2011 GT Karakoram 1.0 29er SS conversion?

**joshhan** · 12-06-2012

Has anyone converted theirs into a single speed? If so, do you like it? Good frame to ride SS?

Just picked one up with a rigid Niner fork and I'm considering converting it to a single speed.

**joshhan** · 12-21-2012

Finally finished it.

Bought it with the Niner fork and Thompson stem and Shimano wheelset. I just converted it to a single speed.

**Bikin' Bric** · 12-21-2012

looks good, what gear ratio you running on it?

**joshhan** · 12-21-2012

36t/18t.

I'm running 32/18 on my 26" bike and it hasn't been too bad for climbing around here so I think I'll be good with the 36t. Plus, it gave me the magic gear with no tensioner!

**gt jorgito** · 12-22-2012

Wow thats a nice one. How does it ride? And whats the weight?

**joshhan** · 12-23-2012

It rides great. Rode around for a couple of hours at White Clay Creek in DE. It's flowy singletrack. Smooth for the most part with some roots and some man made obstacles. Not much extended climbing (shorter, steeper sections) so I could keep momentum up and clear those. The front end is so light that I find myself sawing the handlebars on what extended climbing I did have to do. Brakes are OK, I might swap out the pads. They seem to be the weak point.

Going downhill is kind of scary when it gets steep. I don't feel comfortable at all. I'm not sure if it's because of the sloping top tube but I just couldn't get a good feel for going downhill. Hopefully, riding it more gets rid of that feeling.

Not sure how much it weighs but taking off the cassette and chainrings took a load off. The stock rings are HEAVY. I kept the cranks because there's no sense in spending more money than I need to.

**hitechredneck** · 12-24-2012

I ran mine single speed with a Surly tensioner it worked out great. The frame is super stiff and when grinding those big nasty gears up a long climb you know the power is getting transferred. I ran the stock fork on mine since I found that the way I pedal I very rarely see the front fork bobbing around. I put the gears and everything back on and use the bike for a commuter and tooling around now since I have a different SS.