Ey up, I recently got a Chumba HX1 hardtail and built it up SS with a 140mm fork. First ride out was very hilly and I found the climbing far harder than on my previous 100mm SS even though most of the build was from that bike so same wheels/tyres/gearing etc. I really struggled to get enough power through the cranks and keep the front end on the ground so converted the bike to 1×9 which means I can climb better.

Thing is though, I really like have a SS for the winter and after only about a month on the 1×9 set up it’s looking pretty worn and is in need of a new chain already.

Anyone else got a similar SS and how do you get on with it? I’m thinking of going back to SS but would probably want a longer stem and wonder if it would then suck on the downs instead of or as well as, on the ups.

Opinions appreciated. MTFU expected.

… and rigid… ME ME ME ME!!!!!!!!!

Cove Handjob with 29ered front end, slack n hard, but bottom bracket interacts with satellites!

I SS’d my Yelli Screamy, works fine if slightly heavy compared to my ‘proper’ SS. I find the gearing more a compromise for climbing than the head angle.

MTFU.

Was running a Carbon 456 singlespeed for a while.

It was almost too light at the back end, to be honest, but still fun to ride.

Current SS has the same 140mm forks on it. It’s not *that* slack but certainly not steep either.

Umm…slack HA and longer fork will not aid climbing but it shouldn’t completely ruin it either. It takes a while to adjust your riding style if you go to a longer travel slacker bike. You have to perch more on the front of the saddle and distribute more weight to the front of the bike. I would put it back to SS and persevere. You will get used to it.

Not sure I can help, but my take on a SS is that it should go uphill like a stabbed rat. So a fork short enough that you can get over it and really crank.

Can you get/borrow an adjustable travel fork and find out what’s the best option then space your existing fork down a bit? Maybe 120mm?

Yak – a very suitable travel adjustable fork keeps popping up in the classifieds but I’m too skint to buy it. I think it’s very local to me as well…

I did have a NS Surge set up SS for a bit, was fine down south but when I moved up north and tried to ride bigger hills in the winter slop I soon went back to 1×10.

Big hills and winter slop both available in abundance round these northern parts.

It was a disappointment, I’d only just got the sliding dropouts to stop slipping!

i ride a genesis alpitude ss with 150 sektors. prefer to wind the sektors in a bit for climbs, but it’s not really that much bother to ride it up at full length. lockout i would miss on the road and fire road climbs i do, however.

thing is you tend to be stood up with your weight forward on climbs which compresses the forks anyway so the head angle ‘steepens’ anyway.

c456 here. Dunno if it’s the angle or the short (50mm) stem, I can get the power down OK whilst stood up but my wrists start to ache after a while, my upper body is further over the front of the bars than I like. Nice for downhill tho. Previous SS was a similar sized inbred with a 70mm stem (and a 100mm before that) that was great for climbing but not so good down steep stuff – too stretched.

On geared bike I sit and spin more so a short(ish) stretch doesn’t bother me so much, obviously a lot more standing climbing on the SS.

All about compromise innit?

Might seem like a silly question, and might be irrelevant if you don’t want to change, but are you on clips or flats?

I’m a recent SS convert, but found I cuoldn’t keep the front down when a friend wasn’t having problems clipped in. When you’re on the limit on flats, all you can do to balance more force throught the pedals is to honk on the bars more. Being able to balance and add to the the force by pulling up on the opposite pedal helps max power and balance of delivery.

I reckon.

He had bigger wheels too. Both rigid, so low enough at the front.

Being able to balance and add to the the force by pulling up on teh opposite pedal really helps.

aye, SSing kills my cleats.