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Hi Single Speeders! I made my mountain bike into a single speed years ago. I had been on a trip to India and was amazed to see that a billion people manage just fine on one speeds - and they never even oil their chains! So I tried it and I'm hooked. But people ask why and I really can't explain it. I felt better after looking over your web site because you don't even bother with the "Why" question - just do it!

Martin Impey

Neither have I found nor am I seeking the light. My irredeemably pagan mind cannot begin to grasp the overwhelming need for suffering that some of our brothers and sisters are plagued by. Neo-Luddites such as your ilk are to be pitied for their espousal of simplicity for the sake of simplicity. Try a trek across Death Valley barefoot as the complex footwear is surely as sinful as gears, if you really want to bleed, sweat, blister and SUFFER in your simplistic purity. Ah, yes, I'm sure you yearn for a cycling Reinheitsgebot retroactive to 1516. The next step to simplicity is the un-invention of the wheel - just place the (wooden) frame against your aching crotch and do a stick-horsey gallop up the hills. From SS to NONSENSE (Null-Option No-Speed Ersatz Nirvana Simulacrum-cycle Ecologically-angelic-vehicle).

Just joking of course. Sorry for the unimaginative acronym but it was the best I could do without excessive brain-strain. I'm just writing to commend you on your faith in the SS cause. Really, my point of view is, if it works for you and it fills part of your existential vacuum, go for it. Myself, I can't afford to invest in a SS bike right now so I will remain in limbo for the moment. Moreover, at my relatively unripe middle-age (54) I'm not sure that my knees could take the uphill beatings. I may be wrong, as I speak out of ignorance and memories of my 10 year-old self lugging a heavy balloon-tired single speed up even the most innocuous of inclines. On top of that I have some years of experience climbing 5,000 feet and more, and I am not sure I could do that on a one-geared cycle.

Take care and keep on biking,
Bill

A word of encouragement to anyone out there who rides near the back of the pack or just wants to get stronger. My main focus is on running longer distances in the mountains around Durango. I ride because it’s fun and a good way to get out with my friends who pretty much hammer (all they do is ride and, while I'm not slow, I have a hard time keeping up sometimes) Well I had an old Cannondale lying around that I was using as a town bike and I have seen one or two SS’s around town and thought they looked cool. To make a long story short I converted the thing to a SS for minimal $ and started riding. After a couple of weeks I went for a nice two-hour ride with lots of climbing with two buddies who usually leave me behind. They didn't have a chance. I don't care how fast they can spin up hills in their small ring it is never gonna be as fast as an SSer can power up the steeps (and I have not found a hill that I can't make and I've been looking). Sure there might be a little more pain involved but that's half the point and besides it's way cool motoring past people who can't imagine not being in their little ring and seeing or hearing their expression when they realize that you don't have a little ring. Convert now and be saved!

Will in Durango (there's more of us than you think)

Yo,

I just wanted to let you know that I stumbled on you site and it motivated me to single speed my back-up mountain bike. Low and behold I had a large drivetrain issue on my geared bike, "forcing" me to rock the single speed until an unnamed Canadian component manufacturer does some warranty work.

Anyway, as it turns out I’m another cliché single speed lover now. I don't care when I get my geared bike working again. All I can think about is getting a dedicated single speed frame.

I thought I’d let you know you've won another convert. Maybe I will submit a review of some beer or something if that's cool. Even before I knew about the joys of one gearing it, I knew of the joys of beer.

Keep the good stuff coming.

Later,
Eric

I just visited your site for the first time. Really cool. I like the saving trees, drinking beer, riding for the hell of it ‘zine that y’all are putting out. I've messengered in Seattle for the past three years and finally gave it up this summer because of too many squished friends and broken frames. Anywho, single speed is the way to go nothing to fix or to hear, all I need is a fender. Just pedaling. Definitely the way to go. Would you please do a review on Old English and Steel Reserve (211) for all of us ghetto poor riders?

Thanks,
Teal

Check this issue’s taproom section for some low budget goodies. - ed.

Hello fellow singulars out there,

I just found this place. Sweet 'zine. I have been riding a single speed off road for the past year and a half. I am now to the point where I can clean all the trails in the area except for one climb (and that one isn't far from being cleaned). I have an old aluminum frame built up with spare parts and as my geared bikes got out of adjustment or needed work, I just parked them. (Klein mantra, IF 853 hardtail, Bontrager ti). This weekend I started a new project; I started the striping down of the Bontrager ti. I have installed a threaded kinesis aluminum fork (YES, OLD SCHOOL THREADED), a Chris King headset, Easton carbon riser bar, and an old set of Marazek magnesium brakes. The Bontrager built up with gears weighed 22lbs. this should be in the 17lb-18lb range. Kick-ass old school with ultra-lite technology. I will keep you informed on the progress and send a photo when done.

