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The "New" Post Your Singlespeed!

2M views 7K replies 2K participants last post by  JJx 
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#2,107 ·
Awe come on! Those are probably Velocity Blunt wheels. That color was on Ebay for way cheap. I almost bought a set when I had a Kermit Jet9 but when they recalled, I requested a black one since that is what I originally wanted but I bought a closeout and they didn't have any more. The man is just trying to have the best equipment for the least money and looks are not relevant on a MTB that is going to be taken out and ridden hard in the dirt and crashed.
 
#2,122 ·
@1SPD:

Just trying to find out which would be the best possible height for me. I like to work my way lower - in terms of stem height - after riding a bike first.

I ride a road bike too - just like you - and I have no spacers on the steerer tube. I guess I like to find the best possible position on a bike for me.

Is there a general rule on stem height? Just asking since I always have done the same thing with all the bikes I've had.

I guess I should have said "...finished building her up a couple of minutes ago."
 
#2,123 ·
Nope, you are on the correct path! I was just poking fun at you. Sorry. I guess I let the bike snob slip out there.

By all means, work your way down to whatever fits you best. Nothing wrong with that at all. Sure as hell beats cutting a fork too short and screwing yourself!

I can say that as I have gotten older, I have gone from having a slammed stem on a road bike to having to have a stem with a minimal rise (maybe 6 degrees) and a 1/4" riser under it. At least that is how my last road bike was set up. Honestly, I try to keep my stem as close to parallel to the ground and then simply add a single 1/4" spacer. Usually that works out for me.

Here are pics of my old road bike setups. Unfortunately, I don't have a road bike at all right now. Gotta get something for this winter though. Can't stand not being able to ride or being restricted to the stupid spin bike in the basement.
 

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#2,125 ·
@1SPD:

No offense taken bro. Just wondering if I was doing something wrong. Any advice re bikes would be well received by me!

I asked if there was a general rule too because I've noticed that I have different stem heights on all my bikes (29er fs, 29er ht, 29er ss, 26er ss, 26er dj, roadbike) and I tried to get the same height on the bikes but I felt more comfortable on some and less on others.

Why the hell did you sell those road bikes????? Damn, the Cyrene would've been a keeper bike for me! Great builds on all of them!
 
#2,126 ·
I used to have my mtb set up very similar to my road bikes. Mainly because I raced my road bikes (cat 3) and used to only go out on the mtb on off weekends with buddies. It was too awkward trying to switch to different fitments I so guess I was just able to cross over between the two that much easier. When I started doing mostly mtb, it sort of stuck with me for the most part though it has gotten a little more lax over the years as I got older.

As for the selling of the bikes, well, I was a victim of thinking I wanted something else for the most part. The Cyrene had the nicest ride by far but the head tube was a little too high for my liking actually. The Serotta HSG (full lugged carbon frame) was by far the nicest bike I have ever owned. Don't get me wrong, I did not pay retail for any of them. I raced for a team that had good sponsorship deals or worked at a shop when building them.

I sold the Serotta because I was given the Blue with Sram Red to ride as a bit of a demo if you will in exchange for the work I was doing for the rep. But things fell through and I gave the bike back. The only plus side is that I paid off my car when I sold the Serotta! But that is what landed me into the world of mtb, so I guess there is a silver lining.
 
#2,128 ·
Yep, that would be Ella and her coloring phase! I beleive she simply got into the craft room right next to this wall and went to town. I will blame the wife in this case as I wanted nothing to do with a craft room. Basically, it is just full of crap!

But as you can see in the picture with the Blue, the walls were completely repainted.

You just wait and see Josh! I am quite happy to be out of that stage of the game.
 
#2,130 · (Edited)
I've been wanting to post her for a while. Just built her up last week, I had the frame hanging in the garage.




