Hi all, thinking of getting one of these for putting the miles in this winter. I’ve had a search but thought I would fire up a thread to ask a few questions.

I think I am pretty much sold on it but have a few niggling queries. First off, has anyone fitted a longer fork to it? I’m worried that it’s just a bit steep for tackling more tricky lines.

Also, I have no experience of the M575 brakes – how do they stack up? I’ve used plenty of shimano brakes before but I’m a bit wary of these seeing as they are below deore. Lastly how do people rate the stock tyres for uk conditions?

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes time to answer.

If they’re the same brakes as on the IO singlespeed, then they’re very good indeed! 🙂

I just checked the SS runs BR486 brakes. So the IO ID ones are better! So that’s very good I think 🙂

And looking at the forks (Recon Race) I’d bet there’s a very good chance you can up the travel on them by removing a spacer from inside. I bought some used OE Recons recently, set at 80mm. I took the big stack of spacers out and got 140mm out of them. I imagine these will be the same.

You can then faff to your hearts content with the travel for precisely £0.00. 🙂

PeterPoddy – Member

If they’re the same brakes as on the IO singlespeed, then they’re very good indeed!
Excellent, cant see me needing loads of stopping power in the muddy slop I ride in but want to sure they are half decent.

I’ve ridden an altitude 30 which felt really good, I think it the io-id has basically the same geometry apart from the shorter fork steepening the head angle. Or at least I hope so.

Just one bit of advice: It comes with Conti Mountain King tyres like the SS too. Get rid of them ASAP becasue they are SHYTE! They grip OK, but they’re heavy and roll like a tractor tyre – You can actually hear them bzzing on hard stuff. Changing the tyres made a big difference to ours (Me and Mrs PP share it)
I lopped 1lb in weight off by changing the tyres and seatpost….

i lopped 12st off it by not riding .

And looking at the forks (Recon Race) I’d bet there’s a very good chance you can up the travel on them by removing a spacer from inside. I bought some used OE Recons recently, set at 80mm. I took the big stack of spacers out and got 140mm out of them. I imagine these will be the same.

Is that going to slacken the head angle?

PeterPoddy

Just one bit of advice: It comes with Conti Mountain King tyres like the SS too. Get rid of them ASAP becasue they are SHYTE! They grip OK, but they’re heavy and roll like a tractor tyre – You can actually hear them bzzing on hard stuff. Changing the tyres made a big difference to ours (Me and Mrs PP share it)
I lopped 1lb in weight off by changing the tyres and seatpost….

Seriously? I thought those tyres were pretty light but just not great for mud and wet roots. I Was thinking of putting some trail rakers on it.

A 100mm fork on the original IO is fine for most stuff, and excellent for swooping through wooded singletrack. My only reservation is that it gets a bit sketchy on fireroad descents, but then hey! It’s a singlespeed! And everyone knows long, straight fireroad descents suck, particularly on a singlespeed.

i ride mine with a shorter 50mm stem and wider bars, changed the tyres to high rollers 2.35 folding and it fits me better.
i really like mine and bought it for winter riding as my intense 5.5 just fills its trousers with cack from now until spring.

bobbyspangles

i ride mine with a shorter 50mm stem and wider bars, changed the tyres to high rollers 2.35 folding and it fits me better.
i really like mine and bought it for winter riding as my intense 5.5 just fills its trousers with cack from now until spring.

How does the alfine cope with the mud? I heard it’s pretty good regardless of conditions.

Seriously? I thought those tyres were pretty light but just not great for mud and wet roots. I Was thinking of putting some trail rakers on it.

Seriously, yes, it might have been a tad less but not by more than 1oz or so. My scales are only accurate to 1oz!

1lb is 454g (IIRC) and it was over 100g for the seatpost (I had a decent inline one lying around) and the rest in the tyres. I put Kenda small Block 8s on it. The Contis are cheap wire bead things, and pretty weighty I’ll be using Bonty Mud Xs in the winter, which are about the same weight as SB8s. I’ve never used or needed Trail Rakers, and unless you spend 90% of all your riding in mud, they’re overkill anyway IMO 🙂

PeterPoddy
and unless you spend 90% of all your riding in mud, they’re overkill anyway IMO

Feels like it anyway 🙄

They’re nice bikes and well specced, but there’s a few components and the wheelset that are a bit heavy. ANd a few heavy bits makes the bike a bit heavy….

