Build thread: cheap fun light. Ish.

[Herman Toothrot]

Yeah, I have an original Inbred but with a 4" fork and it's pretty much the perfect MTB except its weight, on the strength of it and it's good service for 7 years I bought a 456Ti. I do now like the 456ti but it's still heavy not not at all a sharp tool. I'd describe it as a hard tail for someone used to riding downhill bikes.

[Nikolai]

[quote=gazza285]Mine weighs in at 11.2kg, most of which will be that heavyweight frame. It gets ridden more than my geared bike.


This looks awesome. Far be it from me to question the need for a bike (apart from fat bikes), but what do you use it for? Genuine question, as I wonder what sort of terrain would make a 29'er SS the right solution as I'm always changing gears, or riding places with plenty of gradient.

[tjdixon911]

Since your first mention of this build in my "downgrade" thread, I have been looking for a Steel 29er frame to do similar, seeing the build above, makes me want one more...

[gazza285]

Nikolai said:

This looks awesome. Far be it from me to question the need for a bike (apart from fat bikes), but what do you use it for? Genuine question, as I wonder what sort of terrain would make a 29'er SS the right solution as I'm always changing gears, or riding places with plenty of gradient.

I ride it everywhere. You just have to muscle it up the climbs, or walk if it gets too much. Having this bike has made me realise that gears are a luxury, not a necessity. Conservation of momentum is the key.

[richardxjr]

Looks awesome Gazza, and I've now got a weight target to beat.

I had a paypal 'spend £40 get £10 off' voucher for CRC. Got Shimano BB and Shimano hydros for ... £31!



I swear by Shimanos brakes. Got SLX on FS and BR-M395 on the HT. These are BR-M355 which are an OE jobbie, although they came with olives and barbs for shortening. They look identical to the 395s, which, despite the price are fantastic proper brakes. At 600g the pair they weigh about the same as Deore/SLX/XT too.

My used XT cranks arrived too, £25 & 615g with chainring bolts. Just bare cranks, I'll be putting on a ss chainring of course and sliding it into the BB-51B 93g

[neenaw]

richardxjr said:

Probably 32:16 now.

32:16 can be hard going on a 29er in hilly terrain but it'll probably be pretty reasonable somewhere a bit flatter.
I've been running 34:18 previously but I'll be running 34:17 this winter for using around Swinley/Surrey Hills. My old El Mariachi when it was running singlespeed with a Niner carbon fork was the fastest bike I've ever had for climbing, it absolutely flew up the hills

[richardxjr]

Just been out 'fixed' and 'ss' on the FS 26er to get a feel. Locked out 1x10 30T 11-36. I think I'll be starting with 32-18, that should fall between 6th and 7th gear once I've allowed for bigger wheels, shorter cranks, faster rolling tyres and less weight.

Just hope my hamstring heals well, this ain't going to help!

[richardxjr]

Peeing down all day and no deliveries. Time to clean up those old XT cranks a touch.

I didn't go too mental, just tidied them up a bit with wet & dry & some metal polish.

[AC43]

richardxjr said:

I realise I need a 29er, rigid, singlespeed in steel in my life.

Excellent format. And one I hadn't thought of. I'll be watching with interest as I'm about to build up a rigid 26inch steelie.

[WestyCarl]

AC43 said:

I'll be watching with interest as I'm about to build up a rigid 26inch steelie.

I've just done this for a winter hack, 26" steel rigid. After a full sus it's a surprisingly fun and fast ride.

[neenaw]

AC43 said:

richardxjr said:

I realise I need a 29er, rigid, singlespeed in steel in my life.

Excellent format. And one I hadn't thought of. I'll be watching with interest as I'm about to build up a rigid 26inch steelie.

I previously had an El Mariachi 29er singlespeed with a rigid fork fitted. I sold it to get a 'better' frame but it was a big mistake. The El Mar was a great bike, the only bike I've ever regretted selling.

