Rocklobster Custom Single Speed

At some point I came to the conclusion I wanted a custom made bike. Living in Santa Cruz I had several choices and decided on Paul Sadoff and Rocklobster. Paul has been wielding bikes for over 20 years and may have been the first to wield a singlespeed specific frame. The time was early 2002 and Eccentric Bottom Brackets (EBB) were the rave; it’s still probably the most elegant solution to tensioning the chain on a single speed. When Paul asked what I wanted, besides the EBB, I liken to my Bontrager. Interestingly enough when Bontrager closed up shop in Santa Cruz, Paul bought a good deal of Bontrager Cycles True Temper steel tubing and sub-assemblies, and used the tubing to build frames that were referred to as Nontragers. Well, Paul had long ago ran out of the old Bontrager tubing, but still had a quantity of Tange tubes that was certainly equal in quality. I explained to Paul that I had bought a Marzocchi Atom 100 for the bike, so I wanted something like a Bontrager, only a larger sized, designed for the 4 inch fork I bought, a more relaxed head tube, and disc tabs in the event I decided to use disc brakes. Paul also included Bontrager brake bosses, which use a bolt and bushing that screw in from the top all the way into the frame, rather than a standard boss stud and retaining screw. I was also a big fan of straight handlebars and bar ends at the time. For about $50 he also threw in a steel stem. The photo above is a comparison of my Rocklobster bike and a Bontrager Racelight; the seatposts angles and forks seem identical.

There is nothing more ridiculous than having a brand new bike. The paint is perfect, without a scratch, and you for some reason try and keep it that way. Finally you get a couple of scratches and finally being as imperfect as you, it becomes your friend. In my case I dug a pedal into the side of a hill and the crank arm dented the chain stay; damn. I have gone through so many wheelsets I had to look back at old pictures to remember the what came first. From what I can tell, the first wheelset I bought was a Surly/ Mavic; thinking I would never used disc brakes. I then bought a set of Deore hydraulic brakes and a $75 Shimano Deore/ Alex disc wheelset (the photo below is my first ride with the disc brakes) . Thinking I needed to upgrade to a singlespeed wheelset, I disassembled the front Surly and laced the rim to an Real disc hub and tried using a screw on disc adapter on the rear Surly hub. I suspect the adapter did not hold the disc perfectly straight, as it would squeal when it got hot. To solve this problem I disassembled the rear Surly wheel and laced the rim to a Novatec singlespeed hub. This worked very well about a year until the cartridge bearings (4 of them) wore out. I then weighed the Novatec rear wheel and found it was actually heavier than the Deore/Alex rear wheel and also came to the conclusion I would no longer deal with Singlespeed specific rear hubs anymore, unless I came up with a purpose for the Surly hub, which I did when I later built up my Bontrager reconstruction project 1993 Bontrager Single Speed. It just seemed that the singlespeed hubs where more trouble than they are worth and opened up the ability to buy a better wheelset, like I did with my SASS build, SASS Meets 650b . While technically a singlespeed wheel has less dish and is therefore laterally stronger, I don’t see wheels on geared biked failing, so in the real world it’s simply not an issue.

I have never second guessed my choice of the Marzocchi Atom 100 and still consider it to be one of the best riding shocks ever made, The Atom 100 is the last race shock Marzocchi made with dual steel springs; the newer forks have only one steel spring or no steel springs at all. For me there is simply no substitute for steel springs, and while the Atom 100 is certainly heavier than the single steel spring or air spring, it gives a ride that only a steel spring can give. Interestingly enough, much of the valving and R&D of todays forks is to simulate the feel of steel springs.

One thing I have not discussed is my use of suspension seatposts. This started with my privateer, and worked well taking the edge off the hardtails I was riding. The post I used was a USE, which is one of the lighter of the suspension posts. The USE posts use elastomers and a spring and have about 10 mm of suspension. When Bontrager stopped making their classic squared off seat, I switched to older style Selle Italia, which of course they have also stopped making also. Last year however, after using my suspension seatpost for the stoker seat on my tandem, I found a good deal on a Thompson seatpost and found I have not missed the suspension post in the least.

