Scared Shiftless Singlespeed Society

I went soft

2010-10-08T00:33:00.000-07:00

As you may have read, I built a rigid single speed for the sswc10.

What I may not have mentioned was that I had been researching turning my Mojo SL in to a single speed. Well, a week or so after the rigid was built all the parts I needed had arrived and the Mojo was converted.

I had read about YESS tensioners and it didn't take me long to decide that if I wanted to turn my fully in to an ss I could do it properly. Then the MRP Lopes chain guide turned up. I didn't want to take any chances and I wanted a chain guide for after the SSWC when I turned the bike in to a 1x9.

I stripped the shifters, chain rings, grips and the cassette off and proceeded to put all the new bits on. Even for an average bike put-togetherer everything was simple to install and once I had decided on the chain length and adjusted the tensioner accordingly I was ready to go.

The first test ride was awesome. I rode the grand loop of Makara Peak, including Ridgeline. I wanted it bumpy. The ride up was a bit harder than I expected. Running a 32:16 probably was a good place to start, however, my fitness level soon told me a higher gear was in order. I certainly got around okay, but I want it to be a bit more fun.

I ran slightly less sag on the rear but that turned out to be unnecessary. The bike rode like a dream. Subsequent rides have been just as much fun.

This week the 17 and 18 tooth sprockets arrived and when I get some time I'll fit the 18 and give it a whirl. There's only 2 weeks to go until the event so I need to get out and have a few more test rides.

And will I keep the frame, forks and other bits off the hardtail? Hard to say just yet, I just can't imagine ever wanting to ride it. But I don't like selling bike stuff..... I only like buying it.

Is It Hard Going Rigid?

2010-09-10T02:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I noticed that there were still entries available for the SSWC10. Karen and I had booked time off to go up and watch and I thought since I was going up I might as well ride.

So I spent a brief amount of time online and found a frame and wheels. I then purchased a single speed kit, "borrowed" Karen's cranks and brakes, borrowed Josh's bars, bought a seat post and forks and with a few bits and pieces lying around I had put a bike together.
At first, the tensioner didn't tension enough and the half link didn't hold and during the bike's first outing I found myself half way up Aratihi with no chain. I pushed to the top of Makara Peak and no chained it to Lazy Fern and down to the car park.
Now, I hadn't been having fun up to that stage anyway. I was used to very plush full suspension bikes. I hadn't ridden a rigid mountain bike for a number of years and somehow the memories I had of those early days on a non suspension bike all seemed to be of fun times.

What the hell went wrong? My memories had played a nasty trick on me and was laughing all the way to the car park. I moaned and bitched. I told people that that ride sucked. I treatened to sell said bike. And then I fixed it and rode it again.

What happened next is I hardened up. The ride wasn't great but it wasn't that bad either. There were times I wanted at least front suspension but it wasn't for long. I'm going to ride the bike again, soon. I want to get used to it, I want to tame it, I want to feel like I can smile when I ride it.

Single girls get dirty

2010-06-02T02:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, so they may not all be single, but my good friends and riding buddies Rachel, Marjolein, Ashley, and their friend Natasha did get down and dirty (well, muddy really) on their singlespeeds at the Wainui 6 hour race a couple of weekends ago. Of course, Ashley couldn't let them just ride around; there had to be a dress-up involved, and the results were pretty attention grabbing. Pity I wasn't there to see it first hand, but the pictures tell a story, as does Rachel, who penned the following. Enjoy. (Brett)

Brett once told me about a couple of blogs that I ought to check out. This was one of them. That was back when I first started to ride a bike with one option of gearing, and there has been no new posts here since! So I suggested to Brett that I could write some words.

These words are about last weekend when Marj, Ash, Natasha and I went to ride around at the Wainuiomata Winter Weekender 6hr Worldz. Our team was sufficiently niche enough; female and on SS's. (We would have been niche with gears). Our original plan was to find a generator and a TV so we could attach Ash's X Box and play 'Rockband' the game. Three of us would be ripping it up vocally, drum padding and windmilling the power chords. The rider would tag team one of the band out. Disorganisation got the better of that idea. So we did the next best thing by dressing up as roller derby girls.

There is a lot of crossover in outfits between cyclists and skaters, so we blended in seamlessly. Marj got us off to the greatest start imaginable, she hurtled in for a smooth transition and saw us waving goodbye and good luck to Ashley on her trusty 1 full inch of travel, V-braked beauty. Natasha, or 'Naughtasha' to those who get it (Marj), caught me in idle and in the need of a hunt through the tent for necessary equipment.

The course was beautiful. Just the right amount of ups and downs and gaps in-between. The amount of cleaning to be done was substantial, but a whole lot less than what would've been necessary with a fully geared and suspended bike.

Winter is definitely a time for singlespeeds to shine. Brett's even talking of getting his one back from a garage somewhere in Aussie and I spied Marj eyeing up potentials on TradeMe (but not in work time).

Rachel.

Ross gets Rad in SSWC

2009-09-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

Scared Shiftless's old mate Rad Ross Schnell has taken the win and the ink at the SSWC in Durango.

Ross could be heading down here for a road trip next year for SPOKE mag, and now he may have to make a second journey to RotoVegas to defend his title.

That's right, the 2010 SSWC will be held right here, well there, in Rotorua.

Nice work Ross, nice work NZ!

