Is an SS a perfect beginner commuter?

[jimboalee]

http://www.moultonbicycles.co.uk/models/TSR2.html

Why go SS when you can have two gears.

 

[ColinJ]

http://www.moultonbi...odels/TSR2.html

Why go SS when you can have two gears.

Well, for one thing, SS prices don't 'start at £900'!

I saw the name of that bike and it reminded me of the plane of the same name which I remember hearing about as a child. This new book about the TSR-2 should be an interesting read.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I started out on fixed without a good level of strength or fitness for a three mile flat commute. If you don't have gears for long enough, you can't miss them...

Very true.

 

[battered]

Come on then OP, what's the decision? We've all droned on for long enough. Are you buying one?

 

[jimboalee]

Here's my Mom in 1948. A seventeen year old spritely 5' 3" maid.
The bike is a Hurcules Ladies step through. All steel ( she later progressed to a Sturmey bike ) with metal mudguards and heavy saddlebag. It must have weighed about 30lb.
I did some research and Hurcules were fitting 44 tooth rings and 18 tooth sprockets to their single speed ladies bikes.
26 x 1 3/8" wheels would result in a 64" gear. 78 rpm at 15 mph.

Are we saying that today's 'strapping' lads can't do better than a 1940s girlie?

 

[jimboalee]

Mom lived in one of the family cottages in Earlswood and worked in a Sweet shop / Confectioners / tobaconist ( its not what you know, its who you know ) in Acocks Green 5.5 miles away.

This was her daily commute on that single speed ladies bike in the photo above.



The piccie was taken at a village called Aston Cantlow, half way between Earlswood and Stratford upon Avon. Mom told me it was a regular Sunday ride out to Stratford, stopping at Henley in Arden Ice Cream shop en route. ( There is a photo on their wall which has a group of cyclists in the 1950s. Mom is on it. ) It was a summer Sunday, with work tomorrow.

Food was on Ration in those days. So much for 'carbo loading'…

So OP, what are waiting for?

 

[battered]

This was her daily commute on that single speed ladies bike in the photo above.
... it was a regular Sunday ride out to Stratford, stopping at Henley in Arden Ice Cream shop en route. It was a summer Sunday, with work tomorrow.

Food was on Ration in those days. So much for 'carbo loading'…

"Aye...y'tell that ter young people terday...they don't believe you!"
[/four Yorkshiremen]

 

[cameramanjim]

Wiggle has the Charge Plug for 299.99 (£200 off!). I just bought one and think it's fantastic! I commute in London so not very hilly, but I get to work faster and less frazzled than before. I love it.

I too am seriously considering a single/fixie but don't want to spend a fortune, after a quick ebay search I found a few straight bar ss bikes with flip flop hub at £199.
They look fine as a starter, if I like it I'll spend some proper money on a better one.
Cheap solid single or fixed, perfect.
-Black & Red 54cm Pista Fixie Track / Road Bike- as a search should work then go to his shop there's many sizes and colours.

 

[battered]

That's a bargain, if that's the bike you want then £300 is a great deal.

When this all goes out of fashion you won't be able to give these things away, but that's a few years down the track yet. The spanner friendly amongst us will drop in a conventional rear wheel and a derailleur hanger, and you're rolling for nowt.

 

[ASC1951]

Well a SS bike should be cheaper, lighter, quieter and more reliable than a geared bike costing the same amount of money.

Have you been emailing that Donald Rumsfeld again, Colin?

 

[jimboalee]

Something more to say about my Mom.

Yes, she bought a SS bike. It wasn't long before a geared bike was required.

And in my experience, I rode a SS for years when I was at junior school. When I got a five speed sports bike, it was a revelation.

 

[snailracer]

It all depends on the rider. Some people just don't like gears.

 

[ColinJ]

Have you been emailing that Donald Rumsfeld again, Colin?

D'oh!

Er, you could buy a better quality SS bike for the same money, or a SS bike of similar quality which was lighter and more reliable for less money!

Something more to say about my Mom.

Yes, she bought a SS bike. It wasn't long before a geared bike was required.

I like that picture. A reminder of a bygone age when young couples would cycle off into the countryside together at the weekends, rather than jumping into a hot hatchback and burning off to the nearest superstore, sound system blasting away...

And in my experience, I rode a SS for years when I was at junior school. When I got a five speed sports bike, it was a revelation.

Same here! I got  a SS bike for my 8th birthday. I rode it for 3 years then got a 5-speed for my 11th birthday, just in time for my rides to and from grammar school.

I used to have to ride home up what I thought then to be a monster hill - Barkers Butts Lane (Coventry). Every school day for a month, I had to dismount halfway up it but eventually I made it all the way up. I never walked it again.

When I took my SS bike down to Coventry last year, I came to that hill with a 20 pound rucksack on my back and weighing 60 pounds more than I did as an 11 year old but I was able to sprint up it! 

 

[jay clock]

Wiggle have the Felt Dispatch at £340 (£200 off list) if they have your size. I have just got a 56cm and it is great. The gearing is 39x16 for the singlespeed. I have just done my first decent ride on it, 45km fairly hilly and that gearing is ok. I spin out at about 28kmh on the flat and have managed all the local hills. I am hoping it will help my hill climbing skills as my usual technique is "slam in easiest gear" asap when I hit a hill.

A nice looking bike in my view and more to my taste than the Charge Plug. A further £5 off with Wiggle if you sign up to their newsletter (if already subscribed, unsubscribe then resubscribe)

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Felt_Dispatch_2010/5360045931/

 

[jimboalee]

D'oh!

Er, you could buy a better quality SS bike for the same money, or a SS bike of similar quality which was lighter and more reliable for less money!



I like that picture. A reminder of a bygone age when young couples would cycle off into the countryside together at the weekends, rather than jumping into a hot hatchback and burning off to the nearest superstore, sound system blasting away...


Same here! I got a SS bike for my 8th birthday. I rode it for 3 years then got a 5-speed for my 11th birthday, just in time for my rides to and from grammar school.

I used to have to ride home up what I thought then to be a monster hill - Barkers Butts Lane (Coventry). Every school day for a month, I had to dismount halfway up it but eventually I made it all the way up. I never walked it again.

When I took my SS bike down to Coventry last year, I came to that hill with a 20 pound rucksack on my back and weighing 60 pounds more than I did as an 11 year old but I was able to sprint up it!

Ahhhh! you went to Bablake.