Thursday, May 29

singlespeed faster than geared?

I ride ss (fix) for the different experience it provides. I would think the same rider would go faster on multigear than ss. The course would determine how much faster. Then I ran across Project SingleSpeed Racer. Can a ss actually be faster than geared? Will be interesting to look at this from an elite level racer's pov.

4 comments:

Biker Bob/Runner Bob said...

Interesting. Let me know when he posts again.

dmars said...

On some courses (swanson, tranquility) I am faster on my single speed. The only time I perfer a geared bike is when I ride places that are extremly flat (manawa), or extremely hilly (Lewis and clark) That being said, in a non race situation, I perfer to ride my single speed, no matter what the trail is.

Josh said...

Very interesting, I've wondered about this myself many times. I've timed myself and have always been faster with gears. Although I nomally feel like I'm riding faster on my SS. Also my SS isn't a race bike by anyones standards.

1by9 said...

With the right gearing (32 x 20) I thought it was easier to do Lewis & Clark on my 29er single than any geared bike I have used there. Same goes for the 12 hour Branched Oak Memorial day marathon.