Big Si's big wheel bling

2009-08-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

Simon from On Yer Bike's Kapiti store has been stomping it up on his Stumpjumper 29er, which he ripped the gears off and added a dash of pain to his repertoire. It's a sweet looking bike, which should be even sweeter if he takes my advice and runs his XTR cranks on it too. Do it Simon, DO IT! Oh, and dude, shorten those cables!

Mid-Winter Ride Report: To Makara and back

2009-07-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Nevermind how I came to be in possession of the singlespeed I'm riding at the moment. Let's just say that it's the inevitable outcome of both my mountain bikes lying dormant and unused in our workshop for too long while I've been pretending to be a road cyclist, combined with my well-documented predisposition to endlessly swap parts on, modify, and excessively faff around with my bikes (which happens a great deal less when they're actually being used). Anyway, just before selling out and spending a solid month road riding I got in a few rides on a rigid steel singlespeed that the magazine was reviewing and had a really great time on it; I guess that got the ball rolling. And now that it's complete and has seen some use (it being my Specialized Stumpjumper Carbon hardtail with a Reba fork) I'm remembering all of the things that I loved about the ride of my old (2006/7) Stumpjumper singlespeed (alloy frame, set up with a Reba as well).

Today was its second outing. The first took place last Sunday, when I found myself mixed up in a Bushlove group ride. That ride was great - apart from finishing it without being violated by Ricky Pincott, the weather was awesome and the bike handled great. I attribute a lot of that to the fact that Stumpjumper frames generally ride well anyway, but the 710mm wide Salsa ProMoto bar that I fitted is one of the best things I've come across lately, and now believe you'd have to be mental to want to use a singlespeed with anything narrower than that. The only thing that got changed for today was lowering the gear slightly from 32x16 to 32x17; the trails were steep and greasy in places, and staying on top of the 2:1 gear was pretty tough at times.

Karl Ratahi met me at my place just after 8 for an early start. I almost pulled the pin after having an exceptionally shit night that was almost devoid of sleep, but figured a spin with Ratas while the weather was still good would beat the hell out of moping around at home trying to encourage some extra sleep that more than likely wouldn't come anyway. Karl turned up on his Avanti KISS 29er, a fully rigid steel beast that he picked up a few weeks ago. I figured that since this is maybe the first ever ride report on this blog where everyone involved was singlespeeding (Brett will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong), I should embellish it with photos. Unfortunately my photograpy skills are mediocre and aren't assisted at all by the fact that the camera used was the fail low-res one that is in my cellphone, so don't go expecting wonders.

First up was a ride up the goldmine s-bends, which is normally a pretty tricky exercise in steep switchback technique, and pretty much a nightmare on a singlespeed. Here's Karl finishing off the incomplete assembly job on his bike at the fenceline section, proving that Brett is possibly the last person on earth that you should ask to build your bike:

Here's mine, propped up nearby on the fence:

And here's where we were about to head:

Although fortunately we would be riding up a second set of switchbacks rather than straight up the monstrous fenceline climb. These were much more manageable than the goldmine ones, and though steep and awkward in parts I cleaned most of it - the lowered gearing definitely helped. This is the view from the top:

From here we rode across the top of Wright's Hill and on to Deliverance. This was in surprisingly good shape, and we both cleaned it top to bottom with the exception of the awkward, rooty step-up partway down. Here's an awful photo of Ratas entering the chute on his big wheeled bike:

Me refilling my drink bottle at the Makara car park:

And looking on while Karl rides round and round in circles, no doubt still coming to terms with the unnatural handling of 29ers:

From here it was decided that we should slog up to the summit and take a look at Ridgeline. Here's a pointless shot of the entrance to missing link:

It's impossible to tell from the low-quality photo, but a lot of the trails were in pretty dry condition given how wet everything was on the weekend. Sections of upper Ridgeline were a bit marginal, but were nothing compared to the filthy mudpit that Salvation has become. Having enjoyed an awesome descent back to the carpark, Salvation took us back up to the Wright's Hill carpark, and although in better shape than it was on Sunday, it still left our bikes covered in this by the time we reached the top:

We figured that a ride over Hawkins Hill would be a good way finish our legs off, since Karl had a midday deadline to meet. We rode past the parade ground and along the fenceline, then jumped the fence at the clearing to come out on the Long Gully access road. Here's Ratas smashing it up to the road...

...only to be faced with more climbing on the seal:

We decided on the Tip Track to get back down to Happy Valley road. Here's a shot of where we would be heading:

Karl preparing himself for the descent:

He claimed at some point around this time to be enjoying the ride a great deal, although that expression seems to tell another story.

The Tip Track descent was fast and sketchy at the top. I forgot how off-camber most of those top corners are, and narrowly missed some dodgy crashes. The bottom half is way better, with some huge berms on the corners that let you carry heaps of speed through them. At the bottom gate we parted company; Karl had to get going, and we were both feeling pretty rooted at this point anyway. We timed the ride well; at that point, the wind was rising but my ride back up Happy Valley rode wasn't the grovel into the northerly that I was expecting. As I type this the gusts are getting worse and are meant to hit gale force around this evening; fortunately for me, all riding for the day is done and dusted... and I'm too trashed to mess around with my bikes. A beer sounds like a much better idea.

Should I or shouldn't I??

