How much does singlespeed slow you down?

Hi,

I entered a local 25-mile race this morning. I was the only singlespeeder as far as I could see.

Put in a time that I would have been happy with on a geared bike, but it got me thinking about how much extra time we should 'allow ourselves' for only having the one gear. This was a pretty hilly route, so it has to make a difference.

What do people reckon, percentage-wise?

This was a pretty hilly route. What do people reckon, percentage-wise?

Do I detect that you're taking the piss fruitbat? Just trying to ask what i thought was an interesting question...

the only way you're gonna find out is to do the same route geared and fixed.

then do the calc

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

its pretty obvious, and seeing as you actually entered the race you should know more than anyone.

Your leaving yourself open to piss taking..

In the City, for me singlespeed fixed is the only choice. It makes me much faster.

On long rides, with stretches of flat where you could really make the most of a very high gear, and freewheeling or possibly pumping hard down hills too.

In terms of uphill for me, anything so extreme that I cant get up on my single "speed" walking would be better than riding.

I like this forum and I've enjoyed some good banter on here but maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind tonight. I just found myself wondering how my time singlespeed compares to the times of people with gears, and I thought it was quite an interesting thing to muse about on here. If that opens me up to ridicule then fair enough I apologise.

Don't worry about it. The mind tends to get bogged down in the minutiae of cycling analytics after 25 hard miles in the saddle.

As mentioned above by RPM, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If you do it again geared (in similar conditions, and in similar physical condition) you'll know - and then you can reward yourself by eating copious amounts of pudding.

singlespeed's faster than buses, which should answer your question.

but then, walking is faster than buses as well..

I'm gonna do the same route by bus just to check. I think the Milland bus goes on a Tuesday and the one I need after that goes on a Friday.

if you wanted to go to Leicester Square from says, Pentonville Road (King's Cross), it's actually faster than buses, it took me nearly 45 minutes to get there via bus while walking take 20 minutes (10 minutes is all it take to get to Holborn by walking, bus take 30 minutes).

I'm gonna do the same route by bus just to check. I think the Milland bus goes on a Tuesday and the one I need after that goes on a Friday.

ha ha ! try it on a bmx too. i rode the isle of skye on a bmx, as a kid. point blank refused to give any quarter to my family i was riding with, all flexing their gears at me. cheats ! ;0)

had to drag my grifter out of the garage while my usual bike was busted last week funnily enough. enjoying the nostalgia didn't last out the 18 mile ride, especially after the f'in thing threw me out of red (that's a gear, btw) halfway up a hill.

It's not gonna be a straight correlation, though. I mean, for example: riding my fixed around London I'm quicker in central London with lighter gearing, as it makes me more nimble, but much faster crossing London on an arterial road with steeper gearing for the extra oomph. Similarly, having to really attack hills to have a hope of getting up them might improve your hill-climbing relative to chugging up them more slowly in a lower gear. If you were riding fixed, the flywheel effect may have helped you too.

So I dunno, depends on the course really. A lot of people TT fixed out of preference, so>>>

In the City, for me singlespeed fixed is the only choice.

how does this work?

a single, fixed gear.

10%

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Simon the question you asked does have answers, but maybe you've asked in the wrong place, or maybe not the right way. Fair enough, that there are advantages and disadvantages to just about anything, but this is a fixed gear and singlespeed forum, and some of the folks on here totally believe that fixed/ss IS superior......and its become a lifestyle choice. You would get just as many takers if you asked if anyone was interested in cheap pork on a Vegetarian forum. Yes its a food, but offensive to those that cannot abide it. The same applies to asking folk who REALLY believe in what they do (fg/ss cycling), if they can tell you how much more inferior it is to what they have left behind.

10%

what does burabura mean?

I'm sure the question has an answer - it's probably the subject of a PhD dissertation somewhere. On hills, according to the article I've posted below, there's a measurable effect of cadence on the economy (efficiency) of uphill cycling, and the cadence you can maintain without gears is going to be determined by your muscle and your muscle alone. However, as we know, geared drive trains are less efficient than SS ones.

On flat, with the right ratio, I reckon SS should win out.

http://www.sportsci.org/encyc/cyclingupdown/cyclingupdown.html

I think ぶらぶら　means to sway or swing to and fro; or to loiter or to loaf idly

Laden or unladen?

Bin Laden?

ぐずぐず！！