An alternative view might be that they make really tame terrain quite exciting.

My only bike at the moment is a rigid SS, built around a 66 degree HTA, wheelbase in excess of 1200mm and reach around 470mm for my 5’9″ height. I am in no way anything close to a rad endurbro but that bike can still feel like a twitchy XC bike around twisty singletrack, whilst also be damned fun just about anywhere. Maybe this has spoilt me in the “making the trails come alive” stakes without the level of terror I felt on that gravel bike

Glad it’s not just me

The BB tensioners don’t take up much slack IME so you have to be quite close to the right tension to use one.

An eccentric BB would be a better bet IMO but more faff. There are versions for the various standards such as PF and BSA but will eat some budget

I have had to return two of these lights over the past few years for similar issues. They don’t seem to like water but are quite a nice, practical light and Trek keep replacing them so I am kind of living with it.

If you look at the reviews it seems quite common to only get a year or so out of them unfortunately.

The lights are sealed so Trek will not repair. The only thing they suggested was holding the on/ off button for 14 seconds to try and reset it.

I have found Trek customer services to be very helpful and you may find they replace the light even if out of warranty (but no obligations obviously!)

The Kinesis is a variation on the eXotic and steerer is very short.

I have a 483mm AC height fork at the moment and I’m already at the limit of getting the bars low enough. I can’t afford to raise then ~25mm with a ~30mm taller AC height fork I don’t think. Handling and geo-wise I’m not worried- it is more a fit issue on my frame

The Trek is a decent option but very, very tall.

Travers Prong or eXotic off eBay are looking like the best bets at the moment I think

eXotic is looking more likely as I’d prefer it’s 42mm offset vs the Travers huge 55mm offset (assuming it isn’t a typo!)

ENVE would be lovely but no stock anywhere and obviously a fair chunk more

Here is a good thread of “current” SS frames which may give some inspiration.
https://www.mtbr.com/threads/singlespeed-bikes-and-frames-fy22.1198687/

The tough part is your small budget but any frame can run SS with a tensioner or EBB. P_ersonally I would go for sliding or swinging dropouts every time but that will be tricky in budget.

Thanks both. It turns out the tyre clearance probably is too tight so back to the drawing board.

Thanks for the offer of the Bird fork but too long and too heavy for what I am after.

The search goes on :)

Actofive as another option?

SIGNATURE CRANKSET MTB

Rotor?

Hollowgrams?

Leonardi Capo?

Boone for something really unusual?
Boone Twist! V2.0 Machined Aluminum Bike Cranks

For me it is always hard to see past SRAM carbon cranks. Can be had pretty cheaply depending on the axle type required, lighter than almost anything and hassle free.

Do your theoretical Watts include MTB tyres at MTB pressures? I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that accounts for the large difference, even on a road.

The zones thing can be debated but I’m sure you ride more than the rest of us to know what kind of hill and gearing keeps you in a “all day” effort level.

The problem with trying to adjust your speed to stay in the all day effort “zone” is the situation may dictate that you physically can’t without coming to a stop. The tyres/ ground conditions/ chosen hill/ wind/ etc may mean that it just isn’t possible to stay in Z2 (for arguments sake). The interesting thing about riding MTB with a power meter is you quickly realise why it feels so damn hard most of the time- it is hard! :)

I missed out time as well. To save you getting the calculator out the speed range is ~8km/h at ~240W to ~12km/h at ~330-350W.

Like I said, add in a loose surface, some mud and more normal MTB tyres and those power number quickly jump up.

I think your tyres could be changed to save you a heck of a lot of effort. Maxxis never seem to test fast in the various lab tests (debatable how well that translates but at least all are tested the same as some kind of baseline) and the 2.6 size is going to be sapping energy. Conti Race Kings pumped up as hard as you can get away with and still have the climbing grip you need will be a whole load of free Watts.

You are looking at this backwards. Your target power will be whatever Z2 is for you. Increasing that dramatically will take many months or longer. Gearing and hill should be chosen to allow you to stay in Z2. Time will be what it will be and I guess that is the part you want to estimate to see if an attempt is on.

I ride with a power meter and as others have said MTB tyres are pretty inefficient and terrain makes a massive difference.

