[Closed] racing single speed

If its muddy you could be quite competitive however on dry fast trails where you can ride at 25 mph then you will not be at an advantage. So pick your race. And use a Phil wood eccentric bb or the trick stuff version. This is much better than a chain tensioner which are not problem free.

Pick your course with less flat, MOAR hills and you will win! For sure.

it's just a frustration unless everyone else is on SS.

Are you troubling the podium at the moment?

I race singlespeed - mtb not very often & cx quite a bit. Hills & singletrack are where you can make up most time, if you can stay on top of your gear & on fire roads - jump on someone else's wheel & spin!

Edit: not at all frustrating 🙂

"it's just a frustration unless everyone else is on SS."

Not really..... i have slight experiance in this....

I've been racing ss for years. If you have a course with only ups and downs with not much flat then you can be competitive. If there is any flat sections you have to learn to spin like a loon (think 130-140 rpm) and draught people with gears but generally you'll see them disappear up the track. I know the courses now where I have a chance of a good result although this year I stupidly decided to try and ride a hard marathon which basically involved 3km of granny gear grinding to get to the top of the mountain before the last descent which meant 6km of pushing for me as it was two laps.

in my experience it was frustrating, but perhaps it becomes less frustrating the more experience you have... and if you ride less flat courses.

The only time I ever wished I rode a single speed was at Dusk til Dawn one year - solo - it rained so much over night the flat course was essentially a walk if you valued your rear mech. Or had 8 spare bikes lined up in the pits.

Mad idea on a classic "big up big down" XC course - if you are doing it right (granny on the ups big ring on the downs) - you will spend 90% of your time in the wrong gear. (although fair to say If you race at Drumlanrig every weekend you will only spend 60% of your time in the wrong gear.)

But as somebody else said - it depends on what your goal is ?

you learn very quickly where to ride SS and where not to ....

I wouldnt use SS down in the south of england again - as you alude its very flat and you end up spinning out and getting left behind.

theres a couple of scottish courses where the climbs are too severe for SS to be competitive-

Most of the SXCs have had SS podium botherers at one point or another - The SCX series has podium botherers on SS and most endurance races have been won by SS riders at one point or another - Terrahawk of this parish has destroyed a few folk that are "handy" on a geared bike on his SS in certain races....

Better for 12 and 24 hour events rather than a short race xc races I would say. Just look at the podiums of lots of 12 & 24 hour races and theres usually singlespeeders up there in front of the geary boys. Its a compromise for sure, but then so is life so single speed racing is also a zen like thing 😀

How are you breaking the mechs, sticks/stones/heather or bad gear/change choices?

If the former, look at a different mech - shorter cage maybe. If the latter...

Steve Day and Dave Beskeen are another couple of riders you can look up for "SS spanking gearies" inspiration.

Was running in 6th yesterday till the latest mechanical so not "podium" bothering but not at the back either.

Both recent mechs are catching and logs / picked up sticks.

I've been thinking about a single speed or alfined rigid for longer races and the winter series. Think with the gorricks there would be a lot of times you just spin out on a ss

I had a swift with Alfine for the winter series. Running proper ss was better. The Alfine was pretty clunky and concentrated a big chunk of weight at the rear.

DT78 - Member
Was running in 6th yesterday till the latest mechanical

You know the winning Solo won on a SS, 16 laps in 12hrs...

"I had a swift with Alfine for the winter series. Running proper ss was better. The Alfine was pretty clunky and concentrated a big chunk of weight at the rear."

This - i have a TD-1 - ive have run it with a rohloff , Alfine and SS.

its far far better SS over any of the other options.

Raced my Genesis ioid as a singlespeed in Gorick races. Can place top third, but gears might move me up to top 10. Skills would help even more 😉

The flat fire tracks are frustrating, and courses with a lot of these will see riders ping past (only to be caught on the climbs).

Raced the same SS in cross and had a broadly similar experience. Top third in vets races but top 10 might be elusive. Skills shortage is less of a disadvantage in cross because I'm (relatively) skilled thanks to the above!

Try it if you already have the bike. Losing a kilo of hub made a difference to the handling.

I rode ss for a good few years at the Merida/CRC/Scott marathons,10 under series and Dyfi.Was usually amongst the first 20 finishers but they are'nt really races and it is certainly less of a disadvantage in 3hr+ stuff.
Using them in shorter proper xc races ain't going to make you any quicker!!

Hills are where single speeds can shine. Do not be afraid to use raltivl tall gearing. My 29er runs on 36t/1st and 20% gradients are not a problem. It's odd really but I am quicker up hills on my single speed than on my geared bike so don't be afraid of hilly course. The beauty of taller gearing is you ride at 22mph without your legs flying off.

