# Who needs gears?



## Sharky (17 Aug 2018)

I have a series of training loops, ranging from10 to 25 miles and some of these quite lumpy. For the first half of the year, have been using my geared bike with typical wide range of gears. On these loops, I achieve around 13mph avg and occasionally just pip the 14.

Well for the last few weeks, have been using my SS with a 68" freewheel and today my ride was 14.7 avg and was my top ride this year on these lumpy loops.

It seems to defy logic that a low SS can be faster than a geared bike.

But it really hurt. Out of the saddle on the climbs and freewheeling the descents.

Just proves to myself again that it doesn't matter how fast you go on the fast sections, it's how fast you go on the slower sections


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## SkipdiverJohn (17 Aug 2018)

You've had to work harder because of non-optimal gearing. I also bet your SS bike is a couple of pounds lighter than your multi-geared, and if it doesn't have any derailleur mechs then it will suffer marginally less frictional losses in the power transmission.


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## Sharky (17 Aug 2018)

SkipdiverJohn said:


> You've had to work harder because of non-optimal gearing. I also bet your SS bike is a couple of pounds lighter than your multi-geared, and if it doesn't have any derailleur mechs then it will suffer marginally less frictional losses in the power transmission.


Yep all true.


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## rogerzilla (29 Aug 2018)

Fixed could well be faster. A fixie climbs like a rat up a drainpipe and you don't lose that much time on descents. I did the Dunwich Dynamo on fixed twice and those were the easiest and fastest runs of the lot.


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## Drago (29 Aug 2018)

I need gears, but when I feel like a singlespeed I simply don't change gear.


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## Sharky (30 Aug 2018)

rogerzilla said:


> Fixed could well be faster. A fixie climbs like a rat up a drainpipe and you don't lose that much time on descents. I did the Dunwich Dynamo on fixed twice and those were the easiest and fastest runs of the lot.


I used to think fixed was quicker than an SS and my fastest commute to work was done on a fixed. However, I did the Castle ride (100) a few years back and towards the end of the ride with no freewheeling it put a strain on my neck and shoulders, so I switched to a 68 SS and found that it was just as quick and with a little more comfort on the descents.

I still race though on a fixed, but with a much higher gear. Over several years of trying both gears and fixed, I have concluded that on a good day, it makes little difference and if little wind, the fixed is probably quicker. On a bad day when it is windy I am slower of course, but so is everybody else and I think the effort you need to get up the hills on a big fixed is good training and will make you stronger.


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## biggs682 (31 Aug 2018)

I often find that any of my single speed rides are just as quick as geared ones plus they give you a better work out


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## Drago (31 Aug 2018)

I find my SS is slower in most situations. But....the mechanical simplicity, relative lack of wear and reduced maintenance needs are very appealing.


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## Drago (31 Aug 2018)

Im not converted by the mystical niceness. In my mind it's a crock, although I appreciate that others may legitimately love it. It's the maintenance benefits in the gloop that make it my go to MTB when I'm hitting the horse churned bridleway. In that regard it is beneficial.


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## gaijintendo (31 Aug 2018)

I need at least one gear.


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## Ian H (2 Oct 2018)

gaijintendo said:


> I need at least one gear.


You always have at least two. One of those is always 24".


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## gavroche (3 Oct 2018)

If you lived in Wales, you definitely need gears.


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## Basil.B (6 Oct 2018)

On my regular 25 mile loop, I'm often faster on my singlespeed than when I'm riding my Giant TCR.


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## BeardyAndyM (11 Oct 2018)

I think the downhill recovery is greater, the amount of times a buddy will blow past me pedalling furiously on a descent only to blow up half way up the next climb. On a SS your resigned to let gravity take control!


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## Ian H (11 Oct 2018)

gavroche said:


> If you lived in Wales, you definitely need gears.



I have ridden a couple of 400s in Wales on fixed... and I live in Devon.


