Nervous about committing to Single Speed

Jeez - so much advice! Well CJWilliams I switched 5 years ago and live in the hilly region of N London and cyle 100 miles a week and the only downside of riding London with 1 gear is that your jeans get tighter. I'll leave you to work that one out for yourself.

No worries! Just reading what you guys were talking about has increased my understanding.

I tend to prefer backpacks so this is not really a problem. Also I'm a bit of an aesthete, and so I wouldn't really want to put a rack on the back.

Racks on the front in comparison, are rad

Agreed

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Np :)

I have a tourer for when I really need to lug a lot around, other than that backpack.

the only downside of riding London with 1 gear is that your jeans get tighter. I'll leave you to work that one out for yourself.

Because massive eric?

What the hell has this forum become? There hasn't been a single post in this thread that wasn't either helpful or funny.

*flounces*

Until about 5 years ago I always rode gears. Was offered a frame, so together with a load of bits I had built my first SS.
The first time I rode it, I couldn't understand why I hadn't done it long ago. Still have my geared bike, but now building another SS racer and also an SS Marin mtb.
personally I would get a used bike from lfgss as apposed to new. Whatever you get, good luck and enjoy riding

I find by timing things you can use a little bit of this momentum. If you are slowly rolling but still going you can use it to restart, on a freewheel not so much.

As a recent convert to riding fixed, I'm not sure how much I'm noticing momentum 'giving back' through the pedals, but i definitely use my momentum a lot more effectively overall. I guess i'm slowing down a lot in places where i'd previous do a last minute hard brake which means i'm not having to start up again from a standstill as much. I'm using brakes less and less so i'm riding a lot more fluidly than i did on gears.

'Giving back' is a misnomer. I guess what riding fixed does is oblige you to cycle more economically as your effort becomes more sustained. It improves your cadence, basically, and you put in less with the same results.

Me too. But it seems my physics ideas is wrong and #pubscience :)

Will the real physics tutor pls stand up ;)

Nothing wrong with a bit of pub science. Did you know you can draft yourself by wearing a backpack the wrong way round?

Hahaha must try that sometime :D

I've seen lights being put the wrong way around: red at the front, white at the back. Perhaps that's a way to travel back in time who knows...

Are you sure they weren't the right way round and you were actually cycling backwards? It can be confusing cycling fixed, after all.

So, the pub science...... stored energy returns and flywheel effect.

Would a heavy rear wheel increase this effect then of the drive train propelling you with even less effort when rolling.

If i took a deep rear rim, and filled it with powdered lead, would that have enough rotational mass to rip the legs off a hipsterfixie skidder when they try to stop a bit quick ? :)

Yes. Their kneecaps would pop clean off and enter orbit. #pubscience

That's the lfgss space program sorted ;)