Anyone prefer a fixed single-speed ebike?

[Underdog]

I have an interest in a Euphree Solar Sparrow as my next ride, it's a simple but elegant and thoughtfully put together ebike. Single speed, Gates belt drive, 500 watt hub drive, class 3, 26" Kenda tires that are 2.5" wide. I have several ebikes now, all 750 watt, and all 8 speeds, with 20" and 27.5" tires. I surely don't need another bike, but the simplicity of this bike has me questioning everything I ride now, and If I really need all this power and gears to just go out and get my daily fitness and enjoyment rides. I'm not a lazy rider who needs a throttle to get places, I pedal 99% of the time wherever I go and enjoy doing it.
Anyone out there living by choice with a single speed ebike? I'd like to hear your opinion on this and if it's something you would enjoy riding.
Here is a link to the bike I have expressed interest in.

Solar Sparrow – Lightweight Step-Thru with Gates Belt Drive

Gates belt drive, upright frame, and low weight. Designed for riders 4'11" to 5'10" who want comfort, simplicity, and app-free freedom.

euphree.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

How about the hills?

 

[stompandgo]

It only comes in one size, which to me, is a fatal flaw. It's also not light, at 53 pounds. For $2K, there are so many better choices.

 

[fauconnier]

I've had a single speed for nine years. The main problem is the gear ratio. Because you're limited to a single ratio, the bike will struggle on climbs or be very limited in terms of speed. Mine, for example, is quite capable on climbs (nothing like a mid-drive with a derailleur), but it's limited to 15 mph when actually pedaling; after that the crankset is impossible to keep up with. To go faster, I have to stop pedaling and use the throttle until I reach 22 mph my max. A different gear ratio would allow me to pedal up to 22 mph, but it would certainly limit me on climbs.

 

[Underdog]

How about the hills?

That's why I need a test ride to see how this bike handles them. The way I handle them on my current bikes is when approaching a hill, I usually drop a gear or two, engage the hill, and then roll on the throttle if the hill is too much. I feel using the throttle on steep climbs aids my knee's in after ride recovery, so I'm thinking on a single speed there will be more throttle needed and used to climb hills but totally doable.
What I really need to do is get my current bike out and ride it exactly like a single speed, once selecting the right gear, and using the throttle to assist on the hills and climbs only. The fixed gear on the Solar Sparrow is 60 tooth front and 20 rear, so I need to duplicate this as much as possible and see how I do with this riding style. I'll be 67 years old in a few days, I shouldn't be afraid or shy of using the throttle more in my current rides but I don't? Maybe I need to accept my age and health and adjust accordingly.
Maybe this whole idea of mine is a bad idea, and I should stick to what works.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The issue here is the rear hub drive motor. Hub motors love spinning. When your speed uphill degrades, the hub motor becomes terribly inefficient, which leads to the power loss and overheating. If you use a derailleur, you can maintain the reasonable speed by downshifting, which is impossible with the fixed gear e-bike. Also, you mention the knee issues. With the low gear, you can pedal at high cadence, which is beneficial to the knees. A fixie will require you to pedal very hard despite the full throttle. Just saying.

 

[sc00ter]

I have a single speed RadRunner 2. It works great for what I purchased it for, general local use. I keep the PAS on 2 because anything over that I'll just ghost pedal. I can get some exercise in PAS 2 as well. I don't have the screen so I have no idea how fast I'm going in PAS 2 but I suspect around 12ish MPH? It also has a throttle but I rarely use it.

My ride area is completely flat, zero hills.
My average local run is 3 miles each way.
I've ridden the 'Runner as far as 14 miles each way.
I love the overall simplicity of the 'Runner.
This is my second "Runner because I missed my first one after selling it.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

That's why I need a test ride to see how this bike handles them.

Testing's absolutely necessary in your case. No one here can tell you if your knees will tolerate a fixed gearing that high on your hills.

What I really need to do is get my current bike out and ride it exactly like a single speed, once selecting the right gear, and using the throttle to assist on the hills and climbs only.

Agree, a good start on the testing. A lot will depend on what your hills are like and what your knees will tolerate.

My bum knees don't like high-torque, low-cadence situations of any kind — including hills steep enough to bog down my 500W hub motor and drop my cadence below 70 rpm.

My job is to keep my knees out of those situations. And that would be impossible with a single speed in my hilly terrain.

The fixed gear on the Solar Sparrow is 60 tooth front and 20 rear, so I need to duplicate this as much as possible and see how I do with this riding style.

On the Euphree's 26" wheels, the 60/20 gearing comes out to a pretty high 78 gear-inches. If a big hill bogs you down to the point that you need to help the hub motor finish the climb, you may well find yourself wishing for a gear well under 40 gear-inches.