Numbskullmtbikin

Something to say I have. New to the Single Speed scene I am. On the band wagon I am not. Now that that is out of the way, is single speed riding a newer fad or are more of us getting older and becoming "Retro grouches"? What is a retro grouch? Sounds like an ass to me. We should ride because we like it. Not to hug trees or be that rider that blocks traffic once a month and feels that he/she has done good in the world when all he/she does is piss people off.

Pissing people off is bad. Being pissed on is worse (I don't know I just imagine it would be). The world has definitely gotten lazy, very lazy. The government doesn't do anything, they are afraid of "Hurting somebody's feelings". Sept. 11 was sad but we mourned it and should have been pissed. But we continue to let people in and take that beating over and over again. If you want to make a difference, start with yourself. Maybe others will look up to you and decide to change.

I know, boring writing, but I had to get rid of those thoughts. I am new to single speeding bought, a Surly and love it. I ride the local trails here in Nebraska and get my ass kicked. It is fun and I enjoy it. I wasn't told to do it, I just did it because I could. I can have a Heineken if I want right now. Smoke if I want. Will it last? Maybe, maybe not. I guess that is up to us. Angry I get when I think about it. Oh well. I hope somebody agrees with what I have to say.

Kubrel

Hey SSOutlaw,

Here is just a little rant that maybe some fellow Uni-Browed Speeders can relate too. This is formulated from a series of experiences I have had since the build-up of my One speeder. Just remember, this is just what I'm feeling at the moment, and I mean no offense to any geared folks out there. I for one still have 2 other geared bikes, and had a humbling experience last week where I was spanked by some swell gear heads.

Picture this, you show up at a local meeting spot for a ride with mixed folks of all abilities, types of bikes, yada yada - fine. Then while you're doing your thing, strap-on helmet, shoes, whatever, listening to the growing group as they ready themselves, and as usual, one person's voice seems to always stick out from the rest of them. You say to yourself, "Oh Jeez, that's the guy that likes to talk about biking, more than actually biking", but he doesn't know it. Now you’re all ready, and Mister Observant over there with the pipe-mouth, over priced geared bike, "I'm the dealers bitch" bike, and the multitude of biking accessories hanging off him and his piece, notices that you'll be riding an SS today. So he starts with the flapping of his gums, lips spewing out all this bull-shit that I'm nauseated, saying in these exact words, "Oh you won't be able to keep up on a Single Speed!" He says it like he's the most confident man on the planet, rigid as an oak, crisp as a fresh $100 bill. Before you can even get two words in, he's spouting off to one of his boner biting, friends about how he Used to have a single speeder, kinda in a tone where he's like, "Oh yeah, been there, done that before, on to the next thing". My response in my head is, "Yeah, on to the easier, more pussy-footed thing".

Enough with the pre-ride jibba jabber, we get to riding. Of course there's always the warm-up section before you get to the meat and potatoes of the ride, and you hear Mr. Toolbox up there louder than ever. He seems to raise his decibel level so that even me, as I hang in the back of the gravy train, can hear him like he's mere inches away. Riding, riding, spinning for a while, hills a startin' most people stop talking as breathing seems to take priority, now this includes Mr. I'm-changing-gears-now-cause-my-pimply-ass-legs-can't-handle-it, and you realize for the first time, it's quiet. I wonder why? My buddy Nhoj and I would be just starting the yapping. It's a good climb and I find myself passing the sub-SSers, easily, like they are standing still. One after another, they fumble to find a gear, some tipping over cause they're in to high of a gear, others spinning in the lowest possible chain ring/cog combo, they’re done for as well. I think to myself, "Man, you'd think folks with gears would know how to use them?" Up ahead, and quickly falling back is our jolly fellow, "The ride leader". You can hear him wheezing, you can hear how he doesn't maintain his bike (he has the dealer do it) as his rear derailleur is not adjusted correctly, "Click, click, sputter". You are now side by side, and passing him, just like I passed a bunch of non-SSers at the last Biathlon I just did. You pass him like he's a lowly obstacle in the trail. A glance to the left and a nod of the head confirms that you have just crushed he pee-sized ballsack and defeated yet another "Presumptuous asshole".

These presumptuous folks who live in such a small mental world really need to get out of bed from the other side and learn to maybe think before they spew off something really stupid. I mean they make my job of filtering out all the bone-heads all too easy! Within 30 seconds of seeing this guy I knew he was about as smart as the last dead log I just hopped over. So, I say, BEWARE OF THESE TYPES OF PEOPLE!!! I cannot draw you a picture of what they look like, because I will not stereo-type (The guy was older, 35-40 yrs, starting to bald, full suspension bike, big company name brand, obviously not married, what kind of woman would wanna hear him flappin his butt- cheeks all day long?) My advice: Listen, watch, observe, seek out these types, prey and EAT them when they are most vulnerable! Then when you’re done, take their $400+ lighting system!!! LOL, not really, you get the point.

Rock on, One Fucking Speed!!!
Steve, Long Island NY