With the constant rise of cityscapes, it’s becoming unbearable to make your way through the roads without getting the least bit annoyed or worse, stressed out, and still make it to work or the desired destination on time. Truth is, we don’t actually see how bad the situation is until we find ourselves stuck in traffic. Imagine having a first date with a possible significant other to be and you end up being late or missing out on it entirely just because you had to wait for the metro to get back in order. Along with the headaches and rage, the increasing number of vehicles poses a serious threat to our health in general thanks to the emissions that contribute to air pollution.
Fortunately, lately more attention is paid to the quality of life. Helping preserve the environment is sort of a trend to stay healthy and active while also being eco-aware. These three are the compound elements of a bike lover. No matter whether it’s for commuting to work or going to the central business district, the local library and meeting up friends at a café, it’s always the perfect occasion to ride the bike.
Speaking of trends, there’s a new bike favourite in town: single speed bicycle. Single speed is a bike that has a single speed (obviously) with back freewheel cog, chaining and no gears. Bikes of this sort bring about nostalgic feelings about the simplicity of bikes as they used to be, so more nostalgic souls, hipsters and minimalists are opting for them. If you’re up for staying even healthier and spending extra calories while making extra pedalling, you can easily find the single speed bicycle to suit your taste.
Though you’ll hear of single gear and fixie mentioned interchangeably, a fixie bike is a specific type of single gear, differing in the freewheel mechanism – with a fixie there’s no freewheel but rather a fixed wheel. A lockring secures the rear cog to the threaded hub. The perks of riding a single speed bike are plenty, from building more strength because of more pedalling and noiseless movements to acquiring braking techniques instead of just relying on a brake to make your turns and stops.
Thanks to the lack of additional gear and heavy mechanisms, single speed bikes are considerably lightweight and easy to manoeuvre and carry. Perhaps a reason more to have one is they are not as expensive as other types of bikes which makes them an investment worth making. You’ll stay on trend, keeping your waistline slim and the environment safe.