2009-04-30T01:25:00.000-07:00

Last week, for some unknown reason, I was reminded of an ad I saw many months ago in a reputable mtb magazine for Vicious Cycles. It was the leopard skin singlespeed photo that really took my fancy. I knew nothing about who these guys were (or guy as it turned out) or what they were about. Anyway, I googled it and came up with their web site and then I googled "vicious cycles buy" and came up with this.........
on ebay. Hmmmmm I thought to myself. How bad to you want a fairly light, hand made, steel singlespeed? From America? When the exchange rate is crap? And you don't really have any money? And you kind of promised your wife "no more bikes until we buy a house with a garage"? Hmmmmm?
Immediately I thought "quite badly". So I signed up to ebay and watched the auction. With only three days to go until the end date I found myself getting nervously excited and spending an absurd amount of time staring at the screen ogling the photos like it was REAL porn not just bike porn.
Then the day arrived. By my figuring, we were 16 hours ahead. I was wrong. I think? In fact, I still can't work it out, but then I now start work at 6:30am so I am usually to tired to sort this kind of shit out. But I still managed to get up at 2am for the final 20 minutes of the auction and place a bid.
According to the description of the bike, a frame alone can go for $1800 U.S. and he was asking about half that for a whole bike. So there I was, my bid of $870 was the highest and it still hadn't reached reserve. What do I do?
I wait.
The auction ends.
I go to bed.
What the f**k? Now What? I had no idea what had just gone on. I wound myself up into a frenzy and then bailed on it at the last minute (just like me attempting to ride something I should be able to clean). Which one of the four very sensible reasons for not buying the bike had won out?
No money? That's always a good one. But that's never stopped me before.
The exchange rate? Naaaa. Who cares.
Freight from America? No, Ashley said she would bring it back with her when she goes over in a few weeks.
I promised I wouldn't? Maybe. Although I did say I would sell my road bike to cover the cost of the ss.
God knows. But I checked ebay today and the bike has been re listed.
It's gonna be a long week.

Mike

Off Track

2009-01-26T23:57:00.000-08:00

The Great Track Experiment (presented by Josh) went exactly as predicted back in... shit, when the hell did we last post here, the 20th Century? Almost feels like it. If anyone actually still visits this blog, and bothers to give a shit about what we get up to, then you may recall that my esteemed colleague garnered himself an Avanti Pista (no, not a Bianchi, but the NZ non-hipster version) and had planned to alleviate some of his built-up angst by riding in circles, only turning left. As there is a bottomless pit of said anger to quell, I was understandably sceptical that pushing a huge gear around a poorly sealed, cracked surface banked track would have a calming effect on one's psyche. It would drive me fucking insane. I can't even watch the pros do it without wanting to yell at them that it's ok to turn right, hoping at least some of them would try to break free and run themselves headlong into the fencing. Long story short, the Pista got to make a few left turns, albeit in one sitting, before being relegated to a commuter bike. A damn cool looking commuter bike, mind you. Yep, that's a brake up there on the bar, and what else do I see? Could it be, WHITE bar tape! I'm quite impressed by this little machine, with a swap to a carbon road fork, Josh has made it a rideable street machine, and with another one sitting in the shop in my size, could I have a companion, or indeed a replacement, for the poor Tricross which sits dormant in the back of the shop? Should I? Hmmmmm....

You fuckin what?

2009-01-06T03:15:00.000-08:00

September eh? Wow, this blog seems to have stalled. That's what happens when no-one is riding singlesppeds. They are sitting there, the TriCross is just sitting there, the KHS/SSSS is sitting there (back in Aus mind you) and this blog is just... sitting here. Josh sold his CrossCheck, and sometimes cruises the streets on his Pista (which saw the grand total of ONE track session) and Mikey sometimes commutes on his Langster, and Owen is back from the UK and is probably on his old beaten beast. There are a few fixie douchebags around town, but who wants to talk about them? No Wellycats, no nothin... Will we come back?

Re-crossed

2008-09-28T01:29:00.000-07:00

The Tricross has had a transformation back to how it should be. Peeved after attempting to copy MASH, where I aborted after previewing what is essentially a wanky scene designed for poseurs who are more into the image than the ride, I dragged out the 'cross tyres and mounted those babies. Josh caught wind of the impending mods, and being the tinkerer that he is, was soon digging out a set of cantis from his box of mystery, citing "ya gotta keep it authentic" as a reason to sacrifice the braking power of V-brakes for a more traditional set-up.
Of course he's right, and the knobbies don't roll fast enough on my commute to warrant needing any brakes anyway! Now, to get it off-road again...

The new Anger Management tool

2008-09-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Someone once commented to me that trackies all have anger issues. Really? Brett often tells me that I have deep-seated hate issues, so this could be quite an appropriate venture (although he's usually half joking, there is some truth in that statement, since I do find everything about him utterly repulsive and am not usually shy about sharing this sentiment with him in public). Anyway, last week my new Avanti Pista track bike turned up. I've swapped out the more boring stock parts for some nicer bits that I had lying around. The finished bike looks like this:

I'm looking forward to getting it into the Hataitai Velodrome and racing on it once track season starts in a month or so. I've only ever ridden track a couple of times. I turned up on my Surly Cross Check with a bigger gear and gave it a go last year; good fun, but the Surly is definitely more of a street cruiser. The Pista couldn't be more different; it's plenty stiff and way tighter and steeper (uh, like a track bike, I guess...). Anyway, once the track dries out (it's outdoors and it's raining a lot today) I'll be out there for a trial run. To exorcise some of the hate.

