# singlespeed commuting and hills



## tombolaprize (30 Jun 2008)

I am looking to upgrade my bike to something lighter and faster as my present bike feels too clonky.

I test rode a single speed round the block and it felt great! However, before I buy I need sound advice on how a single speed will work for my 8.5 mile commute from Hackney to South Ken.

Can anyone advise on:

start from the lights when you can't drop down gears and then change up

hills: pentonville road/margery street/percy the killer circus. Is singlespeed too hard work

cycling into head winds

Singlespeeds are really cool - but are they really a sensible commuter option for a reasonably fit but not boy-racer fit woman?


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## ColinJ (30 Jun 2008)

tombolaprize said:


> I test rode a single speed round the block and it felt great! However, before I buy I need sound advice on how a single speed will work for my 8.5 mile commute from Hackney to South Ken.
> 
> Can anyone advise on:
> 
> ...


I left a singlespeed bike at my mum's house in the midlands so that I have something to ride on my frequent trips back there. I've done about 200 miles on it in total now so I have an idea of what riding s/s is like... 

I chose a 39/15 gear and can pedal that comfortably up to about 23 mph which ought to be okay for a commute. 

Riding into a headwind can feel like a bit of a slog, but doesn't it always? 

I find hills upto about 10% are okay. I've (just) managed 15% but it felt like really hard work and I wouldn't like to make a habit of it. I don't know what the hills in that part of London are like.

The worst thing for me is trying to get off to a quick start. There is a big roundabout on my usual route and it has fast moving traffic going round it. It's okay on the s/s if I can hit it at speed, but I hate trying to sprint off from a standing start because it takes me a few pedal revs to 'get on top' of the gear. I always seem to end up with some idiot accelerating towards me and then having to brake because I can't get out of the way fast enough.

If you don't need to ride as fast as 23 mph on your commute (or if you are happy with a very high cadence) I'd suggest choosing a lower gear such as 39/17 or 42/18 to make hills, starts and headwinds easier.


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## tombolaprize (30 Jun 2008)

Thanks ColinJ, really useful insight - especially into the difficulty of a quick start.


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## yorkshiregoth (30 Jun 2008)

My fixie has a ratio of 42/17 which is fine on flats and up hills but going down a long hill I find the cadence too fast and have to use the brakes. As I ride it fixed rather than single speed it can't be doing my brake blocks any good 

Also as mentioned it isn't as easy getting off to a quick start as my road bikes are but it is easy to adapt and anticipate for such things.


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## peejay78 (1 Jul 2008)

well, there aren't any hills from hackney to south ken, so a 39:17 would be ridiculously undergeared - respect to colin who i think lives in hebden bridge though, where there are indeed hills. 

i ride a 44:15, which is around 76", and it's a big gear, on my other bike i ride 47:17 which is about perfect for london. honestly - percy circus - just stand up, ride up it, it will take about 50 seconds. rest at the to, you will be fine. if anything, the lack of choice of gear makes climbing easier. 

i think the perfect gear for you would be around a 68/69. anything less and you'll get frustrated, anything more and you'll really notice it.


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## gkerr4 (1 Jul 2008)

i ride peejays favourite langster in fixed mode - it has std gearing which I forget what the cogs are at the moment.

I find that the fixed offers me faster starts than my geared road bike - mainly cos you just have to work hard at it where a geared bike you will often take the easy option and knock it down a couple of gears.

the fixed feels lightening quick in traffic - mainly due to it being very lightweight - i'd say go for it 

- what was the singlespeed you were looking at by the way?


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## peejay78 (1 Jul 2008)

don't they have a 44:17 or something like that?


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## ColinJ (1 Jul 2008)

peejay78 said:


> well, there aren't any hills from hackney to south ken, so a 39:17 would be ridiculously undergeared - respect to colin who i think lives in hebden bridge though, where there are indeed hills.


Thanks, but my singlespeed bike 'lives' in Coventry where there aren't any Yorkshire-type hills ! I have managed to find a few short steep hills a few miles north of the city.