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## Threevok (11 Oct 2018)

Well I live in Wales and have done more miles on the SS this year than my 3x10


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## SkipdiverJohn (12 Oct 2018)

I think there's a trade-off between having optimal gear ratios and the proportion of the time you ride actually under power. By this I mean if you have (and use) a lot of derailleur gears, you are inevitably sacrificing some forward motion during gearchanges. If you have a SS, you are not losing time under power during gearchanges, even though your single gear ratio isn't optimal for some of your ride. I've noticed recently with timing some of my journeys, that a 3-speed hub-gear roadster can be more swift on some routes than my 21 speed MTB. Tyre drag plays a part, but I reckon what allows a 3-speed to make decent time - despite not having that much ratio choice and being quite a heavy bike, is the fact that very little under-power time is lost during gear changing.


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## CXRAndy (10 Nov 2018)

SkipdiverJohn said:


> you are inevitably sacrificing some forward motion during gearchanges



Momentum is the word, you never change gear at the point of stall. You should of changed gear before speed begins to drop and just increase rpm or if accelerating change gear at the higher cadence so that the torque hit is minimal. That is why geared bikes are faster, it keeps the rider in their optimum cadence and power zone. Sure you can setup a SS for a particular terrain and will be as fast as a geared bike, but soon as the terrain alters from the SS optimal conditions a geared bike is faster.

SS have their place, that is to help riders learn to spin.


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## SkipdiverJohn (16 Nov 2018)

CXRAndy said:


> Momentum is the word, you never change gear at the point of stall. You should of changed gear before speed begins to drop and just increase rpm or if accelerating change gear at the higher cadence so that the torque hit is minimal..



I agree gearchanges should be made in good time, but it doesn't alter the fact that derailleurs give you a slower gearchange than an internal hub gear, especially if you have to do a double-change involving both front and rear chainrings. Also, if you ride in urban traffic, sometimes you are forced to stop unexpectedly and find yourself in too high a gear to set off again briskly. With a hub gear, you can click it into Low whilst stationary and make a quicker getaway. All these couple of lost seconds here and there add up to a reduced average speed. I've done the same round trip 20 mile journey now on a 21 speed knobbly-tyred rigid MTB, an 18 speed hybrid, and a 3-speed light roadster and compared the overall speeds. The MTB averages 10.5 MPH, the Hybrid manages 11.7 MPH, the Roadster just touches 12 MPH. You'd expect it to be slower with the limited ratio choice available, but the figures show the opposite and it's also by far the most user-friendly bike in traffic.


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## MikeG (16 Nov 2018)

Anyone know when the last Grand Tour or Classic was won by a fixie or a SS?

The claim in the OP is just wishful thinking and confirmation bias. If there was any truth in it, the pros would be riding them.


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## Ian H (16 Nov 2018)

SS have their place, that is to help riders learn to spin.[/QUOTE]



SkipdiverJohn said:


> I... I've done the same round trip 20 mile journey now on a 21 speed knobbly-tyred rigid MTB, an 18 speed hybrid, and a 3-speed light roadster and compared the overall speeds. The MTB averages 10.5 MPH, the Hybrid manages 11.7 MPH, the Roadster just touches 12 MPH. You'd expect it to be slower with the limited ratio choice available, but the figures show the opposite and it's also by far the most user-friendly bike in traffic.



I wouldn't expect it to be slower. Heavier tyres are the biggest factor by far in my experience from time-trialling and and distance riding.


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## Sharky (16 Nov 2018)

MikeG said:


> Anyone know when the last Grand Tour or Classic was won by a fixie or a SS?
> 
> The claim in the OP is just wishful thinking and confirmation bias. If there was any truth in it, the pros would be riding them.


Would never expect a fixed or SS to be used for road racing when acceleration is required or gradients vary so much, but for solo riding and certain riding conditions, fixed/SS is by no means at a disadvantage.

In the days of Boardman & Obree, I think competition records for 10, 25 & 50 were all done on fixed.

In my case, when I was commuting, I did my fastest ride to work on a fixed and many of my training loops have been faster on SS.


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## MikeG (16 Nov 2018)

Sharky said:


> ....... for solo riding and certain riding conditions, fixed/SS is by no means at a disadvantage...........



