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Single speed
I been toying with the idea of building up a single speeder.
What I want to know is: would it be better to buy a frame that you can adapt from being a single speeder to a cassette driven bike using spacers or if its better just to get the real deal. Has anyone had any experience with this?
Also toying with the notion of looking at a titanium frame.Any recommendations or thoughts?
Thanks
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I'm a huge fan of single speeds and highly recommend Lynskey if you want Ti. I've got a 29er ridgeline setup as a ss and love it! The local Lynskey importer bikepro.com.au as some killer deals on frames if you can find ur size. They are great to work with. The beauty with Lynskey and most other frames is u can get a derailleur hanger to run gears if you get tired of ss. I haven't ridden my geared bike since switching to ss 4 years ago.
+1 for the Ridgeline, you can get the sliding dropout version if your unsure as it can be geared or SS.
I have had my Ridgeline 29 SL for a couple years now and used it extensively for all kinds of rides, fun rides, pub rides, training rides, short races, long races and really really long races, DNF races... overall a brilliant bike.
Some people comment that the Ridgeline is a little flexy? but I don't notice this all that much and certainly not enough to worry about it, but If you want something stiffer, you can get the pro29.
+1 for bikepro, willing to do a deal and reliable.
I purchased my Niner Sir9 for this reason. Run SS & put a rear cassette on when wanted. (The shimano I-spec shifter makes this sooo easy)
The steel frame is flexy in the rear, & it's great. Not so harsh on your lower back/rear end. I can't comment on the Ti sorry. But being able to swap back to gears is a great idea.
Some social rides don't go so well when you blast up hills / & can't keep up on the flats.
Whatever you get, make sure there is some way to tension the chain in a straight line.
I'm partial to the EBB method, others swear by the sliding dropouts, horizontally slotted and a few for sliding chainstays.
Many people swear at derailleur mounted tensioners. The only one I'd waste my time with is a Paul Melvin.
You'll find that many frames are available with swap out chips to change between SS plain dropouts and a derailleur hanger, though horizontal slots are least likely to be convertable.
Amongst those I ride with the consensus on ride quality/feel for hardatail frame material tends to go... Aluminium, cheap plastic reinforced with decomposed trees, steel, ti, with expensive plastic frames slotting in anywhere in that lineup. After riding an awesome steel hardtail for 6 months or so I ended up on a Ti rigid. It's plush enough, stiff enough, compliant enough, light enough and trouble free enough for everything I want, so floats my boat. I still reckon the Sir9 had something special in the way it felt on the trails. Snappy, twangy, zesty and f a s t. If I could only have one bike... it'd be a Sir9 SS.
I'm selling a set of crests set up for SS with an 18, 19, or 20 T sprocket.....
I ride a Kona Unit fully rigid steel bike 29er. very capable and good looking (IMHO) straight out of the box. has sliding dropouts (don't like EBB) and can be retro fitted with derailleurs, if wanted. good price, too, if you are not sure you want to go single speed. rides really nice, and flies uphill if your legs are strong enough. most fun i have had on a bike in years.
good luck, and enjoy the trails!
I've had my SS for a few months now and it's a hoot. I've hardly ridden my dually since getting it.
Pretty much +1 for what sinlgespeeder says above but mine's a Redline Monocog Flight 29er. The Unit and the 'cog are both rigids, but don't let this put you off 'til you've tried it. There are some crazy deals on the 'cogs atm if you shop around. If you can find one in your size it'd be an excellent way to see if you like the concept.
+1 for the comments re. group rides. You're riding at a different tempo and momentum is king! Every hill must be attacked (or walked...) and you can only get a tow on the flats for so long.
If you're toying with the idea, you already made the mental leap to drop gears. Next step is to drop the concept of suspension. The thought of a rigid SS 26" scares me, though. Those guys are nuts!
Slowpup, what are you after for the crests? Are they std qr?
Some more questions:
What is EBB:extended bottom bracket?
