Come To The Dark Side

I've gone and done it again. I took the next step in singlespeeding. I finally took my one-geared 29er to one of the toughest trails in the area, the Whitewater Center. Okay, it’s not that tough, but it’s the best I can get without driving to the mountains. My first real trail ride on the SS was an easy one on a relatively flat trail, and I wanted to take it up a notch and see if I could handle it.


I got there after work (with the darkness fast approaching), so I wouldn’t have much time to ride. That meant that I had to hurry, and it also meant that I couldn’t spend any time walking up hills that were too hard to climb with one gear. I was a little worried whether or not I would make it, but I decided to try it anyway.


I started out with a slow spin from the parking lot. Well, as slow as I could go with a 32X18 anyway. It felt good, so I dropped into the trail and coasted downhill. After crossing a rock garden, I hit my first climb. It wasn’t much, but it did wake my legs up a little bit. After crossing a few bridges, I hit another climb. This time though, it was much steeper with a few switchbacks. I didn’t have any trouble at all. I was feeling good so far.


After a little bit of up and down, I came up to a long rocky climb. Back when I moved to Charlotte, I had trouble clearing that hill with a full compliment of gears. Since I only had one gear this time, I started to doubt myself. Instead of wussing out, I stood up and mashed…all the way to the top. When I reached the crest, I was giving it all I had. I made it. You know what? It felt awesome, like I had actually accomplished something on my bike for once.


I kept on, knowing that worse climbs were waiting for me. Up, down, up, down. I just kept mashing along. My legs were feeling it too, but I loved how hard I had to work out there. I really started to see why people love this singlespeed thing so much. I knew that if I kept it up, I could be come stronger. You know, more powerful than you could possibly imagine.





I don’t mean to get all Star Wars on you, but it felt that good. I’m not sure if I will give up the gears for good, but I definitely see a shitload more singlespeed rides in my future. If anything, it’s good training. Maybe I will even do a race with only one gear one of these days. That would probably be a total embarrassment though. Kinda like Boba Fett watching himself in Return of the Jedi.

Drank The Kool-Aid

It was quite delicious, and not as scary as I once thought.


What the hell am I talking about? No gears. Run what you brung. Singlespeeding. I’ve had a singlespeed 29er for a while now, but I’ve been a little nervous about taking it out on a real trail. It’s been all over the neighborhood and away on vacation with me, but I wasn’t sure if I could handle the loss of gears on a trail. Turns out I was wrong.


My singlespeed has been setup as a 32X18. I had a 20-tooth cog on the rear when I first built it, but it felt a little “spinny” on my neighborhood test rides. Since I didn’t have a 19 in my possession, I used an 18 I had in my tool box. It seemed like too much for a newbie singlespeeder to ride in the woods, so it just hung out in the shop doing nothing. After staring at my gearless 29er like it was some kind of alien spacecraft, I finally got the balls to take it out for a spin in the woods.



I took it out to North Meck, which is my “test track.” When I put on new parts or build a new bike, it’s the first place I go. It’s rough and rooty, and since it’s only 3.5 miles I won’t be stranded if something bad happens. It’s the first place I tested the Awesome Strap, and it is my go to trail for testing.


I took off at a leisurely pace, but that didn’t last long. To keep from falling over, I had to stand up and mash the pedals on climbs. The 18 tooth cog in the back seemed to be perfect for the flat stuff, and I loved my new found speed. In fact, I rode the whole trail much, much faster that I normally do (with a full assortment of gears.) Contrary to what I previously thought, it didn’t wear me out on the climbs. I actually had more energy when I finished the lap. What the hell is going on here?


Now I get it. I understand why people lose their gears. It’s simple, yet efficient. I think I could very well become a better rider if I spend a little more time on the SS too. I couldn’t wait to share my joy of singlespeeding either. When I finished the ride, I sent a text to my singlespeeding pal the MadSS. I told him how much I enjoyed my first singlespeed trail ride, and seemed happy to have another convert to the Dark Side. He also told me he liked the idea of a fast Clyde on an SS. Watch out big boys, here I come. Just as soon as I get out of the shitter.