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I'm a bit new to SS, but thoroughly enjoying it for the hour long local single track rides I get in the evenings once kids are in bed!
Really been quite an eye opener as to how much fun a lightweight rigid SS is and just what can be got up/across with one gear!
It's really helping my fitness as well - a 1hr ride currently feels like 2hrs with gears!
Currently have:-
-rigid Trek stache set up SS - has a Tarn carbon fork on it, 2.6 on the back, 3.0 on the front, ergon grips with bramble hookers for heaving on and a dropper.
-Latest Scandal for longer rides/trail centre - when my fitness runs out and needs bounce and gears and to attempt keeping up with mates on FS
I like the trek a lot - but I would like to swap the frame out for something a bit closer to the scandal as there is quite a lot of fast single track and hidden trails round here that I always want to incorporate on a SS ride and find the stache a bit upright
Simplest cheapest option would be pick up another scandal frame off ebay and run a tensioner...but where is the fun in that...and I do now like the simplicity of adjustable dropouts.
I currently have my eye on the new Salsa Timberjack that is eventually arriving to these shores this summer.
Sensible geometry - nice selection of frame mounts and the swinging adjustable dropouts "look" like a nice simple concept.
https://salsacycles.com/bikes/timberjack/2021_timberjack_frame
And I have toyed with a Pipedream Sirius S5, but it's taking the already stretched budget a bit too far! Also wonder if i'd notice the weight of the frame if I've got used to the lightweight Tarn build?
I see SC Chameleon has adj. drops, but that's even less in budget
Is there anything else I should be looking at?
Stooge.
Don't dismiss all ther other chain tensioning solutions. EBB and Track ends etc work plenty fine...
As do tensioners but... MEIN AUGEN!
Don't knock the simplicity of a tensioner.
No need to adjust tension
No brake calliper alignment issues
No slipping axle/dropout/BB
No creaking
And no need to buy a new frame, swapping the SS kit to put gears back on only takes a few minutes. Annoyingly slightly longer than it used to as you can't leave the already indexed mech attached to the cable as they're internal now.
Don’t knock the simplicity of a tensioner.
No need to adjust tension
No brake calliper alignment issues
No slipping axle/dropout/BB
No creaking
But looks like a bodge 😀
SS is all aboutthe purity, the aesthetic the paired down minimilism and how that connects you to the trail you are riding etc.
Nothign to do with hurty legs and wanting to spew at the top of hills.
Thanks for the speedy replies
I do have a new DMR tensioner sat here in a box...If i get a chance I will stick it on the Scandal for a trial - I know a chipped £260 ebay frame is probably the most cost effective option...
Oh and I should have added, it needs to be a boost frame to help my wheel/tyre swapping addiction fed.
And yes i had spotted the Stooge Mk5!
I'm with you on a somewhat irrational avoidance of the chain tensioner. Tensioners can work absolutely fine, as can stinger type chain guides and some other solutions. My just retired 26 singlespeed had/has an eccentric hub, which i liked but I wouldn't favour over various other options and I don't think exists in today's axle standards anyway. However I do like sliding/swinging dropouts and personally if I'm buying a frame for the purpose I'll narrow it down to those with tensioning options built into the frame.
Can't help much with your frame options though. I was after something a bit slacker and longer travel. Ended up with a Moxie which I'm very pleased with. The frame is not light though, and all current steel trail bike frames I considered are in a similar ballpark for weight, so you might find you don't like the weight of the Sirius.
Having been through so many different SS frames I would really recommend swinging or sliding dropouts. Others survive just fine with EBB's but that wouldn't be my first choice.
If you find a SS frame with "normal" geo, that doesn't weigh a ton, has swinging or sliding dropouts and is actually in stock and available then please don't post up here- I got so stuck trying to find anything that I went custom and that hurt really hurt my bike budget!
But looks like a bodge 😀
SS is all aboutthe purity, the aesthetic the paired down minimilism and how that connects you to the trail you are riding etc.
Nothign to do with hurty legs and wanting to spew at the top of hills.
🤣 I kinda agree, but you can't see it whilst riding, and for 8 months of the year it's camouflaged in mud anyway.
My other argument in favour of the humble tensioner is choice and weight. It might weigh more than track ends, but that's offset against the ~2lb weight penalty of going for a steel frameset. I know there are light-ish steel frames and heavy aluminium ones, but for the price of that light-ish 2kg steel frame you could then compare it to a <1kg carbon frame.
Trackends are athletically the nices imo but you need a chain tug on drivers side to give a constant reference for minimum fuss replacing rear wheels.
