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Another one here. Apologies to the gravel averse. I still have the gears on my hardtail as I tend to take it to steeper terrain, and it has more of a sit'n'spin geometry.
what’s that beautiful thing @DanW?
One of the last Swarfs. Painted by Andrew Armour I believe. The paint inspiration was a Prova Ti with a faded anodization finish. Adrian made flippin great frames and it is such a blast to ride. Everything I always wanted in a bike but couldn't find off the shelf.
Two ss here. An 853 inbred
https://flic.kr/p/QY8yT3
in the shed and this more recent RG evans Frameset
https://flic.kr/p/2nTZCM3
To add; I would like a stooge at some point too.
I commute on a fully rigid Lynskey Ridgeline.
I get off and push up a couple of the steepest hills that I used to ride up, but it's definitely still a thing for me.
@DaveyBoyWonder,
yes,Stooge - a Speedball. Great bikes!
I’d always ran it with the truss fork but I had the bi-plane fork too and thought it about time I tried it with that.
Feels a little more spritely but that could be more to do with the lighter faster rolling tyres added at the same time.
Still a thing for me, previously owned Kona Unit x 2, Ibis hardtails (i'm not typing the name) x 2, Trek Stache,
Surly Steamroller, On-One Il Pompino, Kona Major One and now on a Salsa Stormchaser which is ace. Anything Salsa have with an alternator dropout can run one gear.
Still a thing for me too. Originally started as a winter thing to save my other bike, but use it all year round now.
My local area doesn't really need gears or suspension, and the simplicity and purity of a rigid singlespeed on dry, swoopy, summer singletrack is a great feeling.
I've never had gears on a bike. Just picked up an I9 Hydra SS hubset - super hyped for building up. Can't decide between 650 or 29er ...
in it's 10th year with me, 16 year old forks and 18 year old brakes 26 819 rims on hope 2 hubs narrow bars I haven't looked at another bike since I first rode it.
Not quite as clean as that Simple above but likewise perfect for local riding from the doorstep in the slop.
Been mostly geared for the last few years but ripped a few spokes through my geared rim last October (12 year life for a Crest rim wasn't bad going) so dropped the ss wheel back in and it has been there ever since. I finished the rebuilt wheel a month ago and just haven't been bothered to refit. So seems appropriate to post a photo of the homebuilt thing which hasn't been washed for a few rides. Has even set me thinking of doing a full sus ss frame....
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/W3wC2CY4/IMG-20230421-144252-631.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/W3wC2CY4/IMG-20230421-144252-631.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Photographed on a slight downslope so people don't slate my unfashionably slack seat angle 🙂
Has even set me thinking of doing a full sus ss frame
Do it! They’re ace. The extra traction at the back end on my Starling really helps when you’re gurning away up some ill advised tech climb.
I think that the only reason I stopped ssing off-road was waning leg strength. I still ride my ss shopping/pub bike, so if I was under 55 and not taking performance retarding drugs, I reckon I would still be doing it.
Still ride mine but not as much as I once did. I used to think nothing of riding all day on it but my CX bike is so much faster, more fun on easier trails and not actually all that expensive to maintain, so ride that mostly these days.
They're also not great for riding in a group of geared riders as you get get dropped on the flats and drop them on the climbs.
But if you want a bike that is cheap to own and have the local terrain for one (essentially trails on your door step) then they are a fantastic thing to own and ride.
I still get cheap spares, no problem.
My CX bike was bought with an eye on it becoming a singlespeed one day, it has adjustable dropouts. 🤙
Out on my SS this morning. Blinking freezing again, but the mist was stunning.
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AFAIA both Hope & Chris King have discontinued singlespeed specific hubs suggesting that it's perhaps on the wane :/ though all the new standards probably don't make it easy to have a specialized hub.
AFAIA both Hope & Chris King have discontinued singlespeed specific hubs suggesting that it’s perhaps on the wane :/ though all the new standards probably don’t make it easy to have a specialized hub.
DT Swiss SS hub that's been fitted to multiple bikes that I bought in 2006. Never changed a bearing and still as smooth as the day I bought it. Been built onto 3 rims so far. Can still get a few freewheel type SS hubs such as Paul's Components.
I wasn't suggesting you can't get ss specific hubs, it's perhaps relevant to the OP's original premise that 2 hub manufactures who previously had ss specfic hubs in their range no longer do.
I use Hope with 135mm axle and M10 bolts so I can make dropouts with a closed slot (got Pro 2 in SS and std freehubs). Not checked if you can get that axle for the new hubs.
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/YC7B2sgS/DSC-0474.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/YC7B2sgS/DSC-0474.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
AFAIA both Hope & Chris King have discontinued singlespeed specific hubs suggesting that it’s perhaps on the wane :/ though all the new standards probably don’t make it easy to have a specialized hub.
