SINGLE SPEED - What's it all about then?

OK, I'll admit from the start. There is something slightly perverse about throwing away all the effort generations of biscuitty geezers have put into making your cycling easier over the last 100 years. Ditching all the gear changing stuff has got to be a petulant act. Gears make it easier to get up hill. They mean you can still pedal going down hills too. They make carrying all your shopping home on your bike a less herculean task. All those clever little mechanisms mean that your legs can just spin at a comfortable cadence, maximisng your power output. They're properly sensible. Everybody should have them.

But just once in a while, don't you feel the urge to break free from the slavery of progress?