My rides oop north are mainly done on my Basso which has a triple chainset *and* a 28 tooth granny sprocket !


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## feckless (1 Jul 2008)

I run a 39/14 on my (weighty) fixed commuter. 

That's good for a pace of 30kmh or so on the flat, and tolerably quick starts (keeping up with Auckland traffic) are possible with a bit of effort. Hills are slow, but less hard than I had expected, and mostly steeper than anything between Hackney and South Ken.

Singlespeeds are completely brilliant for commuting and will certainly help your general fitness level. Do it, you know you want to.

f


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## Chuffy (1 Jul 2008)

Tombolaprize - try doing what I did before I converted my road bike to singlespeed (not fixed!) Use your existing bike and set your gears into a configuration that you think might translate into a sensible singlespeed setup eg middle chainring x 16t rear sprocket. Using gear inches to check gear size will help, there are a number of easy to use gear-inch calculators around online. Then, just ride your bike for a week or so without changing gear. That should answer all of your questions and will allow you to work out what would be a sensible gear setup when you do splash some money on the new bike. Mind you, changing the gear setup on a singlespeed is very easy, you'll just need a few spare rear sprockets in different sizes and a bit of extra chain to allow for the difference in sizes.


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## gkerr4 (1 Jul 2008)

peejay78 said:


> don't they have a 44:17 or something like that?



just looked - 42:16 is what they say...

seems ok to me - 100rpm is around 20mph I think -


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## tombolaprize (1 Jul 2008)

*Big thighs!*

Thanks for all the useful and encouraging advice about single speed.

One more question: Big Thighs!

Yeah - great on guys, but I am a girl, so not really after that look! 

So - singlespeed's extra effort on hills and at lights - does this make your thighs grow and grow?


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## ColinJ (1 Jul 2008)

Chuffy said:


> Try doing what I did before I converted my road bike to singlespeed (not fixed!) Use your existing bike and set your gears into a configuration that you think might translate into a sensible singlespeed setup eg middle chainring x 16t rear sprocket.


Seconded - that's what I did to choose my singlespeed's 39/15 ratio. I rode a West Yorkshire route which avoided the 20% to 25% monster hills round here and found most of it okay so I knew the s/s would be right for the flatter midlands lanes where it was going to be used.


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## ColinJ (1 Jul 2008)

tombolaprize said:


> Thanks for all the useful and encouraging advice about single speed.
> 
> One more question: Big Thighs!
> 
> ...


Unless you start taking steroids, it is highly unlikely that you will grow big muscles - see this interesting article.


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## peejay78 (1 Jul 2008)

think victoria pendleton, not chris hoy. 
you'll be fine.


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## tombolaprize (1 Jul 2008)

Just read an American women cyclist forum where they were all talking with glee about their big (bulky) thighs. Golly: is that what we want on this side of the ocean?

Guess I could just revive the fashion of the pioneer lady cyclists - baggy bloomers or knicker-bockers.


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## Fab Foodie (1 Jul 2008)

peejay78 said:


> think victoria pendleton, not chris hoy.
> you'll be fine.


Always works for me...


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## Chuffy (1 Jul 2008)

tombolaprize said:


> baggy bloomers


Always works for me...


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## peejay78 (2 Jul 2008)

i see you posted in lgfss. i refrained from offering further advice, didn't want to confuse the issue. jacqui basically said on there what i said here. post in the trixie chicks thread on lfgss if you want the blokes to stay away a bit.


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## gkerr4 (2 Jul 2008)

peejay78 said:


> think victoria pendleton, not chris hoy.
> you'll be fine.




or rather - think what blokes think when they think of victoria pendleton

which is usually - "Mmmm"


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## Madcyclist (21 Jul 2008)

Some good advice on this thread but i notice that no one has mentioned the flywheel effect of riding fixed. Essentially you can pull up on the back stroke which makes the overall pedalling action much smoother usually making it easier to keep the gear turning into headwinds and on the climbs. With experience you'll find that you will use the flywheel effect to your advantage to get a breather when needed.


