Nowhere to be seen…

http://www.on-one.co.uk/bikes

seems odd.

I think they don’t sell them ‘cos they didn’t sell?

Although if you talk to them I’m sure they’d put one together for you at a good price.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/YBCL148271/on_one_inbred_swap_out_single_speed_18_inch_pearl_necklace

I saw a fixie on there too but they are ex display

A lot of the bikes are swapout – they’ll convert with the dropout thingy. Plenty singlespeed frames about too

To clarify, I meant whole bikes.

So buy a geared bike and sell the gears? Or buy a frame and all the bits separately then build it yourself? Or its a custom build?

Still seems odd to me given how central to the companies ethos single speeds were….

Probably why I haven’t bought anything from them for a while. Any SS stuff is swamped by the gearie tack so I don’t look any further. Bearing in mind most of my purchases have been impulse buys, this is saving me money. 🙂

I agree, I wanted a SS inbred but nowadays they are like £800 min on their site, and now never advertised much on their site.

Silly business sense imo.

ChrisS – Member
how central to the companies ethos single speeds were….

Can’t say this ever occurred to me. Maybe before my time.

Now I’m just confused about the Planet X / On One split. It seemed that PX was all about road and OO about MTB but it’s all over the place 🙂

SS bikes are wanted by people who build their own I imagine as they wasn’t a cheap bike. The onone ss bike cost nearly the same as the alfine 8 ones.

I don’t speak like that really…..as small phone screen meant the words got jumbled!

I think the market for singlespeed complete bikes isn’t what it was five years ago.
We do now have some true dedicated singlespeed frames in stock, but you’re quite right… It’s important to remember our roots and we will be hopefully putting some SS bikes together.
Good plan.
Yes.
Hmm.
29in SS complete bike by this time next week.

Can’t say this ever occurred to me. Maybe before my time.

I always assumed they were called “on-one” as in “on one speed”, they only did SS frames for a while?

Don’t do ought like the gimp anymore either.

Cool 😆 was looking ‘cos I fancy a new ss commuter, not sure exactly what though… 29er, flat or drop bar pompetamine maybe.

Welcome to on-one, the home of our great UK singlespeed bikes and products. We’re building a rep for offering everything for the hardcore rider, whatever they want, as long as they only want one gear (though we do sell gear hangers, ahem…)

Taken from http://web.archive.org/web/200012150421/http://www.on-one.co.uk/

Way back in Dec 2000.

and this is what gofar-mtb.com (precursor to singletrackworld) had to say about them at the time:

Free vegetables with every singlespeed!

IA – Member
Can’t say this ever occurred to me. Maybe before my time.
I always assumed they were called “on-one” as in “on one speed”, they only did SS frames for a while?
Don’t do ought like the gimp anymore either.

The “one” in On-One was never about singlespeed. But I can see why you thought that.
Essentially we are on-one. Odd, to Planet-x’s even.

brant – Member
I think the market for singlespeed complete bikes isn’t what it was five years ago….

The problem being that when you buy one you don’t need to buy anything else for 10 years – apart from replacement consumables.

May have to lower your QC Brant 🙂

I can see “drop bar pompetamine” on that page.

only with alfines….

I always associate the “on-one” moniker as part of my misspent, unhealthy, but very happy youth 😳

only with alfines….

I’m afraid the Pompetamine arrived when I was away. Did they used to do a SS version?

Good question. Dunno. I thought they did, but I couldn’t be certain.

The trouble with singlespeed frames is they are still compromised. As I see it there are 4 solutions to singlespeeding a bike:

1 vertical dropouts with a tensioner – more weight, ugly, extra kit to go wrong
2 horizontal dropouts – apparently a bit of a nightmare for brake alignment plus they’re ugly. Wheel needs to be aligned.
3 sliding dropouts – look fiddly and ugly. Again, wheel needs to be aligned.
4 vertical dropouts with magic ratio – limited life of chain, limited choice of gears

I think there are probably other solutions too (ebb?), but they’re expensive or maybe just heavy so go against the whole principle of singlespeeding. Ultimately though my main frustration is lack of choice if I don’t want vertical dropouts or a 29er.

What we need here is something really innovative to combat the above and provide the ultimate singlespeeding frame solution. The frame would also need to be gearable with the same ease as vertical dropouts so that all frames could adopt the standard leaving is singlespeeders with the full range of choice. It could be like one of those engineering challenges like the $10 million (or whatever the exact amount) prize for launching a private rocket in to space. In this case we could be more modest, maybe just a tin of biscuits…?