My commuter's 500W hub motor gets bogged down like that sometimes. Had to lower its bottom gear to 24 gear-inches to get it over my toughest hills (16-20%) without having to walk.

But you enjoy pedaling. And you're not going to enjoy a gear that low on the flats.

So I'd test both ways: With your usual motor utilization, find the highest gear you can tolerate on your worst hills and the lowest on your flats. Calculate the gear-inches in both tests and compare the results with the Euphree's 78 gear-inches.

If you can count on similar assistance from the Euphree, that should tell you a lot.

 

[RunForTheHills]

I've never regretted having more gears. On a related topic, I also love manual transmissions in cars, but I haven't been able to buy one in decades because my wife only knows how to drive an automatic transmission and won't learn to shift gears. They are selling bikes with auto shifting these days: https://bike.shimano.com/en-NA/stories/article/our-automatic-shifting-technology.html

 

[MrClortho]

My wife's e-trike is a single speed and it sucks. The gear ratio is too tall to get moving without either standing on the pedals or using the thumb throttle, and I ride mtb's on the hard stuff. It is geared too low once you get over about 11 mph. At that speed, you look like a cartoon character trying to pedal so fast your feet are a blur so you end up just moving your feet and letting the motor do the work. A 3 speed would make all the difference in the world on it.

 

[Gionnirocket]

No.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I've never regretted having more gears.

Ditto. And these days, mainly to keep my cranky old knees in their only cadence happy place (80-100 rpm, ideally 90‐92). Happily, that's also the mid-drive motor's cadence sweet spot.

So, lots of incentive to shift early and often to keep cadence where I want it. And I'm largely succeeding at it on a 1x 12-speed mid-drive. But another cassette cog or 2 would be even better in my terrain.

On a related topic, I also love manual transmissions in cars,

Ditto. Love the manual 6-speed in my old roadster. Really enjoy getting mechanically engaged with my driving. (See what I did there, @DaveMatthews ?)

Ditto for my riding.

But we're a dying breed. Manual car transmissions are getting harder and harder to buy.

They are selling bikes with auto shifting these days

Couldn't be less interested, but I can see how others might want that.

 

[gromike]

Yesterday I was looking at this ebike: Luna Fixed Stealth Ebike .
Not really fixed as it has a 3 spd. geared hub, but something close to what the OP was thinking about.

 

[fauconnier]

Yesterday I was looking at this ebike: Luna Fixed Stealth Ebike .
Not really fixed as it has a 3 spd. geared hub, but something close to what the OP was thinking about.

250 watt hours battery

 

[harryS]

Nope. Ever since we were 8 years old, we aspired to the 3 speed English Racer over our coaster brake bikes. and later on to the 10 speeds. Our younger siblings had their Schwinn Sting Rays, but the cool kids had the models with shift lever. Shifting gears made biking easier and more fun,

With motors, it's true you don't necessarily need to shift. My wife never moves her shifter, but her bike does have gears and they are set for our average riding speed. It's also a torque sense mid drive that will dig in on hills. On her hub motor, she would have to raise the assist level.

If someone wants a simpler riding interface, well that's fine. A single speed is not for me, I still like clicking or twisting a shifter,

 

[gromike]

250 watt hours battery

That's where one would use their two range extenders.

 

[fauconnier]

A single-speed bicycle has only one comfortable cadence, which translates more or less to a single cruising speed. This makes it rather unpleasant to keep up with another cyclist.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

But another cassette cog or 2 would be even better in my terrain.

Is your drivetrain SRAM? Have you ever replaced the chainring with a smaller one?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Is your drivetrain SRAM? Have you ever replaced the chainring with a smaller one?

Yes, SRAM, 11-50t cassette. And yes, reduced the SL's chainring from 44t to 40t before even taking delivery.

Result: 22-99 gear-inches over 12 speeds. Perfect guess for my legs and terrain. Cadence rarely drops below 75 rpm on the harder hills, and 90 rpm is usually quite doable.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Jeremy, I'm sure you are happy with your current setup. If you are ever in the need of improving your gearing low end, go for a 36T chainring (as I think @Rás Cnoic did on his Vado SL). That would set your granny gear at the true MTB 20 gear-inch. You could achieve 24.1 mph at the cadence of 90 pedalling on the flat or downhill.

I use a 36T chainring with the 11-46T cassette on my big Vado, as I need a really low end for some of my demanding e-races. It is a 38T chainring with a 11-51T cassette for my Vado SL as I never plan exceeding 10% grade with my low power motor and weak legs!