[richardxjr]

Postie's been



Tyres.
Heard lots of good things about Specialized tyres, so I'm giving them a go here. £25 delivered worn in for me. Easy tubeless, roll well, grippy but not mud clogging, cheap and light
F: Ground Control 2 Bliss 29x2.1 666g
R: Fast Track Control 2 Bliss 29x2.0 591g.
I reserve my right to swap to bigger heavier tyres if these are a bit harsh rigid

For reference my front 26" Bontrager Rhythm wheel tubeless with a Chunky Monkey 2.4 on feels light enough to me, and that weighs 1850g.
My 29er front wheel & tyre comes to 1630g plus whatever the tubeless gubbins comes in at, so I'm happy with that.

Rotors.
I like the Avid HS1. Lighter and less rubby (a tad thinner) than XT. 160mm for £7.60 the pair with bolts from a Chinese ebay seller with a UK mailing address. 115g each with bolts.
I imported some identical and run them on the HT with no problems. The look and feel identical to the more expensive UK HS1s so I cannot tell even if they are fakes. They're a lump of steel with holes drilled in either way.


Stem and Bar
OK, I've got to try these out. The £15 unbranded carbon bar has to be tested right? £21 delivered from, again, a Chinese ebay seller with a UK mailing address. 158g for my 680mm riser.
Stem, similar story, carbon/ali? Anyway, £9.49 delivered and 129g for 80/31.8mm.

Seatpost
I was all set to go the same route with a seat post, unbranded carbon, but couldn't find what I want from a UK seller. So an OE On One Ali jobbie, unused from STW classifieds for a tenner. 242g is perfectly reasonable for this in 27.2x350mm.

Pic doesn't show my matching single plain carbon 5mm headset spacer. £1 and 2g



A few more bits to buy, my spreadsheet is forecasting a total of £486 and 10.76kg.

[Justin S]

You will need a wider bar for leverage than you usually ride. My 26 er runs 2 to 1 ratio, gearwise, although that will be different for a 29 er. Should be fun. I ride rigid singlespeed for now until March/ April time. Its not as slow as people may think. Its also a great way to learn how to keep speed rolling. You will have to learn the delicate ability to get out the saddle on the climbs but hover your weight back to stop wheelspin.

[richardxjr]

Yeah these bars are a tad wider, I'm not a fan of wide bars and narrow trails! I'll probably move my Ergon GP2 grips over too, with the little stubby bar ends built in, they extend the bar width a bit too, so 700mm overall.

[neenaw]

richardxjr said:

Yeah these bars are a tad wider, I'm not a fan of wide bars and narrow trails! I'll probably move my Ergon GP2 grips over too, with the little stubby bar ends built in, they extend the bar width a bit too, so 700mm overall.

I've never felt the need for wider bars on the Singlespeed, just my standard ones do the job perfectly.
On the other hand, the GP2 grips with the barends are fantastic on it, they are great for when you're up out of the saddle on bigger climbs.

Your tyre choice is the same as mine, I use the Ground Controls on the front year round and Fast Track on the rear during the summer but change to a Gound Control again when it gets muddy.

[richardxjr]

£50 on a Stans no tubes kit ... OR £2.99 for some Gorilla Tape at Homebase and a couple of valves cut out of old inner tubes 32g each wheel

Went up with trackpump. I'll nick some Stans jizz off my mate.

[gazza285]

What have you started!

OK, so I have the steel 29er rigid single speed already, so I started looking round my garage.

Found so far...

Planet X Kaffenback frameset.
On-One headset.
Spare 29er wheels.
Racing Ralph cyclocross tyres and tubes.
Old RSX crank off my long gone ancient cyclocross bike, and a BB to suit.
Stem off our youth's MTB.
Vintage Cinelli drop bars.
Charge Spoon.
Chain and sprocket.
Loads of cable.
Pedals.

Now need...

Seat post and clamp.
Cable disc brakes and levers.
Bar tape.
Chain tensioner.


Looks like I'm building a single speed cyclocross bike.

[richardxjr]

Getting there sloooowly...



Frame
Fork
Headset
Seat post & qr clamp
Wheelset
Tyres, tubeless
Rotors
Stem
Bar
Spacer
Topcap

Running total £314.55, 8.2kg

[gazza285]

Don't forget the chain tensioners, you will need them.

[richardxjr]

Chaintugs? Got a couple of them.