New Season Single Speed Steeds Steal Show.

2008-08-25T02:23:00.000-07:00

As reported over at bikes, beer, beats we got up to Auckland for the Avanti/Specialized 2009 release. Both makes had several SS's on display, with the big S only bringing in one of the Langster range again this year. This time it's the hideous Las Vegas model, which replaces last year's equally uninspiring London. I didn't get a picture, I must've been more disgusted than I thought at the time. Here's some of the other machines sans shifters.
Josh checks out the Avanti Pista Pro and gets the ridiculous idea that he might do some track racing this year (I hope I don't suffer the same delusions). No doubt he was inspired by the huge success of the NZ track team at the Olympics, where it was a Bronze-rush! Ok, and a silver too.
Pista Solo, basically a entry-level Pista with some brakes and a dodgy 'cityscape' paint job. Still looked better than the Las Vegas Langster though.
Avanti K.I.S.S. (Kylie Is So Slutty) 29er. Actually looks pretty good, a way better colour than last year. Cheap but not too nasty (unlike Kylie).
And the 26" version. I think this one stands for Kevin Is Slightly Stoned. Just like any good singlespeeder (well, fixie rider anyway.)
Tricross Singlecross... I'm not gonna say anything bad about this one, because I wish mine had this paintjob. One of the best looking bikes there in my opinion (which counts for nothing really).

NZ SS Video

2008-08-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

Check out this vid from the NZ SS titles earlier this year... if you blink you'll miss the cameos by Chris The Courier and yours truly.

The Museum

2008-07-28T00:59:00.000-07:00

Johnny Klink is a bikophile of the highest, and most disturbing order. He turned up for a ride at Killi on saturday with this beast, his latest build project which shal from now be known as 'The Museum'. If you can remember any of the components on this bike, then you've been around mountain biking for a long time. JK will be giving us his take on the project soon, but for now bask in the glory of 'The Museum'.

SSSS S's (the extra s is for stickers)

2008-07-19T04:15:00.000-07:00

Johnny Klink had an idea. He wanted to ditch his KHS softail frame which had been utilsed as his SSer for awhile. My SS was sitting in Aus doing nothing, so he hatched a plan to swap his bits onto my frame and sell the leftovers and give me the money. He got the bike stripped down and ready to swap over, so I decided I wanted to keep it afterall....so being the good bloke that he is, he rebuilt the bike for me. He'd taken off the faux Indy Fab stickers and was going to get new ones made. I suggested he get Scared Shiftless instead, and the lad did a smashing job, don't you agree?
We're thinking of getting a batch made up, but they ain't cheap, so if there's any interest in them we'll get 'em in circulation.

My first taste

2008-07-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

of a 29er, riding the Kman's Salsa El Mariachi around Glenrock yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised I must say, I don't know if it was just the buzz of riding a singlespeed again, or the big wheels rolling so well, the rigid fork transmitting the trail to me, or what, but it was a blast. I felt I could push it into corners with confidence, and even in tight, twisty singletrack through close-together trees, it still felt nimble and responsive.This thing would rock with a Fox F29 fork on it, I think it would just fly through rough stuff. Although the rigid fork does look way cool, as does the Salsa CrMo stem.

More carnage

2008-06-24T03:15:00.000-07:00

This time from Dan back in Aussie, he's been mashimg the 34/16 a bit too much by the look of this... settle down there, big fella! Can any chainring stand up to the power? Between him and Chris, drivetrains are shaking in their proverbial boots...

Some Welly fixies

2008-06-22T22:39:00.000-07:00

These local fixies are from Oli's blog... he gets to work on all the nice shit!
An old AS Gillott... as old school as you can get.
This Langster was bought from us, but has been through a remarkable blinging process... Campy Record cranks and levers, carbon tubulars...oww.
A Koga Miyata... there's a name I havent heard for a long time. Apparently ridden by someone named Jenny... where are you, fixie riding ladies?

Flying the flag

2008-06-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

There's been little to blog on the SS front lately, what with Josh's resurrection stalling, selling all his single chainrings, tensioners and other bits, and me only riding the Tricros to and from work.
Luckily, there's always Chris The Courier to rely on, out there day in day out delivering parcels either on his cobbled-together-piece-of-crap or the Langster. Today he dropped by with this bit of carnage, which happened during a wheelie down one of Wellington's busiest streets. A nice ball-slapper was the result, followed by a quick change tho the Langster, and off he went, flying the SS flag for us other slackers.

The resurrection is... not!

2008-05-13T23:08:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well... they said it wouldn't last. And they were right. I gave it three weeks, Big Nath estimated two, but we were both way off the mark.

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?

The resurrection is nigh...

2008-05-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it: I went soft this summer, taking the easy path and doing all of my mountain bike riding on a fully suspended geared bike. Although I flirted with the single speed thing late last year (briefly), technology lured me back to the "all the bells and whistles" fold. I'm not ashamed of that; even on my light and speedy Turner I was still coming home completely fucked from the mammoth suffer fests that Carl calls bike rides.

