Advantages of running 1 speed

1.  Lowers start up cost for new riders entering the sport

2.  Lowers the cost of maintenance

            Costs quite a bit if you break your derailleur

            A bent derailleur hanger shouldn’t be as big a problem anymore

3.  You can be more confident in practicing sidehops to the right

4.  Lowers the weight in the rear end (harder to lighten up than the front end)

5.  Further lowers the weight of your bike because of fewer chain links to run

6.  Upon landing, no slappy sounds from the derailleur shaking around 

     Disadvantages  

 1.  If you commute on your trials bike, then you won’t be able to shift (much

             like you won’t be able to sit comfortably with such a small seat)

2.  Some competitions won’t let you enter or will put you in 20” wheel class 

             because you are perceived to have some advantage over other 26” riders

             in some unimaginable way! 

3.  Some think it’s a radical idea and you will be breaking some sort of sacred 

             traditional vow you took when you became a trials rider and they'll disown 

             you!  

     If you could live with the above disadvantages, then 1 speed can be for you. 

             Why not? 

In recent years, there have been some surprising rule changes to bike setup, such as 

rear wheels on the 26” class going down to size 25” and seats disappearing off of 

some trials bikes.  Why did it happen?  Why did the seats come off?  It just made 

sense to do so (besides giving a certain company a competitive advantage through 

innovation). 

In the future, will there be more 1 speed 26” bikes?  Will it be accepted in the future

in competitions?  If so, it'll be a very slow transition because of the bureaucracy 

involved. 

After speaking to some Swedish trials riders in Japan, Tobias and Bjorn said their

friend Martin Kleivard trains and rides with 1 speed as well.  We’ve also heard that 

Ot Pi Isern trains with 1 speed as well on his 26” bike. 

The strange thing is, with competition rules, 26” class is named after the wheel size, 

however, there are 25” wheels on the market and they are totally accepted in 

competition as a 26” bike.  But if you happen to NOT have the correct number of 

gears/shifter for your bike, you will not be able to compete, or you’ll be put into the 

20” wheel bike class.  

Which bike appears to be more 26” at quick glance?  A bike with a smaller rear 

wheel or a bike with fewer gears or no derailleur?  It’s not so clearcut, since there 

will be people on both sides believing differently. 

In the future, it won’t be surprising to see more riders move to 1 speed systems for 

26” bikes.  Riders should be given a choice to run 1 speed if they feel it will help them

just as those riders who believe derailleur/shifter will help their riding.  They both have

26” wheels as the name of the class suggests.  For those who don’t want to run it, 

then they should be able to choose so.

It’s too bad, however, at larger events that riders are not allowed much say in 

developing, making and changing rules for competitions especially since they 

are the ones who do the riding. 

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