Hello, I am Ben…

First time posting on a forum in years….but I need help.

I have decided to build a bike, as I can take pride in it and spend a bit more on it, rather than a lump sum for a complete bike.
I had a few musts, wanted it to be single speed, with discs, quick enough on flat for a bit of fitness and able to handle a small amount of off road.
A multi terrain cruiser, cx type of bike….. I guess!

I am currently 16+ stone, and mid weight loss.

So I jumped in and got me an On-One Pompetamine 29er frame and matching forks . (also headset, bars and stem) but I’ll save details for a proper ‘My build’ thread.

2 things I guess, what wheel set/build would suit what I want?
I love the look/spec of Halo Aerowarrior and Freedom Disc wheels, but what hubs would suit/fit?
Rear hub ideally to fit halo clickster or a White Industries freewheel.
Will 36h be ok? Is 48h overkill for a 16+ stone guy?
Frame has 135mm spaced dropouts.

Second, I love the idea of MTB cranksets.
Any suggestions what would fit?
I like the look of Shimano Zee Crankset.
Frame has 68mm English threaded BB.
What crank length?

Allllll of the questions, ha!

So, yes….. Any ideas?
Thank you all!

Ben.

32 hole would be sufficient.

You could use a regular hub (non-SS specific), easier and cheaper to experiment with gear ratios until you find what you like.

Shop around for the light 29er wheels. (merlin, crc, stw)

Crank length depends on many factors, height, inseam, whether you like to spin.

Shimano deore cranksets are great vfm, even 2nd hand.

Welcome to the obsession of bike building….

Haha thank you!!
There’s me thinking it would be simple…..

Just so many bloody options, On-One and Planet X don’t like to reply to there emails.

Going to shop about and pick up some bits this weekend, maybe crankset?

Will a mtb chainset fit? (I don’t know)

Length – doesn’t really matter (if you don’t have an opinion on it)

Hi Ben. Any MTB hubs will fit the spacing of a Pomp, 135mm R 100mmF.
A Zee crankset is probably overkill for this build, a bit too burly? Deore and up will be fine id say, but its up to you of course…
There’s currently about 3 wheelsets in the classifieds that would suit this build – Classifieds are your friend!
Post some pics when you’re done?
Happy shopping!

Thanks for the help!
I just love the look of a solid Mtb crankset, I’ll check out the deore!

Might sound stupid, but would any Mtb hub fit say, a Halo Aerowarrior rim?
Or do specific rims only take specific hubs?

Again, thank you.

As long as the spoke count on hub and rim match you’re ok.

Cheers! I had hoped it was that simple, but didn’t fancy a gamble.
This makes my search easier!

Again, sounding stupid…….

With whatever crankset I settle for, and running a hub with screw on freewheel?
Will chain line automatically line up? Or are spacers needed?

Thanks all

Screw on freewheels can make chain alignment harder as there isn’t any “wiggle” room for adjustment at the back. Therefore you may need spacers on the front.

Something to bear in mind is gearing. If you are going to use a large chainring in the outer position you may find it very difficult/impossible to space to get perfect chain alignment.

All that said on a SS bike perfect chainline isn’t the be all and end all.

With a pompetamine frame it’ll be a shame not to get an Alfine hub…

Crankwise I use an Alfine crank as I like it’s nice smooth looks and the chain is fairly well covered for cycling with flapping trousers at your ankles, takes standard shimano external BB’s which last well, it’s a 175mm length I think, I’ve never given that a moment’s thought tbh.

I’m 16 ish stone and I used to ride a 39:20 on a flip:flop hub which I found was way too low a gear for the flats but handy for the a long drag I have up to work. Moved to 44:18 as I got fitter and I then got tired of never quite being the right gear except for a few magical moments and fitted an Alfine hub which has speeded up the 15 mile EW commute.

I’m running Mavic open pro’s (32 hole) with an XT hub front (and disc) and now a Alfine at the rear, it was an on-one flipflop for an age. The wheels are fine for kerb jumping and I regularly go onto wood trails and stuff towing the kids. Ideally I would have liked to go Hope for the replaceability of parts but as the Alfine needs it’s cup and cones serviced the XT is neither here nor there for me, just does the job well. Remember the rear is fully dished being a SS/Alfine specific and much stronger than the offset geared ones.

If you’re going on the road a lot, may I suggest the mtb XT trekking pedals with the inbuilt reflector – I got the 1 sided SPD/flat things, which work well on the road and ok with the occasional off road (but would be a nightmare on a proper mtb) but they weigh a lot and strictly speaking are not road legal and I’m struggling to find the shimano clip in reflectors (the XT trekking showed up after my half kilo purchase – v heavy) otherwise I would have gotten them.

Can’t help you with chainline, although you might struggle a little as the pompetamine frame is designed for the Alfine hub – that chainline can be adjusted with nexus sprockets as they are slightly offset.

Oh, remember to carry a spanner for your rear nuts (I’ve a stubby with a holw drilled through sat on the bottle cage) so you can repair a puncture.

Oh, remember to carry a spanner for your rear nuts (I’ve a stubby with a holw drilled through sat on the bottle cage) so you can repair a puncture.

OT but do you have a pic of this set up? I find that I sometimes forget ( 😳 ) to take a 15mm spanner with me when out on my Fortitude!

You’ll find that your chainline will be around 50mm with a single speed (screw-on hub). That will probably mean running your chainring on the “middle” position, so beware of running out of clearance for the chainring near the bottom bracket. A freehub wheel (with one cog and some spacers) would allow you to push everything out a little more for improved clearance, but possibly at the expense of increased bearing wear in the hub.

Just to pick up on your original post – the Pompetamine isn’t a 29er frame. I’m not being pedantic, just concerned that you won’t be able to fit MTB tyres in it if that’s your intention!

OT but do you have a pic of this set up? I find that I sometimes forget ( ) to take a 15mm spanner with me when out on my Fortitude!

Not at the mo, will see what I can do tonight – £5 laser stubby 15mm spanners from amazon/screwfx. Drilled with a 7mm? bosch all purpose drill bit (concrete/masonary/steel) after ruining a couple of normal bits. Dad did the drilling with his piller drill so don’t know the size he used, it’s just bigger than the M5/6 bolt.

Then a knarled bolt with a rubber washer, the open end sits in another knarled bolt (larger diamter – from local bearings shop) so I only need to undo one of them to get the spanner.

I have this set up on both my mtb and my pomp and it’s great. I did wonder about giving people the ability to steal the rear wheel as I leave them on the bike all the time, but as I never leave the bike where I need to lock it up (comes into the pub with me) it’s not a problem.

Just to pick up on your original post – the Pompetamine isn’t a 29er frame. I’m not being pedantic, just concerned that you won’t be able to fit MTB tyres in it if that’s your intention!

That was me getting confused haha, thanks though!

I’ve decided on Halo AeroWarrior rim and Spin Doctor front hub.
Still working on rear wheel.

How do I work out what spoke length is needed, online calculators are giving all sorts of answers?