As a ballpark I have a 1.1km, constant 10% gradient road (ie not taking in to account rough, loose or sapping muddy surfaces) near me. It is the perfect constant hill for equipment/ fitness testing.

With fastish MTB tyres like Bontrager XR1’s/ Ray + Ralph/ Thunderburts/ etc, set up with normal MTB pressures, I need to put out around 240W just to keep moving up the road. I am mostly around 70kg with a ~9kg bike. Dawdling at that power takes 8:30 for the 1.1km road hill. Power up to 250-260W and it takes around 7:50. 290W gets me to about 7:00. 350W takes the time down under 5:30. Those numbers are a bit all over the place but I’ve ridden this hill more than 150 times so have a fair amount of data on a 10% gradient road of decent length.

If you add in a rougher surface then another 10% pretty constant gradient 5 minute hill I have nearly required 270-280W just to keep moving. That is a massive chunk extra. I am easily over 300W to feel like making any progress and it takes too much out of me to do anywhere close to an Everest amount!

More “all around” tyres like Bontrager XR4’s add about 20W to the power needed to hit those same times. That is really hard to overcome in fitness gains so don’t underestimate going for the fastest tyres possible. Conti Race Kings maybe?

I am also lighter with a lighter bike so add some more effort on top.

It will probably be a little bit of a hard ride :) Very few people have done an off road Everest, especially climbing anything other than smooth fireroad

Sorry to tag on to this but does the old Castle Bikes crew from the Caerphilly area still do any group rides? When I lived that way I blimmin’ loved those rides!

It was a very back wheel first landing, overshooting a massive jump, at a crazy speed, which also blew the tyre front off. There was no way that was being ridden out intact wheel or not

I ordered a few Northwave XC shoes and found them quite similar to Lake Standard width- too narrow at the toes for me and huge heels

Like I said, Bont are the closest to foot shaped shoes if you can find some that work for you

Good point on where the width is.

I had my feet measured by a fancy 3D laser scanner and have 258mm long feet by 110mm width (widest forefoot point). Coupled with narrow heels and ankles.

Lake (supposedly the go to for wide feet) can’t provide XC race shoes even in extra wide which will fit me and the only ones that are on the limit for width if I size up are giant in the heel and slip off (competition last- wide)

Impressive that Lake provide so much information at least
https://www.lakecycling.com/pages/sizing-chart

There are a lot of videos in the series and they only get better IMO.

One of the many legacies of Rab should definitely his proposition to the UCI for time bonuses for backflips in XC races- now there is a challenge that will keep you on your toes! :D

“Old enough to know better” is a really good watch if you want some related entertainment. The recent news is incredibly sad and shocking.

I think you know it, but it sounds like you need to find some inner peace with a few things which will allow you to enjoy the things you love and things you are good at. I mean that in the very best way possible and don’t intend to cause offence. Some of the simple answers like “take pleasure in simple things” and “enjoy the process” have some truth in them but these don’t happen by themselves if you don’t have the right foundations in place in my experience. All the best and Happy Trails :)

I struggle with this so can only comment on the “male” models/ sizing

Shimano XC9 is what I went for (not 902 as they are narrower)

Shimano wide are not for sale in the UK

Lake standard are not wide at all IMO. They are what I would call a “high volume” shoe. Massive at the heel and ankle area but not wide by the toes. Lake wide are similar just wider at the toes. I have smaller heels and mid foot so these really don’t work for me.

Bont are a good one to try out but the ones I have have too much of a pronounced arch area for me to be comfortable. People with mid to high arches will be much happier

IMO, it is fine for a couple of tyre fittings but after that rips/ moves/ wrinkles up. Really fragile as it is so thin (if that can be a thing for tape!)

Oh, and if you fancy carbon rims and can compromise some weight then the Bontrager Kovee Elite are currently £500 a pair at Sigma Sports with the code “Sale10”.

29mm internal width rims, lovely ride feel, free crash replacement rims in the first two years (discounted after two years) and almost instant pickup freehubs

The disadvantage on these is weight but I reckon it is worth it and love mine even on a rigid SS.

The one rim I did weight on a rebuild was 395g which is really quite light for a decently wide carbon rim so the weight is mainly in the hubs and spokes which are relatively easy to upgrade if you really wanted in future.

1500g wheels for under £400 buying new isn’t going to happen without serious compromises.