The last issue with my Rocklobster is the handlebar. The bar I originally spec’d on the bike was a Bontrager Racelite 680 straight bar with bar ends. There is still no better setup for climbing. But like everyone who rides long enough, I started experimenting with different bars. Originally I switched to a Misfit Psycles FuBar. The folks at Misfit Psycles read a posting I had on MTBR.com and offered a handlebar if I would use it and write an opinion on it. Misfit Psycles FuBar Well it turned out to be a pretty good bar, but I never did like the sweep of the bar, which necessitated a 150mm stem. The long stem made my hand position fairly comfortable, but it destabilized the front end and climbing was more difficult; still I rode with the bar for about a year. My current bar is the Titec H-Bar, which is a licensed copy of the Jones H-bar. This bar allowed me to return to my 120mm Rocklobster stem and brought my hand position farther forward, making climbing much easier. It’s no Bonty 680, but I like it much more than the FuBar. The next handlebar I may go with is the Groovy Luv Handles. They are similar to the Jones straight tube ti H-bar, but with less sweep. Apparently they only come in steel or ti; the steel bar has been desbribed as punishing and the ti is $250.

This bike has been my go to and comeback to bike for 8 years. It’s comfortable and of course made just for me. At some point after you have been riding you really should get a custom built bike. I highly recommend Paul and Rocklobster; he’s been making frames longer than most and has a reputation for making a very high quality product for very reasonable prices. Yes, he rocks! And so does my bike.

My Road to Singlespeed

My single speed craziness started with a Bontrager Privateer and a Jamis Dakar. I bought the Privateer in 1998 and was satisfied with the Trek version of Keith’s classic bicycle, which I still own today; see the photo on the left. If I had to do it again I would probably would have gone with a larger frame over the medium I bought, as Bontragers run small. Although I bought the “S” Sport level, I upgraded the hubs, shifters and cranks to XT, resulting in a XT gruppo with Avid brakes. The original shock was a Rock Shox T2; an elastomer version of a Judy XC, that is upgradeable with cartridge kit to the equivalent of the Judy. After attempting such an upgrade, I blew out the cartridges at a rate of 1 a month, so I replaced it with a Marzocchi Super Fly. The T2 shock also had a special Bontrager designed crown with steeper geometry. The Marzocchi upgrade stabilized the ride not only because it’s a stronger shock, the more relaxed geometry with a standard crown really calmed down the steering. This was made possible as the 1998 (and 1999) were the only Bontrager frames made with a 1 1/8” head tube. The picture here is the current condition of my Privateer. With the exception of the King headset, shorter stem (As I said before Bontrager’s run small, so with the smaller stem it can be setup closer to a small frame size; I did this for my wife), seatpost, pedals (I still have the originals) and front rim (I taco’ed the original), the bike is the same build I bought in 1998.

Well after happily riding my Privateer for 3 years, I decided to go with a dual suspension bike and bought a 1996 Jamis Dakar frame from Supergo.com (later bought by Performance) and built it up. The pictured bike has the same frame with a slightly different (but surprisingly similar) build; imagine this bike with a red Marzocchi Atom 80 fork. Well this left my Bontrager just hanging in the garage, so I figured I’d check out this single speed thing.


My first foray was to buy a Surly Singleater, TruVativ Stylo single speed crank and a spacer kit. I started with a 32:16 gear ratio with the Singleator in the push down mode. I then bought a Surly SS rear wheel from Sheldon Brown and ran it with a 16T and 18T freewheels. For some reason this caused the chain to skip at the rear (16T) freewheel. The reason is as follows,

The usual suspect of a skipping chain is a spring loaded tensioner. Most spring tensioners work by pushing the chain down and away from the rear cog. This results in very poor chain wrap. When peddling the majority of the torque from the chain is on the front chainring is on the teeth at 12:00 –0300 and on the rear cog it is the teeth from 6:00- 9:00. What this means is the very area of the rear cog where, chain wrap is necessary, a push down spring tensioner pulls the chain off the cog. This transfers the torque to the tensioner pulley wheel, which in turn pulls the tensioner arm upward. The chain then rides up in the cog teeth in the 9:00-12:00 position. Since it takes a great deal of torque to turn the rear wheel and there is practically no chain warp in the area, the tensioner will fail and the chain will jump over the teeth at the 9:00-12:00 position on the cog, causing it to “skip”. The answer is to first make sure your chain is as short as possible (a half link is a good idea but it will create a weaker link). Next use a spring tensioner with a push up mode or even better a tensioner without a spring so the arm can be locked up; this way tensioner cannot be defeated by overcoming the spring tension. A quick fix is to zip-tie the tensioner arm to the chain stay. This will create a tensioner in a push up mode that does not rely on spring tension. This is a photo I set up to show how such a setup would look.

