Best 2024 Single Speed Bikes | Cycling Weekly
The best single speed bikes should be simple, but that does not mean they lack practicality or versatility. You just have to be sure you select the right bike for you. In this video, Ed Westrop presents the results of months of testing five of the best single speed road bikes available in 2024. The Elops City Bike is the best single speed bike for those on a budget, the Quella Oxford is best for those who want to go fast, the Steed Thoroughbred is our all round winner, while the Temple Lightweight is best for those who want a more luxury option. However, it's the Genesis Flyer which stands as the best single speed gravel bike, and also means it's the most versatile bike on test. Which would you pick?
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00:00 The single speed bike market is a pretty interesting one.
00:11 And for what is an arguably niche type of bike, there is an amazing amount of variety
00:16 hidden deep within their ranks.
00:18 These days they tend to range from urban hybrid bikes, to track inspired road bikes, all the
00:23 way through to single speed gravel bikes.
00:26 So in order to get a better grasp on the vast array and choice that is out there, our videographer
00:31 Ed and a self-confessed single speed lover has put together this curated selection of
00:37 five bikes.
00:38 So Ed, what have we got?
00:40 So starting with the cheapest, we've got the Elop City Bike 500, we have the Steed
00:44 Thoroughbred, we have the Queller Oxford, the Genesis Flyer and the Temple lightweight
00:49 single speed.
00:55 So first off we have the Elop City Bike 500.
00:58 Ed, what can you tell me about this?
01:00 Okay, so the first thing to talk about with this one is the price.
01:03 So it's £250 which makes it by far the cheapest on test, which you have to say is a pretty
01:07 good price.
01:08 I mean, you can go on eBay and find single speeds for less than that, but for a brand
01:12 new bike, that's pretty good.
01:14 If this was a fully geared bike coming in at that price, that'd be a bit of a red flag
01:17 because you'd be thinking, well, what components have they used to achieve that price?
01:21 But that's the beauty of single speeds because it's so simple in a mechanical sense.
01:25 I think you can kind of trust that there's not that much that's going to go wrong with
01:28 it.
01:29 So I think you can take quite a lot of confidence in this bike.
01:31 So gear ratio wise, it doesn't look huge.
01:34 What actually is it?
01:35 It's a 44/18.
01:36 So it's a pretty sort of social gear if you're using flat pedals.
01:41 It's really easy to get started.
01:42 It's great if you're starting at traffic lights or just if you have a stop start commute to
01:46 work.
01:47 But it can hold a fairly decent speed.
01:48 You can sort of cruise at about 16 miles an hour before you start to spin out, which for
01:52 town riding is pretty, you know, it isn't too bad.
01:54 And I guess if you do have some hills on your commute or your ride around town, it's going
01:59 to make it pretty easy.
02:01 It's not going to struggle too much with those.
02:02 Also worth mentioning, this bike does come with a flip flop hub in the wheel.
02:06 So if you wanted to, you can flip the wheel over and then run it with a fixed gear.
02:09 It doesn't come with the sprocket, which is fixed, but you can buy them from Decathlon
02:12 for probably not very much.
02:14 So are there any drawbacks with this bike?
02:16 There's a couple.
02:17 So the first one would be that it has a fixed saddle orientation and it's kind of tilted
02:22 back.
02:23 It could be a problem for some people.
02:24 I actually found it really comfortable.
02:25 Like the orientation was right for me and the saddle is probably like the most comfortable
02:28 of all the ones on test, which is good.
02:31 But yeah, if that didn't work for you, you would have to get a whole new seat post.
02:34 Okay, cool.
02:35 And then what are the drawbacks?
02:36 The other drawback is it doesn't come with eyelets for a rack, for a rear rack, which
02:40 I just think for a bike, which I think, you know, the only real reason why you'd be getting
02:44 this is to sort of ride around town or city riding, commuting and a rack mount is just
02:49 a bit of a no brainer.
02:51 I just, I don't really think that any bike meant for that purpose should ever come without
02:56 one.
02:57 Tell you what though, for a bike that's only £250, I think it cuts a really clean look.
03:01 Often you can find bikes cheaper that, you know, they try and do too much, but this has
03:05 kept it simple and it looks quite classy.
