need enlightment on SS

[amirm]

Probably not relevant since I commute in Canberra. but what's the special deal about SS? My slow wit, I know. The gear combo I use every day during commuting range between 42X17 and 52X12. Although the majority of the distance is ridden on 42X13, I still guess an SS would be too wasteful. Can someone shed some light?

Cheers,

 

[hippy]

Originally posted by amirm
Probably not relevant since I commute in Canberra. but what's the special deal about SS? My slow wit, I know. The gear combo I use every day during commuting range between 42X17 and 52X12. Although the majority of the distance is ridden on 42X13, I still guess an SS would be too wasteful. Can someone shed some light?

Ahh, that most difficult question..

http://mtbr.com/faq/ssfaq.shtml#ssWhySS
http://www.trianglemtb.com/pages/passion/whySS.html

Personally, I built one because I saw people raving about
them when they were an 'underground', uncommon
thing. I mean, who takes a perfectly good geared bike and removes most of the parts!

It was silly enough of an idea for me to want to have a go
A large part of it was also to do with improving performance.
With an SS you HAVE to push a bigger gear than normal up
the hills and you HAVE to spin like mad on the downhills and
flats (well, you can coast, but I'm talking about trying to
push it - if you are a habitual coaster, try a fixie ).

The bike is also simpler, and lighter with less parts to break
and it's less attractive to thieves (not that this was an issue
with my crusty GT!).

They make great commuters and hack bikes because you are
not worried about expensive derailers getting smashed off
whilst off-road or expensive cassettes being trashed in bad weather.

Then again, you can also spend an absolute fortune on a
custom SS with all kinds of trick parts (Paul, White Industries,
etc make SS specific driveline parts that cost a bomb!).

With no gears to worry about, once you've got used to it, the
bike is really nice to ride. Like every other ss'er says, you
really do get to think more about what is happening around
you and what you are seeing on the road/trail.

They are cool. I reckon anyone with an old bike and
reasonable fitness should try it for a while.

hippy

 

[Koon Yong]

Originally posted by hippy
Ahh, that most difficult question..

http://mtbr.com/faq/ssfaq.shtml#ssWhySS
http://www.trianglemtb.com/pages/passion/whySS.html

Personally, I built one because I saw people raving about
them when they were an 'underground', uncommon
thing. I mean, who takes a perfectly good geared bike and removes most of the parts!

It was silly enough of an idea for me to want to have a go
A large part of it was also to do with improving performance.
With an SS you HAVE to push a bigger gear than normal up
the hills and you HAVE to spin like mad on the downhills and
flats (well, you can coast, but I'm talking about trying to
push it - if you are a habitual coaster, try a fixie ).

The bike is also simpler, and lighter with less parts to break
and it's less attractive to thieves (not that this was an issue
with my crusty GT!).

They make great commuters and hack bikes because you are
not worried about expensive derailers getting smashed off
whilst off-road or expensive cassettes being trashed in bad weather.

Then again, you can also spend an absolute fortune on a
custom SS with all kinds of trick parts (Paul, White Industries,
etc make SS specific driveline parts that cost a bomb!).

With no gears to worry about, once you've got used to it, the
bike is really nice to ride. Like every other ss'er says, you
really do get to think more about what is happening around
you and what you are seeing on the road/trail.

They are cool. I reckon anyone with an old bike and
reasonable fitness should try it for a while.

hippy

Yeah ... all the above ...

Plus the SS is SO MUCH MORE FUN to ride.

So many times on my commute I see guys drop chains, mis-shift, stuck in the wrong gear ... etc.

Me? I just cruise along ... It's amazing how much more you notice around you and enjoy your ride when your brain isn't worried about breaking a derailer or figuring out the right gear to be in.

I don't even have a geared bike anymore ... been without one for the last 3.5 years. Oh ... I haven't ridden a freewheel bike in the last 2 years either.

Cheers
Koon

 

[hippy]

>Originally posted by Koon Yong
>Plus the SS is SO MUCH MORE FUN to ride.

So true.

