Single speed bike, any one ride them?

**sean94** · 04-10-2009 08:06 PM

Any one ride a single speed bike or a fixed gear bike? Me and my dad were thinking about building one around a trek 1000 aluminum frame. They seem simple and easy which i really like.

**Gecko** · 04-10-2009 08:39 PM

I have a mid 80s Miyata that I first converted to single speed and then went to fixed.
It's nice and simple, no doubt about that.

**sean94** · 04-10-2009 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by Gecko

I have a mid 80s Miyata that I first converted to single speed and then went to fixed.
It's nice and simple, no doubt about that.

How do you like having it fixed? Also, how many teath on each crank shaft do you have? I heard a 48 in front and 16 in back is a good middle ground.

PS: I dont know much about bikes

**Gecko** · 04-10-2009 10:27 PM

Fixed is cool.
I believe I'm at 46/16.
Still have a front brake before the brake police show up.
And I don't wear girl-jeans.

**latenite** · 04-10-2009 10:29 PM

id say to ride one before you do it, i personally hate it. coasting is a luxury ill never give up

**TexasBomber** · 04-10-2009 10:39 PM

I have a Specialized "London Langster" single speed with a flip-flop hub (fixed on one side, free wheel on the other) Great bike but, my other bike is a Carbon Colnago with Campy Record. So I don't ride the single speed that much.

P.S. Anybody wanna buy a Specialized single speed/fixie?

**bakersfield90** · 04-10-2009 11:53 PM

I have a Specialized Langster as well and I love it. I ride it fixed.

To the OP, it all depends how much you will be riding it. For example, my friends car died so he switched to riding public transportation and a fixed gear. He built a fixed gear up from an old roadbike, but after awhile it was fully upgraded except for the frame and still really heavy. He ended up just buying a Bianchi Pista and selling the one he built for a loss.

I guess if you didn't want 'top-of-the-line' bike or just were going to mess around on it, building one up is fine...

But you are almost better off buying a real fixed gear off craigs list. I got my langster off craigslist for $300 and it's originally a $700 out of the box fixie.

**chandler95** · 04-11-2009 12:22 AM

I'd go with a single speed over a fixed gear. At least with a single speed you can actually coast, which is nice when going down hill.

**bakersfield90** · 04-11-2009 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by chandler95

I'd go with a single speed over a fixed gear. At least with a single speed you can actually coast, which is nice when going down hill.

Once you start riding a fixed gear this is how you feel:

Longboard is to scooter as fixed gear is to single speed.

**sharcsplean** · 04-11-2009 01:48 AM

single speeds are fun. I built one up out of old parts and made a rigid ss. they make your old trails seem new, as I went from a squishy full suspension to none. It was also fun to build the sucker from scratch. Go build one!

**Steez Police** · 04-11-2009 02:06 AM

I ride a single speed for work. I run 48/20. I wouldn't ride fixed for work cause it's just not safe, but it can be fun to screw around on. Just make sure you put brakes on it. Some kids ride around without brakes cause they think they're purists, then they get ploughed to hash by a dump truck and their moms cry about it like they think they raised 'em better.

**tylerdwhite** · 04-11-2009 02:31 AM

have fun walking your bike up steep hills. thats what all the super cool hipsters around here do.

**latenite** · 04-11-2009 03:42 AM

true that about the hipsters. most of them have legs so skinny its a wonder why they wear their pants as tight as they do. you can tell they have their bikes just for style. you can tell the real fixed riders by the size of their tree trunks... i mean thighs...

**Steez Police** · 04-11-2009 09:09 AM

Tailgating posers on fixies is the best. They can't turn around! Try it some time. They try to snatch little glances back but they'll start to lose control if they turn around for too long.

**sean94** · 04-11-2009 09:48 AM

I was just thinking about doing for the experience of just building a bike and thought it would be a fun easy start

**msk** · 04-11-2009 11:41 AM

The Trek 1000 has vertical dropouts, so you won't be able to adjust the chain tension if you want to run it fixed. If you run it as just a single speed, you'll need to leave the rear derailleur on to take up the slack in the chain. But to properly set up a fixie, you need horizontal dropouts on the frame...

**Steez Police** · 04-11-2009 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by sean94

I was just thinking about doing for the experience of just building a bike and thought it would be a fun easy start

Yeah it's a great place to start. It's less expensive to build up and maintain. If you run gearing like mine (48/20) you won't have trouble with hills if you've got good legs, and if you run a splined hub with spacers, it will be quick and easy to change your gearing if you want something different. Just see if you can find spacers that lock into the cog instead of just stacking up next to it, so that you won't end up having problems with your cog digging into the splines.

I use my single speed more often than my other bikes, cause I built it up to meet these criteria:

A: Easy to operate with one hand
B: Gearing that allowed decent cruising speed, but would not be a pain for frequent stopping/starting
C: Geometry that would allow me to easily use a camera from a riding position

and it all worked out to be a great around-town and for-fun bike too.

**Steez Police** · 04-11-2009 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by msk

The Trek 1000 has vertical dropouts, so you won't be able to adjust the chain tension if you want to run it fixed. If you run it as just a single speed, you'll need to leave the rear derailleur on to take up the slack in the chain. But to properly set up a fixie, you need horizontal dropouts on the frame...

MSK has a good point, I used an old road bike frame for my single speed, and because of the vertical dropouts, there's only so much you can do when it comes to getting the right tension on your chain. You can add/remove links but that doesn't always get it right and is kind of a pain to keep going back and forth with. I just got a chain tensioner that bolts on to the rear derailleur hanger.

Nashbar has a kit that is made specifically for converting multi-speed road bikes with vertical dropouts and splined hubs into single speeds -

Nashbar Single Speed Kit

The spacers don't lock into the cogs but that's not a huge deal if you just want a for-fun bike. It's pretty cheap too!

**samhell** · 04-11-2009 09:16 PM

My new ride as of this today...

I just sold my 85' KHS John Howard single speed conversion.
and picked up this 50 cm KHS Flite 100,
It's setup with fixed and single speed rear flip flop,
I'm use it in single speed for commuting, fixed for fun.
I'm not quite ready to do my commuting fixed, not
with some of the hills we do...
Swapped the bars for some Soma Noahs Arcs, added
a front brake and some Oury grips, and away I go..
So light, so fun, I'll be tricking this thing out
over the course of the year.. But in its stock form, it's
a pretty damn sweet ride...
Single speed/Fixed is pretty damned addicting...
This is my only mode of transportation besides
my feet, skateboard or the bus when needed.

**sean94** · 04-11-2009 09:29 PM

Originally Posted by samhell

My new ride as of this today...

I just sold my 85' KHS John Howard single speed conversion.
and picked up this 50 cm KHS Flite 100,
It's setup with fixed and single speed rear flip flop,
I'm use it in single speed for commuting, fixed for fun.
I'm not quite ready to do my commuting fixed, not
with some of the hills we do...
Swapped the bars for some Soma Noahs Arcs, added
a front brake and some Oury grips, and away I go..
So light, so fun, I'll be tricking this thing out
over the course of the year.. But in its stock form, it's
a pretty damn sweet ride...
Single speed/Fixed is pretty damned addicting...
This is my only mode of transportation besides
my feet, skateboard or the bus when needed.

How do you do the single/fixed flip flop? What parts do i need for this?