03:07 Yeah, that's one of the things that I really like about it is in like, I don't think it
03:10 doesn't look like it's worth £250 if you start to look close, like you have to, the
03:13 components are on the sort of cheaper side.
03:15 But in terms of the design, it's pretty timeless looking.
03:18 It's got a very minimal design, but it's not boring to look at.
03:20 It's got the drop seat stays, which is, you know, quite a sort of modern feature.
03:23 I think it just looks really clean and elegant.
03:25 I think it's a smart looking bike.
03:27 Now one of the most important things is how the bike actually feels to ride.
03:30 So what is it like to ride?
03:32 It's really nice to ride.
03:33 I must say it's really comfortable.
03:34 You've got 32 millimetre tyres on there at the moment and it can take up to 37 millimetre
03:39 tyres, which is pretty good.
03:40 It's got a full steel frame, which again for the price is really good.
03:43 So a lot of comfort comes through that.
03:45 It's got very upright riding position, as you might imagine, obviously the flat bars,
03:49 very short stem.
03:50 So it does, as much as it's sort of nice and sort of you can cruise along quite comfortably,
03:54 it is also quite twitchy and does feel a little bit nervous.
03:57 Yes.
03:58 But also, you know, kind of good for cornering and it's, you know, it's very nippy if you're
04:00 weaving in and out of traffic and, you know, tighter spaces.
04:04 To be honest, for a bike that costs £250, brand new bike that costs £250, I really
04:08 don't think that there's much to complain about.
04:10 If you just want something, you don't want to spend much money on a bike, you just need
04:12 something to get around, then look no further basically.
04:15 So next up, we have a bike from Queller.
04:26 Ed, what is this gorgeous thing we have behind us?
04:29 So this is the Queller Oxford from the Varsity range.
04:32 So you've got the Oxford, the Cambridge and the Edinburgh.
04:35 Yeah.
04:36 Difference between them is they all just have different colourways.
04:37 Worth mentioning, I've actually got one of these.
04:40 So I'm very familiar with this bike.
04:41 That doesn't mean I'm going to be biased towards it throughout the test, because as much as
04:44 I love this bike, it has required quite a few tweaks of the spec in order to get it
04:49 that way.
04:50 But I'll move on to that a bit later.
04:51 So how much does this bike come in at?
04:53 So this bike costs £529.
04:55 It's got a full steel frame, so it's a chromo steel frame.
04:59 Well, it's a track frame actually, so it's got the track geometry as you can kind of
05:02 see from looking at it.
05:03 So it's pretty aggressive compared to the other bikes.
05:06 44/16 gear ratio, which is the highest, but I think a perfect ratio for this bike.
05:12 You know, when you look at this bike, it's got deep wheels, it's clearly meant to be
05:15 ridden fast, so to have the higher ratio makes perfect sense.
05:18 It's got the flip-flop hub.
05:19 This one actually does come with the fixed sprocket on the back.
05:23 And this is the sort of bike that I can kind of imagine people wanting to ride fixed, more
05:26 so than the other ones.
05:27 It's got eyelets, which it's interesting that this bike does have eyelets and the E-Lux
05:31 doesn't have eyelets.
05:32 Yes.
05:33 Yeah.
05:34 Because again, with the high gear ratio, I don't know how much you'd really want to
05:35 weigh this bike down with stuff and a rack.
05:37 And a rack in itself adds on a lot of weight.
05:40 It's also the lightest bike on the test.
05:41 So it comes in at 10.3 kg without pedals.
05:44 And again, due to that sort of chromo steel frame, it's light, but it's extremely stiff.
05:49 So it is a harsh ride on roads.
05:51 It'll be great in a velodrome.
05:53 On the road, you feel absolutely everything through it.
05:55 Also, I've never used Bullhorn handlebars before, and I can't say that I'm a massive
05:59 fan of them.
06:00 Okay.
06:01 So these ones have got quite a thin diameter.
06:02 They've got this vegan leather bar tape, which, you know, I'm all for vegan leather.
06:05 But yeah, they are quite thin, pretty uncomfortable.
