[kashyapc]

That's the reason I use a single-speed bike (not to be confused with a "fixie") for commuting. I absolutely love the simplicity of it: no gears to muck around with, much less maintenance, light, and hassle-free. Perfect to deal with the "frequently stop and start" biking in a city.

In a (flat) city for commuting short distances, you simply don't need gears if you're below 50. It's a nice to have.

It also helps that I live in the "Low Lands" (Flanders, Belgium), so no hills around here, and it's a bicycle-first city.

[rsingel]

Seconded. Love that my single speed rarely needs anything other than some air in the tires. I've got a converted 70s Raleigh that has been bomber for almost 20 years, with the only exception being a busted crank arm. Replace those old hollow aluminum things if you go this route.

Even got my dad a single speed e-bike. If you live somewhere mildly flat, that's a fantastic choice for durability with an ebike.

So many bikes end up unridden because the gears went wonky.

[kashyapc]

Yeah, nicely done, on the single speed e-bike. I didn't know that's a thing. I naively assumed all e-bikes have gears.

[bombela]

> you simply don't need gears if you're below 50

And here I am with all the gears; on a nice road bike; and I struggle to maintain 30 km/h on flat.

[criddell]

Is maintaining 30 km/h important? Why not leave a little earlier?

[david-gpu]

Yeah, the person you replied to thinks of cycling as a sport, not as a form of transportation. That is the sorry state of affairs in North America and Australia.

Edit: I see now that you are in TX, so this isn't news to you.

[bombela]

You guessed wrong! I biked for sport in France and the bay area. But also for commuting in San Francisco (so dangerous), and Palo Alto for many years.

My reaction was to the 50 km/h, as if the person was cycling at that speed. edit: maybe they meant that below 50 years old you don't need gears.

By the way, France has switched to a 30 km/h limits in towns. Pretty nice for cyclists feeling of safety.

[kashyapc]

Oh, I now see I was not clear. I was indeed talking about age when I said "below 50". Not speed. My bad.

[david-gpu]

My bad! Yes, I interpreted it as "below 50 years old you don't need gears".

[kashyapc]

That was my original intention indeed :)

[kashyapc]

I was explicitly talking about commuting in a small city, where there's a lot of start-and-stop-start bicycling is the "way of life". :-)