Why | How | Where to Go I've been doing most of my mountain biking on a singlespeed since 2002. It's not as hard as you might think. I run geared some of the time (road rides, my current hilly commute, and on my full suspension bike) but singlespeed works great for most of my mountain biking (and, back when my commute was flat, also my commuting). At least for most of the real mountain biking I do, it really is possible to get by with a single gear. I have my gearing set low enough that I can get up very steep slopes if I stand up out of the saddle while pulling up on the handlebars and pedaling as hard as I can. This gearing pedals very comfortably anywhere from about 6 to 12 mph, and I can briefly spin it up to about 20 mph for downhill bursts. I can't comfortably spin much past 12 mph for any distance, but most of the time I go faster than that on real mountain bike trails, I don't need to pedal anyway. Also, I'm not talking about fixed gears. Non-singlespeeders frequently get "singlespeed" and "fixed gear" mixed up. The difference is a fixed gear bike does not let you coast. I've ridden fixie bikes both on and off road, and I have never understood the appeal of it. I know lots of fixie riders and more power to them, but I'm not interested. With my physique it's enough work to climb hills, and I have no interest in throwing all that away once I've gotten to the top. To me, coasting is one of the greatest joys of cycling. Why would I want to give that up? Why There are a lot of different reasons why someone might ride a singlespeed. Here are mine. Performance in adverse conditions. If you ride in wet (and/or muddy, and/or snowy) Northwest conditions very much, your chain is going to get dirty. Once the chain gets dirty on a derailer drivetrain, it gets squeaky, crusty feeling and slow. With a singlespeed's direct chain path, you barely notice when the chain gets dirty. Once mud or snow starts to collect on a derailer drivetrain, your chain is going to start skipping, and there's nothing you can do about it unless you clean off the mud or melt off the snow. Singlespeed chains remain taut at all times and are unaffected by these conditions. Maintenance. No derailleurs to adjust, no jockey pulleys to lubricate, no cables to clean. Most of the maintenance most of us do, other than tires, is on the drivetrain. With a singlespeed all you have to do is take care of your chain. That's IT. Efficiency. A singlespeed's chain runs directly from the chainring to the rear sprocket and back. A geared bike's chain snakes around two jockey pulleys to a sprocket that is out of line (left-to-right) from the chainring by much as an inch. Even without the chainline issue the improvement is at least a couple percent, and compared to some of the more crooked chainlines you might run on a multi-geared bike, the difference can be quite a bit more than that. Believe it or not, you can feel the difference. Don't believe me? Find a bike shop that sells a few singlespeed bikes, and pull both a singlespeed and a geared bike off the rack. Now crank the pedals backwards pretty hard and let go. Notice how much longer the pedals spin on the SS bike? That's the difference in efficiency, and it's much more pronounced once the chain gets a little dirty in the real world. Durability. No rear derailleur to tweak on trail obstacles, no shifters to go bad, no front derailleur to jam, no 11-tooth cogs to wear out early and force you to replace your cassette before its time. Weight savings. On a singlespeed, you don't just save a few grams here and there. You eliminate the following components: Front and rear derailers. Front and rear shifters. Shifter cables. 2 of 3 chainrings. 8 of 9 rear cogs. Even on an ultra weight weenie machine, that's over 1.5 pounds saved. On more typical bikes you will save 2 pounds or more by converting. People spend hundreds of dollars to lose that kind of weight off their bikes, but with singlespeeding you can do it for free. Concentration. You don't have to think about what gear you're in. You don't have to plan your downshift ahead of time when you come to a stop in traffic. It's not like shifting is THAT much of a mental burden, but you'd be surprised how many brainwave cycles singlespeeding frees up for other things. Like paying more attention to traffic. Like paying more attention to your body english, line and speed when you attack that rock garden. See my Cutthroat Pass ride report for a better description of what I mean. Singlespeeding makes you a better technical rider. Momentum. On a geared bike, when you start losing speed on a climb, you downshift, and you let off the power to do it ... which slows you down even more. On a singlespeed, you stand up and hammer. You get more momentum going up the hill (although it can be exhausing at times!). Because you know climbing can get tough if you bog down too much, you pay a lot more attention to preserving your momentum, and you're less likely to sap away precious momentum with your brakes when you don't need to. Because you carry more momentum going uphill into difficult technical sections, you have an easier time getting through them in the uphill direction. Why is technical terrain harder going uphill than downhill? Speed. Pride. Let's be honest here. It feels pretty good doing that bad