When this first happened I was in the middle of a ride. I switched to the 18T freewheel (with a 32T chainring) which turned out to be the so-called “magic gear”, or a setup where the chain does not need a tensioner with vertical dropouts. I then figured out that with a half link, the same was true with a 16T freewheel. At some point later I sold the Surly wheel and bought a Spot wheelset that I really didn’t like and I ended up selling it, and returning to a spaced rear wheel. I have only one picture (of poor quality) of this Bontrager as a single speed I took on a Soquel Demonstration Forest ride. This is the bike I rode until I has custom bike made for me by Rocklobster in 2002.

Next: The Custom Bike

Bianchi SASS Fixie

I got a new bike. I certainly didn’t expect to get a new bike but my friend Spike gave me a frameset. But not just any old frameset, but a shiny chrome Bianchi SASS; SASS is Bianchinese for Shiny Ass Single Speed. Now if the truth be known, I really didn’t need another bike, but I was on the look out for a SASS, Why? Well, umm, er, you see...hey, it's a Shiney Ass Single Speed, that's why! And the idea came to me; a fixed gear mountain bike. Yes! I have heard stories about these, but never seen one in person. If singlespeed is the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest, fixed gear is like doing it without extra oxygen. The most logical build would be a fixed/freewheel fliop/flop rear hub. They only catch is a SASS is made disc specific and you can’t have a flip/flop hub with a disc brake since you only have one caliper. The answer was simple, a cheapo side pull brake would do the job. For components have a Planet X chrome BMX crankset that I bought in parts for no particular reason. I also have some Ritchey handlebars, stem and seatpost and Shimano brake levers, so all I need (besides wheels) are the brake calipers and a seat. I decided on a Avid BB-7 w/ 185mm rotor, a generic, but long throw canti-brake and a THE seat, on sale and looking a lot like a old style Bonty seat ; the total price, less than $80.

Now about the wheels. Finances as they are, I do not have the funds to buy/buid a new wheelset; I’m thinking 650B. I do have a rear wheel off my rigid SS bike, with a flip/flop free/free, non-disc hub/rim; that will work for the rear. I also have a front disc wheel off another bike, they only difference being the caliber is setup for 180 rotor, rather then the Avid 185, but I figured it would work okay and I figured right. As I said before, I wanted to have the option to run this bike as a fixed gear. Now, track cog with thread onto a hub made for a BMX freewheel, but there are no reverse threads to lock it down. A work around involves using an old loose ball bottom bracket lockring. These rings thread the same direction of the track cog, so you cannot completely rely on them to hold the cog under reverse torque. But, they are an added precaution and with the aid of some locktite, (which I did not use), it came be a reliable fix; but a bugger to remove. Since I will have a rear brake, I will not rely exclusively on rear torque to stop/slow the bike, so I figured the locktite was not necessary.

So, I put it all together and headed out to Soquel Demonstration Forest in Santa Cruz to try out this fixie mountain bike thing. Today was the day. Spike showed up in his van with his new Sette 29er dingle speed and I had my SASS fixie. In case you didn’t see it, here’s another pic; I added the rear brake and lever. SASS frames are disc only, but my plan was for a fixed/free, so a disc would not work. The plan was a Demo Forest ride (Santa Cruz, CA). The ride is about 13 miles, starts with 1000 foot climb on apaved and fire road, 2000 foot downhill singletrack (we road Tractor), and 1000 foot climb back out to the lower trail head; difficulty is somewhere between medium/expert to expert. The first climb was not much different than usual, perhaps a little easier because of the fixed gear. In the middle of the climb there is a single track, which gave me my first real taste of off road fixed gear riding; very awkward at first. When setting up for an obstacle, once tendency, especially on a flat or down hill, is to stand up and momentaarily coast; this of course is not possible on a fixie. I have read the technique is to lock up the rear wheel just before the obstacle. My first inclination was to just go for broke and hope I wouldn’t catch a pedal; this worked exactly 5 times. Number six didn’t result in a fall, but convince me I needed to start working on locking the rear wheel; the technique is easier than you would think, especially with a rear brake. After 3-4 tries, I found when the release point was and after that I started actually looking forward to the numerous log crossing on the trail.

