need enlightment on SS

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

Cheers


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amirm wrote:
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#ssWhyS
http://www.trianglemtb.com/pages/passion/whySS.htm

Personally, I built one because I saw people raving about them when the
were an 'underground', uncommon thing. I mean, who takes a perfectl
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 larg
part of it was also to do with improving performance. With an SS yo
HAVE to push a bigger gear than normal up the hills and you HAVE to spi
like mad on the downhills and flats (well, you can coast, but I'
talking about trying to push it - if you are a habitual coaster, try
fixie :-) )

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

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

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

With no gears to worry about, once you've got used to it, the bike i
really nice to ride. Like every other ss'er says, you really do get t
think more about what is happening around you and what you are seeing o
the road/trail

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

hipp


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hippy wrote:
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 i
the wrong gear ... etc

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

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

Cheers Koo


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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 th
last 3.5 years. Oh ... I haven't ridden a freewheel bike in the last
years either

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

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

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


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Thanks Hippy. Now I got some idea.

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

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


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hippy wrote:
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 Melbourn
Uni where I work

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

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

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

Cheers Koo


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amirm wrote:
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 asia
countries. I remember seeing a docu where these guys in china would rac
these bikes carrying a crate load of veggies at the back ... goin
pretty fast too

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

cheers Koo


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In article ,
hippy 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

"amirm" wrote in message
.. .
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

Originally posted by Shane Stanle
In article , hippy usenet
wrote
who is looking out at the rain and thinking not riding tonight is
'good' thin

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

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

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

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

hipp


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