You can say it as often as you like, but I'm not having it. It's wishful thinking. Unless, of course, your "certain conditions" means inside a velodrome.


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## Ming the Merciless (16 Nov 2018)

Even fixed has a gear, it just happens to be a single one. If you want to get rid of gears get a Penny Farthing.


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## SkipdiverJohn (16 Nov 2018)

Ian H said:


> I wouldn't expect it to be slower. Heavier tyres are the biggest factor by far in my experience from time-trialling and and distance riding.



In the case of the MTB, yes the tyres will slow it down - you can hear them hum when you get a move on, so there's energy loss there. The hybrid however is essentially a flat-bar touring bike with a triple chainring. It's on similar sized road pattern tyres (700 x 35c vs 26" x 1 3/8" on the 3-speed) The hybrid is also lighter, being Reynolds 531 with alloy wheels and alloy other bits - whereas the 3 speed is gas pipe with everything made of steel. Any paper spec comparison says the hybrid_ should_ be quicker than the 3-speed - but so long as the route isn't full of hills, the 3 speed is actually the quicker bike, albeit only by a small margin.


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## skudupnorth (22 Nov 2018)

I will happily do 200k Audax on my fixie and I have just converted my MTB commuter to SS just to cut down of the maintenance and wear issues. On the Audax rides if I have to walk up a lump then so be it but 99% of the time I am keeping up with everyone and not feeling any worse for not being able to stop peddling


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## SkipdiverJohn (23 Nov 2018)

skudupnorth said:


> I will happily do 200k Audax on my fixie and I have just converted my MTB commuter to SS just to cut down of the maintenance and wear issues.



Do you find being limited to only one gear ratio to be more fatiguing than having a wide choice of gears and riding to a near-constant cadence? On my 3 speed I must spend over 90% of the time in the middle ratio which is, IIRC, around 66 gear inches. The Low gear is useful for gradients & headwinds, and the High gear for gentle descents and tailwinds, but I'm not convinced that for lightly-laden riding you actually need a large number of ratios. I have up to 21 gears on various bikes and I still find I only tend to use no more than 3 or 4 of them for the vast majority of my mileage.


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## skudupnorth (23 Nov 2018)

Far


SkipdiverJohn said:


> Do you find being limited to only one gear ratio to be more fatiguing than having a wide choice of gears and riding to a near-constant cadence? On my 3 speed I must spend over 90% of the time in the middle ratio which is, IIRC, around 66 gear inches. The Low gear is useful for gradients & headwinds, and the High gear for gentle descents and tailwinds, but I'm not convinced that for lightly-laden riding you actually need a large number of ratios. I have up to 21 gears on various bikes and I still find I only tend to use no more than 3 or 4 of them for the vast majority of my mileage.


Far from it, I actually find it easier even with gradients up and down. I have been riding fixed for over seven years now either commuting or as an Audax. Of course there are some rides such as Colin’s rides into the Yorkshire hills where fixed would be near on impossible so the Tourer comes out. That’s not saying the big hills are not out of bounds for fixed, I might challenge myself one day and take it up there. But for the majority of my rides, fixed really suits me and I like that simplicity of no gears and a handlebar full of cables and levers


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## fossala (23 Nov 2018)

skudupnorth said:


> ...I like that simplicity of no gears and a handlebar full of cables and levers


What is your brake setup?


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## Sharky (23 Nov 2018)

fossala said:


> What is your brake setup?


My Giant Bowery has a normal brake set up (front & rear) and as I mix fixed & SS on this bike I need both.
On the fixed bike I use for TT's, I just have a front brake with the lever on the right.


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## skudupnorth (23 Nov 2018)

fossala said:


> What is your brake setup?


The Boardman is fitted with Tektron rim brakes but I changed the drops to bullhorns with Sram bar end levers plus added a Brooks B17 narrow saddle


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## skudupnorth (23 Nov 2018)

Here’s my Boardman on holiday in Cornwall


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## Ian H (23 Nov 2018)

My fixed mirrors my touring/audax set-up on the 'other' bike. Mainly because they're used for much the same things. So drops and two brakes.