1984 Diamond Back Mean Streak, converted to a SS/FG. Ratio is 36x17 fixed, 36x18 free. Fully rigid, lugged steel! :D

I came across this bike when I visited a friend's house. He just had the original bike with original SunTour components hanging on his garage wall, covered in cobwebs. I fell in love with the lugged frame with its horizontal dropouts, and had to buy it from him. Got the bike from him for 40 bucks. Immediately set out to build it up as a fixed gear/singlespeed. I had to respace the rear triangle using sheldon's method to accomodate a 135mm rear hub. I found some cheap Campagnolo Contax rims on ebay and laced them to some shimano deore hubs myself, then I got a cheap SS spacer kit and a VeloSolo disc 3/32" bolt-on cog. Otherwise, the bike was mostly built using parts I just had laying around. By the grace of the singlespeed gods, I ended up with a perfect chainline from front to back, with no spacers for the disc cog. Hella flush. I had the rear hub rebuilt with a solid axle and track nuts, because QR skewers just weren't cutting it on the polished stainless dropouts, and were sliding around. I'm planning on putting a rear brake on her for riding freewheel, but I'm waiting on some cable. Also probably going to switch out the saddle and grips for something a little more mountain bike appropriate.

This bike handles like a champ. It's not exactly the most nimble bike around, it has a huge fork trail and a retardedly long wheelbase, the longest of any mountain bike I've ever seen, as well as super slack seat and head angles. Check out the chainstays on this baby! Freakishly long, 480mm c-c from bb to rear axle, so much room between the seat tube and the rear wheel that you can fit your arm between them. However I get the feeling this makes it a joy to ride on the trails, as it is super stable and predictable on the dirt and very comfortable and compliant. It also has front and rear rack and fender mounts, if I ever wanted to do mountain touring, which is pretty awesome. Steel is real, so it's comfortable enough to ride all day. Lovin' this bike.

thanks for reading
 
#2,133 ·
Posted before, but not for you SS guys...

Once upon a time, merry little me thought "You know what's cool? Single speed mountain bikes. How quaint!"

How those words haunt me to this very day.

While looking at a few used bikes a friend had, I saw it. A red turn of the millennium Hardrock. It was old, beat up, a size smaller than I needed, and the shifters, derailleurs, brake levers, and much more weren't working on it.

But there was something about it. I felt a fire burning in me. It was sparked from something this bike gave off. A sleeping beast, nay, Titan was in this bike. My friend was all too eager to see it leave his hands. I even saw him cross himself as it left his threshold. I didn't even know he was Catholic.

I swapped parts, turned it into a single speed, and that was that.

It had mostly original parts.


My first ride was interesting. You know how most of the time, you get on a bike and grab the handlebars?

Well the handlebars reached out and grabbed me.

I felt something gurgle up in my head. This little steel gem was alive with something. From deep inside the commie steel frame came a roaring sound, like listening to a jet engine trying to take off at the bottom of a well. Between my ears I heard this and immediately understood one thing: It's alive, hungry, and pissed.

When I first rode it to campus, I tried staying on the bike lane. Honest I did. But IT had other plans. Vile, sinister plans that involved staircases, drops, ramps, and anything else between me and class. I was lucky if It let me go to class, as sometimes it would make me circle around again. I heard a grinding in my head that could only be roughly translated as "MORE AIR LESS *****ING"

I was afraid of what would happen if this thing touched any real dirt. I began to look more closely at the frame. There were tally marks in the steel, from kills that I'd rather not know anything about. The steel seems to be made from old commie tank scrap metal. There was something sinister about this bike that was waiting to be released, but I didn't know how. And honestly I didn't want to see it be released, whatever it was.

But then there came the fateful day. A day that will live in infamy. I woke up one morning, did a little yoga, made myself a bowl of organic free-range oatmeal, and walked into my living room.

The scene before me was something out of a horror movie. But for bikes.