There were also a number of ruddy downhills. I first tried to stay seated, but that was too painful and unsteady. The trick is to standup, brake and pedal at the same time; again something that takes some practice, but is picked up fairly quickly. By this time we were at the top entrance to Demo Forest and the Ridge Trail. It’s pretty much downhill after this and my original plan was to switch to a freewheel at this point, but I decided to continue on with the fixed gear. Using my newly acquired skills I continued on and found I was able to negotiate increasingly more difficult terrain. On my mind however, was a small patch of downhill baby heads after the helipad. Again I had planned to switch to freewheel before the baby heads, especially since I had crashed the last 2 times I had ridden them. But, again I had already negotiated the trail to this point, so I again decided to continue. The baby head section is very rutted, so you really have to pick your way through without the front wheel washing out. I took the section to the right, which is less rutted, by requires a quick right at the bottom. I put my mind in “I’m going for it” mode and before I knew it, the front wheel dropped down at the bottom and to my surprise I made the turn and rode to the second section. This section is longer but not as steep and I made it through feeling very good about myself (especially since Spike took a minor spill in the first section). We finally reached the trail head to Tractor. Of the 5 main trails at Demo Forest, Tractor slightly less technical than Braille or Sawpit, but has a number of long sweeping turns and can be ridden a very high speeds. I picked it because if I did fall, I would do less damage to myself then the other two, which have some very steep downhills and no safe place to land if you fall. The ride was a hoot and I actually found myself wishing it was more technical (next time). Once I got to the bottom I was pretty much done, but it was a great ride. I expected my legs would be toasted, but it was my upper body that was feeling worse for ware. I pretty much crawled back to the lower trail head (a 1000 foot climb out). I was left with the realization that a fixed mountain bike is very rideable (if I can do it anyone can) even over technical terrain. It was a HOOT and it’s something I want to do again!

1993 Bontrager Single Speed Conversion

A couple years back I came into possession of a early 1990’s Bontrager RaceLight. Somebody had painted it up like a Privateer and rode the shit out of it, leaving nothing of value but the frame. This was to be one of my coolest conversions. The first step was to strip the components down to the frame and then go to the one man that could do the bike justice, Paul Sadoff from Rock Lobster. Now Paul is normally way to busy to do a Single Speed conversion like this, but since he built me a Singlespeed and he still has a soft spot for us Singlespeeders, he agreed to it, as long as I didn’t tell anyone. Well it’s been two years, so I think it’s safe to let the cat out of the bag. Further, I also wanted to chuck the old Manitou shock and make the bike rigid; Paul also agreed to build me a fork. Here I have a shot inside his workshop as he was doing the conversion work. The idea was to “shave” the unneeded stops and weld on some Surly, sub-11 dropouts. To this day I never asked him why he mounted them so low, but I figured he must have known what he was doing.

After the welding was done and the fork was made, it was off to the Powder coater. To make sure my wife would not get all over me for spending too much money on another bike, I choose her favorite color, cobalt (or in this case electric) blue. The result was stunning. The fact that the fork was absolutely first rate and matched the bike with tube diameter and color, made it into one of the best looking conversions I have ever seen; even Paul said it was some of his best work.