Hunt or Silt are the best bet, but the compromise is narrowish (but ok) internal width rims, narrow gauge spokes, paper thin rim tape (Hunt), alu nips and living with a few dings now and then.

The good news is both offer crash replacement policies which I have made use of with Hunt when a stick ripped spokes through the rim and for a rim dent.

If you want to spec your own wheels then maybe use a site like R2 bike to see real world weights and decent prices. The breakdown of my Hunt XC Wide wheelset may help understand how the various parts contribute to the final weight

Pair Boost Hunt XC Wide with valves and Stans rim tape: 1672g
Rims: 440g and 452g
Front hub: 156g
Rear hub (HG freehub): 283g
Spokes and nipples: 316g
Rim tape (Stans): 17g
Valves (Hunt pair): 8g

What budget and what would you class light weight?

Hunt XC Wide are hard to beat on a budget for XC riding

Assuming the tyre is fit for purpose the things that sell to the masses are lighter weight and wider/ bigger volume. Both are at odds with each other so why not lie a bit on each in the favourable direction? Tyres sold, job done.

Every company does it so it has become the norm*

* Except Bontrager MTB tyres IME

You can get a really good quality Chinese carbon frame for less money and less weight with similar geometry to the Chisel. You could probably also get custom paint on top and still save money. I loved mine and if they did one more matching the geo of my steel SS (longer reach/ slacker HTA) I would jump at buying one again

@kryton57 I believe the consensus on fork offset is to choose the shorter option (eg 44mm) unless you know the frame was designed around longer.

Just to echo what others have said, I find it pretty normal to see a lot of initial “stretch” (or whatever may be happening for a chain checker to indicate stretch), and then it stabilises. I usually find I have to do a few retensions on a new chain then not touch it for ages.

Also bear in mind if you are putting a new chain on used chain rings and sprockets, there will be some initial bedding in and I imagine the chain is forced to stretch to adapt to the worn bits (at least that makes sense in my head!)

I may be mistaken but I think the Gen3 was originally sold as QR and SS compatible in addition to Boost-Thru and non Boost Thru but I can’t see that on their site any more. Such a shame as I too would have snapped up a Sherpa if they actually made sliding SS droupouts

I was looking at a Sherpa more than two years ago and asked them about the SS dropouts and go the same non-committal answer about maybe they could start making some again. Clearly nothing has changed in all that time so I wouldn’t hold your breath

Got to love the RM Canada paint job too!

Simple, but a satisfyingly unusual colour

^ That was actually another one on my list. I wasn’t brave enough in the end :)

Chromag and Prova were two brands I spent a lot of time cruising pictures of

That’s cool @beaker

Here are some more I liked before going for my fade

I actually prefer your end result @13thfloormonk Yours is more classy and understated whereas the Vaaru is a bit too gaudy for me

@beaker do you have a full bike pic? Looks interesting!

I should add I am in no was a roadie hence the off road bias :)

If you are still stuck for a Garmin mount on Monday just let me know and I’ll pop one around to you. The rubber o-ring stem fitting one, right?

You can more or less explore any of the quieter roads as it is a nice spot. I’m not a fan of any of the busier roads, even the bigger small roads, as the quarry trucks thunder around the place.

If your “road riding” can actually be a bit more “gravel” then I can help out with some nice off road loops from Mells.

Road-wise you can get in to Bath really easily via the bike route through Radstock and then you are in to GCN country. Plenty of lovely hills and views around Bath.

The bike route the other direction from Mells, heading through Frome will give you a pretty flat route through Longleat and on towards Stourhead.

Wells is a pretty place and continuing on that direction gives you the classic Mendips bits.

Thanks @brii-72

It is actually really hard to choose a nice paint job if you are given the freedom to choose!

I wanted something kind of classic and timeless in keeping with the simplicity of the bike but not have it look to run of the mill. Really happy with the end result 👍

@appltn that looks like just the ticket. Please please Google tell me this is a real thing :) Off for a good search around that NXS stuff….

Yep, that is what I am coming around to thinking. If the stem is too small to hide a Blip box then any Di2 bar/ stem combo to get wires in to the steerer tube seems like the best bet. I would imagine it still needs to be taken apart to fit in a steerer tube which will be an expensive experiment!

Edit: At 40 x 35mm I struggle to see any way to get it in the steerer tube.