My Santa Cruz Superlight lay in pieces. The frame was stripped, the bolts strewn everywhere. There was bike grease on the floor, walls, hell not even the ceiling escaped the murderous lube-filled fiasco. A derailleur was stuck in a wall and a chain was hanging from the ceiling fan. I stood there trembling in my Park Tool Pajamas at what stood before me.

It was something out of a biker's nightmare. The Hardrock had consumed most of my Santa Cruz and was now staring at me. I heard it now clear, in a strong but quiet voice that I'm sure no one else heard but myself. It said... "I am hungry and you have legs."
Good thing Park Tool has a lifetime warranty, because I most definitely sent off for a new set of pajamas.

And thus, Frank was born. Armed with a 130mm fork, Mavic wheels, BB7 front disc, Deore rear V, 34-18 drive, and enough carnal hunger to put Beef out of business, this monster completely took over. 27.5 pounds of fury and rage that will leave you breathless and questioning what faith you had.

First it was simple single track. It was nice... at first. Twisting in and out of Texan trails was fun enough. But then it wanted more. And more. And so much more. Frank was hungry. Occasionally, when it let me off long enough to drink or relieve myself, I would turn back around and a bloody puffball that used to be what I can only assume was a rabbit would be under its blackened (now slightly reddened) wheels.

And I swear I once heard it burp.

But it couldn't keep this pace up for long. I thought I'd get a rest if something broke down. But if I didn't keep it maintained, I would start waking up next to the battered remains of some poor Carbon XC bike. You have no idea how disconcerting it is waking up next to what used to be a $6,000 bike that has been reduced to a pile of crumpled, cracked carbon, bleeding grease and lube and dirt like it was dragged behind... something... for miles...

Frank was hungry for a race. I came home one day from class to find a race sign-up confirmation Email. Seems like I was now racing in the Single Speed Camp Eagle Classic.

Tricksy bike....

I could only hope that Frank would be satisfied with racing. But He wasn't. Two riders DNF'd due to mechanical issues (Apparently their bikes spontaneously fell apart during the night, and the only evidence of tampering were a single set of tire tracks...) In a blaze of Red steel and big knobby tires it carried me through the rocks and crags of West Texas. I swear I closed my eyes on the downhill portions and would open them when it was all over. I'm so glad most chamois are black. A lot harder to spot a pee-stain in.


Frank was soon accompanying me every trip I took. This only happened because when I came back from a Triathlon it would be at the door, and I swear I didn't know a bike could glare at you until Frank came along.

Soon my triathlon bike had to make room on the rack. It did not object, but I swear it shrunk away in horror. Soon I had to carry the Tri bike, broken down, in the back of my truck.

Frank doesn't like company on the rack.

I once was cheering on friends at a triathlon and I left my bike in my tahoe.

Big. Mistake.

I heard a screech of rubber and a cursing triathlete. I look up to see Frank leaning against a tree, smoke rising from the 2.1 Nevegals. On the road, a Cannondale Slice was stuck. The rider was cursing and pushing hard, but the wheels simply would not turn. Then, out of the transition area, I saw a Cervello P4 and a Specialized Transition BOTH drop their water bladders and deflate their tires.

Frank growled, gave a Look a look that looked like it hurt. The bike snapped both carbon chainstays. I hear the rider and the bike are in counseling right now.
I thought it best to coax Frank away from the nice Triathlon bikes. They were just not used to seeing bikes like Him...

After the race, my friend was admiring the bike and asked if she could ride it. I was completely against it, but she is also stubborn. I tried to warn her, I swear I did. She mounted Frank and I swear I heard Him giggle... Which, oddly, is much creepier than hearing him roar.

A week later, my friend found out she was pregnant. Two weeks after that, she gave birth to what could only be described as a litter of mountain goats with riser bars where horns should be.

Frank isn't just a bike. He's a force of nature. Even now I hear Him calling out. Frank, the Frankenstein bike, is hungry. Now excuse me while I go lube his rear hub. I don't want to wake up with broken spokes poking me in the back.
 
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