ok so im am curious, everyone talks about how sweet a ss is but honestly how much lighter is it than a normal person geared bike? is it an advantage over the gears? or not
thanx

ok so im am curious, everyone talks about how sweet a ss is but honestly how much lighter is it than a normal person geared bike? is it an advantage over the gears? or not
thanx

If you were wanting to climb a long hill with various grades, you probably be much faster with a heavy bike and lots of low gears than a feather light bike with one gear. I know this for a fact, as I race up long hills all the time on fixed and multi-speed bikes. Any gearing that allows you to stay around 80-90 rpms climbing will be ideal and much faster than taller gears and lower weight.

Now, if this were a special climbing bike, I suppose you could run single speed, but with pretty low gearing, depending upon your power to weight and the grades. That might be fastest, but you'll be very cadence limited on anything but climbs.

Also consider that single speed and fixed bikes are often made from steel frames and not necessarily weight weenie components. Nonetheless, for example my Bianchi Pista with not-so-light steel frame weighs in around 16 pounds, even with Look pedals and Open Pro 32 spoke wheels. That is with a 350 gram carbon fork, though. If I got real weight-weenie with a light aluminum frame and bits with carbon tubular wheels, no doubt a fixed bike could be under 12 pounds. I had a aluminum bike set up with a 10 speed cassette and one chainring that weighed 12.5 pounds.

For me, the big difference between geared & single is chain drag. On a geared bike you've got to pull your chain through the derailleur.

Here's one I've always liked:

http://www.usrnull.com/bikes/index.php

...how much lighter is it than a normal person geared bike?...

I don't have exact numbers, but to put it into perspective, the weight between my fixed and geared road bike is VERY obvious when you do a layman's "hand lift". My guess is the difference is at least 1-2 pounds. I was trying to figure out how exactly than I remembered that I had some extra parts in the garage (a rear 105 brake, Ultegra STI shifters & cassette) and pulled those out for reference. Those three parts alone share significant weight combined just holding them in your hands. I don't know what an added front derailler and chainring would add, but it's probably less than a pound.

Obviously, there are a lot of other factors (frame & fork weight comparisons, seat models, rider weight etc.). I live in a foothill area and commute on my fixed. The climbs, I think, are helped by the low overall weight of the bike. I'm running a 46/16 combo and have to climb on the way home everyday I commute. It's about a slow 4-7% grade (varies) and I do need to climb out of the saddle from time to time, but I think that has as much to do with the shorter cranks (165's).

Anyway, comparing the two bikes (see photos), the geared is carbon framed with lots of carbon bits and a mix of Dura Ace and Ultegra. The fixed, is an aluminum frame with heavier wheels, BB, cranks but minus the other non-essentials mentioned before.
The big difference I can feel so far, is the geared is easier to "go fast" with, or at least sustain faster speeds for all of the obvious reasons. The fixed is noticably lighter but I'm hampered by really fast spinning on downhills. Slow uphill grades are comparable in difficulty, but I think anything moderate or longer than 4-5 miles is better suited for my geared bike. I'm actually thinking of bumping up to a 48t chainring up front for those downhills and living with the added challenge/pain going up.

Which gets ridden more these days? I'll give you a hint: it's black with yellow tires.

Go figure.

than my geared bike, both are 61cm and have steel frames and forks...19 lbs vs. 22 lbs


ok so im am curious, everyone talks about how sweet a ss is but honestly how much lighter is it than a normal person geared bike? is it an advantage over the gears? or not
thanx