There's Just Something About a Single-speed
There’s something about a single-speed
There’s something about a single-speed. Something about the freedom, the lightness, the ease of pedaling and the simplicity if its design. Mountain biking itself provides a feeling of freedom and flight for the rider, but single-speeds are the “Unladen Swallow” to mountain biking’s powerful Eagle and road biking’s Peregrine Falcon. Single speed riders are passionate about their bikes and love to talk weight, gear ratios and set-up tech. It seems counterintuitive that riding a single-speed would be simpler and often less effort than riding a bike with the full set of gears, but somehow it is. Somehow it makes you feel more in tune with the trail and more aware of the feeling of power transfer from your body to the bike, almost like the comparison between riding a horse bareback and using a saddle. When I ride my single-speed, I often tell other riders that its my lazy bike because to me it’s a break from the craziness of the world around me today and all the decisions I have to make each day as a teacher. At the end of the week, even thinking about getting my shoes on the correct feet feels like a task I don’t want to tackle, so the single-speed solves all of that. I don’t have to think about shifting on a hill going up or down or shifting prior to terrain changes. On a single-speed you need to watch the terrain and plan ahead for the power surge needed to climb that hill, but that forward focus is part of what makes me appreciate a single-speed. As you get to that hill, you build up momentum and speed, and, as you begin to slow, you increase the power by standing up and pedaling using body weight rather than relying solely on leg strength. With a single-speed, there isn’t the safety net of one more gear to shift to, so you make it or not: it’s that simple. On a single-speed, you just have one gear, and that gear is in the spectrum of correctness about 80% of the time. 10% of the time you are over-geared and you struggle to climb a steep hill and 10% of the time you are reaching for the shift lever that’s not there and are under-geared when you are trying to speed downhill and end up spinning out at 15 or 16 miles an hour. 80% of near perfection is a number I can live with!
When I decided that I wanted to try a single-speed after seeing others enjoy theirs, I spent a few weeks riding my geared bike locked into different gears for the whole ride. Sometimes it was easy to climb hills, but also frustratingly easy to spin out on the descent. Sometimes it was an amazing ride on the flats and downhills but impossible to climb. It took a while, but I finally came up with a gear that seemed to be in the Goldilocks zone: not too easy on the flats, but also not too hard on the climbs. The gear I settled on was 8th gear on my 12-speed cassette, riding my Stache. This is where I started my single-speed journey, with my chain ring being 32 and the cog at 19, a ratio of 1.68, meaning that for every full pedal stroke, the rear wheel turns 1.68 times, a reasonably easy gearing to learn with. To give perspective, many mountain bikes have a 32 tooth chainring and a cassette of gears ranging from 10-52 teeth. The lowest gear ratio would be 32/52 or .615 while the highest ratio would end up at 32/10 or 3.2. A single-speed ratio near the center of that range would be at 1.9, a nice start for a single-speed. There are charts online to calculate the gear ratios, but most sites suggest starting out at a ratio close to 2, meaning that the rear wheel will make 2 full revolutions for every one revolution of the chainring. After taking the cassette off, the weight difference in the rear end of the bike was quickly discernable and for whatever reason, identical gear ratios on my geared bike and single-speed immediately felt vastly different. The direct connection between cog and chainring transfers power better than a chain traveling through derailleur jockey wheels and gives a slight power-boost advantage. As I gained experience, we have experimented with different combinations of cog and chainring to end up with the best ratio for the expected purpose. The first long distance race I did on my single-speed was a little frustrating because although I was able to easily climb the uphill portion of the course and passed others on geared bikes regularly, when we got to the downhill portion, I spun out at about 14 miles an hour and got passed by everyone I had just passed on the uphill. Changing the ratio to a slightly higher one made it harder to climb, but allowed me to run downhill at about 16 mph. It’s easy to adjust the ratios to match the trail you are going to ride, or be willing to work a little harder uphill in trade for speed downhill.
One thing that most single-speeders agree on is that the bike should be light, the lighter the better. Pretty much any hardtail mountain bike frame will work for a single-speed set-up, but some consideration has to be made for frame material. I researched my current carbon bike frame and found about a 50/50 dichotomy of opinions. Half said it would work perfectly and half said the carbon would flex too much and cause the chain to slip. I rolled the dice and for my weight and power, the carbon works flawlessly, but for larger and stronger riders it can cause issues. Titanium is strong, light and has less flex, making it more ideal for larger stronger riders and both my husband and son love their titanium single-speeds. Aluminum and steel are heavier, but provide little flex, so work well for a good range of riders. Full suspension bikes do not work for single-speeding because the frame flexes too much to get an efficient power transfer as you pedal, and, as the frame flexes, the chain will not be able to maintain appropriate tension and will slip and pop across the gear teeth. Other than a frame, you will need a rear cog to replace your cassette and derailleur. It is important to keep the chain in a straight line from chainring to cog and there are specialized spacers to make this simple as well as chain tensioners you can add to keep you chain tight as the bike flexes. A dropper is a personal choice, and although it does add weight, it also adds control on technical trails. Because there is no derailleur and cassette, you no longer need shift levers so the cockpit is clean and uncluttered, having only brake levers and possibly a dropper lever.
After getting your bike set up there is a learning curve in understanding how to approach a trail differently on a single-speed. Single-speeders find that they brake less, and learn to keep speed through corners, and momentum over trail features. Loss of momentum is difficult to overcome on a single-speed and is something you learn to avoid. You will need to learn to sprint before a climb and be willing to either climb ahead of slower, geared climbers, or wait a bit to let others get ahead before tackling a climb. If you attempt to climb at the same speed as geared bikers are climbing, you will quickly bog down and be unable to complete the climb at the slower pace of someone using 1st or 2nd gear. Another thing you will learn is perfecting ratchet pedaling. This involves pedaling back to repeatedly place the pedal in the power position of about 45o to be able to get over more difficult features. I have a bad right knee and often use power ratcheting on my left side when there is a technical feature to get over in order relieve pressure to the right knee. Surprisingly, riding a single-speed can be much easier on your knees than a geared bike because you are using full leg power, body weight and arm/core strength to turn the pedals rather than leg power alone pressing on your knee joints. The first time you go out on a single-speed, you will realize the full body work-out it provides! You’ll have sore shoulders, upper arms and upper back from pulling up and back to support your body weight as it pushes the pedals one at a time, and pain in your thighs from using a slightly different set of pedaling muscles.
I originally thought I was building a single-speed to do slow rides with the dogs close to home, but very quickly found out that it is my favorite bike to ride on green and blue trails such as Buena Vista and McDowell. When I first started riding my new single-speed I wondered if I had the stamina to ride in one gear very far, but after riding it over 100 miles in an endurance race, I realized that it was just as easy, if not easier, to ride than a geared bike! Who would have thought? Talk to local single-speeders or your local bike shop to find out more about adding an amazing single-speed to your bike stable. Any single-speeder will be more than happy to talk indefinitely about their favorite ride.
Focus and relaxation for your brain, freedom from decision-making and a full body workout; what more could you ask for on a Saturday morning? There’s just something special about a single-speed!
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