If any of you were wondering about what happened to the plans to ride the Surly off-road, that modification didn't last out the week - that bike's place really is on the streets, and it just feels strange setting it up any other way. Ho-hum. In the end I wasn't too beat up about not making it to the nationals; I still hadn't shaken a chest infection I'd picked up a few weeks before, and the SSSS was well represented by Bretto showing up on his crazy single-cross bike.

The need to faff with all of my bikes, complete and otherwise, combined with fond (and probably inaccurate) memories of my summer of single speeding glory in 2006 on this bike, has driven me to pull out the old Stumpy hardtail again for a makeover. Pictures to come soon, but for now I can reveal that this bike will be bringing the pain (and exorcising some of my softness) fully-rigid style; the cro-mo fork's just been fitted and the rest is nearing completion...

Single in Vegas

2008-04-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! I'm broken, from being abused by a rigid cyclocross bike for three hours, and the requisite drinking before and after the race. And a brutal race it was, 45km through the awesome Redwoods, which just got harder with each lap. Everyone who rode it, includding SS animal and winner Garth Weinberg, declared it as one of the toughest races ever. I declared it one of the toughest drinking sessions ever...
The course wasn't revealed until we actually got into the forest, and it was a cool figure-8 layout, nothing too long and steep but plenty of technical challenges to punish the tired and/or unattentive.

Chris The Courier got a good start and rode with the big guns for awhile, and finished in 6th place... awesome ride CTC! He would fade later that night in the drinking stakes though, proving once again that the young guys just don't have the endurance.

Kah just about to put a move on me into the first corner, followed by me putting a move on him into the second corner. My bike got plenty of attention and cheers, probably for the "why the hell are you riding that?" aspect of it.

Cabin and Garth were like this for almost the whole race, with Cabin pulling the lead after a beer stop, then Garth re-taking him on the last lap, both doing a final beer-slam to finish off in true SS style. I was doing my beer stop when Cabin came in, and I was still there struggling to get down the Speights as he flew off back onto the course resplendent in his beige skinsuit (a la the NZ cricket team of the 80's).

The first two laps I was on auto-vision when light rain rendered my glasses useless.... I stopped and removed the tinted lenses after lap two, the rain stopped, and I could see clearly now.
Didn't stop me from crashing a couple of times though, the skinny tyres, rigid fork, beer-goggles and fatigue teaming up to slam me to the ground.

When it was all over, the real event began at the Pig N Whistle, where I performed a lot better than I had earlier in the day. The night ended up (in the morning) with some shenanigans involving some of the local wildlife, bourbon, and a spa pool... enough said. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
Thanks to Chris The Courier's mum Robyn for taking the pics.

Langster gets cross'd out

2008-04-13T23:42:00.000-07:00

Musical bikes knows no bounds. I've sold off my faithful Langster to Chris The Courier, and gained a new Tricross Singlecross. This bike kills two birds with the one stone... it'll do most duty as my commuter, running fixed, and as my singlespeed 'mountain bike', perfect for the upcoming NZ SS Champs in Vegas.

I've always wanted a cyclocross bike, and this was the perfect introduction, at the right price. Those tyres aren't as scary as they look. I took it on it's first off-road jaunt today at Makara, and it handled the singletrack with aplomb, and put the biggest smile on my face since Jesus rode a ProFlex. My back ached on the climbs and my hands went numb on the descents, but man it's fun. (I double-wrapped the bars as soon as I got back!)

And the looks and comments you get from mountain bikers is priceless. I'm running 38-18 gearing for off-road, and will revert to 44-16 fixed for the road, probably with smoother, narrower tyres. But then again, it could see a lot more dirt than tar this winter...

Any dentists in the house?

2008-04-10T13:32:00.001-07:00

Big O's Langster, the most abused fixie in NZ, has suffered horribly again at the hands of the lanky one. He said, in all seriousness, "it was making a bit of a grinding noise..."

The bikes of Wellycats 2

2008-04-02T00:12:00.000-07:00

The second installment of Wellycats was run tonight, on short notice and with a small but enthusiastic turnout. The concept was a little different too, with the first checkpoint at one of four choices, all gyms where we had to locate Jim. From there you would be pointed to the next check, and so on. Chris the courier used his streetwise-ness to full effect and took the win, five minutes(!) ahead of yours truly, taking a sprint-of-sorts from damn-I-can't-remember-his-name-Giant-rep. Once again my navigational skills (or lack thereof) let me down, when at the third check and with Chris just leaving, I thought I'd take a shortcut and not follow the courier, thinking in my head "Tinakori Rd" instead of the actual "The Terrace" which I'd been instructed. Lesson; always follow the courier. Second bad decision; I was going to zip-tie my camera to my bars and get some pics and video, but gave it to Mark instead, who was marshalling and took ZERO pics.

Here are some of the weird and wonderful steeds on show.

Paul's (the mastermind behind Wellycats) On-One.

The young fella who's name escapes me's Pinarello, with Chorus goodies... nice.

Jim's Cotic simple... does everything that machine.

Chris the courier's winning piece of cobbled together crap! Just proves that it's not really about the bike at all...

Kah's thing...not sure what is going on there!

More Kah-razyness.

Damn-I-can't-remember-his-name-Giant-rep's Giant TCR, lookin pretty good (for a Giant!).

And my trusty Langster, which copped a good rogering down two flights of stairs at Parliament.

