[MMcG]

I''m pretty bored tonight and a new (used) fork arrived tonight - so I installed it on my Ghettorigged Marin Nail Trail Single Speed and thought I'd take some shots while I was at it.

The fork is excellent on this bike - great deal for $50 - for a fork in really great condition. Rode it around a bit and it handled excellently - can't wait to take it out on some real dirt.

Here are some photos of the rig - it's not pretty - but it works!

A bunch of cogs, spacers etc. - not very sexy but it worked out okay. I'm tempted to put a couple of cogs close together - one for trail riding and a smaller cog for rail trail type riding - would this work or would it throw off the chainline too much?

An old MRP roller and some stuff from the hardware store and voila - ghettorigged chain tensioner that works very quietly. It'll do for now. OOH my chain is kind of rusty.

The 2001 X-Vert Air at 100mm is a nice fit on this rig

Some beefier tires with some grip and she's ready to hit the trails of CT!

Whattya think?

Believe it or not I have to thank our good buddy Laxincubus311 for helping out with the conversion - he may have been a crappy seller, but I think and hope he learned his lesson and for a teenager he's an okay kid.

 

[reflux]

i've used that fork and was in love with it.

 

[MMcG]

i've used that fork and was in love with it.

could it be the TPC+ that makes it feel so damned good - pretty stiff for a 2001 fork and very plush too.

 

[binary visions]

Sweet

Mark, chainline, while nice, is less important when you're not shifting.

The ideal solution is to buy a flip-flop singlespeed hub, but that would certainly not be the economical solution. Chainline shouldn't be horrible if you throw another cog on there - just make sure to split the space difference between the two (i.e. don't keep one at the "ideal" chainline, move them both a little bit).

Only problem is your tensioner might not take up enough slack to let you get away without removing a link when you move to the other cog.. You'd have to experiment. Which, judging from your setup there, you don't mind doing!

 

[Mackie]

An old MRP roller and some stuff from the hardware store and voila - ghettorigged chain tensioner that works very quietly. It'll do for now. OOH my chain is kind of rusty.

Whattya think?

Umm.... Not hassling you Mark, but I'd be pretty worried about that tensioner set-up. The whole thing is relying on the skewer to keep it in place & under tension?

Think about how thin a skewer is......
Think about what happens as tension from your massive peddaling power pulls the thin peice of metal into the skewer rod.....
Think about breaking a skewer while riding.........

Anyway, it might work for ever, and I've ridden things sketchier than than, but if you plan to use it seriously, I would consider seeing if you can switch the rear hub to a through axle. That conversion is only a few bucks, and would give me much greater piece of mind, if it were my ride.

You might also look into that Soul Cycles tensioner, for like $20.

Good luck with that thing though. What gear ratio are you using for the CT rocks & roots?

 

[I Are Baboon]

Looks nice, Mark!

Is that just for cruising around town? Methinks we'll have some cruising to do now that we'll be neighbors.

 

[Echo]

Dude. If you have more than one usable gear, it isn't a singlespeed

Nice bike!

 

[MMcG]

You might also look into that Soul Cycles tensioner, for like $20.

You are on to me Mackie!

I'm lookin at the Soul - yup.

 

[MMcG]

Looks nice, Mark!

Is that just for cruising around town? Methinks we'll have some cruising to do now that we'll be neighbors.

It was pretty much just for cruisin around town, but with the fork added it is now trail worthy.
:evil:

 

[jdcamb]

Dude. If you have more than one usable gear, it isn't a singlespeed

Nice bike!

So Echo you have been SS'ing quite a lot lately. What do you think? Has it become a big part of your riding and will you be doing for years to come? Or is it something you wanted to try out and can't wait to get back on the Blur? Just curious. I think in our area a SS makes a lot of sense.

jdcamb

 

[splat]

I like the home made tentioner , I would have put it on a pivot ( bolt) through the derailer hanger then connected a spring to it and the chainstay.

 

[MMcG]

I like the home made tentioner , I would have put it on a pivot ( bolt) through the derailer hanger then connected a spring to it and the chainstay.

I'll bring it over and let you have a go at it Splat!

 

[TN]

sweet! That thing is ghetto-fabulous! All you need now is a can of Krylon & BOOM! custom paint job.

what ratio you runnin'?

 

[MMcG]

sweet! That thing is ghetto-fabulous! All you need now is a can of Krylon & BOOM! custom paint job.

what ratio you runnin'?