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## fossala (23 Nov 2018)

skudupnorth said:


> Here’s my Boardman on holiday in Cornwall
> View attachment 440102


Nice, I live in Cornwall. Building up a Bob Jackson Vigorelli with mudguards at the moment. I've picked up some NOS Dura ace 7403 levers and I'm pairing them with some NOS DA 7800 brake calipers. I'll post the bike once built up, just waiting on the frame from BJ.


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## skudupnorth (23 Nov 2018)

fossala said:


> Nice, I live in Cornwall. Building up a Bob Jackson Vigorelli with mudguards at the moment. I've picked up some NOS Dura ace 7403 levers and I'm pairing them with some NOS DA 7800 brake calipers. I'll post the bike once built up, just waiting on the frame from BJ.


Lovely part of the world which we always visit every year. Got a few funny looks from local cyclists due to the lack of gears on my bike


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## colly (24 Nov 2018)

skudupnorth said:


> Here’s my Boardman on holiday in Cornwall
> View attachment 440102


I think that may be the same frame I have used:


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## skudupnorth (24 Nov 2018)

colly said:


> I think that may be the same frame I have used:
> 
> View attachment 440198


Love that colour


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## Singlespeeder (30 Nov 2018)




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## rogerzilla (9 Jan 2019)

I find a singlespeed to be slower than a geared bike, but my singlespeed is geared at 60" for a nice cadence on the flat. Obviously this means coasting a lot on downhills and having excess power that can't be used with a tailwind.

I am faster on a fixie than on a geared bike. I found it saved about 30 seconds in a flattish "10", once I'd settled on the right gear, and the fastest I've ridden the Dunwich Dynamo (112.7 miles) was on my commuting fixie with 26 x 1.35 Marathon Plus tyres. It probably saved half an hour.

For general use I ride a 67-70" fixed gear, although I went up to 90" for time trialling because there was a slight downhill at the start of the course and I couldn't get enough power down on a lower gear. You generally want a higher gear on fixed because you have to be able to make it down hills; on a singlespeed you can just let it roll.


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## 12boy (10 Jan 2019)

I am currently riding a surly steamroller with 48 x 16. Today with 20 mph headwinds it was hard work and slow, especially on hills. Doubt any of my geared bikes would have been much better. I also have been riding an old centurion with 42 x 18 and studded snows since there was ice and snow. It would have made todays ride both easier and slower if I had ridden that with regular tires.


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## mustang1 (10 Jan 2019)

Someone told me that I was cheating because I was on my e-bike so I switched.
The next day someone told me I was cheating because I was on a geared bike so I switched. 
The next day someone told me I was cheating because I was on a free wheel ss so I switched .The next day someone told me I was cheating because I was on a fixed gear so I switched.
The next day someone told me I was cheating because I was a unicycle so I switched. 
The next day someone told me I was cheating so I switched to walking.
The next day someone told me I was cheating so I punched him in the face.


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## rogerzilla (11 Jan 2019)

You were probably wearing shoes, you cheating lightweight!


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## randynewmanscat (11 Jan 2019)

I used a Claude Butler with a 52x14 in the Lakes, no brakes. I was god as I vanquished my friends on hill and flat until we came to descend a not normally fearsome hill into Grasmere from Langdale. Its only about 400 foot descent to the the lake over a mile or more but I will never forget it. Normally if you are on a fixed and are trying to discipline yourself to avoid brakes (or don't have any*) you hop the back end if it gets too fast so that you can lock your legs completely to cause some friction on the road when the slope is too great for your leg strength. Several times and the speed is under control, expensive on tyres but emergency use and experimentation only. This cannot be done successfully without toe clips and tightened straps, I never tried it with clipless pedals.
I tried that and failed, the road got steeper and soon my legs spun faster than ever before or since. I had an SLR camera strapped over my shoulder and it was punching me in about the right kidney. As I hurtled down the hill a small snake of cars came up from Grasmere and it took a brave effort on my part to navigate round them on left and right sides. I nearly kissed the ground when I managed to stop at the lake level uninjured.
* This was the early 80's before the sensible times.
Needless to say my friends did not stop laughing for the rest of the ride.
I have enough parts for a fixed gear bike and will build one up, I love them and they make for good pedalling discipline and leg strength if you strive to keep cadence. I'll put a brake on as I am fearful that a lifetime of good luck may be running out. Disraeli is best but fixed is funniest.
The red text is to highlight the era context/safety disclaimer but seems to have stuck.


