Reply #9: Actually..... [View All]

I find a singlespeed easier to ride than a geared bike..... in mountain bike races single speeders over the longer races actually place in the top 10 regularly.

I didn't believe it either until I'd been on one for a couple weeks - you do have to anticipate hills better and keep your speed up - you get in touch with your own capability and the terrain and the actual RIDE rather than the constant thought process that 27 speeds entail - this is not an insignificant thing.

You HAVE to rest on the downhill sections, too, and spin madly on the flats, that flushes the crap out of your system while packing you with oxygen for the next hill.

I walk up some of the real long steeps but that means I'm keeping up with a lot of folks spinning madly up that kind of hill anyway.

I ride a bike with no suspension and ride with a 32:16 gear ratio, do over a thousand feet of real steep climbing in about a 2 hour ride and at 56 am in the best shape of my life.....except for two months after I got back from riding a touring bike across the country three years ago.

A singlespeed puts you into that state you were in as a kid riding your first bike......it's beautiful.

You should try it. Talk about drinking the kool-aid......