>I don't even have a geared bike anymore ... been without
>one for the last 3.5 years. Oh ... I haven't ridden a freewheel >bike in the last 2 years either.

Nice! But I still need a geared bike or two for hammering
Beach Rd. and climbing in the 'nongs so I'll never be
exclusively SS.

Where in Melbourne do you usually ride? Road/Off-road?

hippy
- who is looking out at the rain and thinking not riding tonight
is a 'good' thing

 

[amirm]

Thanks Hippy. Now I got some idea.

I remember back in my childhood days Chinese-built SS bikes were prevalent in my home town. They were pretty heavy with all those mudguards, racks and steel dark green frames. Riding them on those huge 28" wheels asked for a good work out. They phased out quickly as Japanese tourers dominated the market in late '70s. Wow that many years have passed, and I wasn't on newsgroups all that time!

Probably SS is not my cuppa tea for now. Traumatic memories of heavy SS in childhood, eh? Maybe. Thanks goodness that didn't make me an SS Nazi!

 

[Koon Yong]

Originally posted by hippy
>Originally posted by Koon Yong

Nice! But I still need a geared bike or two for hammering
Beach Rd. and climbing in the 'nongs so I'll never be
exclusively SS.

Where in Melbourne do you usually ride? Road/Off-road?

I mostly commute nowadays from my home in Brunswick West to Melbourne Uni where I work.

On the weekends, I'll go to my girlfriend's place which is in south yarra and that's about it. Sometimes, when she plays tennis, I'll just wander around the streets/yarra river trail in the area.

I haven't really ridden offroad in over a year. I have gone occansionally with my fixie MTB around some easy single track/fireroad that's alittle off the capital city trail ... but nothing major. I don't drive so getting to some nice trails is an issue.

Now that I have my Fuji Track bike, I hope to do more regular longer distance rides to build up some endurance. Just working on getting a front caliper at the moment.

Cheers
Koon

 

[Koon Yong]

Originally posted by amirm

I remember back in my childhood days Chinese-built SS bikes were prevalent in my home town. They were pretty heavy with all those mudguards, racks and steel dark green frames. Riding them on those huge 28" wheels asked for a good work out. They phased out quickly as Japanese tourers dominated the market in late '70s. Wow that many years have passed, and I wasn't on newsgroups all that time!

Probably SS is not my cuppa tea for now. Traumatic memories of heavy SS in childhood, eh? Maybe. Thanks goodness that didn't make me an SS Nazi!

I remember those china bikes. You can still buy them in most SE asian countries. I remember seeing a docu where these guys in china would race these bikes carrying a crate load of veggies at the back ... going pretty fast too.

Well times have changed and you can get an SS built at under 21 pounds and not silly "break-in-half-after-one-crash" light either.

cheers
Koon

 

[Shane Stanley]

In article <[email protected]>,
hippy <[email protected]> wrote:

> who is looking out at the rain and thinking not riding
> tonight is a 'good' thing

I just got in and it's beautiful out there. Rain to keep you
cool, wind to dry you off, bike gets a clean... and trucks
with a bigger wake than the Queen Mary.

--
Shane Stanley

 

[Gags]

"amirm" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Probably not relevant since I commute in Canberra. but
> what's the special deal about SS? My slow wit, I know. The
> gear combo I use every day during commuting range between
> 42X17 and 52X12. Although the majority of the distance is
> ridden on 42X13, I still guess an SS would be too
> wasteful. Can someone shed some light?
>
> Cheers,
>
Where in Canberra do you ride??? I was commuting from
Ngunnawal to Campbell for 18mths or so and it was great as
pretty well the whole trip was on bike paths or back streets
and there was not much in the way of hills (Going up behind
the war memorial was probably the hardest part of the trip).

I commuted every day and can still remember one -8degrees
morning when my water bottle froze and I couldn't have a
drink without sticking it inside my jacket for a while to
defrost. I never wore any sort of ear or head warmers and it
was always the first 5 min or so that I didn't like in the
mornings (used to get killer ice cream headaches) but then I
would warm up and it would be OK.

