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WEIR'S - Portland's Oldest Bicycle Shop

The one speed bike movement

By Bob "The S is for single speed" Crispin

I have been watching the home brew one-speed track bikes that now roam about town in wonderful varieties, a new rebellion to all of the hype that has surrounded bicycling, both on and off road.   Then an idea came to me. When the first builders of mountain bikes were done working in their garage, they had a ten-speed bike with its rear hub and drive train removed, a pile of parts, including a rim and spokes from the rear wheel. They also had a one-speed hub with a coaster brake from the fat tire cruiser they used to create the ten speeds that began to frequent the hills everywhere.   I realized that the original mountain bikes were made by combining a 1950s fat tire frame with a 1970s ten-speed drive train. My idea was to build a one-speed by combining a 1970s ten-speed frame with a 1950s coaster brake drive train.   I took my new idea and went to work. I was off to City Bikes in a flash and found a great old 1970s Motobecane frame and fork. Then I went to Weir's Cyclery, near my home to find 27 inch wheels, an old coaster brake hub, a BMX chain ring, and pedal arms.   Dave at Weir's found a fine old Bendix coaster hub and built the wheel with the 27 inch rim and I was off and running. I painted the frame bright red and put the bike together. In less than a week, the mountain bike's opposite was born.   The Bike has the look of a "full-on" fixed-gear urban machine, no cables, and no appearance of brakes - but when push comes to shove, it stops quickly with a kick-back of the pedals.   I have a 20 tooth rear gear and a 40 tooth front, for a 54-gear inch ride, food for eighteen miles an hour on the flats and I can easily pull the Greeley hill from downtown to my home near the U. of Portland. It will be a fine ride for commuting about town.   I salute the youth culture for continuing to reinvent the bicycle in a million ways, challenging the status quo, and watching it try to catch up. My goal is to ride it in my 14th Seattle to Portland in "03". I think I will name it "Coaster", or "Kick n' Back" - I haven't decided yet!