First bike commute of the year (a.k.a. singlespeed commuter!)

I had my first major ride for 2009 this morning to work, and boy, did I miss pushing those pedals! The great thing is, outside temps have been quite chilly (colder, in fact, than any previous years during these months) so the ride in was very pleasant. Good thing too, since I did a few modifications to my bike, which under normal (read: blazing hot weather) circumstances would've been a no-no. One wouldn't want to change too much on one's bike in one go, as this could lead to aches and pains later on.

As I reported in a couple of previous blog entries, I've ditched my suspension fork and have gone rigid. I've also got a new handlebar (details later in another post). The biggest change I've lately been contemplating on though, is going singlespeed (SS), and this morning, I used the simplest SS conversion kit ever: I didn't shift! ;-)

I tried out a 32 front, 18 rear gear combination, and while it was pretty useful for some of the uphill parts of my commute, I often found myself spinning out on the stretches (which outnumbered the hill climbs), and was concerned some cars would get pissed off at me for being so slow (despite my frantic, high cadence pedaling). I think I'll try a 44:21 gear ratio on the ride home and see how that feels. My guess is, the 32:18 ratio is better suited for off-road. I definitely need a higher gear ratio for road use. I'm thinking 44:18 would be the sweet spot, but I need to try the lower ratios first so as not to put too much strain on my knees too soon.