Hi, im riding the South Downs Way in June & wanted to know how do-able it is on a singlespeed??

Disclaimer: I have not done it SS!

I have done most of it on a geared bike though and have SS'd some sections (e.g. Butser Hill).  I guess it depends on

1. How fast you want to go - is this a one, two or three day exercise

2. How fit you are

If you are reasonably fit then SS in two (or three) days should be doable me thinks. There are quite a few hills where I would have to push, but if time is not that critical, that's OK.

Doing it in a day requires extreme fitness (on my scale at least) on any bike but I suspect that the fatigue from SSing would make it even more challenging.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Good luck!

Erwin
 

 

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ThreeSpeed ...
Sit, stand and push

I LOVE THE SDW - at least, I love the bits of it I've ridden. I've only done sections close to home, and have no experience of the whole hundred miles, but would wholeheartedly agree with ThreeSpeed's observations.

See my gallery for pictures of the Fareham Singlespeed Mafia doing the bit of the SDW closest to us. We get out via the Meon Valley Railway Trail, so can ride a 50 mile off-road loop from home, taking in a nice chunk of the SDW (including its highest point), without having to drive anywhere. 

I quite regularly do the Warnford to Butser section, taking in Beacon Hill, Old Winchester Hill, Wether Down and Butser Hill - with a return via the long bridleway down to Denmead, then Bere Forest and back on the railway. Butser is the highest point on the SDW (270m, 888ft), but there are some really tough climbs through Sussex - which I've not sampled myself. I tend to find that the bits us SS'ers need to walk are also walked by the gearies - unless those gearies are race-fit and highly skilled!  However, if doing the whole thing I would gear down considerably - and probably allow two days for a first attempt.

We're doing the 50 miler again as a club ride, taking in the aforementioned SDW section, on May 26th Bank Holiday. All are welcome to join us. More than half of our little group will be on SS. The details will go up later this weekend on the forum at www.fareham-wheelers.org.uk.

One day I'll get round to doing the whole SDW. One day....

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STEAL WON!

thanks for all your advice, should be an interesting few days cycling....... new to singlespeed but think its fab! Not many of my friends understand why i do it, just think i'm mad.

Will let you know how it goes.....

Really like the threespeed  idea, sit stand and push!!! cool as!

It's funny, isn't it? Whilst the gearies lag behind at the back - swearing about noisy missed shifts, heavy bikes, unreliability and the cost of servicing - we just get on with it in silence, riding everything they can, but with less fuss and more style. And STILL they don't get it!!!

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STEAL WON!

I would agree with the silence until i stop pedalling then its click click click, have Hope hubs & it drives me nuts!!! Any way of stopping the ratchet noise thingy, as you can see i'm so technical, not!!

Fixed wheel? No, don't try that for mixed terrain!

The Hope hubs are good, and you'll just have to live with the noise. If the freewheel clicks loudly you can be confident that it's not about to slip or give up. Freewheel mechanisms are about the only things that ever go wrong with singlespeeds. It's not nice if they slip or fail.

 Where are you in Hampshire? I'm in Fareham.

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STEAL WON!

rode fixed wheel on a track a few years ago & nearly killed myself, never again.........

I live i Farnborough........

 

Farnborough - same county, different world! 

Seriously though - you've got some very nice woodland around there. Do you ride at Swinley, or whatever it's called, just across a bit in Berkshire? Any good riding areas to the south of you that I may not have come across?

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STEAL WON!

There is a lot of MOD land about so some pretty good riding, depends what you want, i am not really that hard core so like a mix of all sorts.....

Hankley common, Thursley common are nice & pleasant which is a bit south of me, have the Blackwater Valley path for a nice blast on pathways, nice & twisty running along side the A331, but no traffic....... I've been up to swinley a few times..... have to pay to ride, which i'm not sure how i feel about that, but it is a private partnership forest.

The Basingstoke canal is near by with various woods & trails, but need to explore more, been a bit lazy really.... 

My communist ideals mean that I also dislike payment and restrictions relating to 'public access' land. Ownership is theft, brother!

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STEAL WON!