Single speeding

[Richard Rose]

I am just so excited about this I need to share. I own a Clem L and a Gus and I love both. I end up riding the Clem a lot on what I call "the neighborhood route". It's just what it sounds like, a ride through nearby neighborhoods. It's attractive because if I ride every street in these two neighborhoods I get in 25 miles on traffic free roads and I am never more than 3 miles from home. It's dead flat and the closely spaced homes block most of the wind. I know it sounds boring but I can add in nearby gravel roads, single track and packed gravel paths. It works for me. But, the Roaduno really called to me when introduced. Having ridden a fixed gear road bike in my youth I was really intrigued by the thought of a very light & minimal not to mention fully lugged Rivendell. But I chickened out. So now for something completely different. Sitting in my garage for about 20 years is my first mountain bike. It's a 2001 Trek 6700 hardtail, a MUSA aluminum frame with a primitive suspension fork and 26" wheels. I am in the process of converting it to a fully rigid off road worthy light as hell fun bike. I have not switched out the fork yet but it is far along enough for a couple of "proof of concept" rides. Holy hell this thing is fun! It may be the antithesis of my and your Riv's but perhaps not. It really is in the spirit being so minimal and low tech and strikes me as a genuine "just ride" machine. My bars are high and it even has V brakes.:) Anyone have a Paul Melvin you are not  using?

Cheers,

Richard

[Patrick Moore]

Richard: the light is beckoning you to return to the purity of your youth, forego compromises, and once again ride fixed. Don’t be swayed by the siren call to compromise with the mechanical complexity of a freewheel; get an ENO hub and enjoy single speeding in its fixed purity.

I’ll stop kidding. Single speed, fixed or free, is very liberating, and, moreover, one discovers that one can do so much more with just one very carefully chosen gear than imagined before. I did not resurrect my Monocog 29er ss, but I did have a lot of fun on it, with a 65” single freewheel gear that was good for 8/10 of my riding, mostly flatland but very sandy bosque trails and roads. With ss, most things are a compromise, but 65” for me (and 63”, IIRC, with my first Monocog 29er circa 2010, and 64” with the even nicer converted ~1990 Diamond Back Axis Team fixed gear (ENO hub) all let me spin comfortably on flats, plug through sand (fat tires, of course), and torque of many if not most hills, and walking the steeper bits was far, far less bothersome than flailing despairingly in too low a gear on flats and downhill.

I started riding fixed in 1996 and shortly thereafter it became my default; the Roadeo is a temporary, special-use compromise.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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[Patrick Moore]

From a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away: http://63xc.com/

[Hoch in UT]

No need for a Paul Melvin. You already have a derailer. Just use the rear derailer and a piece of shift wire to set it in place. 

[R. Alexis]

I second using a rear der instead of a Paul Melvin, at least to start. I did this on my Bontrager Race when I didn't want to build another geared mountain bike. Initially mostly a parts bin build with some new and NOS stuff. Had a stash of Suntour rear derailleur parts I think from the old bike shop and was able to piece together a short cage onto a mountain rear der and used that as the chain tensioner along with a short bit of gear cable to adjust it. Still in use. Did the same on a Gary Fisher X-Caliber with a Shimano Ultegra rear der. 

Have fun with your build. 

Thanks, 

Reginald Alexis

[Richard Rose]

I agree & that’s exactly what I did - long enough to know I liked my 32 x 16 gear. Then a great deal on a Melvin presented itself. It reminds me of the Huret Jubilee rear derailleur I once owned, but more robust.:) It’s a little jewel & so minimalist. I love it!

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 10, 2025, at 11:34 PM, R. Alexis <noj...@webtv.net> wrote:

I second using a rear der instead of a Paul Melvin, at least to start. I did this on my Bontrager Race when I didn't want to build another geared mountain bike. Initially mostly a parts bin build with some new and NOS stuff. Had a stash of Suntour rear derailleur parts I think from the old bike shop and was able to piece together a short cage onto a mountain rear der and used that as the chain tensioner along with a short bit of gear cable to adjust it. Still in use. Did the same on a Gary Fisher X-Caliber with a Shimano Ultegra rear der. 

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