I'd never considered the athletics of tensioning solution to be honest.
tried tugs didn't like 'em and as for the cheesy nature of hope allen bolts I went for "proper" bolt up rear end :D.
No slippage in 7 years.
I think a lot of it comes down to the bits you don't always think about when buying a bike.
EBB or sliding or swinging dropouts are a must-have if you need to take the wheel out to put the bike in the car or are a serial tyre/wheel/gear swapper. Anything else is a faff. So the biggest criteria aren't aesthetics, slipping, or ease of tension adjustment, it's do you need to ever take the wheel out.
I'd rather have track* ends like klunk above, the fewest moving parts and threads to fail. But only because I either ride them from the door or put them on a towbar rack. Back when they went in a hatchback I had different priorities (and had a Swift, followed by an El Mariachi, Followed by a Cooker, all with EBB's or swinging dropouts).
*technically track ends are longer than that, but the same idea.
Kona Unit? They're a bit portly but pretty modern geo.
Also Kona Honzo, the ESD and DL models have sliders.
The Pace hardtails have adjustable dropouts…
Im totally with you on the clean lines of not having a tensioner, but whats really really annoying, is a tensioner is demonstrably better.
No one tells you that you have to get the chainring in the centre of the crankarm, else you get tight spots and sloppy spots through the rotation of the crank. Its just another thing to have to sort out. And then if you go get a flat, youre buggering about getting your chain tension right and the wheel straight in the track ends. faff
Single-pully sprung tensioner pushing up (so hiding out of the way) is the best option i think. bike runs as quiet as is possible, and you can just throw the wheel in and not have to crank up the bolts to a gerjillion Nm to make sure the axel stays put under load from your big manly SSer legs.
I've had a Stache for a while (Might even have sold you the one you're on now, come to think of it - did you buy it earlier this year on the 'bay? If so - glad you like it) and it's both a massive hoot to ride and great to singlespeed. I ran mine with 130mm Fox 34s, and the only downsides were the slightly short (for me) top tube and truncated seat tube. I sold it because I got hold of a Specialized Fuse frame, which is equally fun.
I'd looked at the Chameleon (a bit spendy, plus being in Surrey, everyone and their nans is riding around on ten grand Santas and I wanted something different), a Pipedream (super nice, but not available at the time) Pace (weight, chainstay length), Honzo carbon. I'd looked at the Timberjack a while back, but ironically Lyons weren't importing them just after they took over from Charlie, who I would have loved to have given money to as he's lovely.
I'd have to say, the Timberjack looks really good. IIRC (and please do check) you can get different dropouts so you can also run your old 142 / 135 rear wheels, which is a big plus for me.
Anyway - The Fuse is the M4 one in raw, it's really rather nice and the tensioner is similar to the Stache but really nice and neatly made. And it has a threaded BB, which is nice. They're rare secondhand as well, so I'd probably go for the Timberjack if I had to buy something nowish.
I totally get tensioners, but as said above, you can't beat the clean lines.
There's a Singular Hummingbird frame and forks (69er) on the singlespeed facebook page at the mo. I had one, and it's about the pinnacle of steel 26" singlespeed frames in my opinion. I still regret selling mine.
shand do one - it uses a special EBB they make using a pf30 frame and a standard BB. Have your choice of axles standards etc. Not cheap mind you
Pace 529 with sliding dropouts gets my vote!
tried tugs didn’t like ’em and as for the cheesy nature of hope allen bolts I went for “proper” bolt up rear end :D.
No slippage in 7 years.
The tug for me is not to stop slippage but to give a reference point to make taking the rear wheel in and out easier, if you need to that is.
Niner AIR 9
Recommend what you have.
Pipedream sirius s5
Amazing response - thank you!
Some bikes/frames there I had not realised had boost adjustable dropouts (I think that's the way I am going).
Going to go through and see what I can get a 29 x 2.6 on the back and will also be happy with a Tarn carbon fork (i.e. not something that ideally needs a 140mm/150mm fork)
Oh i do like trawling the internet for things I really shouldn't be buying....
No one tells you that you have to get the chainring in the centre of the crankarm, else you get tight spots and sloppy spots through the rotation of the crank.
I've never worried about that, to the point that I'm running oval rings anyway. I assume that's got way more variation in chain length and it hasn't fallen off yet.
Well, actually I do have one that has a habit of falling off but none of the others have. I guess it's either a fairly worn out chain (I was a tart and fitted a skinny chain instead of the usual burly ones) or something to do with being a big 42t ring exaggerating the effect (gravel bike).
I’ve never worried about that
it might be an issue if you were trying to run with zero play in the chain, half inchish of slack and it's not an issue.