06:08 And I just, I don't know what your experience is like with Bullhorn handlebars, but I don't
06:13 quite see why for a bike that's, you know, an urban bike, why you'd want them.
06:18 Because the main position that you're going to want to ride in is out on the sides of
06:20 them like that, at which point you don't really have easy access to the brakes.
06:24 So you're kind of either riding like that or riding like that.
06:28 So if you're descending, you're riding like this on the brakes, but that doesn't feel
06:31 very stable to me.
06:32 So on my one, the first thing I did, I changed those to drop bars.
06:36 So now that I've got it dialed in, I absolutely love the bike.
06:39 So riding it, it's quick.
06:40 You could go for a higher gear ratio depending on where you live.
06:44 Like I ride it, obviously I clip into it.
06:46 I don't really see this bike making too much sense on flat pedals.
06:49 It's amazing what you can actually get up on this in terms of the gear ratio.
06:52 When you clipped in and you don't have the option to drop gears, you're sort of, well,
06:56 it's either I'm either getting up here or I'm pushing.
06:58 And I haven't yet, and I keep challenging myself.
07:00 I haven't yet found a hill that I couldn't get up.
07:03 So yeah.
07:04 So what other drawbacks does this bike have?
07:06 Obviously you've mentioned the bullhorn handlebars that you're not a fan of.
07:09 Personally, as much as I love the look of the wheels, I am just thinking that they're
07:13 very heavy.
07:14 So what was that actually like?
07:15 They are heavy.
07:16 I mean, they're, you know, they're a sort of a midsection, 40 millimetres deep.
07:20 So you know, nice and aerodynamic.
07:21 They are rather beautiful in my opinion.
07:23 But when you ride it, it's out of all the bikes, it is by far the least comfortable.
07:30 But the bike, I just don't think is meant to be comfortable.
07:32 I think it's meant to be fast.
07:33 So I don't think it's uncomfortable by accident.
07:35 Yeah.
07:36 These are aluminium wheels.
07:38 You feel a lot through the road, like it is quite jarring.
07:41 And again, you've got the track frame, which is very stiff.
07:44 On a smooth surface, it's absolutely fantastic.
07:45 And it's by far the fastest bike.
07:47 Yeah.
07:48 But you know, the English roads aren't that smooth.
07:50 Also in terms of the comfort or lack thereof, you've got these 25 millimetre tyres, which
07:55 aren't great.
07:56 I reckon you could squeeze a 28 millimetre in there.
07:58 It might be a little bit tight on the rear, but I think that you'd then have all of the
08:01 same riding characteristics, you know, aggressive and you know, it's quite nippy and it'd still
08:05 be light, but it'd just give you a bit more comfort, which it currently just doesn't really
08:09 have.
08:18 Bikes are often referred to as steeds, but in this case, we actually have a bike called
08:22 the Steed Thoroughbred.
08:23 And now, Ed, I'm pretty sure you're a big fan of this bike, right?
08:27 I do.
08:28 I absolutely love this bike.
08:29 This is such a fantastic kind of no messing around, it knows what it is, type machine.
08:33 And I thoroughly enjoyed riding it around.
08:36 Okay, cool.
08:37 So, highlights.
08:38 Talk to me about some of the best parts.
08:39 Highlights.
08:40 So, it's a high tensile steel frame.
08:41 So, it's very strong, very durable.
08:43 A little bit on the heavier side, but it's, well, 10.7 kg.
08:47 So, you know, not vastly different from the Queller, which I think is like 10.3.
08:53 What ratio are we running on this bike?
08:54 This one, we've got a 46/18.
08:56 Again, you've got the flip-flop hub.
08:59 That ratio complements the bike well.
09:00 It's a softer ratio than on the Queller, but it's not as low as the Elops.
09:04 Again, it's good for getting starting and stopping.
09:06 It's a bit more forgiving on the climbs or little steep ramps.
09:10 So, what other highlights are there?
09:11 So, one of the things I really like about this bike is the quill stem.
09:14 And I'd say that for this sort of bike, there is an argument to say that a quill stem is
09:18 more practical than your sort of more conventional stem spacer.
09:22 Set up, you can, you know, with like two turns of an Allen key, you're, you know, lifting
09:25 up and down.
