CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Edinburgh - South Queensferry - Single Speed Advice

(15 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by sonofcedric
  • Latest reply from Tulyar

  1. sonofcedric
    Member

    Hi there, long time listener first time caller. I commute from South Queensferry to Edinburgh. I have stepped up to 5 days a week this year and am intending to try and keep this going through winter.

    To save on maintenance during the harsher winter weather months I am considering converting my road bike to single speed.

    I see the most common ratio for running a single speed road bike seem to be 42 – 16. To me that seems like gearing built for riding on the flat and might be a bit of a strain to pull it up the hill from Cramond brig.

    Just wondering if any of you ride single speed on this route or know anyone one that does and what gearing ratio works for you or them.

    I tend to ride medium hard intensity at a cadence of around 100rpm if that helps point towards any particular gearing (probably not).

    Also is the extra strain of pulling a big gear up the hills likely to lessen the number of days you can do in a week? If I could only manage 3 – 4 days before my legs broke on a single speed I don’t think I would make the switch

    Cheers Folks,

    Owen

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. custard
    Member

    Having pondered single speed myself
    Could you not put your bike in the closest gear you have to 42-16 and make the commute?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. remberbuck
    Member

    Hi sonofcedric,

    I can't think of anything to suggest that this would be impossible. I ride 46 - 16 up South Lauder Road through the winter, and while happy enough to get to the top, I've never felt the desperate urge to stop.

    There are other variables of course - my set up is with 23 Gatorskins and clipless - but I would give it a go. Your legs get used to it very quickly.

    And it's not too hard or expensive to convert to a 17 or 18.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    42-16 was what I used to ride in my fixed wheel days - and did the ride to S Queensferry a few times on that. It's definitely hard work, but do-able. And as buck says, your legs get used to it*.

    *note, you will develop 'fixed fitness' if you ride exclusively fixed, which bizarrely makes switching back to gears seem like harder work.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. Dave
    Member

    When I used to ride out to work in Dunfermline I rode a fixed with 48-18 then 48-20 gearing. I preferred the latter. It works out about 42-17 if that's what you've got.

    As for riding five days, singlespeed is going to be less strenuous overall IMO, because you'll mostly be travelling on gradients that you'd currently ride in a bigger gear. Therefore your power output will be lower, and you can expect less fatigue.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. sonofcedric
    Member

    Cheers for the advice and encouragement guys. I have tried climbing the hills in a stiff gear to get a feel for it. but not really knowing how to calculate the ratios, could anyone recommend how I could replicate 42 -16 when running 50 - 34 on the front and 12 - 25 (8 speed cassette) on the back? Sorry if I sound like an absolute simpleton. Thanks again,

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator should help out.

    Maybe something around 50 - 18?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. Dave
    Member

    You can do it with division as it's just a ratio:

    42/16 = 2.625

    50/2.625 = 19
    34/2.625 = 12.95

    So you could either use a 50/19 or 34/13 ratio.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. sonofcedric
    Member

    Cheers guys, that's great, will give it ago. Have a good weekend.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. Instography
    Member

    I used to use my single speed from Limekilns to Edinburgh and found the 42:16 OK on the hills but a pain on the flat / downhills, spinning out when I could have been going faster. Changed it to 52:16.

    It's a different discipline riding single speed up hills. With no gear to shift down to, you have to attack hills and pedal like mad to get up before you run out of steam. I guess that's why I've never managed to get my single speed up Arthur's Seat.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. allebong
    Member

    I'm going to be somewhat contrarian for a moment and note that IMO the maintenance advantages of singlespeed are often overstated. The only true low maintenance option is a hub gear and fully enclosed chaincase - anything that has the chain and cogs exposed, with gears or not, is going to get ruined sooner or later by the weather. There's certainly a case to be made that the removing of the derailleur is one less point of failure, and that singlespeed is more resilient to hard use anyway, but the chain is still going to need to be cleaned and lubricated all the same if you want it running smooth.

    I'm also assuming you have or will be getting full mudguards, they are not optional for winter commuting and will drastically extend the lifespan of your components. Before winter kicks in I'd recommend a complete strip and rebuild of the bike - grease up everything and possibly get new cables/brake pads. I've commuted through enough winters and plain old bad weather to know the value of a well prepared bike. Come spring it's the difference between needing another relatively straightforward service, or needing to replace a whole stack of parts.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Here's a thought though - to keep a hub / singlespeed bike in optimum condition you have to keep moving the wheel back as the chain stretches. A dérailleur does that for you. So there is an element of fiddly built-in maintenance with the former that you don't get with the latter.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  13. Instography
    Member

    I've never snapped a chain on any bike but my single speed. And that's snapped twice. I guess it's under more strain because there's no choice but to push it hard when climbing.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  14. Uberuce
    Member

    For winter purposes I would say go one step further and enter fixed territory. Unfortunately I would also say that you need a dedicated track-end frame since you can put chain tugs in them(even better is to have integral tugs like my daily workhorse) which makes the frequent chain adjustment Kappers mentioned a doddle.

    I certainly prefer cleaning my drivetrain on my fixeds to on my geareds. The fixeds only have two cogs, and they're far apart, whereas the others have 22+ and they're fiddlishly close to each other and/or hidden inside the rear mech.

    Biggest plus points I have about winter fixed riding:

    1) The Zen-like connection between rider and road, maaaaaan. Hippy BS, but true; you know you've hit ice slightly quicker than you would on a freewheeling bike, but more importantly, you're conditioned to turn the pedals at exactly the right cadence for your speed, so you don't spin as much.

    b) Snow gets squished out of the chain/cog interface, rather than gumming it up as it does on derailleurs. This is also true of singlespeeds, but you can be lazier with chain tension on them than with fixed.

    Fourth) Legbraking is the most reliable type of brake aside from a foot on the ground or wheel. Coaster brakes are a close second, but they can in principle freeze solid.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  15. Tulyar
    Member

    I used to ride that road on 56-13 and you simply get used to what suits you cadence-wise.

    As Uberuce notes you get the bike moving and keep it rolling, and the momentum of the transmission actually helps carry you past the TDC 'null' on to the most effective power portion in the rotation of the pedals.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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