The IO SS weighed in at just over 26lb IIRC. My Inbred with gears, cheapish wheels and coil forks is only 29lb, and my 18 year old Cindercone SS is 22.5lbs, admittedly with vee brakes, but it gives you some idea.

I reckon the worst of the weight is in the wheels. Tyres I’ve already done, but the spokes are plain gauge and rebuilding the wheels with some DB spokes would save 5oz alone…

But I’ve got a spare front wheel (Hope XC/Mavic 717) and I’m thinking of rebuilding the rear with a Mavic 717 and DB spokes, which by my calculations will lop 250-300g off the wheelset and take the bike down to around 24.5lb

I’ll explain why I’m thinking like this – Mrs PP bought the bike on Bike to Work for us both to use. She rode it standard a few times before I rode it, and I was rather disappointed by how sluggish it was, and I did notice the badly draggy tyres more than anything. So I weighed it, and was even more disappionted. So the weight weenie in me started looking at the bike a bit closely, and the bits I had lying around. Tyres and post saved 1lb and some internetting told me the rims, the PG spokes, and the front hub are a bit weighty: Nothing too bad, but a little bit here and there soon adds up, especially in the wheels….. Which explains the sluggishness.
I rode it for the second time this week and the tyres have made a big difference: It feels quite lively now in comparison. That said, you don’t get a much faster rolling tyre than a SB8!
So I’m gonna rebuild the rear wheel with a 717 and fit the front wheel I already have, and see if that helps!
🙂

Blatant shameless plug here (or maybe just a PSA?).

We’ve got them on offer at Bikedock.

IO ID massively reduced!!!!!!

sssimon

Blatant shameless plug here (or maybe just a PSA?).

We’ve got them on offer at Bikedock.

IO ID massively reduced!!!!!!

I’d forgotten you guys did Genesis, you’re just up the road from me too! 🙂

Will try and get in on saturday

Yes! I own one and it came out of the garage last night for the commencement of the new gloop season (which is what I bought it for).

I ride mine as stock except for a slightly longer stem, a slightly larger rear sprocket to lower the gearing and I replaced the god-awful-in-mud Mountain Kings for 2.35 Bonty ACX’s.

I love it – I got it Christmas 2008, rode it all last year in the summer with Killer Bees tyres and then shifted it into winter mode with different tyres. I didn’t ride it this summer because I got a 456 so have been hammering that over the summer.

The only problem I’ve had is with the rear wheel slipping in the frame: I think it’s a combination of thick paint and me being a bit light with the spanner.

M575 brakes have been reliable – on my 3rd set of pads with no issues.

Shifter is quietly rattley and works in the opposite direction to standard deraileur set-ups.

Ben

I’ve got an iO and it’s a cracking bike, granted the tyres lasted until I got it home and on went the Mud-X’s and I’ve just fitted a set of tora SL solo airs to replace the rigid forks.

Awesome woodsy single track weapon, might even try it at The monkey trail or Llandegla if I feel like some punishment

As for the 100mm forks; my first reaction was to see if I could put longer (130mm) forks on to slacken the HA so it was better for downhill, but the thing is, if you’re riding in the gloop you don’t really get big speed and often you need weight on the front to keep the grip going.

I like the directness of the steering and the willingness of the bike to go up hill which is quite an acheivement given the limited gear range and overall weight.

Whilst I haven’t tried it, I reckon longer forks would spoil it.

Ben

“I’ve ridden an altitude 30 which felt really good, I think it the io-id has basically the same geometry apart from the shorter fork steepening the head angle. Or at least I hope so. “

for a given fork length the iO ID is half a degree slacker, as it runs a shorter fork but didn’t want it to be too steep – slacker helps slides in the mud )
the new / 2011 Latitude 853 and ti use this 1/2 slacker front too

“Is that going to slacken the head angle?” geoffj

not sure how you mean that q but i think you’re saying ‘no it won’t’ and you’re right. a bigger fork slackens the HA until the fork compresses to the same length as the shorter fork, ie when you need / want the stability. so from 100 mm to 140mm forks, you get a slacker HA for the first 40mm of travel only and the bigger fork sags more anyway. and you also upset the weighting / balance and BB height in many cases.

a 5-7mm deeper headset lower cup and a bigger front tyre, or a longer A-C fork for it’s travel, adds trail quite effectively though – subtle but often just enough, like balancing spring pressures f+r on a FS bike.

anyway, the iO’s not a sketchy bike, bnut it’s not a slack angled bomber either, just an XC/trail bike that handles muddy trails well and like all our bikes, just a bit slacker than most XC bikes.

one iO q i’ll ask here pls – 26″ or 29″ for rigid SS? (‘can of worms’ lid was just thrown over there somewhere..)