Missed that, sorry! Goes in cycles I guess(no pun intended). Definitely not as popular as it once was,, but I just love the simplicity and cost. Does depend on where you live too. Bristol isn't too bad. Plenty of rides down that I can manage with very little walking. Do find on the gravel bike that the mixture of road and off road does make it tough to find the best ratio.
@nparker- I remember jumping on that in the FoD. It was scary 😉 Used to ride with @nickc in the Chilts on a few different singlespeeds. Remember the exact day I quit. 2nd time up the (old) Cwmcarn climb on a squeeky eccentric BB Tinbred. Decided at that point gears and suspension were a victimless crime. Even wrote an article for STW prob back in about 2007!
https://flic.kr/p/LFHv5
Took ages to arrive, was lovely tho.
https://flic.kr/p/LFRi8
My last ever SS
https://flic.kr/p/LFH7u
Even had the Inbred saddle!
Can't say I miss the SS experience.
Here’s my SSCX - it’s a custom ti Ritchey Breakaway clone. It uses a White ENO Eccentric hub, Token Clickster freewheel, 1/8” chain and 34T 1/8” chainring so is pretty bombproof.
Looks like Hope Pro5 singlespeed hubs are still alive and well.
One thing I never sell on is my SS hubs.
PSA for anyone after a gravel SS frameset, less than half price (though I don’t think full price was particularly good value):
Lots of Pro5 hub versions listed in the exploded diagrams including SS.
https://www.hopetech.com/product-documents/hubs/#!pro-5-rear
Tarty bikes have the hope ss hubs
@dovebiker, that bike is lovely! Stormchaser would be lovely, my Arkose lacks clearance for bigger tyres. However it only cost me £175 for the frameset a few years ago.
Love my Stormchaser, so much so that had I seen that link before my size was sold out I might have bought a second frame as a backup. New singlespeedable frames just don't come round that often.
Loving the Simple Klunk - kinda half keeping an eye open for one of those given how good my old 26" Soul was.
And despite my gravel aversion, those Stormchasers look lovely but think they're about £1800 for a pretty basic looking SS setup. Seems a bit spendy...
Part of the reason for wanting one is to have something thats the polar opposite for off road riding to my long, slack full sus.
@daveyboywonder This is the exact reason i converted my HT to rigid SS. I have a FS and an eeb for laps n jumps but the local xc loops are horrendously boring on a FS. The rigid SS makes it all more of a challenge again. its also good training.
while you could convert an older frame I wouldnt go too retro with geometry as it needs to be fun to ride. i can still ride most of the local jumps etc on mine.
Dammit, I kinda want a stormchaser, and it could feasibly be a 1 in 2 out bike (it could do gravel, commuter, SSCX and winter fixie duty) but the 142mm axle scuppers that, unless anyone knows a sensibly priced 142mm fixed disk hub. Paul does one but it's £200+ if you can find one in stock.
My Sanderson Soloist after today's ride. It was a bit damp.
Most definitely. Not as my main MTB these days, but still out on an old Genesis IO and less frequently on a not quite as old Genesis Day-One that's set up fixed.
still have my on one inbred 853 SS - still my most used bike
perfect
My single speed has basically sat unused since it was built 15yrs ago. It get and occasional outing at a pump track of roll to the pub.
Dam you lot and your PSA links....
Spot the 3 STW PSA items attached to the Salsa from various threads
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/GtCdhb5j/PXL-20230506-174207293.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/GtCdhb5j/PXL-20230506-174207293.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
I built up one of the Planet-x Jack Flash 29er frames as a SS late last year. Frame was a bargin price but changing standards meant I had to buy a new wheel set so not quite the cheap SS build we used to do back in the olden days.
Modern geometry, a 130mm fork and a ratio that works round here - I've been really enjoying riding it.
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“Modern geometry, a 130mm fork and a ratio that works round here – I’ve been really enjoying riding it.”
Hopefully the chain has stopped exploding on the first climb of the day! 😉
I barely see any out there anymore, used to have a couple out on every ride. I only know a couple of people, total, who have one still in any sort of regular use now. Several have one at the back of the shed, or a bag of bits to "convert a bike if i feel like it".
I suspect a lot of people gave up once they realised it wasn't that gears were inherently noisy, unreliable and complicated, it was their complete inability to wield any tool more accurate or refined than a hammer. I say this because it was *almost* always the singlespeeders with the mechanicals. Despite them crowing about the minimal maintenance needed.
I had an on-one inbred set up for a few weeks as an experiment, went back to 2x9 pretty sharpish, and sold the singlespeed kit for almost what i paid for it. The inbred was only retired last week, after another decade of service, i mean, the bike itself was a piece of crap, but the gears, brakes and suspension never missed a beat.
I don't think that's just a singlespeed thing 😉
I've been in cycling clubs that all but dissolved after a few un-mechanically minded members refused to go tubeless, fix their drivechain, check bolts for tightness, etc or just put the effort in to get fit and the rest of us just got fed up with traveling to the weekly meeting points only to spend two hours waiting round for things to be fixed or pushed up hills.
