# Crikey ...... these single speeds are pretty swift!!



## Juliansou (23 Feb 2021)

Just got back into commuting (bit of a fair weather commuter I’m afraid!). I’ve been using the new single speed for just over a week now, prior to that it was a ‘relaxed road/gravel bike’ - decent steed (9.5kg/Tiagra). Being a bit of a data geek I record my averages using my fitbit & GPS on the bike. My average on the gravel bike is anything between 14.5 - 15mph, basically been that for the last couple of years. It’s a fairly flat run, bit of start/stop & 16 mile round trip. My SS is showing an average of 16mph - same equipment so no issues there. I know the increase in average isn’t massive, but I was expecting the SS to be slower to be honest. I’ve plotted over a week so it’s not just a one off - average today was 17mph!! 
so.... is this normal? I really would have thought a SS would have been marginally slower than a geared bike?


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## DCLane (23 Feb 2021)

Is it fixed? Although the only fixie I usually ride is my track bike I've found once I'm going keeping the speed up is OK.

It's the _getting going_ that I find harder.


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## Juliansou (23 Feb 2021)

DCLane said:


> Is it fixed? Although the only fixie I usually ride is my track bike I've found once I'm going keeping the speed up is OK.
> 
> It's the _getting going_ that I find harder.


It’s a SS at the moment. Know what you mean about the start off - I’m out the saddle until I get a bit of momentum going!


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## ColinJ (23 Feb 2021)

Juliansou said:


> so.... is this normal? I really would have thought a SS would have been marginally slower than a geared bike?


I would say it is understandable on a flat to undulating route. I chose the gear on mine to be ideal for 24-35 kph (15 - 22 mph) and I spend most of the time in that range away from significant hills. On hilly rides on my multi-geared bike I am lucky to average 20 kph (12.5 mph).

On the SS I would usually spin it up to a cadence that I like. On the other bike I might use a lower gear at that cadence and hence be riding more slowly.


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## Tenacious Sloth (23 Feb 2021)

Do you live to the north of where you work?

Southerly wind has been lighter in the mornings and blowing 20mph+ on your way home this week.


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## Juliansou (23 Feb 2021)

ColinJ said:


> I would say it is understandable on a flat to undulating route. I chose the gear on mine to be ideal for 24-35 kph (15 - 22 mph) and I spend most of the time in that range away from significant hills. On hilly rides on my multi-geared bike I am lucky to average 20 kph (12.5 mph).
> 
> On the SS I would usually spin it up to a cadence that I like. On the other bike I might use a lower gear at that cadence and hence be riding more slowly.


Interesting - do you mind me asking what gear your running? I’m running 44/16


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## Juliansou (23 Feb 2021)

Tenacious Sloth said:


> Do you live to the north of where you work?
> 
> Southerly wind has been lighter in the mornings and blowing 20mph+ on your way home this week.


I’m SE of where I work & yes, it’s been a bit breezy this week😳


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## ColinJ (23 Feb 2021)

Juliansou said:


> Interesting - do you mind me asking what gear your running? I’m running 44/16


Almost the exact equivalent - 52/19!


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## Dayvo (23 Feb 2021)

Is the tyre width the same?
My ss is a 700 x 25 contra two of my other bikes (cyclo cross and a hybrid) which are 700 x 35.


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## Tenacious Sloth (23 Feb 2021)

Juliansou said:


> I’m SE of where I work & yes, it’s been a bit breezy this week😳



Even more impressive then. Nice one.


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## Sharky (23 Feb 2021)

Yep, with gears, everytime you change down, you slow down. To improve avg speeds, you have to focus on the slower parts of the route. With SS or fixed, you have no other option. You just try harder on the tough bits.


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## Juliansou (23 Feb 2021)

Dayvo said:


> Is the tyre width the same?
> My ss is a 700 x 25 contra two of my other bikes (cyclo cross and a hybrid) which are 700 x 35.


