My singlespeed (bicycle) build

gamby wrote: The front tire/wheel on that first one is BAFFLING for a bike that doesn't see snow use. My lord...

thats what those tires where originally designed for... moved over to sand use also... but the amount of volume allows even a fatty like me to run 10psi or less on the trail... that gives me a bit of suspension :)... seems to work well on our trails (always thought it would)... a different rim will likely be in it's future (and that'll drop 1.5 lbs alone haha)...

and for cassette... I stick to jenson, pricepoint or nashbar for online stuff... can get a closeout 2011 cassette for so cheap...

I had an amazon gift card...

ah gotcha ;-)

donalson wrote: my new rig... '11 trek/fisher sawyer

That's an awesome frame!

How much do you notice the weight of that front wheel/tyre on the trail?

Donalson,

Have you considered going to a full fat bike? I also thought just adding the front tire would still make for a heck of a workout when you hit sand with the little rear tire.

If I end up in a coastal, southern area, I could definitely see picking up a fat bike with spare set of 29" loops laced to the wider hubs, maybe even some geometry for a 140mm front fork when in "normal" mode.

@ Luke > honestly at the moment I don't... even the guys at the LBS who took it out for a spin when I was done (one who rides a 21# 29er ti SS) was amazed at how it felt "close your eyes and you don't even notice"

the fork is actually lighter then the stock fisher rigid fork... and in the end it weighs not to far off of what my last bikes front end did (tora 318 soloair so heavy steel stanchions and steerer tube) but the rotational mass is a larger part of the weight in this case... if I went with a lightweight fork and a light weight wheel and tire I know this weighs more... I meant to weigh the forks + wheel off the bike to compare how much weight I was adding and I will make sure to do so next time I have it off the bike... I do know that between some drilling of the rim and tubeless I can drop about 1 1/2 lbs and if I could afford a $150 rim right now I could drop the rim weight in 1/2 (which may happen if I end up really liking the fat front thing)

I posted this on a bike forum when asked how it was

me. said: first ride out it was quite good... didn't wash out the entire time (had the rear washout in the chute (SB8) as i didn't use the new berms you guys built (good work BTW)... but I also found that I ran the pressure a bit to high (started at 15psi and kept dropping it)... next time out i'll start at 11psi and go from there it's def not a suspension fork... but much smoother then a rigid... and should get a bit smoother when I find the correct pressure to run... the steering wasn't heavy or anything like that, she tracked just fine (apparently using the endomorph tire it tends to want to follow the trail a bit)... the only time it felt a little odd was when I was climbing at a snails pace and that could well have been more psychological (the fisher g2 slack head tube and with how high my bars are) she wandered back and forth a little and seeing that fat tire just was weird... although I do hear that it tends to feel a little like a steering damper when you get going pretty fast in DH sections or what not. it won't be an option for many people (you can buy a decent used suspension fork for what it cost to setup... and prob weigh a tad less still) but it's something i've wanted to try for a while (back when I had my karate monkey) and jumped in... I'll prob work the rim a bit (drilling holes will kill 300g off the rim without sacrificing strength) and tubless would drop a lb or so

@ PHeller > sorta but not really... if I was up north in the snow or a little further out towards the beach i'd prob consider a full fat... but when my LBS bud told me how much he could sell me a pugsley for I did consider that + building up a 29er wheelset for it but being my only real trail bike right now its just not right for me at the moment...

that being said the surly 1x1 can fit a 3" tire out back... so i've considered making it a quasi fat bike, a pug front end and a wide rim/tire combo out back would give most of the floatation of a full fat... but right now the surly is becoming the road/traning bike lol... not to mention i'm almost out of bike budget $$$ doh...

There is talk of OnOne making a $1300 complete fatbike for late 2012.

Is this the singlespeed thread now? I ask because I kind of want one. Last bike I had was a $100 Wal Mart Huffy back in college. It got stolen when I was a freshman- I’m now 33. At any rate, my oldest son is getting where he can ride his 2-wheeler, and I’d like to have something to ride with him, possibly take on some light trails as he gets more skilled. Building/messing with/working on a singlespeed sounds fun - and having very little biking experience, the lack of gears is actually a plus in my book... I saw a $400 29” singlespeed with disc brakes on bikenashbar that looked promising, even though that takes out most of the tinkering aspect until I get into adding stuff on later.

I know, I know, “check the LBS-“ that’s on the plan too. There are a couple of decent ones around, just way out of my way on my daily travels.

I think someone posted bikesdirect.com. They have some INCREDIBLE deals on there. I wish I had looked first. My raleigh "build" cost about as much as their comparable steel framed fixed gear road bikes.

If I wanted a 'turn key' bike I would definitely be buying from there.

I'd do lots of reading on bike fit first though, seeing as you can't try online bikes for size.

(Although I have heard that bikes direct does take returns based on size? Don't quote me. Although if you size this way, you'll probably spend buttloads on shipping.)

I'll check there too. I'm kind of a goofy size, probably. I'm 6'2" but only have about a 31" inseam. Is standover height the main measurement that needs to fit, or is the top tube also a big thing?

It is a big thing, but so long as you're in the ballpark, you can adjust your reach with different length and angle stems.

