Bloody Movers get everywhere. Not even STW is a safe place these days…

It’s fine – the chain length never needs to vary as the amount of tension remains constant. When the longest axis of the ellipsoidal ring is at the front it is smaller on its shortest axis at the front the longer axis is vertical which maintains the tension, – sounds all wrong but it works beautifully.

I get it now; thanks. I was thinking it was offset, like a cam.

Sounds interesting. That said, i’ve had no problems with circular chainrings thus far…

Tazzie’s wobbly rings are similar to the old Biopace rings but they work

How do they affect chain tension?

Looks like an ace ride out! I’ve been enjoying Singlespeed for some time now; looks like the next step is Rigid!

Does it only happen when you’re putting big torque through the cranks, or when you’re twiddling a small gear? If the former, it could point to the rear dropouts area.

As above; take it to pieces, clean it, re-grease it and put it back together again. It’s pretty much guaranteed to stop creaking.

Nice.

What’re these Tazzie wibbly rings of which you speak? Got a link to some more info?

You’ll be laughing if you encounter any rocks…

I’d have to read up to be sure; i seem to remember she’ll be reincarnated as a blue-jay, and will be able to sit and listen to her village elders reciting passages from the Koran.

Might be wrong, though.

If it’s got a wheel at both ends, then it’s perfect for Singlespeed!

On a more serious note, have you seen these and these?

33×16

32:16 not good enough for you, eh?

It’s also quite useful for fixing squeaky brakes…

Genuine question; what’s the difference betwixt GT85 and WD40? Just brand names?

Just a shame it’s got 19-too-many gears, really!

Jokes aside, i’d love a Ti456, but i could never justify the price against my faithful old steel ‘un.

I too enjoy building a bike. You get to choose which parts you use, and get a real sense of achievement.

However, you’ll always pay more by building it yourself.

With regard to buying quality; scrimp on the gears 😉

I bought a Croix de Fer in January

So why are you after a new’un? I gather you no longer own the CroixDF?

Anything is possible. However, along with the cost of the new bars you’ll need new brake levers, cables and bar tape.

I’d vote for the On-One!

Kazafaza: lovely bike there. Please can you elaborate on how you sorted the hub gear? Does it not need some kind of braze-on somewhere along the chainstay?

When you stop to think about it, it takes the same amount of work to shift the weight of yourself and bike up a hill in a given time, regardless of whether you use multiple gears or a single ratio.

An interesting thought. I’m sure an Engineer / Mathematician / Physicist / STW Keyboard Warrior could shed more light on the situation.

On a more serious note, singlespeeding is no more difficult than any other kind of riding. It does, however, necessitate a change in mindset.

By riding singlespeed, you are conceding that you’ll never be the fastest anywhere, so you may as well just enjoy the ride. If you have to push, it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re enjoying yourself.

I would have expected 32:16 to get you up towards 30mph – if you can make your legs spin like Fred Flintstone

On 40″ wheels, perhaps… Try this calculator[/url]. 120rpm on 26″ wheels with a 32:16 ratio gives you 18.6mph.

To the OP – Singlespeeding is the single most difficult thing the human body can accomplish; if you have the honor of seeing a SSer out on the trail, you can die a happy man. Ever wondered why there’s no SS rider in the Tour De France? They’re not good enough! Remember, anyone can be fit, but you’ve gotta be hard to be hard.

(it’s actually really easy, just don’t tell anyone – lets keep up the air of mystique)

Erm, yeah…

Embrace the change, old man! Get some of those new-fangled inner tubes!

Even given the points above about the CTW scheme, I’d still be inclined to buy second hand. 20% off RRP isn’t much really. Come September, all the shops will be flooded with 2013 models at 30+% off anyway.

Oh, and don’t worry too much about what size wheels etc you have. As you may have gathered, there is a bit of a divide in the mountain biking community about the value of different wheel sizes.

Just get out and ride. On a hardtail. With 26″ wheels. And one gear. Made of steel. And sold in Yorkshire.