The build of the bike was pretty

straightforward. The only original parts I used were the brakes, brake levers, stem and seatpost. The levers were old style rubber coated Suntour and the brakes, DiaComp cantilevers. Since this was a Bonty, the steerer of course was 1 inch and Paul made it threadless at my request. I chose a Cane Creek S2 headset, since they are well made and still one of the lightest in existence. The original stem was 1 inch threadless and I threw on a Bonty RaceLite straight handlebar, Bonty bolt-on grips and bar ends. The cranks were some Bonty ISIS that came of a friends Gary Fisher. The wheel set used a set of Surly SS hubs I had in the parts bin, laced to Sun MACH IVs with Hutchinson Pythons. The seatpost was a Titec/ Bontrager carbon fiber original and the seat was a Bonty Race that came of my 1999 Privateer. It all went together with little problem and I had The ridged SingleSpeed to die for. But it needed to go on a diet. I can't remember for sure, But I think it came in at about 21 lbs; I wanted sub 20lbs, including pedals and water bottle cage. Time to spend some money.

Okay, now I could spend an arm and a leg on a lighter wheelset, but I'm happy with what I got and I like the traditional look; so my first thought was titanium. Oh Yeah! I started off with a bunch of Ti bollts, Ti QR front axle and a hollow rear axle. Now I'm not a big fan of ISIS, but the FSA Ti bottom Bracket was not too pricey. As much as I liked the original Bonty 1" theadless stem, but it was replaced by an Ebay Ibis Ti stem. The Bontrager saddle is as unique as the Bontrager name, but it is heavy and I have developed a liking for classic ti Selle Italia Flites. I took a chance on a minimalist Sette (Price Point) Race-Ti. It turned out to be a good choice; also light and comfy. I didn’t understand why you would judge the weight of a bike without peddles; like they’re not necessary. The only way to deal with this was throw the big money at it; Time ATAC Titan Carbon. $$$$ I have never been much of a weight weenie, so I pretty much had to learn as I was going; after and continued by dragging out a scale and weighing components. My original choice of handlebar was a Bontrager Crow Bar, because I am always trying to convince myself I like riser bars (I really don’t). However I weighed the darn thing and it was heavier than a flat Racelite bar and bar ends combined. Then there were the Bonty Big Al grips. I checked around and found ESI foam grips; very high quality, light and comfy. . Throw in some lighter tubes, a Ti water bottle cage (not shown), a hollow rear axle and you get about 10 gms short of 20 lbs; Mission Accomplished!

The Hipster Bike

Being a bicyclist for the last 25 years, I have certainly taken notice of the fixed gear (or fixie) phenomenon that has seemingly taken over the “underground” or stylish bike scene, over the last 10 years or so. My fall into the abyss of fixie started in 2001 when I started riding a singlespeed mountain bike. Thinking I would need to maintain my “singlespeed stamina” through the winter months when I usually dedicate myself to road riding, I starting thinking of some means to do so. At this very time synchronicity played it’s hand and a neighbor inquired if I wanted to buy a track bike he had taken in trade for Chiropractic services. The bike had a custom steel track frame/fork, Campy Record flange hubs laced to Mavic sewup rims, Cooks 165.5 cranks, with some other Salsa, Campy, Cinelli and Sugino parts, and no brakes; he took $200 for the bike. After tinkering with the sewups and no brakes; I replace the former (clinchers) and added the latter (front). This bike has been my sole road ride since, including commuting and centuries. This is how my bike looked before the crash of 2007.

But still, there is the other side. The whole messenger/courier look, which changed your typical track bike




into the “Langster”

into the “NYC Langster” (even Specialized can't get it right; brakes on a Hipster?)
The whole messenger/courier fixie thing has become a movement, and with all movements, as the Doobie Bros named their album, “What were once vices, are now habits.” Of course most couriers don’t even ride the things, but that doesn’t matter, the mold has been cast. The following is the reasoning I have heard for the silliness that is now a Hipster bike (as far as I know they really aren't called Hipster bikes, but I just like the sound of the name from this incredibly dumb down video; I wish that's all there is to loosening a stuck seatpost video). Speaking of videos, this one fits because it includes a road biker vs a hipster with fixed gear, but is also the coolest and catchiest bike video I have ever seen;




This is part 1 of my attempt to decrib and define what a hipster bike was and what it has become.