Yeah. My raleigh is fine in terms of seat-to-bottom-bracket-distance, but the stem is far too small in both height and reach (partially due to a top tube that is too short for my body). If I actually buckled down and found a stem that would work for me, the ergonomics of the bike would improve dramatically.

If you've got long arms and torso (like me) top tube is a relevant consideration.

When I look at mountain bikes I like to try to find a bike with a 18" seat tube and 24-26" long top tube. My current bike has a 23.5 top tube and I run a too-long 100mm stem. I'd rather run a 50-80mm stem, so 25" top tube on my MTB would be nice. At 6'2" your probably aiming for around a 24" top tube at the very least.

I wouldn't say this a SS thread... I think I managed to steal it now for geared also ;-)...

PHeller wrote: There is talk of OnOne making a $1300 complete fatbike for late 2012.

sweet... I'll have to look into that... amazing all the awesome fat bikes coming/are out... I SERIOUSLY was considering a pugsley and having a 29er wheelset built for it (the price my LBS could get it for me is quite nice)

as for sizing... at 6'3-6'4 you'd think I'd need an XL 21" type frame... but depending on the geo some are WAY to big... the '22" surly 1x1 is a smidge long (and TT height is tight for off road on 700c/29er tires

the sawyer is a 19" frame... but that requires a 400mm post to have save seatpost insertion...

part of my shorter TT needs is prob me being out of shape and having a gut.. if you look at the sawyer I cut the steerer tube on the fork VERY high to give me plenty of play to figure out where I want the bars (easier to remove then add down the road) while it looks a little goofy it means I don't need to deal with goofy high rise stems or super high rise bars

With this thread in mind, I picked up this tonight. Early '90s Trek 8000 bonded-aluminium goodness . It has half a Deore DX groupset, and a mix of modern replacement Alivio-spec parts.

I'm going to run a single-speed setup with a tensioner much like Gamby's, and turn it into my commuter/occasional off-road hack.

trek makes great bikes. It would take something serious for me to give up my C/F OCLV 9700

Just checked back on this thread - NICE SS Donalson - I daw that Trek frame a while back and thought it was really cool.

Interestingly, I just ordered a larger tire for the front on my rigid Ninier One9. I'm moving up to a Geax Gato 2.3 to hopefully get a little more cushion and some bigger side knobs to stop washing out in the corners. The reviews have guys running less than 20 psi in it to get the best performance, so it should ride a little softer than my current tire (I hope)

My light bike:

These pics are post build (almost 2 yrs ago now). It's a Niner One9 Scandium frame built as a compromise between cost and weight. the front fork is Niner's carbon fiber rigid, which does a lot to keep the weight down and rides great even though I'm well over 200lbs and have repeatedly stuffed it into trail objects. Without pedals and with the 2.3/2.1 tire combo and cheap (heavy) Bontrager wheels in the pics, it was just under 21 lbs. Not as light as the 19lb version I demo'd, but I have less in the whole bike than the demo model had in wheels, so I'm okay.

Did I mention the blue metalflake paint glows in the dark? Oh yeah!

and just for kicks here's my geared MTB - 2007 Specialized FSR-XC Pro at the end of the 50 mile Ididaride ride in North FL this year. I don't normally rock that much luggage, but I was trying to get out of wearing a Camelbak on such a long ride.

Rad . I didn't know they made a Scandium model.

Love Niner bikes. I have the 'Pedal damn it' sticker on the stem of my Orange.

mad_machine wrote: trek makes great bikes. It would take something serious for me to give up my C/F OCLV 9700

Nice bike! Trek were well into CF before a lot of other bike companies.

well it's been 3 months since i've bumped this so... ;-)

I FINALLY finished my 1x1 geared "pavement pounder" I finished getting the parts literaly the week I was moving away from my home town (pensacola, FL) to just south of Houston... I got the final touches done last night and this is what we've got...

it's a hodge podge of parts,

700c wheels (er ok 29er wheelset) with 700x38 kenda kross tyres. - deore dual control brake/shifter leavers, - deore calipers - problem solver backstop (for the front der) - prob solver rear der hanger - STX front der (from '95 schwinn I had) - LX rear der (from another '95 schwinn I had) - Sugino impel crankset (from a '95 schwinn) - titec H bar (used it on my last bastard "road bike"... works very well for me with lots of grip positions...) - ergon grips fill out the awesomeness of the titc H bar)

I got a short 1 mile ride yesterday on it... I still REALLY need to shorten the rear brake line run by about 5"... need to order a bleed kit and the T and olive first though lol)... I do have clipless for it but wanted to do a short ride to make sure I'd gotten everything tuned right just around the neighborhood

tonight i'll install the cheapo cycle computer and she'll prob go out for a bit tomm.

the only thing she's missing is a brooks b17 saddle... gota wait for my b-day for that though :(

the sawyer now is rolling with XT calipers, XT dual control on the right, LX on the left (same silver color lol)... I need to get some fluid and bleed the lines but ran out of time before the move to TX...

and of course now that i'm in TX i'm already thinking about building a SS... i've got most everything I need except a frame/fork... so we'll see what happens haha

I like it.

Now go pile on some miles!!!