Does such a thing exist?
my current singlespeed is getting long in the tooth - and I have persisted with v-brakes for the past few years, but the rate I am wearing out rims and pads is daft, so it will be getting retired at some point.
Does anybody do an off the peg 26" wheeled singlespeed or will it be a case of keeping an eye on ebay?
You may struggle for a 26" unless specialised do one, I don't think they have dropped 26" yet
Cannondale do a nice 29er
Nope specialised is a 29er aswell... Very nice carbon effort
Do try a 29er single speed, IMO they are a massive improvement to single speeds off road, they truly fly and climb amazingly well, with less of a weight penalty being single speed.
Give a kona Unit a whirl, try and get it off road in the rough stuff and you'll see what i mean.
26" Surly 1x1, Older Units / Kaboom / Voodoo frames with sliding dropouts / Genesis made a single speed too, or keep your eyes peeled for a Spot.
Buy a new frame, swap over the components that fit, and treat yourself for stuff that doesn't
Genesis io is a good buy... Pop up now and then on here/eBay .. Build into a nice lightweight rig if you swap some bits out 🙂
Mine's 20.5lbs
I'm sure that a 29er would be great etc etc - but if you have some existing parts that work fine then I'd suggest just getting some new parts where needed.
I ride a SS Cotic Soul, which allows me to re-fit gears when needed. I do need a suspension fork at all time though, so a change to a bigger wheel format would cost a lot.
Do they still make the Genesis iO?
That's the best off the shelf 26" single speed I've ridden.
26" rigid on one inbred's are good, very good for the money
There's a kinesis decade Versa frame in the classifieds. That, and exotic fork and a few other bits would make an awesome SS and it has the changeable dropouts.
I know cause that's what i did.
Thanks for the replies. I had wondered about a Genesis Io, but my geared bike is a Latitude!
I had seen that Decade, but its too small.
I'm 6ft 1, so I suppose i'm on the cusp of a 29er.
My existing SS is a converted 2001 Kona, so there isn't much I could transfer, hence looking at complete bikes.
You've got a few inches on me and I'm on a Unit (29er).
I went from a 26" HT to the 29" Unit, no regrets. I do swap between rigid and HT though.
I picked up a second hand '07 Kona Unit 5 yrs ago and haven't ridden anything else since.
More of a blinglespeed now though, only standard stuff left is the frame and cranks....
Sold my other bikes to finance wheel building and top end components!
Love the frame and feel of it. 26" is the go for me at 5'9.
The donor parts from the original setup are now on my wife's old steel specialized and running sweet.
converted (chopped & dropped) old Kona here, from a long way back - get away with not too much pad and rim wear (rigid, Vs). Intended to ride it until it dies (and then I'll cry).
I'm not 6' 1" though..