One Bike...

[robpearson]

I'm looking to buy a singlespeed hardtail for use in the foul winter weather both on and off road, my question is, should i be looking at steel or aluminium? which components would you suggest for weathering out the cold winter months, salt and mud?

[itsnotarace]

Titanium

[ewenm]

Steel (assuming you can't go to titanium) as it absorbs more of the high-frequency vibrations than aluminium which is useful on a hardtail (or fully-rigid ).

Shimano XT has served me well in years of year-round offroading.

[robpearson]

what about the effect of the salt and other crud I'm likely to pick up on the road? isnt steel more likely to suffer from such exposure? I like the idea of titanium although the mrs might not...

[ewenm]

robpearson said:

what about the effect of the salt and other crud I'm likely to pick up on the road? isnt steel more likely to suffer from such exposure? I like the idea of titanium although the mrs might not...

If the paint is good enough it should be fine. I've never had any rust problems on my steel-framed bikes even when I've scratched them in crashes and not touched up the paintwork.

[P-Jay]

Not sure of your budget, but a riding buddy of mine just picked up a Charge Duster 8 (09) from wiggle and I'm utterly smitten with it. (and I'm a total Alu / FS / 6"+ Pervert).

He's loving it atm and doing everything from Pub/commuting on it to clearing tabletops at Cwmcarn on it.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Charge_Duster_Ei...

[mchammer89]

ewenm said:

Steel (assuming you can't go to titanium) as it absorbs more of the high-frequency vibrations than aluminium which is useful on a hardtail (or fully-rigid ).

Shimano XT has served me well in years of year-round offroading.

+1 on steel, much more absorbtion than alu (which can feel like it's got none whatsoever).

I ride fully rigid so alu was a definite no go!

[JPJ]

Would also suggest looking at the On One website for singlespeed options - depending on how rough your commuting/riding is going to be the Pompino might be a good deal for you.

[Matthew_Eames]

A Van Nicholas Zion is one of the better (read reasonably priced) Ti options, not that much more expensive than a good and definately worth it in my eyes...they can do custom geo's and laser etching aswell!

Singlespeedor a Rolhoff version

Take a look at the Transition Trans-Am (Cromoly) aswell if you wanted something a little more aggressive, this can take a 140mm fork and be run singlespeed or geared....I fancy building one with a Alfine 11sp hub at the back and a Hammerschmidt at the front for the ultimate winter hack with 22 gears sealed from the elements.

[shalmaneser]

A decent steel frame won't rust, the high quality alloys are very corrosion resistant.

[robpearson]

those van nicholas bikes look rather nice :-) I see there's a belt drive option too. I imagine that could be handy for avoiding stuck links, and I remember a review of an orange mtb test bike being fitted with one - has anyone actually used a belt driven bike? Would getting a puncture be an absolute nightmare as you'd have to re-tension the belt when the wheel went back on?

[sjg]

Hub gear is a good call. A singlespeed geared for MTB will be far too low to use on the road for any length of time, and anything OK for road will be impossible to get up hills off-road.

As for the rest, disc brakes, well-sealed headset / BB, powerlink in your chain so you can take it off to clean it regularly.

[a11y_m]

If you're worried about rust, you can alway waxoil (sp) the frame: I did that to my first steel frame as it cost a bit more but TBH haven't bothered since as I rarely keep frames more than 4-5 years.

29ers work well as singlespeed MTBs as the bigger wheels roll over bumps with less loss of momentum, so perhaps something to think about if you're over 5'8 or so. I run a (admittedly aluminium-framed) 29er in addition to my regular hardtail, either in singlespeed guise or with an Alfine geared hub. Both setups are great for winter use although the singlspeed setup saves approx 2.5lbs which IS noticeable.

Quite fancy a Singular Swift though - look cool but no idea how well they ride.

[mchammer89]

+1 on the SS 29er

I've got one (Haro Mary SS) and I love it, I use it for standard off-roading, commutes (50 mile round trip) and competing. You can very easily switch out the sprockets to give yourself a different gear ratio as it's got an EBB to take up the slack in the chain. Though I tend to keep the same gearing for everything (65GI). Did look into hub gears but it's not really worth it unless you're touring imo.

[OneDs]

robpearson said:

those van nicholas bikes look rather nice :-) I see there's a belt drive option too. I imagine that could be handy for avoiding stuck links, and I remember a review of an orange mtb test bike being fitted with one - has anyone actually used a belt driven bike? Would getting a puncture be an absolute nightmare as you'd have to re-tension the belt when the wheel went back on?

I've been looking into this sort of thing for a while and trying to keep up with online reviews and long term early adopters.

No personal experience but what I have picked up is that:- Belt drive bikes are still in development really, there are a lot about but alignment & tension need to be spot on and doing it by eye and feel are not good enough, also ratio options aren't very readily available and if you do change it costs!!!

The other problem is that Ti & Steel have a less rigid frames which is good for comfort springiness & performance but bad for Belt drives for the aforementioned reasons, couple that with the cut required and they aren't quite there yet.

When framebuilders start beefing up the rear triangle for belt specific bikes and the pinion BB gearbox has had a few years in the market, thsi is the route I'll go down.

Punctures aren't a problem, using a 8mm allen key on a bolt through axle.

Ti framed, Belt driven, BB gearbox, minimal maintenance, low weight high performance = my biking nirvana!