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## silva (12 Jan 2019)

I see gears as wear, wear as misery,work and cost.
I had a single reason to move to singlespeed: my other bicycle still being in repair while my current also already requiring repair.
The replacements/repairs halved with singlespeed.
And halved another time with singlespeed 1/8" drivetrain.
And now, with my Gusset "Tank" chain, with 3/16" chain sideplates, well, the drivetrain didn't need any replacement in 15 months, at 50-60 km daily and in summer more, at least 25000 km.
I doubt alot people can say they rode 25000 km with a single chain.
Just to emphasize the major impact greater mechanical contact surfaces have.
And the cost? Well for me it doesn't matter much if a chain weights 250 or 500 grammes.
My bicycle alone, with all the things I always have with me (including a spare chain) weights dozens times that.
And I once rode 55 kg luggage 25 km further. 
Nowadays I sometimes wonder why most people ride with a dozen gears.
The only reason that I can imagine is that they just don't know better, and the bicycle producing and selling business doesn't want them to know too. 
To illustrate, I started my latest/current fixed gear with a 3/32" Surly stainless steel chainring - it became scrap (sharkfin teeth) after 1 month usage in aboves fashion. I replaced it with a 1/8" from aluminium grade 7075T6, and now, 16 months later it still eats the miles. It just shows.

This is how such a 1/8" with 3/16" sideplates chain looks like:




It looks GRRRRR! but that's not the best part, it works GRRRRR! too.


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## randynewmanscat (12 Jan 2019)

silva said:


> I see gears as wear, wear as misery,work and cost.
> I had a single reason to move to singlespeed: my other bicycle still being in repair while my current also already requiring repair.
> The replacements/repairs halved with singlespeed.
> And halved another time with singlespeed 1/8" drivetrain.
> ...


I have the means to create a sealed enclosure for a single speed drive and maybe, maybe not I will make one. I thought of making one years ago but have not used a one cog set up in many years. Finding a suitable crank arm candidate to allow machining to fit a lipped seal on the pedalling side is not easy which could require machining a crank from scratch rather than modifying. A friend owned an MZ500, it had a Rotax engine and a feature that MZ almost always used, a plastic sprocket casing front and back connected by moulded rubber chain tubes with short bellows ends, completely sealed. It did not look as sexy as my road registered motocross bike but he did not have to spend hundreds on chains every year. Plus, you cannot reliably adjust a stretched chain long before the link length limit is reached, OK with dérailleurs but rubbish on single speed.
A cycle chain would last a mighty long time if it saw no grit and bathed in a little 90 SAE gear oil.
Reading this thread has piqued my interest and I will likely build a fixed before this summer arrives, whether I get around to a sealed chain case is another matter as I am still quite vain.


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## silva (12 Jan 2019)

Yes that has been the everlasting problem, I've been told that chain cases did not exist for the large chainrings I chose, and frame clearance not enough either.
And it's hard to make from scratch, one solution could be modifying an existing, if any avail.
As a better-than-nothing I hung a large epdm flap at the back of my front fender, and mounted near the bottom bracket a cover between the rear wheel/tire and the chain, because I noticed alot sand was deposited there.
All to protect the chain as much as possible.
It already proved itself as a serious improvement, alot less sand/mud on the chain.
Only trouble is in the case of wind that blows up sand clouds in the summer or road salt in the winter. Especially salt is a chain destroyer. Corrosion in a matter of hours, I had once a KMC Z1X stainless steel chain, but the pins of the links weren't stainless, and after wind blew up road salt, pin ends corroded so severely that the chain just felt off the sprocket while not pushing just slowly hobbling over bricks.