#1) It must be a fixed gear or course. The fixed gear is the bike of choice because it requires very little maintenance. A courier usually makes $200-300 a week and can’t be pouring money into his bike. This unfortunately has led to what was been coined as the suicide hub. Since a true fixed hub is not common place, garage mechanics have taken to converting freewheel hubs to fixed gear. A freewheel hub is much like a BMX hub, but was designed to hold a multi-speed freewheel. The conversion involves re-dishing the hub so it will line-up with the front chainring when you screw-on a fixed gear cog. Unfortunately, unlike a fixed gear hub, there is no lock ring to hold on the cog. Generally they use a bottom bracket lock ring in it’s place, but since is screws on in the same direction as the cog (unlike the fixed gear hub) there is nothing to stop both cog and ring from unscrewing when you apply back pressure on the crank to slow down or stop. Hence it’s suicide to use the setup. The safety minded mechanic will actually weld the cog on the hub.

#2) Messed up handles bar. One thing the messengers seemed to have started was the “flop and chop”. Road or drop handlebars were designed to be aerodynamic, but most folks ride on the “flats” or top and hoods. To make the bar more user friendly they flipped the bar over and cut the drop off. They left enough of the drop sticking up to cradle their hands or add a brake; it does however reduce hand positions to one. Track bars have no real flats, because track riders ride exclusively in the drops. It is common to see track handlebars with bar tape or special track grips on just the lower grip portion of the bar. A lot of hipsters do a reverse track taping, taping just the flats and leaving the drop bare. NYC BikeSnob described this as looking like a dogs penis. Everytime I see them now and think of that; thanks BikeSnob.


If they don’t mess with the bars they leave them bare. Why anyone would want to ride a bike with their sweating hands sliding on non-taped handle bars is beyond me, but it is one of the most common “modifications”. Since all of my bikes have grips or bar tape, I have often wondered what it would feel like to grab a hold of a bare bar after it was sat in the sun while the rider I was carousing at my favorite coffee house. Holy blisters Batman! (but I digress).


If they decide for some reason not to chop up the bars sometimes they'll just put them on backwards?? This guy said it was his first build; no doubt, he also mounted the seatpost backwards.


Another reason I’ve heard to clip the bar was to make it easier to maneuver between cars. Of course this has been taken to the extreme of being no wider that the combined width of the grips; kind of like riding a horse with both hands on the saddle horn.Once the couriers started buying into their own rhetoric and riding without brakes, they imagined chopping the drops off completely, leaving just the flat portion of thenothing more than a straight mountain bike bar, hence the move to flat or low rise MTB bars and grips; Qury grips of course, because they come in so many colors. However, there is also another gripless bar that is commonly called, are you ready for this? The dildo bar.

We're going to see this bike again because, except for the lack of a "bike pad" and Brooks saddle, it represents the classic hipster bike.

#3) The Brooks saddle. Brooks has been making saddles for over 100 years. Their saddles are heavy and consist of a thick, non-forgiving layer of leather. These saddles have become the defacto saddle on a hipster bike. The trade mark are the copper rivets that sometime hold the leather to the frame. It has been said, mainly by the Brooks I might add, that once you “break-in” a Brooks saddle, it is the most comfortable saddle you’ll ever own. The truth is of course quite different; Brooks saddles don’t break-in your butt does. That’s right. The problem with most saddles is they break down after you’re butt has conformed to them; Brooks saddles don’t. It may take twice as long for your butt to conform to a brooks saddle, because they horribly uncomfortable, but once your butt has conformed to them, they will keep their shape for decades. That's why there is so many of them around. I’ve never understood why someone would spend the same money on an stiff piece of leather as they would on a modern, Sella Italia, but they do and boy do they suffer for it.



#4)The bike pad. There are two possible avenues here. The first is a bike pad may be just an elongated top tube protector. A top tube protector is a very short piece of plastic used on track bikes. Since the handle bars on track bikes are only taped on the drops, often times the bar can swing around and dent the top tube. These clip on the top tube to protect it from being damaged by the handle bars. The other route is that Couriers have this steel thing with wheels that they have to do something with when they get where they are going. Sometimes they take it with them and other times they lock it to something. Either way they either need something to protect their shoulder from the bike or the bike from the lock. Since bike couriers only exist in urban areas known for their high crime, the lock of choice is usually a big burly chain. “They also use chains for chainsaws” as I said before, so the bike pad was born. Originally a length of pipe insulation covered with duct tape to hold it on, it is know a fashion statement. Never mind that few hipster bikes will ever see a bare chain, you can now buy them custom made to match your paint scheme and tube diameter. http://yancopads.com/homepage.html. They are totally useless.



