# Why gears?



## Frankenschwinn (Jan 20, 2004)

on a park/street/dj bike?

I tried it and did not like it. I found that I never changed gears and the Der. flopped around and annoyed me.

Just curious


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## Tracerboy (Oct 13, 2002)

i wonder the same thing now that i've been running SS for some time. i will never go back to running gears.


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## IonicRipper (Oct 26, 2006)

The possibility to select the right gear for what your doing or about to do. If you need very fast acceleration for example, SS isnt the best.


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## Frankenschwinn (Jan 20, 2004)

IonicRipper said:


> The possibility to select the right gear for what your doing or about to do. If you need very fast acceleration for example, SS isnt the best.


I understand the principle but I never found it to be helpful. I found that the right gear ratio got the job done for a wide range of applications.

Not sayin its bad for someone else to have gears but I just could not make it work. I wish they would let you run SS for 4X


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## cully (Jan 4, 2006)

yeah, i'm running SS on my park/street/dj bike, used to have gears. they are helpfull if you're using your bike as more of an all arround bike, riding some north shore and some mtb trails. It is also a nice luxuary for djs depending on if the run is down hill, big gaps, short gaps, what ever, you might like the versitility. also has some good versitility if your ride the ocasional trials, pedal kicks are not too easy with a 30-14. but like i said i'm ss now riding fakie is DEATH with a rear der, chain always moves arround, I say we patition for a 6 or 8 speed freecoaster.


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## Cru Jones (Aug 10, 2006)

Because single speed and spandex is such a fashion faux pas.


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## Frankenschwinn (Jan 20, 2004)

Cru Jones said:


> Because single speed and spandex is such a fashion faux pas.


Agreed but who wears spandex at the skatepark? Some of the local rippers have jeans so tight they look like spandex but that is another story.


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## cully (Jan 4, 2006)

Frankenschwinn said:


> Agreed but who wears spandex at the skatepark?


Answer: I do, but bib shorts only, cuz im hawd core lik dat
:thumbsup:


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## Cru Jones (Aug 10, 2006)

Frankenschwinn said:


> Agreed but who wears spandex at the skatepark?


That's my point. Gears are for spandex wearin XC dudes.

Although, I've seen my boy John Jesme do backflips on a geared fully... and he is one of the most hardcore rippers I've ever met... hope he doesn't see this. 

Whatchu know bout JJ....


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## bitterrider (Sep 21, 2006)

I guess for me my bike is more than just a dj bike. I use it to commute small distances. Sometimes I have to ride through hilly areas to get to good spots and such it comes in handy.


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## ontario_bike (Dec 29, 2006)

ya, i just got a p1 and absolutely llooovveee ss. its great at the skatepark!


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## paintballeerXC (Jun 9, 2005)

i just like to be to go in a easy gear for trails stuff,


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

I wish I had two gear ratios on my bike, one for trials-ish moves and one for the rest. 2-speed would do it for me.


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## paintballeerXC (Jun 9, 2005)

snaky69 said:


> I wish I had two gear ratios on my bike, one for trials-ish moves and one for the rest. 2-speed would do it for me.


same here, i would actual like 3 but.....

i read a while ago abotu this weird gear shifter for trails bikes could only change a couple gearrs, u had to spin this thing, i think it was made gheto style


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## todd_freeride (Aug 9, 2005)

with our jumps that we build, we need more speed than a 32X16 combo or similar can really offer. and then at the same time, other jumps require less speed but quicker acceleration. SS is great, but I use my DJ bike for everything. from trials to DJ to DH to XC. makes a decent all around bike.


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

Some trials riders are just using a select few gears. It has a rear derailleur. You shift by dialing in and out a barrel adjuster. There is no shifter.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

Let's invent a 2 speed internally geared casette hub. With a granny gear and a "big" gear.


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## jay jack (Feb 7, 2007)

xsl will, Where can get one of those set ups? Are they available somewhere or was that a one of a kind of thing you saw?


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## Vinny A (Oct 8, 2006)

Knowing trials riders it probably is a special mod.


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## ihatemybike (Nov 27, 2005)

Sounds like some of you want a modernized version of an old 3 speed hub. 

Let's see requirements.

14mm axle.
Shifting mech located between the chainstays, kinda like a Shimano Nexus
6 bolt disc ready
Customisable gearing
Light

OK, someone machine it up.


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## cully (Jan 4, 2006)

well... hb, the problem here is if you want a bike to do trials, and street/park you'd need something like a 25-22 for trials, and like a 25-11 for street/park. the ammount of chain need for this change would be pretty substantial and nessicitate a "traditional" der/tensoner design, I don't think this would solve any of the problems inherent in a normal der set up.


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## ihatemybike (Nov 27, 2005)

Cully, my friend. The hub I describe is an internally geared hub, no chain shifting at all.