This week I have just finished building up my singlespeed
mtn bike and it has definately worked my legs harder than I
normally do on the 27 speed. I am still playing around with
gear ratios and went from a 36/15 to 36/13 but I still need
a slightly higher gear. I am now planning to put a larger
cog on both front and rear to get a slightly higher gear.

If you have a spare bike, give it a crack......I did it on
the cheap and knocked the pins out of a couple of old rear
clusters to separate all the cogs and the little plastic
spacers. I now have a selection of cogs of various sizes and
enough spacers to put either side of the one that I am using
so that the chain is straight between the front and rear
cogs. We have had a bit of rain down here in Melb this week
and so the SS has been great as I can just hose it down and
then oil it up again in about 2 minutes flat.

Ride on.

Gags

 

[amirm]

Originally posted by Gags
"amirm" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Probably not relevant since I commute in Canberra. but
> what's the special deal about SS? My slow wit, I know. The
> gear combo I use every day during commuting range between
> 42X17 and 52X12. Although the majority of the distance is
> ridden on 42X13, I still guess an SS would be too
> wasteful. Can someone shed some light?
>
> Cheers,
>
Where in Canberra do you ride??? I was commuting from
Ngunnawal to Campbell for 18mths or so and it was great as
pretty well the whole trip was on bike paths or back streets
and there was not much in the way of hills (Going up behind
the war memorial was probably the hardest part of the trip).

I commuted every day and can still remember one -8degrees
morning when my water bottle froze and I couldn't have a
drink without sticking it inside my jacket for a while to
defrost. I never wore any sort of ear or head warmers and it
was always the first 5 min or so that I didn't like in the
mornings (used to get killer ice cream headaches) but then I
would warm up and it would be OK.

This week I have just finished building up my singlespeed
mtn bike and it has definately worked my legs harder than I
normally do on the 27 speed. I am still playing around with
gear ratios and went from a 36/15 to 36/13 but I still need
a slightly higher gear. I am now planning to put a larger
cog on both front and rear to get a slightly higher gear.

If you have a spare bike, give it a crack......I did it on
the cheap and knocked the pins out of a couple of old rear
clusters to separate all the cogs and the little plastic
spacers. I now have a selection of cogs of various sizes and
enough spacers to put either side of the one that I am using
so that the chain is straight between the front and rear
cogs. We have had a bit of rain down here in Melb this week
and so the SS has been great as I can just hose it down and
then oil it up again in about 2 minutes flat.

Ride on.

Gags

Hey Gags,

Yeah, I used to live in Ngunnawal up to last year. I used to cimmute from there to Black Mt labs. Then work moved a little further to ANU. Last year I moved to Amaroo. Next week my work will move to Barton. It's just getting further and further! No complaint there, though.

Sub-zero temps tease my toes. With liner socks and shoe covers, still after 30 minutes of riding, they get really cold. Oh well.

I take it you're no longer in Canberra, pity.

Unfortunately, my four bikes are either used or are too new to convert to SS yet. maybe some time in the future.

Cheers,
Amir.

 

[hippy]

Originally posted by Shane Stanley
>>In article <[email protected]>,
>> hippy <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> who is looking out at the rain and thinking not riding
>>> tonight is a 'good' thing

>I just got in and it's beautiful out there. Rain to keep you
>cool, wind to dry you off, bike gets a clean... and trucks
>with a bigger wake than the Queen Mary.

Rain to give me pneumonia, wind to help the rain give me
pneumonia, bike gets covered in road grit..

I currently don't have a shower at home (hot water unit blew
up) so I'm not riding these few nights home so that I don't have
to go to bed dirty. Bucket washing ain't gonna happen!

It gives me time to read and build by immune system up by
sitting on the train

hippy

 

[suzyj]

Originally posted by amirm:
> Although the majority of the distance is ridden on 42X13

Spending excessive time in little-little or big-big (or one away) is bad. A much better gear to spend your day in (with less wear and tear) is 52X16, which is around the middle of the cassette and gives almost exactly the same gear.

