Markus Stitz has just returned from a year long trip cycling around the world. In this age of bike tourers you might think that’s very commendable but not unusual, until you find out that Markus completed the whole adventure on a single speed bike. What was it that made this 37 year old German who resettled in Edinburgh want to cycle 34,000 miles in nearly 12 months without any gears?

“I just love the simplicity of it…it’s just a chain and some brakes. I last rode a bike with gears in 2010. When I spoke to the guys at Ison (bike distributors) about what bike to take they said, ‘Well, you’ve been riding single speed for so long you obviously have the legs for it.’ It was a five minute decision and I just bought this single speed bike online and that was it.”