I think it's 32:18 or something like that. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure. It feels pretty good on trails - I rode it once when it was rigid - it is a little easy for fireroad or rail trail riding, but with the X-Vert Air on there now I want to hit the trails with it.

Krylon you say eh? - Do they make Krylon in a metallic orange flake? I've always wanted a bright orange bike.
:evil:

 

[TN]

I think it's 32:18 or something like that. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure. It feels pretty good on trails - I rode it once when it was rigid - it is a little easy for fireroad or rail trail riding, but with the X-Vert Air on there now I want to hit the trails with it.

Krylon you say eh? - Do they make Krylon in a metallic orange flake? I've always wanted a bright orange bike.
:evil:

just get some orange paint & some glitter...well, i have never tried it, but it sounds like it would work. ...it would deffintetly be ghetto.

 

[RhinofromWA]

Dude. If you have more than one usable gear, it isn't a singlespeed

Nice bike!

I count 2 gears on that bike.....freaking gear/retainer ring. He has over drive to get home on the road.

 

[MMcG]

The extra cogs in there are because we didn't have quite enough spacers at the time. Need to aquire more cassette spacers over time methinks.

 

[RhinofromWA]

Under $429 for this beast....how much are you into yours for?

 

[RhinofromWA]

The extra cogs in there are because we didn't have quite enough spacers at the time. Need to aquire more cassette spacers over time methinks.

I don't care...I didn't notice it until I was admiring your tensioner and saw little teeth showing.

I have a single speed converter set up for a MTB hub from some company comes with two machined alluminum spacers and two diff gears. I have not had the guts to go over the single speed yet. :

You go!

 

[BikeGeek]

Looking good Mark! It's been said, but I would rethink the tensioner for trails too. You could always rig a derailleur.

Rhino: My SS cost me somewhere around $275 total thanks to my spare parts collection and the LBS bargain bin. Next to the frame the Soulcraft tensioner was the most expensive part.

 

[Jozz]

Nice work Mark-a-tradoholic!

You'll see, if you ride if often it will make you a better rider! (not that I think your not a good rider or anything!)

 

[RhinofromWA]

Looking good Mark! It's been said, but I would rethink the tensioner for trails too. You could always rig a derailleur.

Rhino: My SS cost me somewhere around $275 total thanks to my spare parts collection and the LBS bargain bin. Next to the frame the Soulcraft tensioner was the most expensive part.

Cool but what if you need to buy the parts you had already? Either thru the classified/used or new?

429 is the MSRP and have been sold for much less. They are top shelf stuff but they are pretty cheap for what you get.......this was yet another bike I looked at before I bought my cheap Spec HT

 

[BikeGeek]

Cool but what if you need to buy the parts you had already? Either thru the classified/used or new?

Didn't think of it that way. Considering that my line of thinking was to build it as cheap as possible and that the new parts that I did buy were often house brands or knock-offs, it probably would have come close to the cost of the Redline. I suspect the Redline would have a better spec for the $$$ though.

 

[MMcG]

Looking good Mark! It's been said, but I would rethink the tensioner for trails too. You could always rig a derailleur.

Rhino: My SS cost me somewhere around $275 total thanks to my spare parts collection and the LBS bargain bin. Next to the frame the Soulcraft tensioner was the most expensive part.

What if I used that tensioner but mounted it to the derailleur hangar hole with a bolt instead of how it is currently configured?

 

[RhinofromWA]

Didn't think of it that way. Considering that my line of thinking was to build it as cheap as possible and that the new parts that I did buy were often house brands or knock-offs, it probably would have come close to the cost of the Redline. I suspect the Redline would have a better spec for the $$$ though.

Oh I know what you are saying....the Redline isn't anything spectacular. I think many bike snobs would look down on no name loose bearing hubs etc. the bike is all about house brands and knock offs.

I was thinking Mark built this from scratch....frame fork wheels etc....even the cheap stuff when added up starts to cost a lot of money....like building anything from scratch.

But he has a cool frame and a suspension fork too....

It looks like his spec is pretty nice. better than the Redline. the red line is just a turn key single speed that is cheap to buy. I can respect it for that.

Rhino

 

[MMcG]

Under $429 for this beast....how much are you into yours for?

I had My Marin - it was my first real mtb - but then I went FS - so it is reborn again. I got the stem from binary visions for $10 I think. The bars are from Mackie via a trade, I got the fork for $50!, and the rest of the stuff was just old stuff. So much less than a new bike that's fo sho.

