my singlespeed history..

1998

thetford by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

2003

wfhj by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

2004

maxlight4 by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

2009

IMG_1872 by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

2011

Ridgid 69er by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

2011

the beerfest ride by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

2012

Voodoo Wanga 69er singlespeed by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

2012

Jubilee by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

Fieldmarshall I am looking forward to deliberately holding you up all summer now!
some good inspiration there and enjoying the pics.
Liking the look of the simples a lot.

My Simple came from the Classifieds. 8)

looking on the Genesis website the 20.5in frame is massive! has a 23.6in top tube. thinking could get away with a 17.5 or the 19in one – what kind of heights etc are people who ride them?

I have a 19 inch Genesis Altitude 00 (2008) that I converted to singlespeed last year – after 3 or so years of being geared.
It really comes to life as a singlespeed and is an absolute hoot to ride.
I’m 6 foot tall and have a 29 inch inside leg (Strange, but true)

A 3.0 series dale (now gone)

Then a Muddy Fox Courier Prestige (now gone)

A Zaskar (now cracked)

Current crop

Kuwahara

Kona Unit 2-9, brilliant if you can find one (the dedacciai tubed one)

Vicious cycles Metal Guru, beautiful riding steel frame

Dialled Alpine, waiting for me to get my finger out and order spokes to build the wheels.

Some seriously cracking SS there plenty of food for thought,
Like the kona and the voodoo as well all nice bikes

Ragley Ti at CyB by brf, on Flickr

inbred 853, best s/s MTB i’ve ever owned. only s/s MTB i’ve ever owned.

This is quite good fun

Here’s mine, only had it a few days and I bloody love it.

Surly KM by Bish83, on Flickr

Right, quite up for the challenge now, will post some pics. What kind of gear ratios are people running?

That gary fisher and surly both look like a lot of fun.

My Simple…

Soon to be with carbon fork when the postie turns up.

e2a: 32:16 Richen

32:16 It’s the golden rule.

Use to run 34/16 or 17t

I went for 24 x 14 on the Gary Fisher for extra clearance. Weighs a bit less too I suppose. Even ground the middle ring bolt holes off and used the granny holes

i might be parting with this soon, due to lack of use 🙁

Had a genesis io [till it got nicked] now got a kinesis decade virsa.

virsa is a tange prestige frame and so much smoother riding than the genesis [reynolds 520 I think, same as on-one frames]

The rigid fork that came with the genesis was aluminium and the harshest thing I’ve ever ridden. [Benji from the mag said as much when he reviewed it a couple of years back] the rest of the components on the genesis were crap too, stem made of welded scaffolding pipe, making the ride even harsher, wheels had16mm rims and were poorly built, seatpost bent in no time atall.

Still liked it though, but would recommend getting a frame only and building it up with a kona p2 or carbon fork if going rigid. Probably suits a sus fork better though.

older kinesis virsa frames have a very thin seat tube, needed clamp milled out to fit properly and shimmed a little on the inside surface to clamp properly, otherwise it wont clamp up properly and can/will lead to seat tube cracking, [check many posts on here about this] I think the new frames, the ones with tapered headtube have addressed seat tube problems.

The swap outs on the kinesis are very thick/sturdy, and I couldn’t stop break squeal/judder through the frame with a qr or bolted qr. the solution [as advised by DMR] was to have a thread tapped into the hollow axle and secure with 6mm bolts, which worked so well I’ve decided to do it on my other bike as well, not as good as a proper bolt thru maybe, but miles better than a qr or bolted skewer. a no brainer as they say, especially for sliding drop outs.

thanks for the info Inkster, that is really useful.
am only really looking for a frame to build up as have more than enough parts lying around the garage to build the rest.
why is 32:16 the golden rule?
i push quite big gears normally when out riding, have a 34 middle on my current bike so wondering if 34:17 might be a slightly better way to go?
will try both and see how it goes.

er, 32/16 and 34/17 are exactly the same ratio…….

Would 24×14 be about the same as 32×16 given I’m using clown wheels?

Hang on, got a gear app on the phone…

24×14 on 29×2.1 tyres = 49.3 inches
32×16 on 26×2.1 tyres = 52 inches.

So about a 50 inch gear sounds like the norm.

I understand they are the same ratio 2:1 but why would 32:16 be better than 34:17?
Is it easier ?

who says 32/16 is betterer than 34/17 ?
how can it be ‘easier’ if it’s the same ?…….

just go with what you like,if it don’t work for you,change the ratio !

for what it’s worth,I run 35/19 on 29″ wheels
and 33/20 on my fat bike.
horses for courses,init 😉

Dialled Bikes Love/Hate

Finally built up the way I want it. Tried to go for a dark moody / industrial look.

Gratuitous link to more photos.

The reason I ran 34t was because I had a 34t ring laying around and found the 16t ok for the majority of riding what I did then put a 17t on for place like Wales.

Someone once told me that 34:17 was better than 32:16 from a chain/sprocket wear perspective, ie something about alternate teeth etc. Never really got my head round that.

I went for 32 as the deore ones are cheap as chips and last forever.

Rich, FWIW Ive been running 32:18 at Lordswood this winter, but will go to 32:16 once (if) it drys out.