Wellycats 2 is ON!

2008-03-31T20:48:00.000-07:00

If you're in Welly on Wednesday 2nd (tomorrow) and you have a fixie or singlespeed, get to Emporio (behind it, in Walter St) at 6 for some fun.

Voodoo Guru

2008-03-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

Dan has a nice new Voodoo frame that he's SS'ed, which I just discovered buried in the Scared Shiftless inbox (I keep forgetting that it's there!). Still got those dodgy red grips though. Do your mates say "what a Wanga" to you, Dan?

One BIG wheel

2008-03-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

Forget your 29ers, this is where it's at, at least as far as unicycling goes. A 36 incher! This young dude gets around town on this beast, drawing plenty of attention along the way, and cruises the Makara trails on his 29er.

Wellycats!

2008-02-28T11:31:00.001-08:00

Alleycat racing is a big part of bike messenger culture in the States, and Wellington now has it's own little race around the city streets: Wellycats! The best thing about it was there wasn't a bike messenger in sight, just a bunch of mountain bikers on whatever singlespeeds or fixies they could cobble together. Of course, the best place to start an alleycat is in an alley, and behind Emporio was the gathering spot. The rubbish skips and broken beer bottles added to the authenticity.
The rules are simple; get to the checkpoints in any way you please, first one back with all the points stamped on his card wins. Then drink beer. There were time bonuses for the first rider to each checkpoint, and I picked up the one at the SPOKE office (only about 200 metres from the start, and no-one else went there!).

And they're off! Owen and me almost didn't make it out of the street, trying to go in opposite directions on the wrong side of each other. Most went to the Basin Reserve first, Mark headed to the Beehive for the sprint win, then it was a heinous climb up to the Met Service.

Benji got a flat down near Parliament and ended up running his 50c dumpster-special back to the finish, proving that you should spend at least a dollar on a bike.

I show off my unco-ordinated running dismount skills. A couple of monumental navigational errors had me riding up Cuba Mall, like a salmon swimming against the current, pissing off a few pedestrians.

And the winner is.... Ricky stomped around the course on his brakeless ghetto fixie in 20 minutes, then made us all feel ill with this unbuttoned shirt victory salute. Thanks to Paul for putting this on, it was a blast and I can't wait for the next one (last Wednesday of each month is touted).

*For some real hairy Alleycat action in London and New York, plus other stuff, check this site out.

Release the hounds

2008-02-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

Our singlespeeding cohort from Newcastle, Dan, asked me to "be a dear" and post the link to Wolfhound Cycles blog. Apparently, these bikes are "getting him moist", something that I'd rather not think too much about.

There are lots of cool pics on the manudfacturing process of these sometimes funky, sometimes downright strange looking bikes. Worth checking out their full site too. Keep some tissues handy, though.

Fix Push

2008-01-20T18:30:00.000-08:00

The fixie movement has gotten out of hand, right? Well that's nothing... check this shit out!

Menage a trois

2007-12-20T20:03:00.000-08:00

Check out Declan Cox from Valley Cycle's bike:

So much potential. So tastelessly executed. Sorry Dec, but putting neon green Lizard Skins grips, Titec carbon bars and an SDG I-Beam saddle on a vintage Merlin Titanium frame that deserves something classy from vaguely the same era is just wrong.

Fashion gripes aside, I've ridden this bike offroad and it's super sweet. I've yet to come across a rigid singlespeed that handles as well as this baby.

Here's my Cross Check after the transformation that was blogged a few posts ago:

This is yet to be taken to the trails, but if the way it feels on the streets is anything to go by it should be a ripper. 700x32 Smallblock Eight tyres, EA50 riser bars, 38x18 (free) and38x16 (fixed) gearing. Bummer that I didn't get the time off to go to Vegas for the SS nationals. Brett might get the chance to hurt himself on this bike instead.

Last up, check out what you can get from Surly, fully built, fixed and ready to go:

The Steamroller complete. Pretty well specced with Surly 1x1 hubs and a Surly sprocket, and great value at around $1300. My flatmate Karen plans to use this as a round town bike, having ridden my cross check in one of its previous fixed-wheel incarnations and loved it. I'm looking forward to putting a few miles on it too. These guys must be taking the piss with the included owner's manual though:

Converting the converted

2007-12-01T16:58:00.000-08:00

Preparations are underway for NZ's first singlespeed National Champs next April in the magical singletrack of Rotorua's Whakarewarewa forest. Well, Josh and my preparations are underway, first trying to secure the weekend off work, then picking a suitable (or unsuitable) steed on which to compete... na, make that participate. I dug out an old, old Giant Iguana from the pile of bikes that have been traded in at work for a promotion, but after an hour of trying to extract a jammed solid seatpost, gave up and returned it to it's home in the corner of the workshop.

Josh, meanwhile, is putting his Surly Crosscheck through it's umpteenth transformation in the last few months, this time adding riser bars and and cross tyres but keeping the wheel in fixed mode, although there is talk of free-ing the wheel in the name of sanity.

With my SS back in Aus, and the pile of crap for conversion just too much to cope with, I'm thinking of pony-ing up for one of these babies.
I can get it pretty cheap, and I can sell it off at the race afterwards... or will the 29 bug bite me and inspire me to more upgrades in the name of cool? Time will tell. We'll keep you posted on the Surly's surgery and our beer-drinking training (mine's going pretty well so far).

