What is the popular "front single" on gravel bikes? Advantages and Disadvantages

What is a front single, which is common on gravel bike?

Shifting gears on a sports bicycle is called “rear” shifting at the rear wheel and “front” shifting at the cranks. Front single is a customization that eliminates shifting at the front and makes it a single gear.

Normally, the overall number of gears on a road bike is determined by multiplying the front double (2 speeds) and rear shifting. For example, if the bike has 2 speeds in the front and 11 speeds in the rear, then “2 x 11 = 22 gears”.

If this bike is converted to a single speed front, then “1 x 11 = 11 speeds”.

Advantages of front single speed on gravel bikes

The reason why front single speed is preferred on gravel bikes is because the advantages of front single speed is ideal for gravel bikes.

The advantages of the front single are the following three points

1. easy to clean around the front
2. weight reduction
3. simple gear shifting

Easy to clean around the front

Gravel bikes are designed to be ridden on rough roads. Riding on such roads makes the bike incredibly dirty. If dirt is left as it is, it can cause rust and parts to deteriorate and stick, so cleaning is necessary.

Cleaning a gravel bike is a surprisingly tedious task, so being able to clean it as easily and thoroughly as possible is a big advantage.

Lightweight

Since most gravel bikes are relatively heavyweight models, by converting to a single front bike, you can expect to save about 100g by omitting “one chain ring, front derailleur, and wires”.

In the world of sports bicycles, it is said that “it costs $100 to reduce the weight by 100g,” but front single bicycles are “lighter with fewer parts,” so the weight can be reduced at a relatively low cost.

Simple gear shifting

If you ride a gravel bike for the first time on a sport bike, you may not be able to shift gears well while riding because of many gear shifts. With a double-front bike, there is a rule that you are not allowed to select a gear that is “tucked in”, so you have to “shift front up, rear down, front down, rear up…” Surprisingly, you may be busy shifting gears during the ride.

With a single front gearshift, there is no need to worry about “tucking in” and it is easy to operate only the right lever. It is simple and easy to understand because only the rear shifting is used for linear shifting.

Disadvantages of single front gravel bike

Less gear ratios to choose from.

The disadvantages of using a single-front gravel bike are that the number of gear ratio options is reduced and it becomes difficult to cruise at high speeds.

The reason why double-front bikes are used on road bikes is to have a wider choice of gear ratios so that the bike can be adapted to all kinds of situations, such as “high-speed cruising in the outer gears on the flat and light riding in the inner gears on the hills”. If a single front gear is used, the number of gears is reduced, so the number of gear ratios available is reduced.

High-speed cruising becomes difficult

Also, on a road bike, when cruising at high speeds, the front is used as the outer gear (a large gear such as 52T) to increase the gear ratio to achieve higher speeds.

However, this area will not be a disadvantage for those who "mainly ride around town or potter around.

How to convert a gravel bike to a front single

If you are interested in converting your gravel bike to a front single after learning about the advantages and disadvantages of front single that we have seen so far, you should definitely try to convert your gravel bike to a front single.

Front single conversion is one of the easiest categories of road bike customization.

1. purchase narrow wide chainrings
2. remove the current cranks and replace the chainrings
3. remove the front derailleur and wires
4. put the cranks back on

That’s all there is to it.

The work can be done with an Allen key (Allen wrench) and a crank removal tool, so even if you are a beginner in maintenance and customization, anyone can do this customization if you take your time. You will touch the gears, but basically you won’t lose the gears.

If you are not confident about doing the maintenance yourself, ask a specialized sports bicycle store to do it for you. It is not a particularly difficult customization, so they will take care of it.