The best commuter bike: Road, city or single-speed?

Aboute commuting. From home to work I want a singlespeed. From work to home I want a 14 speed 🙂

I ride a single speed everyday and i love it. No fuss, goes fast. It's a delight.

in my experience, a single speed bike will only ever make you do not use your bike, if you do not live in the netherlands or the north, where it is totally flat terrain.

perfect for its intended purpose: value, comfort, speed, practicality

Single speed seems really appealing to me. I like using things that are simplified it forces you to think outside of the box. Going to pick up a really cheap $200 one to get a feel for riding to see if I’d want or need to upgrade in the future to something like a gravel bike with 8 speeds

If you want a really cheap or free single speed, just delete the cables and shifters from an old 10 or 12 speed, leave in the derailleur without a cable attached. This allows you to select the ratio you prefer manually, go for a ride, then you can change the chainring or cog your chain is on to change your gear ratio if you don't like the feel. Then you can either leave it as is, or replace the cog with a single cog of your choice for a true single speed experience.

Crack cocaine and crystal meth is a miracle drug for cycling ❤

Singel speed you put out much more effort between start and stops

Great vid. Please consider using Miles as well in your videos. thanks.

I don't think a single speed would be a good all rounder as an only bike but it's a must have as a second bike. An otherwise boring ride become interesting and challenging. it's excellent as a workout and for improving your skills and more specifically climbing. And finally it puts your needs in perspective. Because once you learn to deal with having only one ratio then anything more feels infinitely capable.

For me it was an antidote for my insatiable urge for new shiny stuff as it became obvious that the most fun I had was on the simplest vehicle I own.

I love the 3 speed but its so loud... always seem to swap back to single speed coaster brake for the quiet ride. You can also put better rear sprocket 20-22T for easier pedaling!

Right so on the gear for this bike, if you've taken it on the occasional hill where with various other muti-geared bikes, like hybrids, you pretty much have to do stand ups, how does that leave you with this gear on this bike for those hills? Also what's the make of this one? I'm assuming that for some of the hills around here for circuits I do, I'd be looking at workarounds for some of the hills, and if worse came to worse I'd hop off and do a run up. No shame in that without the lower gears for climbing.

Commuting is not about speed for me. I want to arrive safely, without sweating too much and without any other discomfort. The only bike out of the 3 that fits that bill is the city bike. The road bike and SS have way too skinny tires which is a safety risk (think tram rails) and uncomfortable and the riding position is made for hard riding where not all of the weight rests on your hands. When you ride slower to avoid sweating, you'll be uncomfortable.

No. The end

The only advantage I can think of with a single speed is the ability to get a belt drive. They never rust or get worn down by mud/grime, and they don’t need to be lubed or anything. Other than that, give me a 7 speed minimum

I recently bought a single speed. I actually find it slows me down because the ratio this particular bike came with is a ratio I find a bit easier. This is good for enjoying the ride more and not getting as sweaty. I think if you did a commute on a single speed everyday you would get stronger and find the ride less tiring, but on a geared bike you would just go faster.

Single speed's efficiency relies completely on the gear ratio, though it IS possible to swap the sprocket for either easier pedaling or higher speed (I assume, I might be wrong).

What are the calories burned in each or heart rate so I could compare on which you spend more effort to those speed numbers

Road.

there is no bike safety in our cities, doesn't really matter what you ridding on.

Inner gears dissipates more, that's the reason of the extra time required

I am not sure if I keep missing the part where recommendations are given. Please suggest something to buy. I am so tired of googling. I am sold on a comfortable bike. Not speed not looks, just comfort.

The faster is not more efficient. Wind dissipates energy to the third power of the velocity.

Thanks for the review, I had no idea such bike existed and if they were even practical. For protecting older knees, I'll stick with gear ranged bikes.

Shifter rides a bike without shifters ^_^

The low maintenance of the single speed would definitely be a huge plus for it, would be a good bike for shorter, mostly flat commutes/errands.

I missed the stats on the electric bike.
I rode a friends fat tire ebike. I thought it would be difficult to pedal. NOT AT ALL!
On the way back I checked out the e button first time ever WOW

Rode a fg as a commuter for years. I've got a geared hybrid, rb, mtb and fg. Find myself always opting for the fg. Just love riding it.

I'm in a flat city, and I make the same speed on my single speed as I do on my other bikes. My single speed is my "winter bike" with big knobbies (29" wheels) and I still make the same speed, lol. Your theory about cadence might have a lot of validity.

I don't mind any of those bikes because any day I'm out on a bike is a great day and probably why my nickname is bike tart 😂

I remember when I was in my twenties I definitely preferred the simplicity of single speed bikes and they were also cheaper. I also felt faster on the single speed but this was before I learned how to shift. However, I do live in an area of Cleveland called the Heights and there was this one hill on my commutes home from the store that I just could not climb so I either avoided the hill or I had to walk it. The first time I was able to climb that hill was when I purchased a bike that had an automatic transmission (I think that's what it was called). It would automatically shift gears whenever my pedaling sped up or slowed down. That was probably the last time I rode a single speed. Anyway, this idea that certain bikes make you sweat more I think is only partially true. I ride a fat bike as my daily commuter and there's no way I can ride that bike without a workout but that is by design. A road bike on the other hand it can be a workout if you want it to be and I do feel people have a certain mindset when they're on a road bike that they have to go fast. But, I've gone out on leisurely rides on road bikes where I didn't work up a sweat. After all most road bikes have a wide range of gears where you can make your ride as challenging or as leisurely as you want.

I find the two speed kick shift to be ideal, because it offers the simplicity and good looks of a single speed with the convenience of a climbing gear. Very fast commuting bike!

I would call that statistically insignificant.

Sounds like no hills on the commute...

I ride a hybrid bike that I converted into a single speed and i routinely pass multi speed bikes

hardtail mountain bike is the best commuter bike, can go quiet fast and can easily take on hills.

Is it pretty easy to hit 15 mph on a single speed? I feel like it would be without much effort.

İ just changed my 18 t disk to a 21 now its easier

simple vs complex
cheap vs costly
time saving vs time consuming
tougher to ride vs easier to ride

trying to find a normal single speed bike, but I only seem to find mostly fixed bikes available which I’m not a fan of

Best alllround commuter- fulldamped gravelracer. Best Tarmac-commuter. Racerbike.

I thought I would need at least a 3 speed, but I found a great deal on a single speed cruiser, and I absolutely love it! I only do about 4 miles each way, with a couple of moderate hills, it's really not too bad.

I always believed in gears on a bike especially in a city like New York ,I would attack a commute,like the our de France having at least one mirror and a speedometer to track distance.,time and speed.

What I realized from the comments is that y'all have JACKED thighs. (Meanwhile I struggle to even make 6 kmph).

It's because of traffic lights, duh!

This was really helpful! Thank you!

Broken ebike single speed for sure

Considering buying one myself, will most likely end up getting a single speed bike

If getting single speed is only because I will end up being faster I can achieve the same with my geared bike riding it on one speed. Otherwise whether less maintenance, less expensive, and lighter is worth the limitation of riding only on flat terrain without wind is up to your to decide. For me it's not worth it.

It seems like after you add in the shower time with a road bike or a single speed, the 3-speed cruiser might be faster! :)