I made the trip up for punk Bike Enduro this week and Brad and I got to talking about single speeds and if they’re the best way for someone to get into the sport. I hadn’t thought about it much, but Brad thinks it’s a great way to get someone started since you can get a pretty nice single speed for $500 and in that same price range you’d be getting a pretty low-end geared bike. I can see both sides of this. There are definite upsides to putting a newbie on a bike that will last a good while, however do we really want to put somebody that’s new to riding singletrack on a bike that’s much harder to climb with? To me this could lead to a lot of frustration if they end up having to push their bike up every hill. Thinking back to when I began, I’m not so sure I would have thought the sport was as fun if I was trying to pound on a 32:16 to get up the smallest of hills. What’s your thoughts on this? Should we make the single speed the entry bike for newbies? Or still try to get them on a geared bike?