Hope that helps!

As above, the steel one has room for a 650b tyre, if that’s your bag. So 2.5″ should fit with room to spare.

I see no reason why the Ti one should be any different, although i have no experience with it myself.

They make a 14″ Inbred. That’s about as small as it’s going to get, unless you plump for 24″ wheels.

I always take the front wheel out as a matter of course; it might go in complete, but i’ve never tried.

Bomb-proof hardtail frames

It’s been tried before, but didn’t work out too well:

Google “Dinglespeed”, as described by takisawa2.

I’ve got a VRS hatch. The boot is pretty much the same shape as the estate; the only bit you loose is the height at the back corner. As a result, it’ll swallow bikes no trouble.

I’ve not tried it, but i suspect you could get three bikes in the back and still leave one back seat in place.

It’s a nice car, but if you look hard enough you’ll start to see evidence that Skoda is the “budget” brand in the VAG lineup.

Where can i watch the vid? I can’t seem to operate the XBOX website…

Drop the toptube on the L + XL frames a bit where it meets the seat tube

The same as an Inbred, you mean? 😐

Where in the country are you?

cfinnimore – mincer.

😉

I appreciate your argument, and concede that the design isn’t perfect. Quirky, is probably a good description. As for the chainsuck, why not use a smaller chainring?

On-one uses its customers as testers and doesn’t even fix issues straight away when they know about them.

Companies like Specialized have plenty of resources to pour into research and development to iron out the creases. Unfortunately, a small company doesn’t have the same capability.

Wanna know why all the headtubes are so short? Brant makes some sort of design reason nowadays but the original reason was that he forgot to change the headtube lengths when he made the different frame sizes and never bothered changing it.

Wanna know how penicillin was invented? 😉

Your results will obviously vary, but i love them.

What news?

***On One Fanboi Warning***

I’ve had my 456 for four years, and it’s been faultless. Currently set up as a 100mm singlespeed. It’s not light or flashy, but does everything it sets out to do.

I fail to acknowledge the “well known chainsuck issue”. Chainsuck is caused by poor maintenance, not poor frame design.

I love my 456, and On-One in general. Owned for 4-years, and in that time it’s gone from 140mm with gears to 100mm singlespeed.

I’m a smidgen under 6′, and i ride an 18″. Honestly, it’s bordering on too small for me (loads of seat-tube showing) and realistically i could do with a 20″. Be aware, they are quite long frames anyway.

Best trail bike on the market, for the price.

As above; the freehub is probably stuck. Unlikely to be broken, in my opinion – it would most likely fail when in use.

I’d give your hub a strip and regrease.

I’m 6ft2 and it was an xl.

Fair enough! That’s unfortunate – keep looking, you’ll find one!

scott_mcavennie2 – your bike looks gorgeous!

I can’t imagine they’d sell you a bike without rotors…

Too big how? They are quite a long bike anyway (a good few inches longer than my 456).

What size frame was it? For reference, i’m a smidgen under 6ft, and my size M Pitch is slightly on the small side…

Is “super d hardtail” the new “hardcore hardtail” ?

It’s a bit like xxxc-lite.

I thought it was less rad than freeride-lite but more gnar than enduro…?

This started off as my first “proper” bike. Over time, i bought new forks / wheels / brakes / etc… After i replaced the frame, i then had enough in the Parts Bin to build it back up again!

It served as a hack / work bike for a couple of years, before being given some slick tyres and gifted to another family member.

The Inbred was meant to be a cheap build based on the Boardman, but somehow there seems to be no second hand parts on it at all ! ( the wheels in the picture are not what it normal wears)but I reckon It was under £500 all in

That Inbred is nice! It’s not often you see them with the On-One steel forks… Unfortunately, they never made them in a colour to suit my blue 456, else i’d have had some. The carbon ones are nice, but £150 is more than i am prepared to spend; especially as there’s nothing wrong with my current forks…

Scaled – nice 456! Hope you enojy it!