What goes hand and hand with the pad is a very useful item called a Messenger bag. The original bag was designed as a more contemporary version of a Postal service mail bag. Companies such as Chrome and Reload, (they also make pads of course) make some very stylish new bags that are functional as they are butt ugly. They're designed to throw over your shoulder and hold anything one would pay a messenger to deliver. They also seem to be designed to coordinate with your tattoos.

Continued

Part 2

SS Disc hub weights..

When it comes to disc hubs, you pay your money and you take your choice. Keith Bontrager is renowned for his statement, "Cheap, light, strong; pick two". So I took some time to look up some of the most popular hubs, their weights and prices.

Okay; the word on disc SS hubs..

Cassette style discAmerican Classic* 244gm $270
Bontrager 433gm $ 80
DT Swiss 285gm $400
King 335gm $400
Novatec et al 640gm $ 80

Freewheel (add $75 and 157gm for WB ENO)
Paul 220/377gm $115/$190
ENO 332/489gm $150/$225Surly 362/519gm $ 80/$155
Phil Wood** 392/549gm $235/$310

The ringersShimano
XT M765 435gm $ 50
Shimano XTRM965 372gm $230

*questionable longevity
**probably the finest hub of it's kind made

The Single Speed Chain FAQ

Traditionally single speeders used 1/8 inch BMX chains, since most single speed (SS) bikes are just 26" wheel BMX bikes anyway. Other reasons include the fact that SS track bikes and old BMX bikes had 1/8 inch cogs and chainrings and since 1/8 inch chains looked bigger than 3/32 chains they must be stronger. Also 3/32; 7-8 speed (or 11/128; 9-10 speed) multi-speed rated (MSR) chains are designed to derail, something you don't want to happen on a SS bike. It is also a misconception the 9, 10 and A second look however shows there had been a lot more R&D money thrown at MSR chains by Shimano and SRAM, so most MSR chains meet or exceed the tensile or "pull" strength of 1/8 inch chains. Since most single speed components available today come in 3/32, it seems logical to use 3/32 chains. On the other hand, while some claim that 1/8 inch chains on 3/32 gears cause more noise and wear than 3/32 chains, the jury is still out on this matter as many more use prefer this set-up. In the real world, it would seem the use of 1/8 inch chains work fine on 3/32 components and some, such as the SRAM PC-7 and KMC Kool chains are stronger.

One issue that comes up from time to time is the use of 1/2 links. The use of a ½ link allows you to vary the chain length by 1/2 inch intervals, rather than one inch with a standard link. This comes in handy when you are trying to convert a bicycle with vertical dropouts.

1/2 links come in two generic sizes, 1/8 and 3/32; they tend to be weaker than a standard link, so if strength is a major issue, you may want go with a half link chain. They add about 100 grams over a standard but they do not add a weaker link and they look kinda cool.

So do you need a single speed (non MSR) over a MSR chain? No, not really. Is there any advantage to a 1/8 inch chain? Yes, there can be if you have chainline and/or derailing problems, a SS chain can help; and as I said before some are stronger. However if you are using a spring tensioner such as this early Surly Singleator, an 1/8 chain may not work, as pretty much all tensioners are designed to work with 3/32 chains. Additionally if you're are having a problem with your Singleator skipping, they work best in the push-up mode, and with the addition of a zip-tie connecting the Singleator arm to the chainstay. The Singleator is the only tensioner with a push up "mode" (it requires a second spring that needs to be switched out). If you have another Singleator type tensioner, you can still use the zip ties but there will be no way to tension the spring (again they only work in one direction). Also, with the exception of the Paul Melvin, most tensioners are not designed to work with different size cogs using the same chain length. The Singleator manual says to shorten the chain as much as possible when using the tensioner (I would recommend using a half link if necessary). These tentioners skip due to a lack of chain wrap and tension, so anything you can do to increase either will help. Also make sure you have a cone wrench so you can tighten the spring as tight as possible.

