Turf Zone – LighthouseW
You get some funny looks when you tell people that you are converting your bicycle to single speed. You even funnier looks when you tell people you are converting your Brompton to single speed. What, you ride a Brompton? Why single speed? Really, only one gear? What about the hills? Mind you, you get funny looks riding a Brompton anywhere other than London, regardless of how many gears it has.
However, I am not to be deterred, I like bikes that are a little out of the ordinary, like fat bikes and things like adult kick scooters with big wheels, niche things that are different and to my mind much more interesting, and fun as well. Why be a lemming and follow the crowd? If it wasn’t for some Neanderthal ancestor who thought the same way I do, we might still be eating raw meat and wondering how to make fire without burning the house down.
But, to be fair, the question, “Why single speed?” is actually a valid one. Why would any sane person remove existing and useful gears for one gear that makes it less efficient? Good question that! Well, one answer is that the person is insane but let’s not go there. No, single speed is something of an unusual concept, at least in modern times. Way back in the day, single speed was the only option available, then along came gears and everyone wanted them because they make life easier and faster as well, so single speed largely fell by the wayside. But not entirely.
You still get single speed enthusiasts today; be they are few and far between. There are even single speed races today and a cult following for single speed cycling in many cities around the world. There are even followers of the fixie, one step beyond single speed, where the freewheel is removed and the pedals always revolve, which means you have to keep pedalling. Real hardcore stuff that! A step too far to my mind.
For me personally, there is a beautiful elegant simplicity to cycling a single speed bicycle. You could say almost a form of mobile meditation. Once you’ve been out for a while, you fall into the simple act of pedalling along, no gears to change and usually less gear noise as well, just the swish of the tyres on the road and the wind whistling past your ears. But what about the hills? What if I want to go faster?
The answer to dealing with hills is simple, you pedal harder until you cannot pedal anymore and either fall off or get off and walk. Of course, you can negate hills a little by embracing the concept of momentum and getting up a much speed as you can on the approach, even if that means legs spinning furiously, which is perhaps something of an amusing sight to onlookers. Yes, gears make hills easier but what’s the rush? I’m 63-years old now and in no hurry to get anywhere.
With single speed going faster is a topic often raised. Okay, you can go faster but will eventually reach a point where you cannot turn the pedals any faster, a term known as spinning out. And I would answer that with the same response I gave to tackling hills, what’s the hurry? Why do we have to rush about everywhere? Why not chill out, take your time and pedal along at a steady pace, freewheel when you have to and enjoy the ride?
One thing that annoys me is when you read reviews on YouTube connected to cycling, is that the words speed, fast, quickest and the like are always key points. You find tyres being compared to see which is quicker. You see lanky youths in skin-tight Lycra pitting a Brompton against and lightweight road bike that costs as much as a family car, to see which will climb hills the quickest. I don’t understand why everything must be about speed, saving time and trying to be the best. Maybe I’m just getting old?
One thing that gears offer is efficiency, making it easier to pedal along, up steep hills or against that bloody headwind. Now, I’m not against gears when used in competition or when bicycle touring, both fine and dandy, possibly even for commuting, though possibly not, but for other bicycle riders is that really the best way to go? Recent studies here in the UK reveal that 2/3rds of the population is overweight, should we not stop making things easier and make them more difficult instead, as a means of losing weight and increasing fitness levels? I was going to say that’s a job for the Government but it’s really a job for ourselves as individual to look at our own lifestyle and do something about it. Before it’s too late!
Anyway, back to single speed and the Brompton. Even before I bought a Brompton, I loved the simplicity of the design, though it’s actually very cleverly complex at the same time. The small wheels, minimal frame and compactness was all very appealing and to my mind just crying out to be a single speed bicycle. In addition, I find myself wondering if a single speed Brompton could be one bike for everything, one bike to rule them all. We shall have to wait and see.
As to the conversion itself, I have all the required components, the sprocket, the chainring and the chain tensioner, just waiting in eager anticipation for the actual bike to arrive, hopefully, next week, and I can get spannering out in the brass monkey Arctic coldness of the garden shed. I would like to be in the toasty cosy confines of the house but the authorities don’t allow that. More on the conversion itself in due course.
Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.
