How silly am I being?

cbgold

This is my first post here. I'm 60 years old, 5"10" and 260#. I know that sounds like a lot but I really am in half decent shape.

Been a while since I've been biking. Used to mountain bike all the time with the kids when they were younger and I was smaller. Now they have their own families.

This is a round about way of saying I was in my local Trek store lookking for a bike when I saw the Trek Soho single speed. I won't say I fell in love but I really liked it. Took it for a spin and liked it even more. I want to be able to commute 8 miles to work each way (70% road and 30% bike path). Only one short steep climb and a couple of smaller ones. My wife things I'm crazy for looking at a single speed. She wants me to stick with 24 speeds. She thinks it will be easier for me. She's afraid I will die on the single speed, but I sure did like it. I also liked just how simple it was.

So how silly am I being for even thinking about the single speed?

Thanks

garage sale GT

How are your knees?


I commuted on a singlespeed for a while. Actually, it was a coaster brake cruiser, not some snazzy track bike. When the hills were too steep, I got off and pushed. If you're not too proud to do that (if you have to) then you're getting the right bike. Much simpler and lighter.

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ohiobiker

I don't think you're being silly at all. I am 45 and I am in the process of building my second single speed. I have a 24 speed road bike for tours and club rides but I love the single speed for running errands and fittness riding.

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gclark8

I build Single Speed Freewheel Bikes on re-furbished older steel frames and 27 x 1 1/4 steel rims.

Most of my clients are well over 45!!

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TheDarkLord

I had a single speed for several years - to get up steep climbs, you either stand up and pedal, or got off and pushed the bike. But then my knees started giving me trouble, and so I have given up on single speeds...

cbgold

Thanks for your all your thoughts.

Confused about the knees. My knees are fine. No problems. Will a single speed cause me more problems in the future with my knees then a geared bike.

Again thanks for your help.

ohiobiker

I'm no doctor but I've never herd of a single speed causing knee trouble. Or a fixie either for that matter.

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Thinkly

8 miles is a pretty short distance so should be no trouble at all. On top of that it's a cool bike and you like it, so what could go wrong?

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cbgold

The husband of a woman I work with just offered to let me borrow a single speed for a month to see if I like it. What a great deal and a great guy! Now I can see if it is for me or not.

Thanks for all your help and I will keep you posted on how I do with the single speed.

TheDarkLord

Mashing a bike with too high a gear can give rise to knee trouble; in other words, if you have a single speed, and you try to bike up an incline that is too steep to have a good cadence (without standing up the bike that is), and do it often, then you could get knee trouble. However, my own knee trouble didn't arise from my using a single speed. But after getting the knee trouble, I found that biking up hills remaining seated on the bike did make the knee more sore.

alfeng

Nothing wrong with a single speed ...

BUT, first (?), find out what the gearing is on the particular Trek bike (44x18) you are considering buying as well as your friend's bike (the gearing can be changed on whatever you eventually buy) ...

Then, on a Sunday morning when the traffic is much lighter, take YOUR current bike -- OR, any bike with 700c tires -- on the roadway you are planning to traverse IN A COMPARABLE GEAR (e.g., 42x17, 39x16) on your current bike and see if you can ride it comfortably without shifting ... up-or-down ... just for starters.

If everything is fine except for "one short steep climb" and/or "a couple of smaller ones" where you may need to get off the bike & walk, then you'll know if it's a small inconvenience [walking the bike up the hill(s)] which you need to plan for OR one which you don't want to be bothered with.

Try the ride in a different, single gear combination until you find a combination that works for you ...

BTW. The most OBVIOUS (?) problem with the TREK Soho is that you can get as good-or-better a bike for less money -- e.g., REDLINE's Monocog ... or, RALEIGH's XXIX come to mind ... you'll probably want a pair of thinner tires/tubes for the XXIX than the 700x58 off-road tires it comes with ... and again, the gearing can be changed, of course.