The tensile strength of a SRAM PC-7 is about 2500 ft lbs and only come in 1/8 inch (and pimp gold); all other MSR SRAM chains (including the PC-58) are around 2023 ft lbs. The KMC Kool chains rate at 2860 ft lbs and come in both 3/32 and 1/8inch. The KMC Z chains (with an H in the model number) also come in both sizes (i.e. the 3/32 Z610H; my choice of chain), rate at 2640 ft lbs and are a bit lighter than the Kool chains. KMC ranks most if their MSR chains at 2314 ft LBS; I have not seen and published data for Shimano chains.

So what chain should you buy? There is a plethora of 1/8 inch chains out there; one of the favorites is the SRAM PC-7. On the other hand there has been considerable anecdotal information on the SRAM PC-1 (1/8) chain; the nickel plated version seems to hold up well but the non-plated version does not hold up well and should be avoided. KMC also makes a line of 1/8 inch (or 3/16 inch if you dare) and 3/32 SS chains. They come in various weights and strengths so you pay your money and make your choice. As far as MSR 3/32 chains go SRAM PC-58 seem to be popular with the anti-Shimano crowd as are the KMC chains. Shimano wise any of the better 7/8 speed HG or IG chains will work; The 9-10 speed chains may not work with some 3/32 cogs and chainrings. As elluded to before, they are slightly smaller than 3/32" @ 11/128".

As a final caveat there is the question of longevity aka "streaching". Regardless of what you hear, all chains get longer with use (I'd call that stretching). There are so many factors that go into this "lengthening", that it's futile to try and rank one chain over another. Just try and keep your chain clean and lubricated and when it has stretches 3/32" over a foot, replace it.

Also checkout http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/chain_stiffness.htm and http://www.63xc.com/gregg/gregchai.htm for some good chain spew.

Why Single Speed #1

To really under stand single speed you have to be kind of a fanatic about bicycling. Bicycling has to have a special meaning for you. I stopped a YWM (young white male) on a bike the other day as he was pedaling the wrong way on a one way street, at night without a light. He was riding an old single speed cruiser with cream colored fenders and big old chrome (non-functioning) headlight. I asked him how old the bike was and just stared at me and said, “It’s just a bike.” So I figured he stole it.

In Japan they know how to be fanatics. They make rituals and religions about almost everything. There they have track bike racing called Keirin. It’s kind of a cross between horse racing and sumo wrestling. Check it out Every single part of the bike, every component, frame, wheels, spokes, chain, everything has to be approved with N.J.S. (Nihon Jitensha Shinkokai), the Japanese Bicycling Association, stamp of approval. The standard is almost the same as the Campagnolo ISO Track parts standard. There is another standard used by Shimano called JIS (Japanese Industrial standard). This standard has minor differences from ISO in the square taper interface between bottom brackets and cranks, and the frames have different size headtubes and fork races. This is different from the English/US Standard of ISO that Shimano builds for biikes here in the US. One of the primary reasons for NJS is so all the parts will fit together without concern for any discrepancies between standards. What a concept. Unfortunately it falls too short of this, but it does maintain a large margin of safety.


Once you develop this fanticism of bicycling, single speed starts to make sense. No, it’s not for everyone or it may be for everyone but not all the time. But it is bicycling at its lowest common denominator. I have been riding my fixed gear almost on a daily basis since 2001 when I bought it from a neighbor for a couple hundred dollars. I have changed it over the years. First switched out the 140mm Salsa track stem for a more comfortable 100mm Cinelli, then I switched out the sewups for some clinchers and added front brake. It stayed in that configuration until this years when a pot hole took me down, broke 5 ribs and turned my handle bar and brake levers on a Beef-a-Roni (noodles and hamburger); too bad too, because the levers were some classy Campy Athena’s. I replaced the Bar and Stem with new Salsa and Cane Creek Brakes levers. The bike seems to fit me better now than it did before and I ride it everywhere. It goes to work with me, it climbs the local mountains, cruises the local farmland and has finished the Solvang Century twice. However what led to the fixie was a single speed mountain bike but that's another story.