I ride fixed a lot, but I recently built a single speed mountain bike (Monocog) and it has some of the qualities I like in riding fixed:
Interesting: I like the challenge (psychological) and difficulty (physiological) of adapting to different conditions by changing my pedaling style and "planning ahead" -- for example, to pick an easier line up a hill, or gain momentum for a deep sandy patch, or conserving energy for a longer climb. The dumb simplicity. I can wash and lube my one derailleur bike, but there's so much less to wash and wipe and annoint with just one cog and ring. The ruggedness: hardly anything to break. Of course, derailleur bikes aren't exactly fragile, especially if you use a friction system. I do like fixed on the road better than ss; there is a perhaps very minor but I think discernable "momentum" effect as the wheel forces the crank by its inertia over the top of the pedal stroke. Some people scoff at this idea, but OTOH, when I ride fixed for a while and then start riding a freewheel, my pedaling style is at least for a very brief while somewhat choppy. Also, interesting, it's noticeably easier to "post" over bumps while pedaling if the drivetrain is fixed than if it has a freewheel. Momentum or just ingrained habituation to keeping your crank turning? At any rate, easier for me than with a fw). On Sun, Apr 18, 2021 at 9:55 PM Roberta <[email protected]> wrote: > I am truly curious. How is it different than just not shifting? How is > it more fun? When I was looking for a second Riv, Will (at Riv) suggested > their single speed (I didn't do it). > > I had a 49 lb Raleigh LTD-3 for a few months prior to Riv, which had been > converted it to a single speed. I rode the bike around downtown for > errands. It was tons of fun, but Philadelphia is flat downtown, so SS was > OK. I'd be concerned about any hills. > > Roberta > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/fe7a0b4f-f533-4d4c-883e-e1c36b751c57n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/fe7a0b4f-f533-4d4c-883e-e1c36b751c57n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Patrick Moore Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgv_M10Sf-5hFw%2BSrrU6U-d0%3DJPU9pvTgLDm4_nUJyjYZA%40mail.gmail.com.