09:26 You may want to have different positions for what you're using it for.
09:28 If you're commuting to work, you'll have a bag on the front, you know, a bit higher.
09:31 You can get down a little bit more poised for, you know, if you're going for like a
09:34 longer ride.
09:35 And, yeah, like I say, it's just twist, lift, tighten, done.
09:40 Also looks fantastic.
09:41 It carries on the sort of traditional look of the bike and just, you know, more pops
09:45 of chrome and I'm a sucker for anything chrome on a bike.
09:49 Now, of course, no bike is perfect.
09:51 So, what problems has this one got?
09:53 Only one main problem, I'd say, and that is that the vegan leather handlebar grips, they
09:58 have this stitching beneath them and when you're kind of gripping onto them when climbing,
10:02 it just starts to irritate your hands very quickly.
10:04 I mean, really, that is a very small problem to have because grips can be changed so easily.
10:09 Well, exactly.
10:10 So, this bike clearly then is actually very good.
10:13 It is very good.
10:14 It takes, it's got 28mm tyres on at the moment.
10:17 They're good enough tyres, they're the Kenda Quest tyres.
10:19 So, they're, I mean, they're pretty cheap tyres.
10:21 They're not the most supple feeling.
10:23 Okay.
10:24 But, they're extremely robust.
10:26 Right.
10:27 So, I don't think you'd be worrying too much about punctures on, you know, general road
10:30 surfaces.
10:31 The bike kind of just like bowls over most things.
10:34 So, now, who do you think this bike is really best for?
10:37 I'd say this bike is best for someone who is kind of looking for an all-rounder.
10:41 So, wants to use it for both commuting, riding around the city and just sort of longer leisure
10:46 rides.
10:47 You've got the rack mounts and the gear ratio would, you know, you could add a bit more
10:51 weight to this bike and still ride around quite comfortably, whereas, obviously, you
10:54 couldn't really on the Queller, in my opinion.
10:56 Yeah.
10:57 And it is, you know, I took this out for a 50 miler to test it.
11:00 Really?
11:01 Yeah.
11:02 Wow.
11:03 And it did deal with the hills well.
11:04 And there was two particularly steep ones and I was very much just sort of like, you
11:07 know, just, I wasn't really like sort of like spinning up it.
11:10 I was just sort of like shifting my weight from each pedal.
11:13 But it did get up it.
11:14 That's the point.
11:15 Yeah.
11:16 So, yeah, really versatile.
11:17 Wheelbase is what, 103 centimetres.
11:19 So, kind of middle of the road, but it kind of, it corners really nicely.
11:23 Flat handlebars, but they're not too wide.
11:25 So, you know, you can, it's quite nippy.
11:27 There's not that much to say about it other than I just think it's a really good, really
11:30 reliable, fun bike.
11:32 So, what does this bike come in at?
11:34 So, this bike comes in at 475 pounds, which makes it the second cheapest of the five.
11:39 Yeah.
11:40 Which, again, 475 pounds is an absolute steal as far as I'm concerned.
11:43 You know, you've got everything you need on this bike and at that price, you can't really
11:46 complain about it.
11:47 And the frame itself, obviously, high tensile steel, very strong.
11:51 You could buy this bike and have it for the rest of your life.
11:52 It's not going to, you know, it's not going to fall apart on you.
11:55 So, I think for 475 pounds, other than those, very little to complain about.
12:00 And I would swap the tyres for something a bit more supple, something with the same amount
12:02 of puncture protection, but just a bit more, kind of a bit smoother.
12:06 And then I think you've basically got the perfect single speed bike.
12:17 This is a gorgeous bike.
12:19 Now, this is the Temple, right?
12:21 And it is utterly beautiful.
12:23 Talk us through what we're looking at.
12:24 So, this is the sort of boutique option of the bikes that we have on test.
12:28 So, it starts at 825 pounds, which I think some people would say is quite steep for a
12:34 bike with only one gear.
12:35 Basically, you have to buy it as a custom option from Temple.
12:39 But the main difference between this and the other bikes, other than the price, is that
12:42 the frame isn't single speed specific.
12:44 This has got a single speed conversion kit on it.