I’ve experimented with the ‘gravel bike’ & now run 35s on there - basically the biggest I can get in the frame. 28s on the SS - significant do you think?


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## DCLane (23 Feb 2021)

The fixie we have is a 1975 Carlton Corsa that's on 48x16, so a bit more than you're running.

However we usually run 51x15 on my track bike and my son runs 51/52x14, which is quite a lot more but for velodromes only.

Note that the intention is to do a few Medium Gear TT's this year, should they run, which will have us at 48x19 / 46x16.


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## Dayvo (23 Feb 2021)

Juliansou said:


> I’ve experimented with the ‘gravel bike’ & now run 35s on there - basically the biggest I can get in the frame. 28s on the SS - significant do you think?


I think so.
The narrower the tyre = equals less contact with the road. But it also depends on the psi of the tyres.
It seems more complicated than I thought: comfort and aerodynamics also come into the equation. 😳


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## johnnyb47 (23 Feb 2021)

Just last year i caught up with guy on an immaculate 1960s old school Road bike. The frame was pencil thin and it was of a single speed. It was shod with beautiful campagnolo running gear and looked amazing. My bike is a modern road bike with all the bells and whistles and even though we were the wrong side of 50 years old (we can still have the crack and think we're Brady wiggins lol) we started to press on a bit showing our physical abilities. After 10 miles of putting down the (to me) power,i was well surprised to see this guy was not to far behind, considering the rolling hills we had encountered. We had a good chat at the end of our jokingly so called race and was impressed to how light his magnificent bike was compared to mine. 
Sometimes simplicity has a great advantage over complicated modern bikes, plus he was probably much more fitter than me😀. 
That's one thing that makes cycling so great. What ever you ride, whether it's old or new it brings us all together in the world of cycling


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## Eric Olthwaite (23 Feb 2021)

Not identical to SS I know, but I've ridden fixed quite a bit, and it was very instructive to try that on a small number of club rides. In my experience:

On flattish terrain, there's no real difference, assuming sensible gearing.

Uphill, you're a bit slower, but not by all that much. When it gets really steep, the time lost isn't huge because the pace is so slow, even for those on gears.

The big difference comes on big sweeping downhills. On fixed, I would spin out at say 25mph, and if the rest are going at 32mph+, that is a huge difference. The gaps created were far far bigger than on the uphills (and ultimately put an end to my attempts to join club rides on fixed). Sure on SS your max speed is a bit higher, but still well down.

So for me at least, fixed/SS is slower overall, but mainly because of the downhills.


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## 12boy (23 Feb 2021)

In whatever gear inch setup you prefer, there is a spot where those gear inches are just right for whatever cadence you like. Bike weight, tires size etc being equal a SS wil be more efficient than a bike which has a chain passing over rollers. I think that a fixed bike would be a little better, even, since you are helped in your pedalling flat spots, due to the momentum in the rear wheel. 
I like not worrying about shifting or what gear should I use.....slower pedalling up, faster down.


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## ColinJ (23 Feb 2021)

Eric Olthwaite said:


> The big difference comes on big sweeping downhills. On fixed, I would spin out at say 25mph, and if the rest are going at 32mph+, that is a huge difference. The gaps created were far far bigger than on the uphills (and ultimately put an end to my attempts to join club rides on fixed). Sure on SS your max speed is a bit higher, but still well down.


'Sweeping' downhills, maybe but not steep/steepish downhills... I have done 90 kph down one of my local descents and that was freewheeling. I don't have super-high gears on any of my bikes but even if I had a 53/11 top gear I would spin out at about 70-75 kph so SS would be the same speed.


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## biggs682 (24 Feb 2021)

It's all about getting the gearing right and having legs that don't mind flying around


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## Juliansou (24 Feb 2021)

biggs682 said:


> It's all about getting the gearing right and having legs that don't mind flying around


Yep - I think I’ve just got lucky first time round with gearing that’s a good match for me & my ride in!


