Single speed bike options

CharmingMan

Howdy Folks,

have been doing a bit of lurking and it seems you know your onions when it comes to bikes.

Im about to get my self a new bike budget £500

And have been lusting over the Kona Paddy wagon, it seems an ideal entry level bike for single speeds since i can flip the hub for a freewheeling.

That said im still open to the idea of getting a racy looking hybrid.

My typical routes will include a few steady inclines but nothing too hairy so Im a little cautious in going for a single speed just in case i don't have the fitness for it to practical.

I wondered if it was possible if I buy the bike and decide i need gears whether i would be able to put gears on it and whether that would be a very costly exercise???

Also can anyone recommend any decent hybrids within my budget, things im looking for.


Stripped down appearence
Few gears as possible
Retro styling
Racy appearence

Ideal situation is if I had the kona and it just had 5gears or something.

Im a total newb to this so excuse me if i said anything silly or obvious

lost_in_thought

Hi, and welcome!

Firstly, a couple of things:

1. I'm afraid you can't go from SS (single-speed) to gears, well, not conventional gears anyway, the width of the rear 'fork' is narrower on a SS than on a geared bike. However, you may be able to put a hub gear on it. I, alas, know nothing about hub gears. Someone who does will be along shortly!

2. Almost all SS bikes come with the 'flip flop hub' that allows you to choose between freewheel and fixed. If you manage to find one without said hub, it's not an expensive exercise to replace the rear wheel.

Where do you live? I wouldn't really recommend starting off on a SS in the hilly bit of Wales, but somewhere flatter it should be fine - it's really not an expensive exercise to play around with your gearing on the single speed to find something that's appropriate for the terrain.

Budget-wise, you'll get more for your money buying a SS...

As far as getting something with as few gears as possible, I don't mean to be rude, but that strikes me as being perhaps a slightly daft idea - you don't pay by the gear, so why not get more?! You don't have to use them...

If you're looking for a 'racy-looking hybrid' perhaps you should really just go in for a road bike instead?

There's this type of thing:




but if you're not anti- the idea of drop bars (the curly ones) then they do offer more hand positions and comfort than a flat bar, so perhaps something like this:



Whaddaya reckon?

pastryboy

I believe a lot of cyclocoss SS bikes have 135mm spacing so you could add an alfine hub or other gearing system if you wanted.

supersonic

it depends on the frame and bike - some frames will have gear hangers and 135mm spacings.

itsbruce

You can get some very nice SS/Fixed bikes for that budge.

Charge Plug Check out the Freestyler and Racer variants as well. All reviewed on this site, I believe.

Schwinn Madison. If you don't like the cruiser style grips, you can always change them (or buy the 2009 version - like I did, yesterday).

Mongoose Maurice

I saw a Specialized Langster Steel (lovey red colour) in the Evans at The Cut in Waterloo for just under £500 - bet that could be found elsewhere.

Ooh, and let's not forget Surly! The Steamroller is a beast and I bet you can pick up a 2009 version for your budget, or near. You can find the 2010 for £560 in some places.

Lots of choice!

nielsamd

CharmingMan wrote:

I wondered if it was possible if I buy the bike and decide i need gears whether i would be able to put gears on it and whether that would be a very costly exercise???

How about the Kinesis Decade Convert?
Conversion is possible... a 19.95 dropout option (not including actual geared stuff I guess) on this bike allows you to convert from SS to geared....
tho such work would suit a home mechanic type person more.
Here's a review:
http://road.cc/content/review/6864-kine ... ert2-fixed

jonny_trousers

If it's cool looks on a great bike you're after then I would agree with Bruce regarding the Charge Plug. If you could extend your budget a little also then you could consider the Charge Mixer which comes with an 8 speed hub gear. I have seen a couple of these in great condition on Ebay go for around £500.

You do need to think about the terrain you will be riding on when choosing a bike, but if you are relatively fit you should be able to tackle the odd hill on a single speed. When I had my EBC hybrid I would usually end up in one of the lowest two gears when tackling the final, fairly steep hill on my commute. Now that I am on my single speed I do not have that option, but it eats up the climb no problem. I guess that's because it is so light, so responsive and because I have no other option (barring getting off and walking), I just climb out of the seat and power on through.

Oh, it might be worth looking at the Genesis Day 1 also as that is within your price range, gets great reviews and looks very pretty.

I would echo LIT and suggest you seriously consider going for drop bars over flats.

Good luck!

MrChuck

It's a bit over your budget at £635 but a Cotic Roadrat can run singlespeed, derailleur gears or Alfine gears, and comes in either flat or dropped bars versions.

http://www.cotic.co.uk/product/bikes/roadrat/drop_bar/

Review from road.cc here:
http://road.cc/content/review/3055-cotic-roadrat-drop-bar

Edit: And v-brakes or discs too!

andy83

check out the bike in my sig, a little over your budget but very well made, retro look and i love mine

riding it fixed and so much better

drops definitely more comfortable if your not too bothered about using them over flats

supersonic

I'm amazed at how expensive some SS bikes can be, especially when you consider it is missing half a drivetrain.

I'd be tempted to get a geared bike and if you feel the need for one gear, sipmly convert it.

DevUK

Again, over budget but the Kinesis Decade Convert 2 can be changed from SS/Fixed to a fully geared road bike. Just a case of swapping out the drop outs and fitting gears. Comes with all the usual rack/mudguard mountings too. I think it's in the £600 - £650 price range though.

http://kinesisdecade.co.uk/product.php?id=7

symo

Day One by genesis.

Mine is the sh!t

mkirby

im going to be getting one of these a creme vinyl uno fixed.

There on chain reaction cycles for £549 comes with both front and rear brakes.