BMX Bandits

2007-11-30T17:20:00.000-08:00

BMX bikes aren't just for kids, right? No, but maybe the adults who ride them never lose their 'sense of youth', as evidenced by the following graphic examples of bike molestation purveyed by our twisted workmate James. We apologise in advance for the lack of subtlety, but hey, singlespeeders aren't exactly known for decorum either.

Apparently the owner of the bike is a huge man with some anger issues... could this push him over the edge?

Ned Flanders would be proud of the use of Spokey Dokeys.

Cool bike goes to uncool home...

2007-11-21T13:41:00.000-08:00

We get a lot of old shitters coming through the doors here at the shop, most of them uninspiring 'racing bikes' from the 70's and 80's. But last week this one was wheeled in by a kinda cute young lass with her hipster douchebag accomplice.

This really is a cool old bike, a BSA Stronglight, God knows where the young lady dug it up from (I'm sure she told us, but we were too amused by her weird little friend).

I'll let Josh loose on the poor fella's 'dress sense' or lack thereof.

People like this annoy me immensely; it's becoming increasingly difficult to hold back from verbally whipping them down in public. It's not enough that I have no appreciation whatsoever of their dress sense. It bewilders me that people have created a style out of looking as ridiculous as possible and go about their business thinking that they're cutting edge. The douchebag referred to above was wearing girls jeans that were too big for him, required braces (a 19 year old wearing suspenders? give me a break!) and tapered adsurdly from the knee down to his skinny ankles; his shirt was buttoned all the way to the collar and accentuated his lack of any apparent muscle tone; he was wearing shoes that were obviously bought at an op shop because they would go with his look, although in real life a 90 year old had probably owned them all his life and recently died in them; worst of all, his foppish hair poked out from beneath a blue beret worn at a jaunty angle.

This crap truly sickens me. Brett politely asked the girl how her bike was running, to which she replied that it was great, although the brakes didn't work very well at all; this wasn't seen to be a serious problem though, since the bike was only getting ridden around slowly on the flat. Come on. This is tantamount to admitting that it's just another accessory to be seen posing with. I could rant till my fingers cramp up on this one, but lunchtime's over and I have to get back to the freak show. Back to you, Brett.

Josh

How can I possibly top that? And here I was thinking that I was the king of intolerance... hail to the new king, Josh!

Welcome to Hell...

2007-11-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

...Population, Casio! He being the man who stated "brakes are a sin" found himself knelt in the confessional box. Said box being On Yer Bike, where his deemed penance was purchase one front road brake, install on fixie, eat own words. The unfortunate heathen was struck down from above on the motorway by a motorist of the apocalypse, and salvation was sought at the altar of the Church of OYB. Holding limp, shredded tubulars in his stigmata-scarred hands, he bowed his head in shame and dragged his cloven hooves out of there. Your soul is ours, Casey. Look over your shoulder out there.

Mikey fixes up

2007-11-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

Our workmate Mike finally got off his old Sakae SS roady and plumped for a 07 Langster, same as the one I ride but ten sizes smaller! So far he's lovin the fixed gear experience, after he remembered he couldn't coast down Nevay Road and nearly got pitched over the bars on his maiden voyage. He even cranked it up Brooklyn Hill on his way home one day, something that I haven't had the energy to attempt as yet. But if Owen can get up there in 48/17 after Friday night beers every week, then I should at least have a crack. Keep pedalling, Mikey!

Casio and Jeremiah fuckin' boo-ba.

2007-10-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry boys, the title was Brett's idea, not mine. For most people riding a fixie, the progression goes something like this: curiosity is aroused, gears come off bike, bike is ridden as singlespeed for sometime, courage builds up, freewheel is swapped for fixed cog, and viola! a fixed gear convert is born. These two bought some second hand track bikes off trade me and in doing so took the direct route to the dark path of hardcore of fixed gear riding. Twitchy track geometry and strictly brake-free (you couldn't fit one if you wanted to), their bikes are as purist fixed wheel as you get. These guys make regular appearances at On Yer Bike now, so while they're still alive Bretto figured we should post some pictures of their bikes. Here's Casey's Colnago:

And a below the nipples view of Jermiah and his as yet unknown ride:

I'll leave you with a quote from Casey, which seems to have become the pair's motto: "brakes are a sin". Nice work fellas. Stay alive.

Josh

Big Steve B gets Surly

2007-10-24T21:25:00.000-07:00

One of our good customers here at On Yer Bike, Big Steve B, has built up this nice new Surly 1x1 as a "training, mud, ride with the kids" bike. He though that cruising the cycleways with the juniors on his Stumpy Carbon Pro was a little overkill, so he's joined the ranks of the busted knees. Which will match nicely with his busted shoulder, which he's been nursing for a few months.

Welcome to the jungle, Steve.

Tag

2007-10-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

Check out this film I found on youtube, it features some pretty awesome skating and riding, with a wicked, dirty breakbeat track over the top. Gritty.

Enlightenment

2007-10-05T00:03:00.001-07:00

Ok, so the ol blog has suffered a bit lately, so this should keep you going for a while..... Johnny K emailed me this a few years ago, and I just re-discovered it, and it's pretty cool.

