Single speed (2 Viewers)

[bugsnbikes]

all my saddles are stripped and drilled Selle Italia Flite ti saddles. been experimenting with proper drill spacing for the flex i prefer while maintaining durability. They last me about a year now with latest drilling/spacing and only weigh around 95grams.........and $300-400 cheaper than a Schmolke or Ax-Lightness /same weight. This current one has lasted over a year and im now breaking the ti rails - so the drilling is dialed

 

[bugsnbikes]

Heres some detail on the steel 26”IF that i converted to cross/dirt drop/29. its been everything from Monster cross to its more gravel setup that i like best now with 38mm-40mm tires. The last pic is of some minimalist chain tensioners i made which weigh about 1/2 of most MKS ones and work great.

 

[bugsnbikes]

The Red King road Hubs/wheelset is off my girlfriends bike as im doing some strength testing on the DT Swiss blades that i laced up for her wheelset . I hate the red- and have a brown King mtn hubset to match the headset and spacers. The fork is an older Kelly 26” fork that i also lopped off and rewelded the brake mounts to 29er. alot stiffer tubes on this Kelly steel fork and preferred over most of the full carbon ones ive tried from Enve or Ritchey.

sorry to bike nerd out

 

[nonstopbike]

Love the drilled Flites. Fantastic saddle shape and I ran a 'stripped' one on my DH bike and city cruiser for many years.

Thanks for showing us more of your mods to the IFs.

 

[nonstopbike]

Can't recall (too much mastik glue) seeing one of those steerer tube extenders in my 2 decades of working in the industry.....did you make that yourself as well?

 

[bugsnbikes]

No- Ti-cycles in Oregon TI CYCLES FABRICATION - https://www.ticycles.com/ custom makes them- they have a nice deep insert and press in similar to a headset- albeit alot tighter. Id say off the top of my head it goes half past the top tube /headtune junction. They make some nice frame supplies and i was real happy with their machine work on it.......but they are a definite splurge price wise! But geometry wise its the only way to safely run a dirt drop without a ridiculously steep stem (which i sorta think looks fugly and limits real nice carbon stem options like the stiff ass Zipp or Easton )
the nice thing about the ti cycles insert is they will make it whatever height you want- and i was able to get down to a much stronger/safer amount of spacers to use normal stems.

 

[nonstopbike]

Ah, right around the way from me here.

Nice find and thanks for sharing. Haven't had a use for one yet, but know a few customers from back in the day who would've appreciated that option.

 

[gavindeburca]

Here's my current single speed, enjoyed checking out the other bikes on here

 

[nonstopbike]

@gavindeburca please tell us more about the framebuilder! the details are very nice and love the clearcoat over to show the craftsmenship.

Great buildout as well! Thanks for sharing.

Ah, quick googling after enhancing the last image.

La Roca — MONē

V3 is here! Shorter seat tube w/ external bottle bosses means 150-200mm droppers…even for us short folks. Same fun having geo….tiny bit longer. Poppier brazing…you won’t be dissapointed with a new La Roca…best one yet Slaack and tukt...(w/respecatble F-C) HIgh BB plays nice with long forks and B+ o

www.monebikes.com

 

[Chuckha62]

Here's my current single speed, enjoyed checking out the other bikes on here

View attachment 2574267View attachment 2574272View attachment 2574274View attachment 2574275

View attachment 2574277

Ohhh, That's purdy!

 

[Pitch]

Not the best pic, but my Coconino SS. No badges since it’s Covid-repaint. Fillet brazed, segmented seat stays, and a curved top tube. Hecho en Flagstaff, AZ. Ahead of it’s time in 2012, with a 68.5deg head angle, and a 120mm fork. Paragon Sliders, Chris King goodies, and 32x your mom gearing.

yeah, 29” wheels. Bike is made for a 6’9” pilot, so even the 820mm bars look normal.

(old pic of the same frame is in my avatar)

 

[nonstopbike]

Nice one, Surprisingly great proportions considering the pilot height.

Big bikes always look better!

 

[zakthor]

My kona raijin. At one point I owned 4 mtb but was only riding this one so sold the rest. I'm old and slow so ride 34x23. Fork is now a float 34 140 which is much better for pnw than the old float 32 120.

 

[Chuckha62]

I clearly subscribe to the N+1 philosophy of mountain bikes. I have four SSs of varying gearing and another one under construction. ‘Cus everyone needs seven mountain bikes, five of them singlespeeds.

 

[zakthor]

I clearly subscribe to the N+1 philosophy of mountain bikes. I have four SSs of varying gearing and another one under construction. ‘Cus everyone needs seven mountain bikes, five of them singlespeeds.

The thing is, I really only like this one bike. Slowly its evolving to be terrific. Latest I swapped to dhf/dhr tire combo for the winter. So great.

If I had other bikes I wouldnt ride them. I sold them because I literally hadn't ridden them in more than a year. Just gathering dust and losing value. Better to sell so they can be worn out before they lose all their value.