I strongly advocate adjusting derailleurs to lock out the two biggest and two littlest sprockets, to ensure good chainline. ;P

Regards,

Suzy

 

[amirm]

Originally posted by suzyj
Originally posted by amirm:
> Although the majority of the distance is ridden on 42X13

Spending excessive time in little-little or big-big (or one away) is bad. A much better gear to spend your day in (with less wear and tear) is 52X16, which is around the middle of the cassette and gives almost exactly the same gear.

I strongly advocate adjusting derailleurs to lock out the two biggest and two littlest sprockets, to ensure good chainline. ;P

Regards,

Suzy

Too right. However, I think your recommendation is more relevant to a bike with a 39-52 front and 12-23 cog in back.

My gear set up is slightly tweaked to give me a better combo in terms of gear ratio, convenince of gear change and also as you said avoiding the use of last two gears on each end of the range. You see, both 42X13 and 52X16 will give the ratio that's good for most of my ride. However, more frequently than upshifting from that point, I need downshifting in my route. With a 11-23 cog, I don't have 16. 15 is slightly heavier and is already in the middle, allowing me to downshift only two more gears and also creating funnier angles of the chain. With the purposeful upgrade from a 12-23 cog in the back, and from a 39 to a 42 chainring in front, I have created a more convenient and responsive range of gears in the back without the need to use the two smallest gears in the back. The large chainring is used in like overdrive conditions, hence less front shifting and trimming.

Cheers,
Amir.

 

[Daveb]

suzyj wrote:
> exactly the same gear.
>
> I strongly advocate adjusting derailleurs to lock out the
> two biggest and two littlest sprockets, to ensure good
> chainline. ;P
>

Whew hate to try that with the daughter on her trailer bike.
Never seen so much use of the 28-28 combination!

DaveB (with a whole new perspective on what constitutes a
"big" hill)

 

[hippy]

>Originally posted by amirm
>Too right. However, I think your recommendation is more >relevant to a bike with a 39-52 front and 12-23 cog in back.

I think Suzy's comment was a little tongue in cheek, given the
smiley?

Some of the.. ah 'guys who favour big gear/top end speed?'
use the small cogs occasionally. <Puts hand up>. At the same time, I need the lower gears for getting up those farkin hills!!
Crit racers <puts hand up again> will use big ring to small cog
during a race. You don't want to be stuck in the small ring if a
break goes but you still need to spin to flush lactic acid, etc.

hippy

 

[suzyj]

Originally posted by amirm:
> With a 11-23 cog

I see. I had assumed 12-23 or somesuch. Third from the end is quite okay. I'm far to wimpy to spin out a 53/11. Indeed my primary bike at the moment runs 53-42 on the front and 13-21 seven speed on the back.

On my race bike I usually run a 49-39 for a on the front, with 12-23 nine speed rear, as that put the chain in the middle of the cluster for most of a D grade crit. That also means I can get my short cage Chorus derailleur to work with a 13-28 cassette, which was a blessing for Fitz's and the Alpine.

Cheers,

Suzy

 

[Shane Stanley]

In article <qtRxc.6432$Y%[email protected]>,
hippy <[email protected]> wrote:

> I currently don't have a shower at home (hot water unit
> blew up)

Ouch. That does make it hard...

--
Shane Stanley

 

[ritcho]

Originally posted by amirm
Too right. However, I think your recommendation is more relevant to a bike with a 39-52 front and 12-23 cog in back.

My gear set up is slightly tweaked to give me a better combo in terms of gear ratio, convenince of gear change and also as you said avoiding the use of last two gears on each end of the range. You see, both 42X13 and 52X16 will give the ratio that's good for most of my ride. However, more frequently than upshifting from that point, I need downshifting in my route. With a 11-23 cog, I don't have 16.

[snip]

Cheers,
Amir.

Ah, sweet 16. I was dying for a 16 spr when I had an 8sp cassette. Moving to the 9sp 12-23 was _exactly_ what I needed for the (flattish) cycle leg at Mooloolaba. If I ever get the power to outspin the 12, I'll consider trying an 11.

Ritch

PS. maybe a 44 up front?