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## Gearless (15 Jan 2019)




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## rogerzilla (15 Jan 2019)

A bike with a freewheel feels rather dead if you've been riding fixed for a while, especially up hills. The dirty little secret of fixed is that it does the whole "pedalling in circles" thing for you and you can just mash straight up and down like the pistons of an engine. Then you get back on a geared bike and the pawls in the freehub keep banging as they lose contact with the ratchet, because you have completely forgotten how to pedal.


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## randynewmanscat (15 Jan 2019)

silva said:


> Especially salt is a chain destroyer


Yes it is indeed, it seems to make a nice grinding paste as well. I am not too serious about making a completely sealed case, perhaps one day. The German product on offer, I can't remember the name is not really sealed, more like enclosed. I vouch it does some good but I can also see it being a reservoir for the grit that does get in so it still needs inspection maintenance and cleaning. 
I am pretty sure I can modify an old Campag hub to give a lipped seal bearing on both sides. It is the drive crank that is the nightmare due to the crank arm of course. The only off the shelf candidate for modification I have found is by TA with a separate spider and crank. Without having one to inspect i could not say if it could be modified.
There is but one other solution and that is to use an industrial toothed belt. The ones I have seen applied to bikes with Rohloff hubs are not what I would use, they are mainly large pitch, large toothed and unnecessary. The friction from those type of belts is poor efficiency compared to a chain due to the too large contact area of the driving parts, they need to be finer pitched.
I'll stick with a chain and if I ever bother making a sealed enclosure you will see it on here.


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## Ian H (15 Jan 2019)

rogerzilla said:


> A bike with a freewheel feels rather dead if you've been riding fixed for a while, especially up hills. The dirty little secret of fixed is that it does the whole "pedalling in circles" thing for you and you can just mash straight up and down like the pistons of an engine. Then you get back on a geared bike and the pawls in the freehub keep banging as they lose contact with the ratchet, because you have completely forgotten how to pedal.



Pushing big gears exacerbates that. Spinning high cadences, even if only downhill, encourages a smoother technique.


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## iandg (15 Jan 2019)

A list of bikes I've owned/ridden since 2011 from MyCyclingLog (currently I only have the Henry Burton, Raleigh Professional, Cross-Check and Genesis Equilibrium). Columns are per bike - total time, total distance (km) average speed (kph) and number of rides. Fastest average speed is on fixed but average ride distance is less.


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## mustang1 (24 Jan 2019)

rogerzilla said:


> Fixed could well be faster. A fixie climbs like a rat up a drainpipe and you don't lose that much time on descents. I did the Dunwich Dynamo on fixed twice and those were the easiest and fastest runs of the lot.



Ive never ridden fixed but I heard that fixed could be faster because it doesn't lose momentum on that part of the pedal stroke when not much power is being applied. Is that right?


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## Sharky (24 Jan 2019)

mustang1 said:


> Ive never ridden fixed but I heard that fixed could be faster because it doesn't lose momentum on that part of the pedal stroke when not much power is being applied. Is that right?


I think that is a bit of a myth. You certainly cant stop pedalling, but I think there are other factors.

The bike is lighter and with no gears, less friction. Riding style changes, so that your effective cadence range increases. By this, I mean you learn to take hills and go into winds using a much higher gear than you would with a geared bike and simarly you csn take tailwinds and descents using a lower gear.

As long as you can keep within a comfortable cadence range, a fixed is quicker, but if the hills are too steep, then the fixed slows you down.

You just need to try it.


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## mangid (24 Jan 2019)

Sharky said:


> I think that is a bit of a myth. You certainly cant stop pedalling, but I think there are other factors.
> 
> The bike is lighter and with no gears, less friction. Riding style changes, so that your effective cadence range increases. By this, I mean you learn to take hills and go into winds using a much higher gear than you would with a geared bike and simarly you csn take tailwinds and descents using a lower gear.
> 
> ...



This ....

In rolling countryside I'll often be passed going down hill by groups of riders on road bikes, but on the next up slope I'll rapidly gain, and often pass. It does seem to be far easier to maintain momentum. 