If someone says we're going for a singlespeed ride on the other hand you kinda know it's going to be muddy, hurt, and at least offset any faffing with whiskey.
That gold chain is the replacement, CGR - hopefully will be ok 🙂
Just set my rigid Karate Monkey up singlespeed; 50ish" gear, 29x2.6 front and back. Thoroughly enjoying bashing it around Edinburgh and environs. Got a bunch of Scottish bikepacking lined up for the summer, might just leave it singlespeed and see how it goes.
it is odd isn't it.
When I was Charlie The Bikemonger I sold and/or built hundreds and hundreds of single speeds. Single speed bikes paid my bills for many years. Looking back now... that is a really odd thing to happen. Made a living out of mountain bikes with only one gear! That is not normal.
I still have a SS surly. and its due a modern geo frame swap. Who makes a modern geo SS'able frame in steel?
The calderdale valley is full of ex single speeders, just sitting around drinking beer. Some work at STW, some are well know trouser botherers. It's really ****ing steep and hilly round here, and a SS is not the right tool when you are 50+.
Are they really less popular? I used to ride mine because it was cheap to run in the Peak District grit over the winter (both in money and time terms), because it let me ride with slower riders and still thrash myself and because if you're riding 4-5 days a week it's a great way to stop yourself getting bored. None of that has changed I don't think.
I put gears on mine a few years ago because I wasn't riding and was hideously unfit, but then I've never ridden it much with the gears and I have other bikes, so I'm going to swap the kit back on and hunt out some suitable trails.
Best thing about it was the strength you built in your arms and back, the only time I could ride down Fort William without stopping was when I'd spent a winter on the Singlespeed.
The calderdale valley is full of ex single speeders, just sitting around drinking beer. Some work at STW, some are well know trouser botherers. It’s really ****ing steep and hilly round here, and a SS is not the right tool when you are 50+.
Several years ago I went on a MNPR organised by Chipps and Beate. It was in the hills around Tod and I was on my Voodoo SS. Part way round we reached the foot of a hill and a certain local clothing manufacturer was recalling to someone else betting someone to ride up it on their singlespeed bike and having a laugh about it. Anyway, I got to the top and waited for everyone else to catch up... Brant never said owt. I was in my early 50's then.
I ride a singlespeed pretty much everyday of the week, commuting, shopping and the odd Sunday road ride if I can't be arsed to go cross country.
Mine is built using an old Kona 2012 mtb frame with 26in wheels and 1.5in road tyres, runs 42x16 SS kit from the Bikemonger (formally Charlie the Bike Monger) on LX cranks. It has an old PACE RC31 carbon fork and old On One Mary bars.
Built up in 2018 I still love riding it. It can be bit of a heave-ho getting up some of the climbs especially if my work ruck sack weighs over 6.5kg, good work out.
That gold chain is the replacement, CGR – hopefully will be ok 🙂
Guaranteed. Goldie lookin' chains on a SS are the right kind of bling.
My copywriting high point was for a Genesis catalogue with the Day One SS having
Chain : Goldie Lookin'
and getting it printed
Seems Moots think it is alive and kicking, you could get back into SSing for just Ten. Thousand. Dollars.
https://m.pinkbike.com/news/first-look-moots-womble-slider-is-a-udh-compatible-singlespeed.html
to be fair it would be hard to build a more expensive ss than that Moots even if you dedicated yourself to trying
Don’t temp me…
I could do a build so much nicer for 10k.
“ Who makes a modern geo SS’able frame in steel?”
Pipedream make two very nice ones! I have this one because I wanted a hardtail that felt similar to my 160mm full-sus (ebike) and the singlespeed thing kind of happened by accident:
“I barely see any out there anymore, used to have a couple out on every ride.”
They’re still popular down here, even in a small group it’s rare for me to be the only person on a singlespeed.
@tomhoward you wouldn't be the first to suffer financially from this thread...
Who makes a modern geo SS’able frame in steel?
...Shand...
Got a handful of bikes but it’s my Ridley xnight ss I ride the most.
Commuting and various on off road adventures.
Did 120 miles on the canal the other week
40/19
North Bolton
Eccentric bb and carbon frame. Never had an issue and looks ace
The KONA Unit has fairly modern geometry with sliding dropouts, certainly longer than most when it was updated a few years ago. Not the lightest but they’re marketing it as a bikepacking model now so a bit of heft is probably relative..
Last Wednesday night ride 80% of riders were on singleybobs.
Last Wednesday night ride 80% of riders were on singleybobs.
Last Thursday night, 100% of riders* on our local woodsy/bluebelly/singletracky 45km route were SSers. That loop is ideal SS territory (apart from the 3 bard climbs that increase in bardness in the second half of the ride!)
(* sample size of 3)