Convert to single speed?

Hi there!

I recently bought a very old and very cheap vintage road bike online. The state of the bike is not optimal, but it rides fine and that is the most important thing to me. My front derailleur is broken and the back usually skips a gear or two, and it almost never shifts back to the smallest gear. I'm not a professional rider, nor do I want to be, I just ride for fun and for exercise. I don't shift very often, because it doesn't really work well. I'm considering to turn my bike into a single speed, so that I don't need to worry about shifting anymore and maintenance will be a lot easier. What are your thoughts? A good idea or a waste of time and effort etc.?

Comments

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    Partly depends on where you live and what you want to use the bike for but absolutely, why not?

    It's considerably less faff once it's set up and in some instances quite liberating actually.
  • Hi Thom. I rode for many years with multiple cogs on the rear cluster but without any derailleurs and obviously a much shortened chain sitting on just one gear. The local hipster/ fixy crew probably thought it naff, but I couldn't afford a new wheel/conversion...and I didn't really care. It probably adds a bit of weight which will just make you faster downhill, yeah?