beeotch of a climb in a gear twice as tall as you would have on a geared bike. People that aren't ordinarily impressed by others' riding are sometimes impressed that you can ride a particular trail AT ALL on a singlespeed. And when you're on a singlespeed, NO ONE judges you for walking a climb (even if you're just walking it because you're tired). Those are the reasons that are most important to me, but singlespeeders are a diverse group (which is a good thing, in my little worldview) and here are some other potential legitimate reasons which I also respect: Elegance. A singlespeed bike (other than mine) has a really nice clean, elegant look to it, with no derailleurs hanging off various places, shifters cluttering up the handlebars, and shift cables running along the tubes. Now if you saw my bikes you'd know I'm not exactly seeking out a "clean" look, but I can appreciate it in others' bikes, and a lot of other singlespeeders appreciate it too. Cachet. It's a fringe activity. You're a member of a pretty exclusive club if you're a singlespeeder. There's always the danger of it being a trendy fad, which means someday it won't be cool anymore, but I don't think where anywhere near there yet. Making a statement. There are a lot of people who are fed up with planned obsolescence, Shimano's dominance of componentry, and/or the over-engineering of today's bikes. Some people like making a statement about one of those things, or about noncomformity, stickin' it to the man, or maybe something else they think singlespeeding stands for. Boredom. Some singlespeeders are extremely accomplished mountain bikers. They've ridden it all. Singlespeeding is a new challenge. How I'm not going to dive too deeply into technical details, because there are lots of other websites for that. Here's an overview of the major technical issues. Types of singlespeed setups Just don't shift. This is the easiest, and is 100% compatible with all bikes, no modifications required. You don't get most of the benefits, but it's a good way to test the waters. It may seem hard at first, but remember that you'll actually find it easier (mentally) to ride singlespeed once you no longer have the option to shift. With a chain tensioner. A bike chain needs to be held taut in order to work. On most bikes, that function is performed by the spring loaded pulleys on the derailer. You can easily convert any bike to singlespeed by swapping out the multiple gears for single ones, and by replacing the derailer with a tensioner. There are several types: 2-pulley tensioner. A used derailer makes the perfect budget tensioner: simply adjust the limit screws so it aligns with your single cog. You can also get dedicated (and much lighter, and more expensive) 2 pulley tensioners from Rohloff and Paul Components. Either way, this method is your only option for singlespeeding on most full suspension bikes. 1-pulley spring-loaded tensioner. A single pulley tensioner will give you a much cleaner (and quieter, and more efficient) chain path than a 2 pulley model. Spring loaded tensioners are a simple, effective solution, though still vulnerable to trail damage and subject to skipping in adverse conditions. Surly's is the most popular model. Generally incompatible with full suspension, but may work on some models. 1-pulley fixed tensioner A fixed tensioner will hold the chain more securely than a spring loaded one, improving performance and dependability in adverse conditions. Popular models are the Rennen Rollenlager and the Soulcraft Convert. Generally incompatible with full suspension. Without a chain tensioner.Without a tensioner, you're going to need some other way to keep the chain tight. Every possible gear combination requires a slightly different distance between the axle and bottom bracket ("effective chainstay length") to keep the chain properly tightened (and, worse, this distance changes over time as the chain wears). Without a tensioner to take up the slack, you're going to need some other method of adjusting this distance. Horizontal dropouts or track fork ends. Until the '90s these were found on almost all bikes, and they add no weight or complexity to the bike. I have horizontal dropouts on my Volpe and track fork ends on my Surly Karate Monkey. You simply adjust by moving axle backward in the dropouts until the chain is tight. Kind of a hassle with disc brakes, because changing the axle position also changes the alignment between the disc and the rotor. Technically this is also true of rim brakes, but disc brakes are much more sensitive. Eccentric bottom bracket (EBB). For bikes with disc brakes, this is the most elegant solution: the eccentric allows you to rotate the bottom bracket in a way that moves it forward or backward (relative to the axle) as needed. This allows you to use vertical dropouts for the rear axle and eliminate disc brake issues. I have the set screw type on my Vulture and it works great. Expensive, must be designed into the frame, and adds about 1/2 pound to the weight of a bike. Sliding dropouts. A newer design, the sliding dropout incorporates a dropout and a disc brake mount in a single unit (thus eliminating disc alignment problems), which can slide back and forth in the frame to adjust chainstay length. Like EBBs, these add complexity, must be designed