Many here recommend getting your toes wet by using a tensioner. Fine, of course.
And many here have said weight doesn't matter.
If that's the case, then why not go and ride around with one gear just to try it out?
Just try riding in one gear, right? People do this. Usually when their shifter cables busts on a ride they have to.
I know a guy who hardly ever shifts, and he calls it single speeding. Of course it isn't. Still, he charges away just like a single speeder most of the time...except when he's going downhill. Then he's charging ahead with speed.
The down hill aspect of single speeding is something to get used to. Because one is often in too low of a gear to apply any torque with which to gain velocity or help manual the front end upwards, and other things, the bike feels a bit dead. Of court it's dead, it's a bike. But you'll know what I mean.
Yeah, I think most of us who thought about trying SS, started with the experiment of not shifting. I did. It's hard to resist shifting since we do it often without thinking.
A lot, perhaps most, of us ride geared bikes as well. Sometimes we might even try to shift a shifter that isn't there.
It's kind of like riding a bike without a seat dropper post when you're used to one. It's like, woah, no seat dropper!
There's nothing wrong with a tensioner, as long as it works. The two things about them that bug me: The extra perhaps negligible sound they make. And the small amount drag.
Knowing about that would bug me. But nothing's perfect.
I'll throw in another aspect. That's bike fit. I've found I set a bike frame up differently if it's a single speed vs geared. But the fit aspect comes later, after a lot of riding and thinking something is a little off. And that search for the right stem, handlebar, and seat position is like the slow migration of turtles across the ocean.
So try riding around without shifting.
When I did that, it sucked!
I knew I needed a real single speed to experience it. Because it's not just about the ups.
Think about the flatter sections of a ride where on a single speed you're at a disadvantage. There are a lot of places it's hard or impossible to keep up with geared bike.
My wife and I call it crazy legs when you soon as fast a possible. At first it's hard to pedal fast without bouncing up and down too much.
After a while a rounder smoother spin can be developed. It takes some energy. You can do that in sections, up until you spin out, and cannot hold it any more. A weird exercise that can hurt the knees and the crotch!
The entire SS bike and ride is an oxymoronic uncompromising compromise.
Like it or not, if you really get into it, it's hard to stop. Well it is that way for me.
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