Single speed bicycle?

whatevs...

 

The nuvinci is nicer IMO. It's heavier and not quite as efficient, but it's a true CVT and will literally last forever. Plus it's about half the cost.

 

My San Francisco fireman friend says they pickup single speed cyclists all shift long. They can't stop (until they do).

 

Lol brutal!

 

I get scared/nervous when people ride them on group rides and we're in a pace line at 25mph.

 

Honda had a pretty cool take on shifting in the early 2000s. Still a chain in the box, but it was actuated very differently.

 

Forgot about that one. Nuvinci with an enclosed belt drive and fenders = ultimate commuter machine.

 

I would never ride in a peloton with one of those morons.

 

This thread sucks. I was perfectly content with my $90 used beach cruiser that I ride to run errands or just cruise. Now I'm dreaming about building something cool...

 

well don't look at cross bikes or the new gravel bikes then.

The one bike I wish I never sold is a Salsa Chili Con Crosso. Great for about any terrain.



Then there are the "so you want to run around on a bike as much as possible but sometimes you're not feeling lazy" bikes. Meet the Specialized Turbo bikes. Integrate Electric motor when you want it.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/men/bikes/turbo/urban

 

And if I still lived in Charleston I'd be all over this thing:

 

I want

 

Fragile? I put over 50K on my race bicycle without ever changing the derailleurs.

 

We used to do fixies early in the year for training, of course it was all racers riding together.

 

Fixtit4ya

 

The Cannondale is the fixed gear. The Surly I brought and built myself cause I wanted a steel bicycle.

 

Bought my wife an old school single Schwinn on Friday. The fix is in.

 

As far as true single speed (not that stupid fixie shit) you guy are missing another possibility and that is 'Mountain bike bad-ass'. The guys that ride serious mountain bike trails on single speed bikes can be pretty incredible. One of the guys I've ridden with quite a bit the last several years is a retired aerospace engineer who more often than not, shows up on an aluminum hardtail single speed. We do pretty serious rides with lots of difficult single track and substantial elevation. 35 miles and 5,000' isn't at all uncommon and he's on his single speed and showing us youngins' how it's done. Last summer we did a 42 miler with nearly 9,000' with some very, very strong riders. He did it on a fuggin single speed. Unreal. Today's ride he did on his full suspension bike, 20 miles and 3000' of climb. 100% single track. He positively kicked my ass on all the flowy stuff and when I commented on how impressive it was he commented that the single speed teaches you good lines and momentum. There were also plenty of sections where I'm shifting to use gearing to help with the climb and he just stands up and mashes up hills due to all his single speed experience and the resulting strength he's built up. It's damn impressive to watch...

Moral of the story? Yeah, plenty of dorks ride single speeds because they think they're different and cool but some ride single speed for the simplicity and pure bicycle experience and do it ridiculously well and end up incredible riders as a result.

 

Yup, what Quig said. I rode 20" Bmx into my 20's. Didn't ride a mt bike till I was older. Just used to standing up and cranking. I never shifted my first mt bike when it did have gears anyway so converted it to single speed. Put the cassette back on and my dad has that bike now (27.5 Jamis Dragon). Just picked up a couple of 27.5 bikes that have gears, they're in the gear I like and I haven't shifted them since. Of course, I'm in Florida so that helps!

 

have you guys seen the "newest" fat tire bmx bikes? There is a gaggle of older gents around here that do weekly rides.
26" fat tires on enlarged bmx frames. Way better than any 24" bmx... Cool stuff!
http://www.sebikes.com/bikes/cat/retro-series/fat-ripper-26