Dammit I have to write again stupid tablet.

Hills are where single speed can shine. Don't be afraid to run relatively tall gearing. I use 36/17t on my 29er with 2.2"tyres and 20% are not a problem well they are but they are problem with gears too......

Stop pussying about and do it!!!!

I took my gears off for the SS worlds at Badaguish ages ago and it was about my third ever SS ride. Never put them back on..

Not really a podium botherer but it is a hoot and you race your own race anyway..

Not much to add to the above. I've just reverted my hard tail to SS for winter racing - less to go wrong/wear out and on longer races (e.g. 4h+) I don't see a big difference in my place in the field.

If anything I think at things like Brass Monkeys venues I've ended up doing better on the SS, probably because it forces me to work harder on the climbs!

On the Alfine thing - I have a commuter with one. I wouldn't take an Alfine anywhere near a race.

My favorite ss win ..... Rik from drumlanrig winning masters sxc at drumlanrig by a dramatic margin on his ss 🙂

I remember racing SXC at Badaguish many years ago - the ladies generally got lapped by the Male Masters leaders at the end, with the race order that ran at that time. As usual Gary Macrae comes past me, but unusually looks very worried. About 10 metres behind him snorting like a rhino was this beardie german guy with the biggest calves I have ever seen in my life. Zeppelins these things. Anyway turned out he was single speeding and nearly pantsed the Scottish Masters champ of about 10 years straight. So it is possible. Just need the calves !

P.S and all power to Rik, but winning on an SS on the course he designed and built for SS and must have done 1000 laps on, is really not that remarkable !

I race XC on a singlespeed...
Have gotten top 10 at some of the Brass Monkey races (4/6hr) and feel i race competitively in some of the shorter sprint style races (3-4 20 min laps).

However, as this years BBB demonstrated (which, if I might say, is a FANTASTIC SS course!) you need to be fit for it. Minimal prep for the whippet race left me in third, getting pipped to 2nd 50 m before the line!! Oh well!

There's a reason you can be fast on a SS - you have no choice!! Hills are where you can take advantage, but only if you've the energy in your legs!

DrP

I can verify that DrP is fast and competitive on a ss! He obviously didn't hydrate fully with beer/cider before this years BBB race though! 😆

What ratio did you use at BBB? Doing my first ss race or Oktoberfest.

One that you can keep turning over after 4 hours of racing.

What ratio did you use at BBB? Doing my first ss race or Oktoberfest.

2 ciders to every 3 laps.

DrP

I don't do cider. Is that about the same as 3 ales every 4 laps?

I can grow a beard if that helps

Kind of..
Or 32:18 on a 29er..

DrP

I really enjoyed my first ss race at the BBB! I'm not "competitive"(!) but that course was great for it. Could've done with spds to really pull up on the steeper little climbs.

However, as this years BBB demonstrated (which, if I might say, is a FANTASTIC SS course!) you need to be fit for it. Minimal prep for the whippet race left me in third, getting pipped to 2nd 50 m before the line!! Oh well!

Sorry DrP 😳

I might have been racing SS if mine hadn't been in bits but there were some fast bits where a higher gear helped (including the end) and some short steep bits where I shifted down.

Agree that SS becomes more competitive over a longer distance...

Meh..it's a race innit!!

I really think that the SS is perfect for the BBB - it's so tight and short/steep climbs in places, that all you need is a burst of power. There's no long and draggy climbs, and even on the 'motorway section' (what I call the gravel path around the camping area) you just sit and spin...
(says the man who was beaten by 2 geared bikes..however, 2014 was my year, and 2016 shall be again! Unless we have another kid and move house again...)

DrP

It really depends on the course.

The 10 at Kirroughtree course where I first met trail rat really suited SS. Spin on a few years to an SXC race, same forest - different course and it was totally frustrating. Half the lap was perfect, then it was a long 2 km stretch of flat fire road where everyone with gears just mashed off into the distance.

I sympathise with your mech failures. We just got back from Austria - I'd originally started thinking how reliable clutch mechs etc are getting nowadays. Then eldest lad unknowingly had one link of the chain half burst open on a big climb (failure at one of Shimano's rivets not the joining pin). When the damaged link reached the mech it all locked solid and bent the parallelogram linkages / pivot pins. Only way to salvage the day was for me to donate my mech and chain to junior, then run singlespeed with the remnants of his chain (luckily I was running horizontal dropouts and a bolt in axle so it worked pretty well).