Singlespeed vs geared for pulling bike trailer

[stackie]

So, I'm about to pick up this IF frame. Not really what was first in line for my next dream bike, but it seems to be a great deal and I've always wanted an IF. I'll use this bike to go night riding with some guys from work who are bugging me to ride with them. I may also pull trigger on getting bike trailer to pull kids around. Has anyone pulled a trailer with a singlespeed? Is this just crazy? I already commute to work 90% of the time on a fixie. Commute is basically uphill the entire way. Will pulling a trailer on a singlespeed just be suicidal on the knees?

Jon

[Too Tall]

Jon, depends. If you have mild hills and no dreams of going over 15 mph than a very small gear in the 45-50 gear inch range seems like a nice way to have a simple rig, engage your love of one gear and keep it challenging. Why not?

[don'TreadOnMe]

The knee thing's not so much of a deal killer...if your knees start to feel goofy, then stop...you'll know.

SS w/a trailer full of kid(s) going uphill can be kinda funky.
If you've got to get up out of the saddle to turn the gear, the whole contraption lunges w/each downstroke, which in turn causes your offspring to bob back and forth, and most of the time they'll probably go, "Daddy, chill out!".

W/a load, spin something easy going up a big hill, & it'll make for a smoother ride, happier kids, and more fun.

(Same thing w/transporting food/beverages...smooth ride, less mess)

Get the IF w/a der tab, and if you wanna go SS, hook up an ENO'd wheel.

don'TreadOnMe

[pretty pony]

Has anyone pulled a trailer with a singlespeed? Is this just crazy?

Jon


...yes.

trailers+uphill=gears


Hi!

[vandeda]

Jon,

I did fixed gear across most of NY state pulling a BOB trailer with ~77 gear inches. 5 days, 400 miles with ~65 lbs split between the BOB & front pannier bags for the first 3 days, and then ~45 lbs the last 2 days. It's doable, though I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Well it depends on your terrain. If it's flat, it's not bad at all ... you just accelerate more slowly. If it's hilly, it gets interesting and it really beats on your equipment (oh man, my poor handlebars are soooo abused, and that 400 mile trip really stretched my chain out). Oh man, some of the steeper hills were interesting with cadences in the low 20s at one point, where I thought I was going to break my handlebars or something on the bike, or rip my foot off my ankle. But I can't believe every piece of equipment made the trip!!!! Anyway, it was a fun trip and turned out to be a fun challenge doing the tour fixed.

Long story short, if it's flat it's not bad, you'll just accelerate slowly, but if there's hills, I'd recommend gears or low gear inches. One thing to try is, can you setup a trailer on a currently geared bike? If so, then you can try different gears and see if you want single speed with the trailer, or a geared setup. Unless of course you have to pull the tricker sooner rather than later with this bike.

Dan

[Too Tall]

Vandeda - say that again...77" gear pulling a trailer with how much weight???? Could you please back down you make the rest of us look weak!!! That's amazing.

[vandeda]

Too Tall ... I really have no clue how I do it. Well, I do actually. Fact is, I'm slow overall. It's weird because I'm a tiny guy at 5'3" & 125 lbs, but I'm pretty much all slow twitch muscle and am a much better diesel engine than I am a spinner. It doesn't help that my cardio is weak too, so when I start spinning up hills, my heart rate quickly leaps past 200 and I start wheezing for air. The result is, I can diesel up hills at a slow rhythmic pace. And oddly enough, my sweet spot on that trip appeared to be around 55 rpm (~14 mph I think), which is where up the hills I was able to out-ride the other guys who had lighter loads (well, minus the guy with the lightest load). It's really weird because I should be a spinner due to my build, but I'm the exact opposite.

So trust me, all of y'alls will be able to spank me in just about every riding situation, and in a BIG way! It'd be like racing against grandma and her walker.

If anyone wants to see pictures from the trip, I have them here (next year I'm going to convince the rest of them to get front panniers though):
http://truevine.net/~vandeda@truevine.net/ErieCanal/

dan

[Too Tall]

Word on the street is you are one of those Columbian climber mavens ;)
Zoits, you are amazing.