This owner happily chose the single speed version, not for decreased weight, cleaner aesthetics, lower maintenance or reduced cost. But for two more important reasons:
1. Gears are simply unnecessary in a flattish city like London. Why fight traffic and topography, when you can avoid the former and let the latter be your regulator? Highgate, Telegraph, Muswell; the mild effort to ascend our little hills is duly rewarded with a CAMRA gem and a freefall descent.
2. Gears suggest demand for a wider variety of speed, but a congenial band like 8-12mph will get you anywhere in Zone 2 in half an hour or so. If urgency or distance must increase, weigh up placability with patience. The Guvnor has an optimum range and speed, and it’s just our choice not to extend those things.
So, the demand met by gears can instead by quashed by a philosophical shift. Yes, apologies.
PS Of course we support 3 (and 4) speed Guvnor owners, in fact we love them as brethren. But we consider the single speed model the most Guvnorish.
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The purist in me agrees that the singlespeed version of The Guv’nor is infinitely to be preferred, especially in what Bertie Wooster calls ‘the old metrop’. However, as one languishing in a notably lumpy portion of the provinces (the Sussex Weald) I went the way of pragmatism and chose the three-speed. Furthermore, at the risk of being ejected from this august company on the grounds of heresy and lack of moral fibre, I should also confess that I’ve replaced the 16-tooth sprocket originally specified with a 20. I have never regretted either decision. Thus equipped, my Guv’nor and I have successfully tackled every hill hereabouts, including some of the Ashdown Forest’s unfriendlier specimens, with confidence and aplomb. And though I’ve not been able to wean myself off gears entirely, having a choice of three, as opposed to my usual 20, has altered my perspective and brought about a welcome easing-off and slowing-down. Plus, the Sturmey-Archer lever on the handlebars has brought forth delighted cries of recognition from many of my vintage – cyclists and non-cyclists alike – as they recall the beloved bicycles of their youth. And what could be more Guvnorish than that?
Nick…..interesting to note you have changed the sprocket from 16, original spec. on your 3 speed Guv’nor, to 20. I have a 22.5″ frame 3 speed model, frame No. 148109 ordered in Aug. ’09 delivered Oct. ’09 – and it’s fitted with a 20 tooth sprocket as original equipment. So have Pashley changed the spec. on later models also when and why? Further comments welcome.
Chaps, interesting, and quite a change in the spec if so. The single speed has 18, or at least mine does! What little hills London has to offer I’ve conquered them all on it (Highgate the toughest), but I dare say a real slope might prove more of a challenge.
Nick, you make a fine argument for the 3 speed, particularly when coming down from 20. And the 3 speed heritage is incontrovertible.
I reluctantly admit I’d love the chance to really rattle along now and again!
Still undecided about the advantages of single speed over geared. I agree with most of the points made, but anyone else care to weigh in with thoughts on the matter?
Fenrir, the beauty and simplicity of the single speed set up out weighs “multiple cogs” in my opinion. After years of 14, 16, 18 and now 20 gears on racing cycles, and advancing years on my part, the lack of fuss and expense of the single Guv’ cog is wonderful. Where I reside in the Cotswolds, hills are a killer in some parts.
I am now known to grind to a halt, dismount, and walk with my always appreciated bicycle. Take time out. Appreciate your surroundings, chat to passers by, (they will certainly talk to you about your “lovely old bike”!), and hop on when suitable.
You can indeed rattle along at a fair rate. Lighter in weight too……
Ride on!
True, true. I suppose the real question is “how much of a mental reliance is gears…….”
“I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn’t it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a Derailer? We are getting soft…. As for me, give me a fixed gear!”. Henri Desgrange, Tour de France.
Mental reliance plays a large part for certain. It being informed by received opinion, bike industry missives, self-doubt and techno-lust, gears tick many boxes of what a bicycle is ‘supposed’ to do.
But what the bicycle should do best is remove itself from your concerns, and elevate itself as a companion. The single speed Guvnor achieves this through functional simplicity and elegant form.
