Single Speed Bikes

Singlespeeding For The Mind………… (And The Rise Of Neo- Luddism?) by Mike Hayes

Neo-Luddism…'being a Luddite in the internet age' according to my dictionary. It also contains a clear definition of Luddite…. So I’m sure yours does too, in which case no point in me putting in extra effort to reproduce it here…..

I’ve been thinking about this as I happily spin my way round the Cornish lanes on my bicycle with no gears (well, it has one..!), without a mobile phone (because I don’t own one) contemplating photography with a camera (my Leica) that is essentially unchanged from the 1950’s with it’s one concession to modern technology being a battery for a light meter….

I’ve been unconsciously rebelling against the ever-increasing pace and complexity of modern life for a while now – you know, cooking basic, seasonal foods, ignoring the “latest must-haves” and becoming increasingly weary of trying to keep up with the demands and expectations placed on me….. Hmmm, I’m in danger of going off-topic here so consider the preceding as a general introductory pre-amble and I’ll get back to the real topic at hand, bicycling 'sans gears'!

I live in Cornwall, not generally known for a lack of hills… quite the opposite in fact so when I decided I was going to build a singlespeed/fixed gear bike ‘they’ all said “you’re mad, what about the hills….!!”, being slightly ‘individual’ that was all the encouragement I needed!

It all started I suppose with an apparent resurgence in interest within the cycling world of riding without gears, it’s become very much a cult-thing with its own world championships (singlespeed mountainbiking). The MTB’ers will tell you they “rediscovered it first” though of course the old-skool bicycle courier crowd have been riding fixed since year dot. I ride road primarily and also wanted a pretty-much maintenance free and cheap winter training bike. By throwing away all the gears and shifters one can pretty much achieve those two goals in one gleeful swoop.

So what about the bike……..? The unwritten code of ethics regarding such machinery is that it should be properly retro in flavour so I sorted myself out with a steel track frame from the US and collected a variety of classic old components courtesy of my junk box, eBay and the large box of “stuff” under the workshop bench in my local bike shop. A couple of hours of wrenching in Sept 2004 and it was done….. it even looked good enough to garner drools of admiration from the global fixed-gear community. I did build it with a fixed sprocket (no freewheel) in the ‘purist’ way but sort of suspecting that I might not enjoy Cornwall’s steep and twisty descents, especially at night, I stuck a singlespeed freewheel on the other side of the flip-flop hub. The hardcore ‘fixxers’ out there will cry foul but I happily ignore them, the much vaunted purity of purpose and serenity of mind that goes with riding fixed can also be had in singlespeed mode, it’s just a bit nicer in Cornwall not having to spin your legs at 150rpm every time the road plummets downwards….

The riding….. here’s the key, and one I’ve been guilty of preaching to the local roadies… “even in Cornwall where the road spends most of it’s time pointing either up or down, gears on your bike are unnecessary – but you need to try it to find out.” There are some caveats I suppose….. you need to be reasonably fit and you need to be a reasonably efficient rider. There are some amongst us who just aren’t ‘made’ to cycle… I see guys riding along with elbows and knees pointing all over the place, shoulders bobbing up and down like a woodpecker and the pedalling action you’d associate with square wheels….. though if you took their gears away then maybe they’d learn to ride properly!

There are loads of sensible reasons to ride without gears in the hills, the usual quoted ones are all to do with developing smooth pedalling and good climbing technique, building leg strength and keeping maintenance low…. There’s more to it than that though, and finally after 677 words of rambling (I counted….), I’m getting to the crux of this piece – it’s good for the mind.

I guess I could have titled this “Zen and the Art of Singlespeeding”, it might have been more appropriate given my Zen-like state of mind when riding but would have been too obvious. By removing the need to consider what gear to use, by no longer having a reference to how fast you might going on a geared machine and through enjoyment of the silence of a ‘perfect’ drivetrain one can achieve a wonderful relaxed state of mind.

To a certain extent it’s impossible to force the pace, better to choose a level of effort and let the terrain dictate the pace…. Truly “at one with the road” (ahem!). Hills are no problem (really), press on the pedals and the bike will glide up at whatever pace the gradient dictates is appropriate, helped along by the efficiency of a simple drivetrain and perfect chainline. Granted it takes some time to find a gear that suits, for me it’s 72” or 44T x 17T, one that lets you climb your favourite hills yet allows a decent pace on the flat. My chosen gear lets me spin comfortably at up to 42km/hr on the flat (should I really want to) yet still allows me to wrestle the bike up a 25% climb… provided it’s short, and note that I’d rather not! 20% is much friendlier…..

So there you go, looking for an escape that actually costs less rather than more and doesn’t require the use of mind-altering drugs…. here it is, give it a go, fixed or singlespeed, it’s all cycling after all!

"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft... As for me, give me a fixed gear!"

Henri Desgrange

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