The art of the possible, or maybe I’m just talking rubbish…?

or maybe I’m just talking rubbish…?

yep 😉

How about variable size wheels, rather than geerz?

i think Salsa have the drop out thing sorted

gingerss you missed out “5 track ends” which are provided on Brant’s excellent singlespeed pressed dropouts with slotted gear mounts. On-one called it “Slot dropout” for a while. They work superbly with a chaintug on the driveside, and wheel alignment is easily achieved by eye looking at the tyre between the chainstays 🙂

Salsa’s system looks nice – does it creak like sliding dropouts? They pinched that idea from someone didn’t they?

Sort of – Black Cat Bikes make a similar system but the Salsa parts are much less ‘shed’ looking.

GB

Not seen those 5 track end thingies – will do some googling…

In the meantime, maybe a belt drive that uses a special kind of belt made from material similar to the d3o stuff or cornflower. I.e. you can stretch it by applying a gentle force, but as soon as you apply a large amount of force, e.g. pedalling, then all the stretchyness instantaneously disappears and you get 100% power transfer like with a chain.

You’d be able to stretch it over your choice of cogs and it would naturally contract to form a good tension. With it stretching you couldn’t use a toothed belt, but maybe a multi-v type belt as used in cars could work…?

How it would cope with mud and grit is questionable.

For my next challenge I will be attempting to acquire a moon on a stick…

I’m surprised the IBIS Tranny approach of changing the chainstay length to adjust tension isn’t more widely used. Cost, I guess.

Having said that, an EBB has been the best method I’ve used for chain tension adjustment, particularly when it comes to trailside puncture repairs.

you can stretch it by applying a gentle force, but as soon as you apply a large amount of force, e.g. pedalling, then all the stretchyness instantaneously disappears

silly putty chains anyone?

That salsa solution does look good, can I get it on a 26″ frame?

Mmm black cats.

On-one track end:

In the meantime, maybe a belt drive that uses a special kind of belt made from material similar to the d3o stuff or cornflower. I.e. you can stretch it by applying a gentle force, but as soon as you apply a large amount of force, e.g. pedalling, then all the stretchyness instantaneously disappears and you get 100% power transfer like with a chain.

A Non-Newtonian fluid?

In a non-Newtonian fluid, the relation between the shear stress and the shear rate is different, and can even be time-dependent. Therefore a constant coefficient of viscosity cannot be defined. Obviously.

on-one track ends/slotted drop outs work great

“That salsa solution does look good, can I get it on a 26″ frame?”

Salsa Ala Carte

gingerss – Member
The trouble with singlespeed frames is they are still compromised. As I see it there are 4 solutions to singlespeeding a bike:…

The EBB isn’t a compromise if it is done properly. I reckon it’s the best method and it’s not heavy.

what about a WI ENO HUB?

What we need here is something really innovative to combat the above and provide the ultimate singlespeeding frame solution.

You’re absolutely right. The problem with many singlespeed-specific frames is that they are far too simple. What we need is a really advanced technological solution – perhaps reciprocal eccentric rear hub and bottom bracket controlled by electric motors and governed by an electronic brain that automatically adjusts chainline etc to suit different gearing combinations.

The other, more straightforward solution, that perhaps is more appealing, would be to create a standardised frame with a fixed distance between chainring and cog based on specified diameters for both. Then, rather than change cog size, market a range of chainrings and cogs with different tooth numbers but a standard diameter. That way, the chain length will always be consistent, but you can change gearing simply by swapping rings and cogs.

Another advantage of this for the cash strapped is that you could always grind off a couple of teeth on chainring or cog to raise or lower the gearing. Say you’re running 32:18 and want a higher gear, simply grind a couple of teeth off the cog to give a 32:16 ratio or if you want a lower gear, do the same at the chainring, say 31:16 or 30:16.

Makes a lot of sense to me. It would also reduce the price of SS-specific frames by deleting complex details like sliding drop-outs and track ends.

And if your chain has worn enough to skip, doh, simply fit a new chain. It means it’s worn out anyway.

Lots of interesting solutions…

Say you’re running 32:18 and want a higher gear, simply grind a couple of teeth off the cog to give a 32:16 ratio

Hmmm, I’m thinking it might not be quite so simple.

I guess there might be some merit in standardising the chainstay length, or possibly a little simpler would be for manufacturers to measure and publish the magic ratio’s for their frames. With this I’m sure I wouldn’t mind replacing the chain a little earlier each time. I don’t expect this from specialized etc, but maybe on-one and the other more grass roots builders could consider it…?

Anyway, I think for now I have a reliable and tidy solution (456 SS SS with chain guide as tensioner) so am not too concerned.