This changes your relationship with the machine. Elevated from mostly-reliable transportation tool, it becomes a device to manifest spirit and joy, an enabler of human contact, a channel for enquiry and solution, a deliverer of nowness and hereness just when and where it is needed.
Absolutely. Since owning my Guvnor I have been wrestling with ejecting from ownership my carbon framed Reef EPX and replacing with yet another single/fixed wheel STEEL bicycle. A shock to myself after all the years and miles covered on the ever increasing geared machines.
An ultimate hommage to the past greats.
Good Evening Gentlemen,
I admit the Plus Four and Three Speed Guvs are indeed lovely looking machines, however they are curios, objects around the core ideals of the Original Guv
The experience of riding a single-speed bike is unique, the lack of gears means the drive train runs more smoothly without being dragged through endless loops of sprockets or driving internal gears, on a quiet road all you can hear is the ticking of the chain over the sprockets, your tyres on the road and the sounds of surrounding environment.
Hello Gentlemen,
I, too, must agree with the somber lament that a form of soulless technology, one I believe is based in ego and crass consumerism more than anything else, has eclipsed the almost bucolic past of the fixed-wheel cycle. Here in Santa Cruz, California, we are surrounded by a feral form of bicycle fetishism–embodied principally in expensive mountain and road bikes, cycles of stunning technological virtuosity realized only by a minute fraction of elite cyclists.
Upon considering the fixed versus “multiple cogs” notion cited above, I also weighed the topographical realities of where I live, which is quite varied, suggesting that to fully express the joy of riding the beloved Guv’nor, I needed at least a couple of gears. Of course, aesthetically, I often struggle with my choice, particularly when cruising by the bay. But, once I’m in the hills–mountains to most Europeans–my choice affirms the spirit of what it’s all about: oneness.
The funny part of the whole thing, however, is the number of spandex-encased warriors I pass with the ever-unassuming Guv’nor and the sprightliness gained with a couple of gears! Yeah, I’m plus 40.
Be well,
Gary
Fine words gentlemen, thank you.
I fear none of us have mentioned the obvious. That there’s something even more direct in the drive train: you pedal faster to speed up, and that’s it.
Your relationship with the road is unmitigated. Pedal, chain, sprocket, wheel, tyre, ground. The simplest of algorithms.
My admiration for the fixed wheel setup comes from this, it’s just a shame certain parts of fixie culture seem brash and unlikeable.
But we must all admit, for some a balance should be sought where a compromise is made here to extend our appreciation there.
you guys are starting to get just a tad pontificatorous.
Since when is the single speed Guv’nor fixed? I thought it was a freewheel.
But it I agree there is a certain perverse pleasure in ‘scorching’ a guy on a crabon 56 speed road bike, when you are on 1930s British steel technology – I used to manage in often when younger, on a 50s 3 speed Humber with the smallest Sturmey sprocket on the back, giving a fast, tall-geared bike.
Now my knees hurt, and I’m only 41! So I have a 20s BSA 28″er which is awaiting it’s 3 speed Sachs coaster brake hub to be fitted, and a ’55 Raleigh with the 4 speed Sturmey FG dynohub. Happiness
Hey Al,
What about “Baroque” instead? :) I’m guilty of that! Our comments I suspect are based more in humility and respect than they are in pontificating, ha! One clarification: my last comment was not that of a braggart, as I really don’t try to scorch anyone. Rather, it was statement about the futility of technology when clashing with ego. Some of these guys are riding bikes in the multiple plus 3K range!
Take care,
Gary
Thanks Al for the well-timed knock of the table…it’s after 10 here, time to move from wine to ale ;-)
PS My ref to fixed wheel was of course in the abstract…just written poorly!
Well chaps, this certainly got an intercontinental exchange going!
Gentlemen, we have much, much more to talk about than just gears.
Ride on!
Wine before beer? You’ll regret that one come the morning.
“The Morning After”.
