Cycling UK Forum

pwa wrote: ↑19 Jul 2023, 8:39am In my part of the world, a decent range of gears is a must, unless you have very strong legs and a powerful pair of lungs. Hills are a fact of life here. They can go on for miles, too.

But I have often considered the simplicity and purity of a fixed wheel single speed bike. I love the way it looks, the lack of clutter, and the near complete rejection of the need to fret about cassettes, mechs, gear levers and cables. Just one ring and one sprocket, job done, get on and ride.

Then I return to the reality of life in Wales, with our named hill climbs, and I think about my knees and accept that I do want a gear in the low twenties (inches) sometimes, and I don't want to be riding that gear on the flat as well. I know I can get off and walk, but I love the simplicity of rding, without on-off interuptions for hills, just cruising over every rise in the road. And the fact is that my gears are so familiar to me that my hands change gear almost without me thinking.

I love the idea of a fixed single speed but I know it would never get used if I had one.

pete75 wrote: ↑19 Jul 2023, 9:51am When I was 12 I had a bike with a 3 speed Benelux derailleur, it even had a toggle chain. Did that meet teh criteria for three speed riding?

Carlton green wrote: ↑19 Jul 2023, 10:10am

pwa wrote: ↑19 Jul 2023, 8:39am In my part of the world, a decent range of gears is a must, unless you have very strong legs and a powerful pair of lungs. Hills are a fact of life here. They can go on for miles, too.

But I have often considered the simplicity and purity of a fixed wheel single speed bike. I love the way it looks, the lack of clutter, and the near complete rejection of the need to fret about cassettes, mechs, gear levers and cables. Just one ring and one sprocket, job done, get on and ride.

Then I return to the reality of life in Wales, with our named hill climbs, and I think about my knees and accept that I do want a gear in the low twenties (inches) sometimes, and I don't want to be riding that gear on the flat as well. I know I can get off and walk, but I love the simplicity of rding, without on-off interuptions for hills, just cruising over every rise in the road. And the fact is that my gears are so familiar to me that my hands change gear almost without me thinking.

I love the idea of a fixed single speed but I know it would never get used if I had one.

IIRC Wayfarer used a fixed gear bike, ventured into Wales and went all over the place on a gear of 66” - or roughly that. To be fair I wouldn’t dream of doing such travel, but I have ridden with people who did remarkably well on fixed.

IIRC you live in the Vale of Glamorgan, the northern part of it is hilly but to my recollection much of the coastal area isn’t that bad. Family members have lived in Cardiff and so have I, it’s predominantly flat enough for a three speed to be useable there and I’ve seen people commute using them. Of course Wales is a big place and a large percentage of it is hilly to mountainous, a case of ride what you can and walk the rest. Could you ride all of Wales on a three speed? Doubtless it could be done by someone but my first preference would be something more appropriate.

Can a three speed bike do it all? From my own experience I know that it cannot and I hope that I never implied that it could. My object in this thread is to celebrate the much that it can and does do and the joy that’s it has brought to vast - countless even - numbers of cyclists.

pwa wrote: ↑19 Jul 2023, 11:10am If we all rode the same sort of bike, wouldn't it be boring!

jimlews wrote: ↑21 Jul 2023, 9:25am Until it got stolen I used to ride a S/A AW around the Devon lanes; the bit just West of Exeter, where it starts to get 'lumpy'.
From home there were 1:4 hills in every direction and I sometimes towed a trailer of logs or hay bails or flour sacks.
So the AW had to be geared low. A 22t sprocket driven by a 22t chainwheel the latter being cannibalised from a kiddicrank.
Used to commute from Haldon ridge to Killerton in all whether. Through Exeter and across the flat land to Killerton House my
riding technique was to spin and freewheel; spin and freewheel etc. Great fun. The bike was good in snow up to about 3"
deeper than that, or if frozen, things started to get a bit 'sketchy'.
All now cloaked in about 35yrs of nostalgia.

Biospace wrote: ↑21 Jul 2023, 1:29pm A traditional 3sp SA bike could work very well in combination with a front hub motor. Has anyone here tried this?

jimlews wrote: ↑23 Jul 2023, 9:17am

Biospace wrote: ↑21 Jul 2023, 1:29pm A traditional 3sp SA bike could work very well in combination with a front hub motor. Has anyone here tried this?

Not quite the same thing, but...
Sturmey Archer used to make gears for motorbikes.