoother and more efficient. If the conditions are right, a single-speed can be a very fast machine. On a rolling landscape with short climbs a single-speed rider can find themselves in a state of being constantly in a slightly too high gear.

Consequently, you'll be pushing hard and fast to stay on top of that gear. On flowing singletrail, a single-speed mountain biker will be hard to catch. You may fatigue early at first, but in the long run, you will end up far fitter. A single-speed does not have a cassette, derailleurs, cables or shifters, and as a result, will weigh less than a bike with gears. A lighter bike may seem useless if you will end up spinning out anyway but it will accelerate faster out of corners.

And perhaps the biggest benefit, it's just simple. With no gears to index or cable tension to adjust, all you have to worry about is pedalling and braking. If you want to speed up, pedal faster. And with such simplicity, it's cheaper too. Fewer parts are needed at first to set up the bike, and once riding, it's extremely reliable. Riding a single-speed, especially in winter, means that you do not have any gears to clean, no derailleurs to break and there are far fewer expensive parts getting ground away by grit.

In this scenario you, of course, become the weakest link. Get out there on a long, muddy ride and nothing on the bike will break. Because you will instead. Again, though, I accept the thinking. Beautiful maths. Of course, lots of people ride singlespeed mountain bikes. Lots of people enjoy them. Well, not lots. But so what? The bikes are still terrible.