12:47 So, when you're looking at the price, you can sort of look at it as it's kind of worth
12:50 the extra money because you're not limited to it being a single speed.
12:53 You could then, if you wanted to, run it with a full spread of gears.
12:55 That's one of the things which I think justifies the higher price.
12:58 So, Ed, just run us through the spec on this.
13:00 What are we looking at?
13:01 Okay, so this one, we've got Reynolds 520 double butted frame.
13:03 It's the highest end frame in terms of frame material.
13:06 We've got a 39-15 gear ratio.
13:09 When I'm riding along on this one, I do find myself spinning out quicker.
13:13 It's got a bigger gear inch than the Steed, but it just feels easier.
13:19 And on longer rides, I do find myself getting a bit impatient because I'm sort of like,
13:22 "I could be going faster than this, but I'm really kind of spinning out."
13:26 But it's ridiculously comfortable.
13:28 These hoods are the most ergonomic hoods I've ever used.
13:32 They're absolutely lovely.
13:33 It's really smooth.
13:35 I think the tyres play a big part in that.
13:37 They're 28 millimeters.
13:38 You can go with some pretty rutted surfaces on it.
13:41 And what was the saddle like then for comfort?
13:43 Comfortable, although I found when I rode it in proper cycling shorts, I was sort of
13:47 sliding down it because it's got a shiny vegan leather, I believe.
13:52 It's not the most grippy surface.
13:53 It's not particularly grippy saddle, no.
13:55 It's actually better suited to wearing just like regular clothes.
13:58 But on longer rides, I prefer to get the old Lycra's on.
14:04 Also in terms of the ride feel, it's got a longer wheel base than say the Steed.
14:08 It's about 106 centimeters.
14:10 And as much as that's very comfortable, you feel very planted, riding out of the saddle
14:14 up hills, it does feel a bit sluggish.
14:18 Even though it's a lighter frame, it feels less responsive, I think mainly because of
14:21 that longer wheel base.
14:23 It's a bit of a kind of a slog to get it up things.
14:26 But then it's a hell of a lot more comfortable.
14:28 So I think that's kind of a trade-off.
14:29 I think they wanted it to be comfortable.
14:31 As a consequence, it's not the nippiest of bikes.
14:34 In terms of the looks of the bike, this is the winner in terms of the looks of the bike.
14:39 It's absolutely stunning.
14:40 I don't think bikes ever needed to evolve visually beyond that.
14:44 You know what I mean?
14:45 I do know what you mean.
14:46 I know you get some lovely modern bikes, but come on, parallel top is just lovely.
14:49 You've got these lovely little details, the lug fork.
14:52 You've got the seat clamp, which is a bit of a work of art in itself.
14:55 Just all these kind of beautiful little nuances.
14:57 But then the Temple logo is just a sticker.
15:00 It wouldn't stop me from buying the bike.
15:02 No.
15:03 But it's a bit like- It's one of those things.
15:04 It's like, come on, everything out there's been so much love and attention gone into
15:07 the frame, and then you just whack a sticker on it, which a bit disappointing, but again,
15:11 not really the end of the world.
15:12 That's true.
15:13 Who do you think this bike's really for?
15:14 Well, someone who's looking to spend a bit more.
15:17 I think someone who's really into their single speeds and wants one that's completely tailored
15:21 to their needs.
15:22 Like I say, this is a custom option from Temple, so you can choose what type of handlebars
15:25 you want, your tires, your saddle when ordering.
15:29 Somebody knows exactly what they want, is after something a bit more luxury, and is
15:32 happy to spend a little bit more for it.
15:34 I keep talking about the price like it's really going to break the bank.
15:36 £825 for a bike isn't actually that bad.
15:39 I mean, it's quite refreshing, frankly, for us to be talking about a bike on Cycling Weekly
15:42 that's not worth north of £10,000.
15:45 So it's not actually that expensive.
15:47 It's just I think a lot of people would see it as that for a single speed, but then you
15:51 can make it not a single speed.
15:53 So you can kind of look at it as investing in the frame with a single speed option, and
15:57 then you can upgrade it.
15:58 I think when you look at it like that, it's not actually an unreasonable price.
