… I rode a fully rigid, Vee braked (Singlespeed) bike off road…!
I've said it on here, and I've said it to lots of people over the years, that I like my suspension and I like my discs too much to go back.
But, a few weeks ago at the Brizzle Bike Jumble I was seduced by a 1992 Kona Cindercone frameset, identical to my 1991 'Cone I bought in, errrrr, 1991! 🙂
And so, for £158 I've cobbled this together
The only new bit I bought especially for it is the seatpost. I was given the brakes, saddle and tensionner, the wheels were £45 posted, the bars (Too narrow) off my Carerra commuter, the chainset is an old LX from my last SS, the frame came with stem, forks and XTR headset…
And you know what? It was FFFFING BRILLIANT!
I was fully expecting it to be a let down: Dead feeling, flexy, hard work…. Especially as I was all misty eyed about getting 'my old bike back' WRONG!!!
Once I got used to the lightning fast and accurate steering and complete lack of flex (Which took a while) I was merrily hooning about the place like a mad thing. And it goes uphill like a spanked rat. Superb.
I did have a couple of momnets where I went involuntarily airbourne or sideways due to having no suspension to take the sting out of the bumps, and the vees are't up to single finger braking so I kept arriving at corners a bit out of shape, as you do.
But by god that was fun!
It'll be saved for Sunny Summer Evenings only though. Why? Well, because it was always sunny in 1992 wasn't it?
Such a long period of those bikes looking pretty much sorted.
Oh yes, they are sorted bikes alright. Back in 1991 I was lucky enough to test ride mine against an Orange Clockwork, a GT Avalance and a Saracen Traverse. The Knoa was easily the nicest of the 4.
Nothing like a rigid classic kona for swooping through the trees on some buff singletrack Pete – thats why so many of us are still riding them over here in Bristol 🙂
I've done a Google search for the Spanked Rat you mention & came up with some most strange images.
No hills were hurt in the making of any of their videos I'm reliably informed. 😉
Hmm, it shows how much we've become spoiled by suspension and stuff over the years. I remember my first mtbs were proper 'hardcore', and could go up and down and over anything. I cycled happily all around forests in Norway, on a fully rigid bike with cantis, then Vs. Then, I got a set of Rock Shox Indy SL forks, and I've seen a gradual decline in my overall enjoyment ever since…
Funny, how such bikes were perfect for the sort of riding we did back then, yet now we 'need' all the bells and whistles bike technology has brought us. Yes, we can ride gnarlier stuff, survive bigger drops, descend faster, stop quicker etc, but are we any happier?
When I built up a rigid singlespeed I found that I could (occasionally) cope without suspension or gears but it didn't last very long until I found some cheap hydraulic disc brakes for it.
No, not a trick question. I can now ride bigger stuff faster than I used to, but I've not noticed a corresponding increase in pleasure from riding. I'm not saying the tech is unwelcome, but we expect to be able to tackle more difficult stuff now, whereas previously, things seemed more of a challenge, and it was somehow more satisfying to overcome the challenges. Does that make sense?
Some of my happiest memories of mountain biking are more than ten years old. Some of my earliest, over 20 years ago, were of my sheer joy of being able to simply ride off-road, let alone tackle anything 'gnarly'. The fact that this bike, with it's huge fat tyres and straight handlebars, could go where no other bike could, that was such a buzz.
The fact that there were far less people doing it then, made me feel more 'exclusive', more of an 'adventurer'.
Now, we have trail centres. Uplift days. Tailor-made MTB holidays. Can't buy that same buzz though…
Nothing like a rigid classic kona for swooping through the trees on some buff singletrack Pete – thats why so many of us are still riding them over here in Bristol
And here's me thinking you were all just poor… 😉
He'll buy a Jones next … *runs away*
Hell will freeze over first. For that much money I could have something that looked nice, see?
No, not a trick question. I can now ride bigger stuff faster than I used to, but I've not noticed a corresponding increase in pleasure from riding.
That's about spot on actually. I can go faster in more comfort on the Inbred with 140mm Vanillas on it, but it's no more fun.
Maybe, on a rigid bike, it's easier to reach the limits of what it can do, and you can FEEL it so much more that it seems more fun?? I dinno. Just guessing. 🙂
Never quite got as far as sticking my old rigid forks back on BUT for winter riding my old '94 frame is just fab. Although this year i want to put an internal hub on it.
I like the variety – when the trails get hard it's great to get the full susser out.
No, not a trick question. I can now ride bigger stuff faster than I used to, but I've not noticed a corresponding increase in pleasure from riding. I'm not saying the tech is unwelcome, but we expect to be able to tackle more difficult stuff now, whereas previously, things seemed more of a challenge, and it was somehow more satisfying to overcome the challenges. Does that make sense?
I have to agree with this, it's surprising how much more you can tackle on a big full sus, but then that makes most riding fairly dull.
When I first started mtbing, the real thrill was being able to ride where bikes previously couldn't. To get off the beaten track. Away from traffic, people, etc. That was new, it was exciting. It was about pushing boundaries, and finding new ones. A whole world to be explored in a brand new way.
I don't have that same thrill now. It's still fun, but it's like being with the same partner for ages; nothing can ever recapture those first exciting encounters. You know them inside out now. No more 'secrets'.