What is the furthest you have ridden on a three speed?

[GarryG]

Not sure where to post this, but intrigued to find out the sort of distances that people have ridden on a three speed?

Looking at training to do a ride on one in the summer, but not sure of a practical distance.

Garry

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

200km on a 3 speed Brompton.

 

[GarryG]

Looking at doing one of the Sportive Lakes vintage rides in July on the Hercules Commuter, it currently has inverted bars, but I'll flip the back up the right way for that.

The furthest route is 52 miles, hilly but not to steep I've been told.

Really need to get out riding to build up to it as not been out much in the last 12 months.

Anyone else fancy it?

 

[Diggs]

I did a few laps of Ride London.......(not my best picture ever)

 

[TheCyclingRooster]

Hi to GarryG. Back in the early 60's I rode from my home in West Vale, Kirkby to Queensferry,Clwyd and back in the same day on my 1937 Hetchins Vibrant Triangle track frame after it had been converted to road drop-outs. That was a distance of some 40+miles each way.
In those days one could ride through the Queensway Tunnel (old Mersey Tunnel) before 07:00hrs as I recall.

 

[EltonFrog]

50 mile charity bike ride on my 3 speed Dawes kingpin when I was 14, about 200 years ago.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

60 miles on a standard 3 speed Brompton.

 

[palinurus]

Only about 50 miles, but it wasn't the gears that limited the distance it was comfort- my Brompton really needed a better saddle.

Tommy Godwin used a 4-speed hub and he did some fair mileage. I'd wager a 3-speed would be good for half that at least.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Around 30 miles on a gas pipe special when a kid.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Around 30 miles on a gas pipe special when a kid.

About the same I rec, was it a drop bar conversion too, mine was repainted red to make it go faster.

 

[Fab Foodie]

About the same I rec, was it a drop bar conversion too, mine was repainted red to make it go faster.

No, a sit-up and beg, but I recall many mates bikes as you describe! My first drop-bar bike was a gas-pipe 4 or 5 speed derailieur of unknown make ... in orange.

 

[Drago]

Would've been about 70 miles as a teenager, a trip out to a nearby airport and back to see the planes on my faithful olde Raleigh wayfarer.

 

[Apollonius]

I rode to Germany on a single fixed. But that was a while ago. Carrying camping gear too.

 

[User10119]

My l'il sis did what was her longest ever ride at that point on what started as a 2annahalf (one was slipping) speed Kingpin in 2010. It was 1annahalf speed for the last 10 miles. A 35-odd mile night ride, including Comedy Off Road section across Skipwith common, that my then 8yo led out from York Rally which featured a fairly impressive halfway picnic at Uranus with bonus marshmallow toasting on a Kelly kettle using spare spokes, and which about 30 cyclists of various levels of ability and experience and with an entertaining assortment of bikes turned out for, which still makes me smile when I think about it. It's not all about the bike.

Mind, we were in the LBS within a week getting her a nice Trek hybrid, and a couple of weeks later her partner (for whom it had also been a personal best distance) was in there buying one himself to replace the slick-shod hardtail he'd used, and between them they now have 6 bikes (I think) and a range of brevet cards and medals ranging from the pink 50s to an LEL one...

 

[Apollonius]

Just to legitimise my ride to Germany (from Ipswich, back in 1968), my friend Richard who came with me was on a three-speed Triumph Palm Beach. We did 1300 miles in just under 3 weeks. I still remember the climb out of Metz, which I had to do twice as Richard got a puncture on the way up and wrote off his tube. I had to go back down to get a new one from the town. We lived almost entirely on bread and jam, as I recall. We probably had £50 between us!