Gentlemen, after the flurry of comments on gears, I wish to bring the tone down a little, and would ask you think hard about something more pressing.
This evening on my local tea time news programme here in England, BBC Points West, a story saddened and angered me.
At a time of “illegal wars”, and brave soldiers losing their lives in the eastern lands, a young British soldier lost his life near his home in Wiltshire recently.
29 year old Captain Jonathan Allen was killed, when he swerved on his bicycle to avoid a pot hole in the road, by a lorry.
He was cycling home from his barracks. Despite cheating death, as all active soldiers are doing, in the east, he “falls” at home because of ‘weather damaged roads’.
Soldiers are not the only ones to perish this way. We probably all know of someone who has been killed because of the same reasons. Neighbour. Work mate. Relation. A good friend.
Despite we all having experienced one of the worst economic events in decades, how many of you have experienced “years” of bad roads?!
Here in Gloucestershire, where I have lived for 8 years, I have been appalled at the road surface conditions. It’s not a new phenomena. I am a keen motorcyclist as well as cyclist and constantly have to slalom our roads due to holes and canyons. Each trip is pure hell!
Money goes on “illegal wars”, government “expenses” and other utter wasteful frittering of tax payers money.
We, here in England, pay an enormous amount of fuel tax, road tax, council tax, income tax, et al. Yet the “veins” (roads) of the nation are no better than farm cart tracks. Unlike “cycle bred” nations like France & Italy, UK drivers are not ‘savvy’ in the ways of the veloists.
Riders and friends, if you see a pot hole or any badly damaged area of road inform your local highways department. Check out the County Councils web site in your area for details. Keep on at them until it is repaired!
Don’t put up with it. Demand your right for decent safe roads, before it’s too late.
Heaven forbid, you or someone close could be the next statistic…….
That is indeed tragic news.
I’ve previously used this link to report potholes http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/hazards/report
Hello All,
A sober message indeed; I’m sorry to hear of this lost. As a citizen of a country that mistakenly believes it has the financial and ethical wherewith all to continue its imperialistic romp across sovereign states in illegal wars, while neglecting the basic needs of its citizens, I too am incensed. For, I live in what has been called a “bubble,” named Santa Cruz, which is decidedly left of “progressive.”
In spite of this, it is not a very cycle-friendly place. Sure, there’s somewhat enough designated bike lanes, but similar to you, our roads are absolutely atrocious–dangerous, really. And, like the UK, there appears to be no money to sort it all out. In fact, as a state, California has some of the worst infrastructure around. Given this deep economic crevasse we have been pushed down into, it will not change soon. Where’s all this leading? Well, vocal activism is key.
That’s why the beauty of this site is so appreciated. For minutes each day, we are transported away from the exigencies of daily life–its troubles, challenges, and set-backs–by focusing our attention and good-will on craftsmanship, simplicity, respectful and thoughtful discourse, and the challenge of maintaining ethical sobriety in a time of oppressive turmoil. To that end, I thank each of you.
Lastly, while this loss is sad and completely unnecessary, I am thankful this lad was doing something he truly loved while hurting no one–much like us.
Take care,
Gary
I’m afraid our ‘Road tax’ has not been utilised as its name suggests. That, coupled with the fact that any clown with a shovel can dig up our roads in the name of a Utility company has resulted in the current state of our highways. No Council has been brave or intelligent enough to co-ordinate these moles, or to inspect their apparent ‘repairs’.
Now we are told it will take gazillions to repair them, but as we are expecting the famous ‘cuts’ I somehow doubt it will happen.
If you have travelled in France recently, you will know that whether on 2 wheels or 4, their roads are like velvet…… It is possible, with some thought.
As the old saying goes; “failing to plan…is planning to fail”
To all you 3 speed owners out here, may I draw your attention to an potential problem, details posted in the Forum, ‘Three speed operating cable’ on 13 April, which will I’m sure will be of interest.
Safe riding one and all, Geoff ‘Duchy Wheeler’.
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