Is Single Speed Good For Commute And Long Distance?

These days single speeds seem to be more popular for kids or for people that do tricks on bikes. Having a multi-speed just makes life easier on longer rides or varied terrain.

Hello there! Thanks for sharing this information with us! I am pretty sure that it'll be useful for me in the future.

Keyan said:

Anyone tried using single speed both for their daily commute as well as on their long distance ride? I am short of budget now and I am thinking of maximizing the use of whatever resource I have. Will a single speed last if I will use it for all my commute and long distance ride?

That's not the question brother. Single Speed Bike are tough and durable. It can endure any road conditions, and also has a remarkable speed depends on how many teeth your sprocket has. The real question is can your body last long on a long distance ride. Other factors is road condition and weather condition. But if there's no other option for you to save some cash, just deal with your current situation. And just find alternative routes that can shorten your travel time.

Well you could try and probably after trying you'll get the idea to buy another bike. You won't last doing long distances and upward slopes.

Jcycle said:

These days single speeds seem to be more popular for kids or for people that do tricks on bikes. Having a multi-speed just makes life easier on longer rides or varied terrain.

Single speed is ideal for tricks compared to multi-speed. That is why it is very popular on kids. While adults prefer having a multi-speed bike because they love to ride on a long distance basis.

Recently I just moved to an area where daily bike commuting has become my Regular workout, so I'm only just getting back into riding a bike.

If your commute is within a rural area you may struggle having only one gear. Over longer distances you may tire more quickly if the gradient is not flat.

A road bike hardly recommended for long distance commute, but that costs money. Where fixies found very cheap in both cost and maintenance.

I use Critical Harpar more than a common single speed performing bike, standard for commuters and road riders.

The low maintenance cost and with parts on a fixie actually makes a rider satisfied.
hope you find it helpful and appropriate.

I think it's all depends on the roads, if the road is just flat, it's alright to use singe speed bike, all you have to worry your stamina and strength, if how you going to maintain it while riding.

I moved from gears to singlespeed about 10 years ago.
End 2015 I moved from singlespeed to fixie.
Why? Because I was fed up by the narrow chains, thin sprockets, that weren't able to last 3 months without starting to skip and bicycle stores that let me wait over half a year for repair, so that my spare bicycle ran into trouble before repair was finished.
Those problems ceased with singlespeed.
The only thing left I was plagued with was the freewheel, badly sealed, causing water to intrude, in winter frost and in summer heavy rain the grease became sticky with same result.
The move gears to singlespeed went as easy as the move singlespeed to fixie. Never back. End of a couple decades returning / lasting problems and misery due to failures.

By all means: don't stay with a 3/32" drivetrain, move to 1/8".
It's really night and day wear difference.
I stayed with 3/32" the first 5-6 years, and it wore 3 chains and 1 chainring yearly. Since 2015's singlespeed>fixie (and 1/8"😉, I never had to replace a 1/8" chainring (alu 7075T6).
Only chains, and since end last year I started to use a version with double as thick link plates. That single chain now lasts 7 months and the chain length increase under tension sits now abit over halfway.

Some benefits of fixed gear riding:
- in winter it's much easier to stay up, both legs have support at any time
- you can save on brakes by steadily pushing against the forward movement.
- much better control / maneuverability
- the sole drivetrain limit is the frame clearance.

My daily average km is about 60-70 km.
My fixie has 62 mm tires, a 48/16 gear ratio, and my bicycles no-luggage weight (ie default weight, things I always have with me) is about 30 kg. Double big bags, a basket above them, 2 backpacks and a mountain style backpack. Tools, spare tire, spare chain (chain is the Gusset model "Tank", weights > 500 gram), and 4 small bags with cords and binders.
The biggest load I so far had, was 55 kg luggage (most parts of 4 clothes racks of 18 kg each), with 25 km to go.

The sole drawback is uphill/front wind. That's pushing at too low speed to be efficient. But that's just a fraction of the cycling time.

Yes, it easier to commute on single speed and it depends on the landscape you're trailing at but I think you won't last long for long distances unless it is a motorbike. But cycling takes a lot of energy and if you keep on cycling for hours then your body will surely become tired. You need to take a rest for that to continue on your journey going to your destination place.

I think maintaining a low(like in between) speed will help you to cover more distance

A single-speed bike can indeed be a cost-effective choice for both daily commuting and long-distance rides. However, the key consideration is the topography of your riding routes. If your commute and long-distance rides involve significant hills or changes in elevation, a single-speed bike might not be the best option due to the lack of gear variations. This could make climbing hills more challenging and descents less controlled.

In a flat area, a single-speed bike can perform well and require less maintenance than geared bikes. To ensure its durability, consider investing in quality components and proper maintenance. Remember, the lifespan of a bike depends on how well it's built and maintained, not just the number of gears it has.

I am 63 years old, and I have run a single-speed as my main bike the last few years I have been riding. My city is fairly flat east to west, and is a grade running north to south for a dozen or so miles. I have other multi-speed bikes I ride too, but I enjoy the simplicity of the single-speed and have put a few thousand miles on it each year recently. I run about 3:1 gearing, three wheel revolutions for each crank revolution, which I think is about as high as is practical for me, with good tires I have been able to average 18mph+ for a dozen or more miles, but I am definitely slowing down both physically and mentally, I will probably run easier gearing at some point in the future. Lately I have been probably averaging about 15mph overall in general riding. If you give yourself time to get to work or where you are going and gear the bike so it is easy enough to pedal up whatever hills you have in your area then you can ride a single-speed no problem. The only thing age does is slows you down a bit each year. I have gone up a lot of 5% to 8% grades on the bike, the more you do it the easier it is, but once again, age is making hills harder, and I do not mind taking a break and getting some walking in when the grades get over 5% lately. Walking is great exercise too, it just slows you down a bit. I have done 40 mile rides on my single-speed, you just have to not be in a hurry if you are an old man like me. My bike is from the 70s and has low-performance but flat-resistant tires, and I am sure that slows it down too. I am working on building up another single-speed bike with a bit lighther frame and 700c rims so I can run modern clincer road tires like Continental gp5000s or something similar, which should make riding a bit easier, us old guys need all the help we can get.