The Monocogs look pretty cool - I think they come in a Steel version and an AL version.

The fork is somewhat anti- ghettorigged - I was running it rigid fro a bit with an old cromo Marin rock star fork courtesy of a trade from Splat, but it was not really trail worthy for me in that configuration.

For $50 the X-Vert Air was a real find in my opinion.

So all in all not too much dough went into the conversion at all - seeing as I already had the bike as a geared hardtail that wasn't getting used much. I've been riding it way more in SS mode than I ever did in geared mode.

Although last night when I rode it with the fork on it, I did find myself looking to shift - I don't know did the front suspension trigger a reaction in my brain that there must be gears on the bike again?

 

[RhinofromWA]

I had My Marin - it was my first real mtb - but then I went FS - so it is reborn again. I got the stem from binary visions for $10 I think. The bars are from Mackie via a trade, I got the fork for $50!, and the rest of the stuff was just old stuff. So much less than a new bike that's fo sho.

Sweet. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[MMcG]

Sweet. Nothing wrong with that.

Nope - just have to get the tensioner issue fixed - two warnings from SS vets has me a tad nervous.

I really don't want to use a derailleur as a tensioner though - I want to keep the derailleur from this rig (I want to keep the LX as a spare for the FS in case something catastrophic happens to the XT Echo sent me)

Crap that reminds me - I still owe Echo some beers - with interest I must be up to a Six pack by now!

 

[BikeGeek]

What if I used that tensioner but mounted it to the derailleur hangar hole with a bolt instead of how it is currently configured?

That sounds like it would be stronger, but if you're current set-up is working, ride it. I have no experience with your particular set-up, it may last as long as any of the other ways of tensioning. Consider it an RM experiment. If it breaks, report back to us on: under what conditions, and how catastrophically.

 

[MMcG]

That sounds like it would be stronger, but if you're current set-up is working, ride it. I have no experience with your particular set-up, it may last as long as any of the other ways of tensioning. Consider it an RM experiment. If it breaks, report back to us on: under what conditions, and how catastophically.

Well I've ridden it on the trails once for about an hour and a half with no troubles, I've curb dropped with it a ton of times and it's held up so far - but I can see long term how it might be a problem.

Also if I mount it to the derailleur hangar hole, then changing the tires on the rear wheel will be much easier correct?

That reminds me, I haven't had a flat yet. Is is a Pain in the ass to fix a flat with a SS? Any good tips to make it quicker?

I want to put some kobby tires on the rig to make it handle better in the dirt.

I still can't believe that the Michelins that are on the bike now - 2.0s that work well on pavement - were the actual tires that came on my Balfa Belair. What the heck were those boys in Montreal thinking specing those tires on a Trail bike.

 

[splat]

The extra cogs in there are because we didn't have quite enough spacers at the time. Need to aquire more cassette spacers over time methinks.

I didn't give you enough Spacers ?

why didn't you say so , I can get you more

 

[BikeGeek]

That reminds me, I haven't had a flat yet. Is is a Pain in the ass to fix a flat with a SS? Any good tips to make it quicker?

I haven't found it to be any more or less a pain than fixing it on any other bike.

 

[MMcG]

I haven't found it to be any more or less a pain than fixing it on any other bike.

That's cool


Tim you need to come to CT to show me the ropes on how to properly ride a SS on the trails.

 

[Mackie]

The bars are from Mackie via a trade

Ha! I claim credit for the whole dang thing then.
Unless you hurt yourself. Then i've never seen those bars before in my life.........

 

[MMcG]

Ha! I claim credit for the whole dang thing then.
Unless you hurt yourself. Then i've never seen those bars before in my life.........

haha - I'll never forget your superior packing job for those bars too - what did I trade you for a 90mm Titec Stem or something??

Cuz that's what I ended up getting again for this bike via Binary Visions!

It's a whole vicious cycle I tell ya! Vicious - but fun!

 

[BikeGeek]

Tim you need to come to CT to show me the ropes on how to properly ride a SS on the trails.

Wise man say: momentum is your friend

 

[MMcG]

Wise man say: momentum is your friend

Point well taken.

So basically: pedal pedal pedal right!?

 

[Mackie]

what did I trade you for a 90mm Titec Stem or something??

Yeah, that was it. Still on one of my bikes.
I try to pack stuff well - if it's going to break, I don't want it to be because the mailman had a bad day.