29″ or 26″ if spec / price etc was the same? Cheers..

James
Genesis

James – do both. As a committed io owner from the first release, i think the 26″ version is just ace. But, if i was buying a complete new singlespeed now I’d def consider trying a 29er.

Jimbo – can of worms, opened. 😉

But yes – I would.

James. 29er. I see you’ve fitted rack mounts to the ID so it can make the most of the Alfine too. Good choice. Belt drive?

29er rigid i0 would be good james theres a couple of 69er ones locally here that people are running with the standard fork which seem to rid ok.

Any chance of a steel vapour (or a geared day one cross, or a canti braked croix de fer…..you get the idea)

+100 for rack mounts. definite failed omission on mine!

PMJ, you would what? 🙂 and no mum jokes please..

bandito, ID has rasck mounts but they’re not perfect, just rearward mounted eyelets on the DO. bit of fiddling and it’s ok though, may get newer Croix de Fer and Day One Alfine style barrel mounts onto next batch. (edit – belts, yes maybe but not sure i see the real need / point tbh for a fettler’s bike, great for town bikes but changing ratios isn’t as easy? enlighten me.. i have ridden and been impressed and new Gates has Alfine in mind more than the last – chainline-wise)

Simon, yeah i’ve 69ered my iO with a tweaked rake / length fork – it’s great even if the BB’s a bit high. and other q, yes, but not yet, the ‘cross combo category is one we need to grow slowly without excessive options – dealers often are not sure which to stock i think.

PMJ would do anything, but he prefers it to be hairy with long horns.

You never complained (especially when I wore the horns). 😛

69er or 29er SS. I still believe it could make a great winter hack, especially round our way.

Will the OE rigid fork on the iO take a 29’er front wheel, looks like it should

How often do you change ratios if you’ve got a hub gear already? Has potential for bombproof doitall bike. I’ll let you know how i get on with my new rubber band bike.

Whilst I don’t have an IO, I have been running an alfine hub on my main HT for 22 months now. In that time I have had to retighten the axel bolts 3-4x, mainly because I have the towing hitch for a kiddy trailer on there. oh and tighten the EBB a coupla times (but the IO is trackends I think). Washed it 2-3 times and it’s still working perfectly through mud/snow/dust etc.

Had to take the other alfine off the trackend bike for a puncture last weekend and it was pretty easy, just need to remember to carry a 15mm flat spanner (or 16mm, I have an adjustable thing) and a 2mm hex key. It was pretty easy tbh.

james-o – Member
… belts, yes maybe but not sure i see the real need / point tbh for a fettler’s bike, great for town bikes but changing ratios isn’t as easy? enlighten me.. i have ridden and been impressed and new Gates has Alfine in mind more than the last – chainline-wise)

A couple of factors to consider (I’ve done a few conversions):

Make sure the chainstays have enough lateral stiffness if you’re going to put belts on it.

You’ll need a foolproof adjustment method that prevents the mechanically challenged from replacing the wheel out of alignment (very bad for a belt), or you’ll end up with a warranty nightmare. (No-one admits their incompetence) 🙂 I suggest an EBB as the only obvious method at present unless you come up with snail cam adjusters for the rear.

Use a simple pin joint to make the separation between the stays.

I think the io would make a great belt drive bike – I’ve been eyeing off my daughter’s io as a candidate, but she won’t let me touch it 🙁

Steve – it will, the rake and length works well.

epicyclo, yeah we’ve been looking into belts and trying a few types and have experienced the slippage from a frame without the stiffness when testing someones belt bike, not nice.
we looked at split seat stay but alignment’s an issue. Gates design DO is nice but there’s other ideas floating around – fair point on alignment, i expect the new slotted belt helps avoid that though? i’m not keen on EBB’s for mainly unfounded and irrational reasons, but i can see the simple fool-proof appeal of bikes that use them.

Bandito, yeah do, and fair point for hub gears it’d be ok, i was thinking more of the SS version / option. maybe i faff more than many but i still like a good old chain ) Alfine 11 and belt on a good steel frame + sus forks is a £2k bike from us – can’t see us selling enough to justify the time in making them right.. more a custom / direct seller’s market perhaps, esp the way costs are going. i mean, look at the iO ID 2008 £ compared to now. we’re not making any more on it and we’re selling less every time the costs go up, hence the 8 and 11 spd options this year to keep frame / kit volumes acceptable.