The Paul Melvin is a great tip> I'll check out the Lynskey mob and the Sir9. What's the story with the "knee damage" is this anecdotal or real? Besides being more of a challenge and the "next step up in our sport" are there any other advantages to SS over geared 29ers?And then are any of you running front shocks and what are your recommendations here? Lastly what is your choice of tyre...I've seen Crossmarks, Ikons and RRs.
Much appreciated and enjoy tomorrow...may your stockings overflow!
EBB: Eccentric bottom bracket
A good way of adjusting chain tension on SS when it's done right but some early ways of securing them were problematic. An interesting one is that you can take any frame with a BB30 and fit something like this to make an effective SS EBB http://beercomponents.com/?page_id=588. This opened up all sorts of options with Carbon 29er frames
Use an EBB Specialised Stumpjumper alloy framed 29r. Was setting it up as purely a SS, but decided to go with a Rohloff hub (soz to SS purists - has 14spds ;( ). As Rohloff is effectively a single speed setup as far as frame is concerned switching over is just a matter of changing wheels. But getting a frame that is adaptable for SS and cassette system has some sense to it as you may want to change it in the future.
If anyone interested have an unused DT Swiss 240S rear SS hub, 10mm axle, with disc brake locator.
My Niner SIR9 came with an EBB Biocentric I. This worked well mostly, but would slip on rare occasions even though I followed Niners rules.
I upgraded to Niners new Biocentric II which is a far superior design. I've had zero problems since.
The EBB version II is too easy to setup, & hasn't budged at all in the months I've abused it. If anyone has concerns about Niners EBB, get the latest version!!!
I did run my SIR9 rigid for a while, and with tubeless wheels at 25psi, it's not as jarring as I initially feared.
However I did invest in a Fox Float 29 & love it. (15mm axel)
Rule of thumb - if you're racing to win, go with gears. (Train on a SS). If you ride for a challenge / fun, go SS! You'll forget about chainsuck & crunching gears. No gears frees your mind.
It really isn't logical, and difficult to explain. Remember riding carefree as a 10year old on a SS BMX? That's it.
Edit: choice of tyre... I've changed to Rubena Kratos/Scylla over the last year. No complaints. Kratos on the front grips really well on the loose stuff I ride on.
I run RaRas front and rear on all my 29ers except the rigid SS... with a few neck niggles I succumbed to pressure and went for a Surly Knard 29+ 3.0 tyre. I run between 8 and 11 PSI
That bugger on a 35 mm wide rim just floats over anything. I rode P+L on Sunday on the SS with a 2.25 RaRa on the back and Knard up front and didn't once think about line choice or clench sphincter in the sandy sections. Same ride on Tuesday with 2.25 RaRa rear 2.4 RRa front on the squishy bike saw the quoit muscles get a workout.
+1 for the Niner Biocentric II EBB. Set up with good quality PTFE plumbing thread tape and I never had an issue with slipping or creaking. In fact the original wrap of tape only came out when I cleaned the frame for sale.
The Rigid runs a Bushnell EBB which I find even more bomb proof than the Niner EBB. It's a much more complex piece of kit but thousands of tandem riders over decades can't all be wrong. It does tend to get full of sand and grit, but is still easy to adjust and tension. I can't recall the last time I cleaned it out properly, but I did adjust chain tension a few weeks ago.
The Bushnell has no flanges so it can be used to adjust crank arm spacing side to side or chain line tuning. I need to be very careful with chainring clearance on the rigid, because of where I set up the BB axle position, and tend to run 0.5 mm or less side clearance between the wide chainstay and the tips of the teeth. Without the Bushnell I'd be reduced to shimming cranks or machining chainrings to fit.
3 years on a SS next week and knees have never been a problem. That may be due to the mileage I do (which is lots less than I would like to), the gearing I run (32-19) or the age of my knees (42).
And +1 for the carefree feeling of just pedalling what you have.
Pancakes....PM sent.
Merry SS'ing!!