Kinda a beefy version of an old english three speed hub.


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## cully (Jan 4, 2006)

ok, I got ya, so a 3 speed, wide ratio, roloff. i thought for the most part that the problem with internaly geared hubs is that they can't be made strong enough for "EXTREME" riding. the level of torque put on such a small gear with trials and street riding is not conducive to a functioning product. 

ps: i hope you enjoyed my use of the word "EXTREME":cornut:


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## ihatemybike (Nov 27, 2005)

For the most part they have not been built strong enough. I've read many a good thing about Roloffs, but the weight is an issue ecspecially with it not being centered in the bike. I've riden a 7-speed Shimano Nexas for park and street for about a year and it was quite a bit more robust that I thought it would be, but I was eventually able to get it to skip every now and then and I never really liked how it made the bike feel when trying to spin 360s and what not. Back heavy for sure. Maybe there's a way to do 3-speeds lighter and stronger than the multi-gear hubs available now.


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

Not really. You jam a barrel adjuster in the cable stop, run a cable through to the derailleur. Dial the barrel adjuster out, the cable tension increases, pulls derailleur. Dial it in, the cable tension decreases, the spring causes the derailleur to return.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

you want two speeds and no derailleur?










try running that route with a shadow interlock!

or, if you have a crank that can run two rings up front, just run the corresponding two cogs in the back so you can switch betwen the two with the same length of chain (requires undoing the axle nuts)
or just run a rohloff or Paul Melvin tensioner in the rear and swap'em manually with your finger... but this is basically a shifty set-up if you ride rough stuff, and basically irrelevant in our realm of street/park/dj here... 
yeah, derailleurs just suck... can't wait until the internal centrally mounted tranny is a household item and we can all look back and laugh at that ridiculous contraption we used to hang off the back of our bikes, bouncing around and breaking all the time...


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## zombiekiller (Jan 25, 2007)

why not just set up a dingle? two ratios.. not on the fly.. but you'd still have em!


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## Andrewpalooza (Dec 7, 2004)

XSL_WiLL said:


> Not really. You jam a barrel adjuster in the cable stop, run a cable through to the derailleur. Dial the barrel adjuster out, the cable tension increases, pulls derailleur. Dial it in, the cable tension decreases, the spring causes the derailleur to return.


Yeah, I've set up ghetto SS rigs like that in vertical dropout frames for a couple broke buddies. Take a cheap derailleur off a trash bike, and use it like a chain tensioner. Works like a charm.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

Andrewpalooza said:


> Yeah, I've set up ghetto SS rigs like that in vertical dropout frames for a couple broke buddies. Take a cheap derailleur off a trash bike, and use it like a chain tensioner. Works like a charm.


I don't believe that is what Will was trying to explain (correct me if I'm wrong, I hate speaking for other people, but I'm pretty sure I was pickin' up what he was layin' down). 
not just using it to tension a chain on one cog, but you put the barell adjuster on a cable stop with a super short cable... then on a typical (comp. legal) stock trials bike, you need 6 gears (sometimes some are even fake), and you aren't shifting like mad like an xc racer, but you find the ratio that works well for that obstacle or line, then dial in the tension with the barrel adjuster so it pre shifts the derailleur
check it yo:


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

zombiekiller said:


> why not just set up a dingle? two ratios.. not on the fly.. but you'd still have em!


yeah, the dingle would derail. esp. in the street/park/dj realm. 
derailled chain on SS = eating stem = not eating anymore solid foods = sucks

I guess my conclusion here = I have two speeds already on my SS
1 = suck it up and crank it out
2 = coast

braaap, brap! that was a short powerband!


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

BikeSATORI said:


> I don't believe that is what Will was trying to explain (correct me if I'm wrong, I hate speaking for other people, but I'm pretty sure I was pickin' up what he was layin' down).
> not just using it to tension a chain on one cog, but you put the barell adjuster on a cable stop with a super short cable... then on a typical (comp. legal) stock trials bike, you need 6 gears (sometimes some are even fake), and you aren't shifting like mad like an xc racer, but you find the ratio that works well for that obstacle or line, then dial in the tension with the barrel adjuster so it pre shifts the derailleur
> check it yo:


Ditto. Thanks for the picture to clarify what I was saying.


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## ihatemybike (Nov 27, 2005)

Don't you have to pedal backwards to use the other gear in that set-up?


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

BikeSATORI said:


> you want two speeds and no derailleur?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Is it because I just worked a 14 hours shift by night and only slept 6 hours in the last 48 or am I just stupid? I just don't get how this works.


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## ihatemybike (Nov 27, 2005)

I've read about this somewhere. It's kinda weird, I believe there is actually two freewheel mechanisms. Pedal foward for one speed, backwards for the other.


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