Can someone explain SS to me

[kaiser]

I'd suggest that you cobble something up as a testbed to see if you (and your knees) get on with SS.
After that you will have a better idea what you want and can then build up a snazzy machine (or abandon the whole thing as a daft idea.)

Theres no need for singlespeed to be the knee destroyer its made out to be, simply lower the gearing and it should help you spin faster which is no bad thing either. Velomaniac runs a seemingly crazy low gear but it doesn't hold him up any, in fact on long drags he's often taken the lead.

 

[hamster]

I agree - wrecked one knee some years ago from an overload injury pulling a child trailer offroad, but a year of SS has been fine.

Maybe the spinning I do to ride on road at the start helps by giving a decent warmup first. :?

 

[Andy R]

Maybe the spinning I do to ride on road at the start helps by giving a decent warmup first. :?

I think that you're right about this - the most I'll ever ride on the flat before the start of a ride proper is 4 or 5 miles, but once you've ridden that at a cadence of 110 you're pretty well warmed up

And as Kaiser said, use gearing suitable for the terrain you ride - last winter I had my bike set-up with 32:21 gearing (way low then, compared to the "standard" 32:16) and while you have to spin like crazy to top 15mph on the flat, hardly any of my riding is like that.
On the other hand, a friend of mine has a 29er and he uses the "standard" 29er gearing of 32:18 (same as 26" 32:16) but he is bigger, younger and (presumably) stronger than me, but more significantly, most of his riding is on faster and less technical stuff than I like (and he races on the SS and doesn't mind having to carry or push when his gearing is too high whereas I like to try and stay on the bike...)

At the minute while it's a bit drier/faster (not for long though :cry: ) I'm geared at 32:19.

 

[dyna-ti]

can somebody explain SS to me

Yes...
You push your bike up hills and retire early through dodgy knees.

 

[cce]

those of us from bristol and district will know that ashton court, leigh woods etc, dont really *need* gears

 

[FSR-Si]

I use my single speeder for training, I have a 15 mile loop that i do 3 times a week loads of up's to build up the legs, And lots of flat to spin out on and stretch the lungs. Benefit of this is when i get on the FSR i can ride longer and harder.

SS currently running a nice 40x15 ratio

 

[DoctorRad]

those of us from bristol and district will know that ashton court, leigh woods etc, dont really *need* gears

Getting *up to* Ashton Court or Leigh Woods might do though... mind you, I'm well out of shape these days...

 

[FluffyChicken]

I've never done single speed, but I may at some point give it a go.

But i'll also give full sus bike ago at the same time to see what all the fuss is not about.

So is a Single Speed Full Suspension bike doable and if so what style rear suspension would be best ?

 

[hamster]

It is doable - you need a URT design so that the chain length doesn't alter - or do the tensioning with a rear mech.

However, I'm personally not convinced that lots of sus is a useful thing on a SS as you need to ride out of the saddle a fair bit to kick it up hills.

 

[suburbanreuben]

I've never done single speed, but I may at some point give it a go.

But i'll also give full sus bike ago at the same time to see what all the fuss is not about.

So is a Single Speed Full Suspension bike doable and if so what style rear suspension would be best ?

This is where a URT rear sus comes into it's own . no tensioner needed , unlike any other suspension.