into the frame, and add 1/4 to 1/2 pound to the weight of a bike. Magic ratio. It is often possible to find a combination of gears that happens to work with the particular distance between your bike's bottom bracket and vertical dropouts. You're still going to have a problem with the chain lengthening as it wears, however. I've solved this problem by filing the inside of each dropout by about 1mm to allow a little bit of axle movement: you want the chain on the tight side with the axle all the way forward when it's new. I've done this with success on both my Fuji Sundance and on my KHS. I had no qualms about filing steel dropouts, but wouldn't recommend it on aluminum dropouts because it might weaken them dangerously. Eccentric hub. Like an eccentric bottom bracket, the eccentric hub rotates in a way that allows it to shift forward or backward. The White Industries ENO is the only option here, and now comes in an ingenious disc brake version. Sprockets If you're running without a tensioner you are going to want singlespeed specific cogs. The reason is that cogs intended for geared use, such as you might obtain by splitting open a cassette, are designed to throw the chain off easily so you can have shifts. You don't want that on a singlespeed. Singlespeed cogs have taller teeth that hold onto the chain better. For cassette hubs with splined cogs there are numerous excellent choices. These cogs will also hold the chain a little tighter than shifty cogs, so bear that in mind if you're experimenting with magic ratios. For splined cassette hubs I have used Shimano DX, Novatec, Endless Kick-Ass Cogs, Boone Titanium and Surly stainless cogs, and all work very well. For threaded freewheel hubs I've heard that the expensive White Industries cogs work much better than the cheaper ACS or Shimano models. Hubs Although there are many dedicated singlespeed hubs out there, you don't need one unless you're especially tough on wheels. I've been singlespeeding for nearly 5 years and still don't have one. One advantage of these hubs is the wheel is less "dished" to accomodate the width of a cassette, and therefore stronger. That's true, but lots of people ride geared hubs without too many problems. A conventional geared freehub can easily be converted to singlespeed use (and gives the further advantage of easier chainline adjustment), by removing the cassette, and replacing it with a single cog and a bunch of cassette spacers. You'll need two cassettes' worth to fill out a modern 9 speed freehub, by the way. You can most easily and cheaply obtain spacers by breaking apart an existing cassette. The method varies varies by model: it may involve unscrewing, unbolting, filing, drilling and/or hammering, but it is almost always doable. If that sounds like too much work, you can buy the spacers individually or as part of a conversion "kit." Disc Brakes The legendary Sheldon Brown, with whom I agree on most things, and from whom I learned everything I needed to know to start singlespeeding, advises against disc brakes on singlespeeds. I could not disagree more, and because Sheldon's opinion carries so much weight I need to refute it right here. He complains about the inability to run a flip-flop hub (for which there is absolutely no need offroad) and about disc alignment issues that are easily solved by EBBs or sliding dropouts (and which, frankly, are overblown even for horizontal dropouts). The statement "Singlespeeds are generally not practical for terrain so steep as to require dual disc brakes" is completely absurd, and it's obvious that Sheldon views a singlespeed as nice for dinking around in the woods but doesn't really understand that many people ride singlespeeds in serious mountain bike terrain. Furthermore, I don't think he's put that together with the fact that disc brakes are perfect for precisely the sloppy conditions (as we frequently encounter in the Northwest) where singlespeed drivetrains excel. The caliper-rotor alignment solutions add some complexity, weight and expense, but still far less than derailers. These solutions make discs and singlespeeds a perfect match. Where to go for more info Mtbr.com has an excellent FAQ that goes into far more technical detail than I ever could. And unlike my website, it's kept regularly updated to reflect current product offerings. Sheldon Brown has a fantastic Singlespeed Conversion page that goes into great detail. I learned most of what I needed to know to do my first conversions right here. Sheldon Brown's Fixed Gear page also has quite a bit of useful information for the budding singlespeeder. TriangleMTB.com has a great "Why Singlespeed?" page. See if you can find both places where I'm quoted on it. Fixed Innovations' FixMeUp! chainstay calculator is invaluable for comparing the effective chainstay lengths needed for various gear combinations. It was developed for fixie riders but works just as well for singlespeeds. Bear in mind that manufacturers' stated chainstay lengths may not match reality, and you cannot possibly measure precisely enough to plug into this calculator and know your "magic ratios". You'll need to try a few combinations, see what works, and then plug that into the calculator and work from there. Return to top of page | Home

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