16:01 That's true.
16:02 And it looks really nice hung up on my wall.
16:05 So I'm going to be very sad when I have to give it back.
16:15 Now last up, we have the Genesis Flyer.
16:17 And now this bike, it looks pretty different to everything else that we've had in the video
16:20 so far.
16:21 So talk us through it.
16:22 Okay, so what we have here is essentially a single speed gravel bike.
16:28 Genesis have updated the Flyer last couple of years and taken it more down the gravel
16:31 route.
16:32 Which is such a popular thing.
16:34 But I mean, considering that single speeds were already pretty niche as they are, then
16:39 introducing a sort of gravel version of it doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense.
16:45 But I think if you consider gravel bikes to ultimately be drop bar hybrid bikes, this
16:50 then makes a lot more sense.
16:52 So what aspects of this bike make it gravelly?
16:54 Okay, so the geometry, it's got an endurance geometry.
16:58 So it's got a longer wheel base, it's got a higher front end, slightly slacker angles.
17:01 It's got these Flyer drop handlebars, it's got nice wide WTB all-terrain tyres.
17:07 It's got about as many eyelets as I think I've ever seen on a bike.
17:11 It's got 22 eyelets, so you could mount basically...
17:14 I'm still trying to work out a way that you could use every single eyelet at the same
17:18 time.
17:19 I haven't worked it out.
17:20 You've got disc brakes.
17:21 So obviously you can't really go down the gravel route without having disc brakes.
17:25 But the disc brakes are not great.
17:28 They're mechanical disc brakes.
17:29 They don't perform any better.
17:31 In some cases worse than the rim brakes on the other bikes.
17:34 They would perform better in the wet though.
17:35 So if you consider it as a sort of all-year-round winter bike, you can ride it in any weather.
17:40 That's true.
17:41 Are there any other downsides to the bike?
17:42 Yeah, quite a big one for me.
17:44 The Pro Max hoods are absolutely pathetic.
17:48 They are tiny.
17:49 You'll be able to see in the GoPro footage, there's very little to hold onto.
17:53 And I'm thinking you can use this to go over really rutted, quite extreme terrain, and
17:58 yet all you've got to hold onto is this tiny little knob at the top.
18:01 So I just think that it wouldn't take much for your hands to just sort of slip off if
18:04 you're going down something really, you know, it's really choppy.
18:06 I just don't think it's very safe.
18:08 Okay, for sure.
18:09 And then highlights then.
18:11 Clearly there's a lot going on here.
18:13 What was it actually like to ride?
18:14 So this is by far the most fun bike to ride of all of them.
18:18 Okay.
18:19 By a mile.
18:20 Yeah.
18:21 If you're doing like a sort of blind test, I don't know how you'd do that, but if you
18:22 were doing a blind test, then this one would win like straight out.
18:26 It's the only bike that's got an aluminium frame.
18:29 Yes.
18:30 Normally, I'm sort of like, no, I like steel.
18:31 I like sort of classic steel frame.
18:33 But with this one, this is absolutely perfect.
18:35 Looking at it, you're not going to assume that it's light.
18:37 It's the second lightest on test.
18:38 It's 10.4, I believe.
18:39 So only like a, what, 100 grams below the Queller.
18:43 And that's mainly down to the double-butted aluminium frame.
18:46 And what I love about the bike is that with the comfort that comes through the 37mm tyres,
18:51 with, you know, it's quite good.
18:52 It's got a decent tread pattern on it.
18:55 That gives you loads of comfort and stability.
18:57 The aluminium frame with the smaller triangles with the dropped top tube makes it really,
19:02 really responsive and light.
19:03 So not only sort of cruising along really comfortably, when you go outside, you can,
19:07 you know, you pick up speed like that.
19:09 It's so responsive to get going.
19:10 So it's just fun.
19:12 And okay, yes, they've gone for the sort of gravel aesthetic and it's got features found
19:15 on gravel bikes.
19:16 But, you know, this doesn't ever have to see any gravel.
19:19 Like these things are perfect for riding around town.
19:23 The roads in England could be just as treacherous as like off-road gravel tracks.
19:26 So you know, this thing would be perfect for it.