On an absolute basis though my road bike is faster over the same course (on a good summers day maybe 2mph), this is more because of the ability to maintain a higher top speed for longer on the flat because of the extra gears.


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## rogerzilla (24 Jan 2019)

It helps you pedal around the dead centres and the bike is generally lighter.


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## 12boy (25 Jan 2019)

I am so looking forward to some dry roads, or at least non-icy. Just got an 18T cog and am itching for a 48/18 ride on slick tires as opposed to my old Centurion with studded Schwalbes and 42/18. I've always gone with 48/16 but the combo of headwinds and hills encourages me to see how my Steamroller goes with about 10 less gear inches.


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## CXRAndy (11 Feb 2019)

Its all down to terrain, hills that are long and steep enough to slow pace and cadence down to lets say 50rpm or less a single speed or fixed bike will be slower potentially unless you're willing to monster it up the hill and risk blowing the legs. Geared bikes allow the rider to be in their most efficient zone. 

Saying that I've just got my first single speed, but I live in a flat part of the country and like the simplicity of trying out a single speed. If it becomes apparent that it pushes me too far outside my comfort zone, I'll fit an Alfine hub


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## Whorty (12 Feb 2019)

CXRAndy said:


> Its all down to terrain, hills that are long and steep enough to slow pace and cadence down to lets say 50rpm or less a single speed or fixed bike will be slower potentially unless you're willing to monster it up the hill and risk blowing the legs. Geared bikes allow the rider to be in their most efficient zone.
> 
> Saying that I've just got my first single speed, but I live in a flat part of the country and like the simplicity of trying out a single speed. If it becomes apparent that it pushes me too far outside my comfort zone, I'll fit an Alfine hub


You'll be fine Andy ! Welcome to the club


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## gbb (12 Feb 2019)

Sharky said:


> I have a series of training loops, ranging from10 to 25 miles and some of these quite lumpy. For the first half of the year, have been using my geared bike with typical wide range of gears. On these loops, I achieve around 13mph avg and occasionally just pip the 14.
> 
> Well for the last few weeks, have been using my SS with a 68" freewheel and today my ride was 14.7 avg and was my top ride this year on these lumpy loops.
> 
> ...


Not on a fixed but some years ago when I was actively trying to up my average speed on my normal 50 mile loops, attacking the inclines, the slowest parts of my ride, was very and instantly effective in raising average speed.
Attack the hills (where prudent, we don't have proper hills here) then cycle steady and recover asap once I'd topped the Incline, then resume normal cruising speed.


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## Emile Flournoy (20 Jun 2019)

Sharky said:


> I have a series of training loops, ranging from10 to 25 miles and some of these quite lumpy. For the first half of the year, have been using my geared bike with typical wide range of gears. On these loops, I achieve around 13mph avg and occasionally just pip the 14.
> 
> Well for the last few weeks, have been using my SS with a 68" freewheel and today my ride was 14.7 avg and was my top ride this year on these lumpy loops.
> 
> ...



^ The exact reason why I moved to single speed. I never used more than three gears and usually only two so a SS is just lighter, simpler and faster.


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## CXRAndy (22 Jun 2019)

Ive just been out this morning on my shopper SS(71") for an hour Im coming back from illness and lack of training. I headed out into the wind and had a few drags to climb which had my cadence drop quite low, Im guessing because I dont use any sensors, 40-45 rpm on the climbs. On my return its either slightly downhill or flat mostly. I completed the route which was 19miles spot on the hour. I must of been quite slow outward of 9..7 miles and bit quicker homeward. 

I was passed by a guy training on his TT bike homeward- he didn't streak away from me so I must of been around 20mph in the last 4 miles. I know I would of been much faster on my geared bike, the climbs would of done at 85rpm and having a bigger gearing for downhills would of streaked away from my SS bike.


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## Emile Flournoy (18 Jul 2019)

rogerzilla said:


> Fixed could well be faster. A fixie climbs like a rat up a drainpipe and you don't lose that much time on descents. I did the Dunwich Dynamo on fixed twice and those were the easiest and fastest runs of the lot.



I love the accuracy of the analogy "rat up a drain pipe".


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