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## CXRAndy (25 Feb 2021)

With gear inches of around 68-70" a cadence of 90rpm on 25mm tyres should see 19mph and at 100rpm 21-22mph. On a flat road no headwind, that is easily attained. Just depends on rider fitness to sustain it for a period.

No different to a derailleur clod bike. 

Engine on-top is the biggest determining factor

I've managed 19mph on 40mm tyres on a club run of 60-70miles on fenland routes- in the past I may add


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## Phaeton (25 Feb 2021)

It's all about the engine, the gears are secondary


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## Sharky (25 Feb 2021)

Phaeton said:


> It's all about the engine, the gears are secondary


Referring back to the first post the OP made, he was comparing a geared bike with a SS bike. The engine is the same.
May have said already, but riding a SS or fixed, just makes you try a lot harder on the hard bits and this brings up the average speed.

A few years ago, I rode our evening 10 series, sometimes on a geared bike and sometimes on fixed. Both very similar builds. By the end of the season, the fastest time achieved by the two bikes was only 20 secs apart. So now I have discarded the geared TT bike and just ride my fixed bike for TT's.


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## Phaeton (25 Feb 2021)

Sharky said:


> The engine is the same.
> May have said already, but riding a SS or fixed, just makes you try a lot harder on the hard bits and this brings up the average speed..


So you are actually agreeing with me, even if you don't want/think you are


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## MrGrumpy (1 Mar 2021)

Rode a fixed gear commuter for years. Loved to to be honest. I reckon those years were my fittest. It certainly helps with pedalling technique IMO. Spin to win was the motto of a guy in our locality who won loads of races on a fixed gear grass track bike and SS CX !


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## Sharky (23 Mar 2021)

Took my SS (approx 67") bike out for a spin this morning, for the first time this year. Beat my previous time on my winter geared bike by about 3 minutes for my regular 12+ mile loop. Was a bit of a grind on the hills, but once on the flat, the lack of a rear mech slowing the chain down, it felt really zippy, much more than the geared bike.


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## woodbutchmaster (10 Apr 2021)

I realise that l may well be on a hiding to nothing but l am searching for a Look kg233p track bike frame in size 52cm c/c .
If anyone knows of one or has one to sell l would be very grateful if you would let me know. By the way l am well aware that they don't sell for peanuts !


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## woodbutchmaster (10 Apr 2021)

l guess this shows that l am in for the long haul. There is one for sale here in France on Le Bon Coin .... only one in the whole of France and anyway it is too big for me


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## rogerzilla (13 Apr 2021)

You guys run big gears on SS. I use 42 x 18 (60"), which is 18mph at 100rpm. On fixed, I use 47 x 18 (69") because I need headroom for the downhills.


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## T4tomo (13 Apr 2021)

I used to commute thru London on a SS, I really liked the simplicity and efficiency of it. I never rode it fixed, bar a quick trial around the block at home, as I didn't commute in SPD shoes, and getting feet into pedal straps (I used those wide diagonal mounted ones) was too tricky for an old novice to be learning thru London traffic, hitting moving target seems damn tough unless using spds. No longer working in the smoke, so I think I'll be selling it. Its too hilly (edges of the Chilterns) for it to get any real use around home.


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## Ming the Merciless (13 Apr 2021)

Back before it was called single speed my bike in school days was a single cog setup. Sure I’d walk some of the steeper hills round Buxton but generally it was just fine. Why on earth anyone would think they’d be slower in day to day rolling terrain I don’t know.

What you mostly find is that geared bikes are slower uphill.


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## 12boy (13 Apr 2021)

I rode my steamroller about 20 miles yesterday (48x18) and enjoyed it a lot. It never got above freezing and there was some sun to go with a few snowflakes but the road was dry and there was no wind to speak of. I am riding on 36mm mm gravel tires about 60 psi so the ride was plush and soaked up broken pavement nicely. It is so pleasant to do nothing but hop on and pedal, and of course, use the brakes when needed.


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