Show me your Steel, Single speed, Rigid, 29ers. What you got?

Whilst i wait to start the build of my Salsa Elmariachi.
Can hardly wait. 🙂

I’ve an El Mariachi SS

Upgrades:
Ritchey WCS foam grips
EA50 flat bars
Thompson stem an post
Spesh Phenom saddle
XTR M970 cranks
WTB Bronsons
Hope Mini X2 brakes with aires rotors
KMC chain (gold obviously)
Groove armada sprocket
Hope gold chainring and KCNC bolts
Some other gold bits n bobs.
PDW bird cage

It looked quite nice a month ago! now it’s caked in an inch of mud, there’s a dent in the top tube, the chainstays have a big patch of heel rub, and the anodising’s come off the bottle cage.

It’s getting “well used”.

Salsa With Reba’s

Salsa with Rigids

Pace with rigids

Another Pace with fat front

STW Standard Rigid Swift

Good to hear! Mines will have thomson, hope/stans with Niner carbon forks and some other bits and pieces i can find.
Just seen the pics now, hows the pace shep? Which is your favourite?

Niner carbon forks

You’ll appreciate them, the salsa’s are seriosuly stiff (coming from a Swift).

Not the first time I’ve put this pic up, but….
Been on enough rides on it now to realise what a bloody wonderful bike it is. Was a bit dubious about no suspension forks, hence the reason I went for this build over a Fortiude, but I can honestly say I don’t miss them for the areas I’ve ridden so far.

Just seen the pics now, hows the pace shep? Which is your favourite?

The Pace’s are no more 🙁

The salsa is by far the best 29er I’ve owned. love it to bits. The top pic is its current set-up.

That swift looks familiar Shep 😀

Nowadays

Another Salsa, this time with carbon Niner forks, Hope Hoops with Crests, Hope X2 brakes, SLX cranks. It’s a great bike, rides really well.

El M, with Cromoto’s..

It’s dead good..

El mars are getting as common as jones’s now.

Mine might end up in the classifieds 🙁

Very nice duckman, Still yours?

My Singular Swift. Tried out lots of new things all at once, steel frame, 29 inch wheels, singlespeed and rigid. Love every aspect of it.

The salsa is by far the best 29er I’ve owned.

That is very good to hear. As ive never seen a jones thats pretty good to!

Notmyrealname i was sent that very same picture by a bike shop… That’s basically what i want mine to look like.

Some nice swifts to.

El mars are getting as common as jones’s now.

Mine might end up in the classifieds

Oh yah, someone of your stature should be riding a ti fat 650b unicycle at the very least..
You’ve let yourself down, your family down, and worst of all you’ve let us down.. 😥
I’ll give you twenty quid for it to save your shame…

Trusty ol’ inbred, had a few tweaks and changes since that pic, but you get the general idea….

Alas no shep, now with Bullheart’s brother in law, whispers…..I like the Cotic more….

[/url][/img]

[/url]
Untitled[/url] by redmancunian69[/url], on Flickr

Snap

Karate Monkey, just ace

Notmyrealname i was sent that very same picture by a bike shop… That’s basically what i want mine to look like.

I can’t believe they nicked my photo 8)

The El Mar is a great bike, rides really well. The Niner forks are better than the Cro-Moto’s I originally had fitted.
It’s getting more use at the moment than my fancy full-sus geared bike, probably due to the conditions as much as anything.
I’ve just been out today to look at a Niner Air9 carbon frame and it’s probably the only frame I’d get rid of the El Mar for. You’ll not be disappointed with it.

[/url]

“You’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands”

Never said that sort of thing about a bike before but I think it’ll outlast me. One of it’s many guises. Currently has ti forks, ti loops and bikepacking kit on, with gears –

[/url]

My High Latitude, just gone from a Gary Fisher Rig to this and it’s superb, cracking frame…;)

Will be upgrading the wheels to Superstar ones when I get the spare cash!!!

Os bikes Blackbuck 2,only had it about 5 months but loving it

Looking really forward to getting my Surly Ogre built up for dual duties of MTB and family camping touring. Waiting for frame delivery and numerous packages!

Will be upgrading the wheels to Superstar ones when I get the spare cash!!!

Make sure you keep a few quid back to get them trued up after the first ride. (from experience)

Yeah the LBS will do em for me, he’s cheap as well!! 😉

Hey Clink, were you riding that at SSUK? Saw an identical Inbred/Swift fork combo and meant to say hello.

FWIW the two sets of Superstar wheels I’ve had were both better built than my near identical Hope Hoops

Hey Clink, were you riding that at SSUK? Saw an identical Inbred/Swift fork combo and meant to say hello.

Yep, that was me 😀

I *very* nearly went for an ElMar – but a Swift won out in the end.
This has been posted before, but here’s the Swift’s cousin Gryphon up on the ‘moor.

Gryphon x 2 (with gears here).

[/url]
phone 035[/url] by jamesanderson2010[/url], on Flickr

My race bike.
Kona Unit. Paul Components, Tune, Middleburn, Niner, Formula, MtZoom

oosh

If I must

FWIW the two sets of Superstar wheels I’ve had were both better built than my near identical Hope Hoops

Cheers, yeah it was a choice between Hopes and Superstar, Superstar do I SS specific hub which takes normal cogs and as I’ve had Hopes in the past I thought I’d give Superstar a go!! 😉

Armstrong, 1930s, rod brakes, all steel, terrifying on technical stuff:

[/url]

Sunbeam RR, 1932, all steel, start of the modern era IMO:

[/url]

Surly Pugsley, 2010, but it cheats – it’s got alloy bits like rims, cranks, handlebars etc. Brilliant bike:

[/url]

Avanti KISS 29er (in Oz), almost as good as a Singular:

[/url]

Steel, single speed, rigid. I made it better with some 1×9 love. Next will be a high volume front tyre and some disc brakes.

After some advice please guys?

I’m planning a steel 29er build, inbred frame, but I can’t decide whether to go slot or vertical dropout.

The slot dropout lets you ride ss, hub or dérailleur rear. The vertical standard gears only, but has ISCG 05 mounts on BB.

I was thinking single front ring, 7 or 8 speed rear mech. Quite fancy the slot dropout version as it’s available in the sand colour, and gives options for the future, but how important is a chain device going to be , and will a seat tube type be good enough if I go for the slot frame, or are you better off with ISCG 05 given my current plan?

Cheers,

Sam

Why a 7/8 speed mech? Isn’t it quite hard to get decent quality gear in 7/8 speed these days? You should be able to pick up good second hand 9 speed fairly cheap.

If On-One are doing a slot dropout with a hanger then I’d go for that, given your plans. You can always get a BB-mounted chain guide if you need one. They work fine IME.

I’ll happily go 9 speed, was being thick!

There is a slot frame with mech hanger available.

Why a 7/8 speed mech? Isn’t it quite hard to get decent quality gear in 7/8 speed these days? You should be able to pick up good second hand 9 speed fairly cheap.

If On-One are doing a slot dropout with a hanger then I’d go for that, given your plans. You can always get a BB-mounted chain guide if you need one. They work fine IME.

+1