Josh's Stumpy singlespeed conversion actually saw the light of day, getting fitted first with a rigid fork and the wheels and cranks from his Turner, and some new bars, stem and tensioner to top it off. Then the hand of death, our inept bike builer James, decided that the tensioner needed a tension check, pushing it down hard until the spring bent. Josh cursed him and all that he stands for, but forged on like the little soldier he is, before deciding the rigid fork left the front end too low.
Cue the Marzocchi fork from the Turner... alright, blinglespeed. And then, the maiden voyage, up to Makara, in the mud, perfect conditions for a no-frills machine to excell. Or so you'd think...
Until, of course, the hand of death comes back to haunt you. The tensioner decided to shit itself halfway up to the peak, leaving an angry soldier to scooter his way back down the hill, tail between legs. Well, I presume that's how it would've looked, as I actually wasn't there, but hey, I'll improvise.
Now, you'd expect that after putting so much time and effort, and some dollars, into a bike that was going to be "ridden all winter", that he'd be looking at alternatives for the job of tensioning the chain, and getting that SS groove back on ASAP, right? Nosireebob, it was in the stand and being stripped before you could say "Surly Crosscheck conversion", with the Turner regaining it's missing bits pronto. Total time in existence: A week (and that's being generous)... Anyone want to buy a Stumpy frame, hardly used?