I (used to) go to mtb demo days, ride all these absurd $6-$8k bikes and most I honestly thought sucked. Maybe I sort of like one or three (a transition, a pivot and a... ripmo) but then I get back on my ss and I'm like "damn! this thing is so sweet!" There's literally nothing I want to ride that I don't enjoy on my ss. I'm not doubling jumps, not wearing armor or a full-face. I once swapped with my friends megatower and I was 30% faster descending a rough local trail but it was also about 40% less fun - there were no consequences to choosing the wrong line. Liked his fork though... maybe I need to upgrade to a 36.

PS: I've got a new-looking 90s merlin with m900 hanging on a wall in my house but that is not a bicycle its art even if that lady doesn't agree.

 

[MANUCHAO]

There's literally nothing I want to ride that I don't enjoy on my ss

WORD....!!!

 

[Chuckha62]

Agreed. I can ride my SS everywhere I want to ride. When it's all said and done, I may retire the 2 classic Homegrowns and stick with the two steel frames, one hardtail and one URT.

 

[DaveInDenver]

My new ride. A buddy of mine bought this used awhile back and never really connected with it, so he made me a killer deal. Sycip Designs steel SS with a Gates Carbon Drive belt. The belt drive is a new experience for me and I really like it. It's absolutely silent. I never though of a chain as noisy and then I got this.

I originally built my REEB with a belt. I bought it as a frame and they included the system for a reasonable price.

But I eventually went back to a chain.

It came down to a few reasons.

In the hot desert the system is less quiet with sand in it and the dryness tended to cause it to squeak like a, well, a dry belt. It's easy to silence with a squirt of water, though.

They say it's reliable and I had no belts break but I bikepack with it. I couldn't bring myself to do longer tours without a spare belt even knowing the risk was very small. My luck is if there's a 0.1% chance, though, it'll happen to me.

You can coil the belts on to themselves if you're careful into maybe an 8" disc but you need to be very careful about kinking them. They come in a big box that looks like you're getting a head gasket. Gates has a page that shows you the trick to twisting them into IIRC three concentric circles without breaking it. It's important to do it right since a crease or fold will ruin them and so even twisted finding a place for the spare was a pain. Plus belts aren't cheap. But in fairness I rode the original belt nearly two years without an issue other than the occasional squeaking and never needed the spare, so I do think it's reasonably tough.

The final straw was that sand *did* wear out the front ring very fast. The rear cog is stainless but the front is aluminum, which when the anodizing wears off wears out real quick. When I went to price it just a replacement ring was more than buying a regular ring, chain and cog. I didn't love it enough to spend that much beer money.

Sold both my worn and unused spare belt and still good rear cog for a bit less than a Wolf Tooth front ring and Chris King cog cost. Both of those will last forever with $15 SRAM chains once in a while.

So while the system is trick and serves a niche (would definitely consider them on commuters and wet places) it didn't scratch the itch for me long term.

 

[Chuckha62]

I originally built my REEB with a belt. I bought it as a frame and they included the system for a reasonable price.

View attachment 2865952

But I eventually went back to a chain.

View attachment 2865956

It came down to a few reasons.

In the hot desert the system is less quiet with sand in it and the dryness tended to cause it to squeak like a, well, a dry belt. It's easy to silence with a squirt of water, though.

They say it's reliable and I had no belts break but I bikepack with it. I couldn't bring myself to do longer tours without a spare belt even knowing the risk was very small. My luck is if there's a 0.1% chance, though, it'll happen to me.

You can coil the belts on to themselves if you're careful into maybe an 8" disc but you need to be very careful about kinking them. They come in a big box that looks like you're getting a head gasket. Gates has a page that shows you the trick to twisting them into IIRC three concentric circles without breaking it. It's important to do it right since a crease or fold will ruin them and so even twisted finding a place for the spare was a pain. Plus belts aren't cheap. But in fairness I rode the original belt nearly two years without an issue other than the occasional squeaking and never needed the spare, so I do think it's reasonably tough.

The final straw was that sand *did* wear out the front ring very fast. The rear cog is stainless but the front is aluminum, which when the anodizing wears off wears out real quick. When I went to price it just a replacement ring was more than buying a regular ring, chain and cog. I didn't love it enough to spend that much beer money.

Sold both my worn and unused spare belt and still good rear cog for a bit less than a Wolf Tooth front ring and Chris King cog cost. Both of those will last forever with $15 SRAM chains once in a while.

So while the system is trick and serves a niche (would definitely consider them on commuters and wet places) it didn't scratch the itch for me long term.

You nailed it. I like the uniqueness of it for sure, but interestingly enough, I had asked for the split seatstay coupling to be included in my new Castellano Zorro. I thought it over and just told the builder not to bother. The novelty has worn off and I’m going chain and oval front with a CK rear cog.

 

[DaveInDenver]

You nailed it. I like the uniqueness of it for sure, but interestingly enough, I had asked for the split seatstay coupling to be included in my new Castellano Zorro. I thought it over and just told the builder not to bother. The novelty has worn off and I’m going chain and oval front with a CK rear cog.

REEB puts split stays on their frames standard but if I was having one built it would be a tough call. Probably wouldn't bother either.

Remembered another reason I didn't love it. The tension you have to put on the belt wears on the bottom bracket and freehub. In particular I didn't like the forces on my rear hub. But the app to set the belt tension was cool. It would listen to the frequency to indicate if you're tight or not.