19:28 So some modern innovations, you might say, are actually quite good.
19:31 Well, yeah, I've kind of had to eat my words here because, you know, I'm a complete sucker
19:35 for a horizontal top tube, that sort of classic thing.
19:37 Nice steel frame.
19:38 Which all of them have got a horizontal top tube.
19:39 But this is the one that's the most fun.
19:41 This is the most fun to ride.
19:43 So my main, one of my main points for this bike is that, so it comes in at 700 quid.
19:46 Yeah.
19:47 But I don't think I'd be able to bring myself to spend 700 quid on it when for an extra
19:53 100 quid, you can get the Genesis CDA 10, which is basically the same frame.
19:57 But yeah, that's got a full Claris groupset on it.
20:00 So for a bike this capable, and this is going to sound a bit stupid because this is all
20:04 about single speeds.
20:06 The only thing letting it down or holding it back is that it only has one gear.
20:09 So if I was going to buy a bike like this, it would be for bike touring, I want to do
20:14 it in great comfort and this would be perfect with a full spread of gears.
20:17 But saying that and bringing it back to single speeds now, for someone who does want to take
20:21 advantage of the simplicity and the reliability, this is a fantastic option and you're better
20:26 off having all of these extra features that the other bikes don't have rather than not
20:30 having them.
20:31 That's true.
20:32 So what actually is the ratio on this bike then?
20:33 This is a 42 17.
20:34 Okay.
20:35 So it's the second lowest of the bikes, which actually makes sense.
20:38 But over certain road surfaces, I'd say it's actually the fastest bike.
20:42 Despite the fact that the Quella has the capability to go faster, you're hitting, it's like you're
20:46 chattering along if there's any road imperfection and it does just slow you down.
20:51 It's just bowls straight over the top of it.
20:52 It's like smooth.
20:53 It's like a magic carpet ride, as they say.
20:55 So yeah, I'd say in certain circumstances, this is the fastest bike as well.
20:58 Wow.
20:59 Okay.
21:00 That's really impressive.
21:01 Now, not only is this bike a gravel bike, which is a niche, but it's also a single speed,
21:04 which is another niche.
21:06 Who's this bike really for?
21:07 Well, I think that this could suit, I don't think this is for any one person.
21:10 Okay.
21:11 I'm sure that there is like a sort of subculture of people out there who just like single speed
21:15 gravel biking.
21:16 Yeah.
21:17 Fine.
21:18 Very specific, but great fun, I'm sure.
21:19 It's also perfectly set up for commuting, town riding, as well as off-roading and it's
21:23 pretty quick as well.
21:24 It's fun to ride really fast on and go long distances as well as short commutes in the
21:29 pissing rain.
21:30 You've got the disc brakes that can handle it.
21:31 So I think a lot of people could benefit from this bike.
21:34 Gravel single speed bike sounds like one of the most niche things I've ever heard, but
21:37 it's a lot more than that.
21:40 So out of all of the bikes that you've had on TestEd, which would you take home?
21:45 Okay.
21:46 Well, I'm very tempted by this one.
21:47 Yeah.
21:48 It's a unique one now.
21:49 I'm not spending my money on it.
21:50 I'd absolutely just take this because I think it's the most fun to ride.
21:53 But as I said, if I am spending money, I'd be more tempted to just spend a bit more and
21:59 just get a fully geared version of it.
22:01 Putting money back in.
22:02 Putting money back in.
22:03 The Steed.
22:04 I'd spend 475 pounds to get the Steed and I just think that's a fantastic bike.
22:07 It knows exactly what it is.
22:08 It's very simple, perfect for what I'd be using it for, which is basically riding around
22:11 town, but also some longer rides as well.
22:14 And I just think that for 475 quid, you can't really complain.
22:16 Well, Ed, thank you so much for putting so much time and effort into testing all of these
22:21 bikes.
22:22 Absolute pleasure.
22:23 It's been incredibly insightful.
22:24 Now, everyone, which bike would you choose?
22:25 Let us know down in the comments below.
22:27 If you enjoyed the video, then please do drop it a like.
22:29 Subscribe to the channel for more content and we will see you again very soon.
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