Single Speed Training

There is my new ultra light single speed bike. You will notice the chain-tensioner at the back - it is not a rear mech. It has a carbon (for lightness) road frame, and has been adapted by Freddie and Mick at www.racescene.co.uk to take a single rear sprocket. It has a standard chain set on the front, but only uses the inner chain-ring. This means the chain cannot move as there is a guard on the inside as well.

I used a single speed bike a lot last winter for training. You see it above. I love that bike, but it is a bit of a beast and heavy, so I thought I should upgrade to give me the maximum chance of climbing the hills round here. The old bike had a 42/20 set up. Of interest it had an old Rolls saddle and the ultegra brake levers from my Daccordi. Knowing the new bike would be lighter and more responsive I went for 39/18 initially. This was in fact the lowest gear I had on my Daccordi, when racing triathlon in the '90s (I was macho in those days!), so I thought it would be about right. I have now gone slightly higher after a few test rides to a 36/16. That is I am sure my limit around here. It would need to be much bigger if I lived in London or Cambridge.

Training like this you get everything in one ride. Power and strength training on the hills at a low cadence. Endurance if you do a long enough ride, but probably this can be shorter for the same benefit, than if you were out using gears. Then there are the periods where you are at a high cadence teaching those muscle fibres to fire quickly. Like many of us I have always been a bit of a "masher", so this is great for me. With the 36/16 a cadence of a 100 is about 17mph. Once I reach 120 (about 20mph) it is time to freewheel. In more undulating countryside, rather than the hills of Yorkshire, higher gearing would allow a higher top speed and would be necessary to get the training benefit on less steep hills.

Give it a go. Of course it can be done on a geared bike by selecting a ratio and not changing. That needs strong will though! It can be too tempting to change, and sometimes an automatic reaction before you know it.

I am thinking of selling the old single speed steed so if any one is interested let me know via the website. I have a larger chain-ring for it to gear it up.

Whilst on the subject of cycling I think that many lorry drivers are these days quite respectful of cyclists giving plenty of clearance when overtaking. Thanks. However, I do think that lorries are getting just too big as are cars. Why do these people need such big cars - often strangely with inadequately small impractical boots I have noticed? Arrogance, status, pride; just their over-sized egos I suspect. I realize I have insulted some of you, who will have one, maybe even two of these unnecessary monstrosities! On that subject when I was at the Brownlee Tri there was a Volvo dealer displaying their range. One was massive and I said to the salesman sarcastically, "I think you should make that car bigger". Wasted comment. He replied "Don't worry there is a long wheelbase version coming out". Case proved I reckon!