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## zimzum42 (21 Jul 2008)

Peejay, you big girl! That's a tiny gear for London! Get yourself a 49:16 and ride like a man!


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## ColinJ (21 Jul 2008)

Madcyclist said:


> Some good advice on this thread but i notice that no one has mentioned the flywheel effect of riding fixed. Essentially you can pull up on the back stroke which makes the overall pedalling action much smoother usually making it easier to keep the gear turning into headwinds and on the climbs. With experience you'll find that you will use the flywheel effect to your advantage to get a breather when needed.


I've never ridden a fixedwheel bike, but I realised that going uphill on one would be easier than on a freewheeled bike *with the same gear ratio* when I was struggling on a short steep hill on my s/s. It was the 'dead-spots' in the pedal stroke that killed my legs. Each time I got a crank round enough to get my weight down on the corresponding pedal I was okay. I don't have a problem on moderate hills on the s/s because I'm climbing faster and my cadence is high enough to carry the cranks through the dead-spots.


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## zimzum42 (22 Jul 2008)

i can manage Highgate Hill on 48:16, and I'm not fit!


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## Kurt (22 Jul 2008)

User1314 said:


> My fear is getting to a point on a hill when I can't keep pedalling on a fixed and have to walk, as it will be nigh on impossible to restart.
> 
> Having said that I've managed to get up that steep hill in Richmond Park (albeit slowly at the end) a few times. Even been able to honk a bit!



There's nowt wrong with having to walk! I commute ~12 miles from the far side of Dartford to Woolwich on my 48x18 fixie and initially I couldn't get over Shooters Hill. Now I can, albeit with a bit of puffing and panting! It just gives you a goal to work to.

Peace

Kurt


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## Carlito (25 Jul 2008)

I'm thinking of getting a single speed bike (not fixed) for a 9 mile commute from Hampstead to London Bridge. I currently have a MTB and I have been testing the workout out on one gear for the whole commute. To be honest it is tough going up the hill from Camden to Hampstead but its getting easier the more I do it and I reckon I should be fine.
Cheers
C


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## Greenbank (29 Jul 2008)

Get out into the countryside and find some real hills. Once you've done this a few times you'll never whinge about anything inside London.

Try:

a) The road from Ewhurst to Shere in the Surrey Hills
 Ranmore Common Road from Box Hill & Westhumle Station up to Ranmore Road.
c) The road from Holmbury St Mary to Ranmore Common (White Down). Although the prolonged 17% section was too much for me and my 71" gear. But I'll be back to defeat it when I flip the wheel to 46x18.
d) The B269 all the way from South Croydon to Limpsfield and back. That hurt too!

Further afield but doable by train:-

a) Aston Clinton near Aylesbury, South on B489, R onto B4009 and then left up and over to Chivery. Lather, rinse and repeat.
 North out of Pangbourne on the B471, L onto B4256 through Goring and up Streatley Hill, L back to Pangbourne through Ashampstead.

This route: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Cheam-and-Morden-Hilly-50154877 (shamelessly stolen from the Cheam & Morden CTC group) is my new fixed training ride. My God it hurt first time but the difference on a sucsequent 600km ride was astonishing; previously notable hills seemed to disappear.


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## Disgruntled Goat (29 Jul 2008)

Or you could get a bike with gears...


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## Greenbank (29 Jul 2008)

Disgruntled Goat said:


> Or you could get a bike with gears...



May as well get one with an engine.

(I have 3 geared bikes but I like the challenge of doing hilly stuff, and long distance stuff, on fixed.)


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## peejay78 (7 Aug 2008)

zimzum42 said:


> Peejay, you big girl! That's a tiny gear for London! Get yourself a 49:16 and ride like a man!



i just moved to bristol. highgate hill is a total piece of cake. they have real hills here, humdingers, absolute savages. i rode one today from the bottom of ashton court to the suspension bridge, on a 74", it totally hurt. there is another one called constitution hill, it's practically undoable.


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