The Tao of Singlespeeding

Adapted from the Tao Te Ching, the following verses are meant to inspire and enlighten. Ride. Enjoy. Live.

1
The ride that can be finished is not the perfect ride.
The frame that can be broken is not the perfect frame.
The ride is the beginning of sky and dirt.
The singlespeed is the mother of the ten thousand gears.
Ever desireless, one can see the trail.
Ever desiring, one can see the bike.
The two spring from the same source, but differ in name;
this appears as riding.
The gate to all mystery.

2
Sky and dirt are ruthless;
They see the ten thousand gears as useless.
The wise are ruthless;
They see the riders as fools.

The space between sky and dirt is like a tire.
The shape changes but not the form;
The more it moves, the more it yields.
More gears count less.
Hold fast to the trail.

3
Sky and dirt last forever.
Why do sky and dirt last forever?
They are unborn,
So ever living.
The singlespeeder is behind on the downhill, and ahead on the climb.
He is unencumbered, thus at one with all.
Through flow, he attains fulfillment.

4
Better stop short than fill to the brim.
Make the bike too light, and the handling will suffer.
Adorn your frame with XTR, and no lock can protect it.
Claim medals and podiums, and drug tests will follow.
Drink beer when the ride is done.
This is the way of singlespeeding.

5
Thirty-two spokes share the wheel's hub;
It is the center hole that makes it useful.
Shape latex into a tube;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Drill eyelets in a rim;
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore profit comes from what is there;
Usefulness comes from what is not there.

6
Accept difficulty willingly.
Accept pain as the human condition.

What do you mean by "Accept difficulty willingly"?
Accept being unimportant.
Do not be concerned with your heart rate.
This is called "accepting difficulty willingly."

What do you mean by "Accept pain as the human condition"?
Pain comes from having a body.
Without a body, how could there be pain?

Surrender yourself humbly; then you can be trusted to ride any trail.
Love your bike as your own self; then you can truly ride anywhere.

7
The masters are subtle, mysterious, profound, responsive.
The skill of their riding is unfathomable.
Because it is unfathomable,
All we can do is describe their appearance.
Delicate, like riders crossing a winter stream.
Alert, as if on tight singletrack.
Balanced, as if negotiating a switchback.
Focused, as if on a long climb.
Yielding, like fine steel.
Simple, like track hubs.
Smooth, like machined bearings.

Who can wait quietly for the ride to begin?
Who can remain still until the moment of action?
Followers of singlespeeding do not seek advantage.
Not seeking advantage, they are not swayed by a desire for change.

8
Do you think you can take my bike and improve it?
I do not believe it can be done.

My singlespeed is sacred.
You cannot improve it.
If you try to change it, you will lose it.
If you add a suspension fork, you will ruin it.

So sometimes I am ahead and sometimes I am behind;
Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily;
Sometimes there is strength and sometimes weakness;
Sometimes the trail goes up and sometimes down.

Therefore the singlespeeder avoids extremes, complacency, and heavy traffic on climbs.

9
Give up gears, and put an end to your troubles.

Is there a difference between the granny and the big ring?
Is there a difference between uphill and downhill?
Must I ride what others ride? What nonsense!
Other people are contented, enjoying their full suspension.
In spring some go to the trails and descend the mountain.
But I alone am riding, not knowing where I am.
Like a newborn babe before it learns to smile,
I am alone, without a place to go.

Everyone else is busy,
But I alone am aimless and wandering.
I am different.
I am nourished by the trail.

10
To ride one gear is natural.
Sprints do not last all morning,
Descents do not last all day.

The follower of singlespeeding
is at one with his bike.
He who rides smoothly
Experiences flow.
He who loses the trail
Becomes confused.
When you are at one with your bike,
The trail welcomes you.
When you conserve your momentum,
The flow is always there.
When you are at one with pain,
The pain is experienced willingly.

He who does not get out of the saddle
Will not make it to the top of the hill.

11
He who has his weight forward is not steady.
He who sprints cannot maintain the pace.
He who makes a show is not enlightened.
He who is self-righteous is not respected.
He who boasts achieves nothing.
He who brags will not endure.
According to the followers of singlespeeding,
"These are extra gears and unnecessary weight,"
They do not bring happiness.
Therefore followers of singlespeeding avoid them.

12
Spinning is the motion of the singlespeed.
Flow is the way of the singlespeed.
The ten thousand gears are born of singlespeeding.
Singlespeeding is born of not riding.

13
The wise rider hears of singlespeeding and practices it diligently.
The average rider hears of singlespeeding and thinks of it now and again.
The foolish rider hears of singlespeeding and laughs aloud.
If there were no laughter, singlespeeding would not be what it is.

Hence it is said:
The smooth trail seems rough.
Going forward seems like retreat.
The easy climb seems hard.
Singlespeeding is quiet and without artifice.
One gear alone nourishes and brings the ride to completion.

---------

Adapted by Corvus Corvax from The Tao Te Ching, translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, Random House, Inc., New York (1972), with apologies to Lao Tsu.

Asking for trouble

2007-09-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

Some people just have no idea. "Lets get a blowtorch, twist and flatten all the tubing on this bike, then ride the sucker!" I hope these collapsed catastrophically and gave the riders what they deserved. Pics courtesy of Dan.

Skid row

2007-08-26T22:35:00.001-07:00

Skidding on the trail is bad, okay? But skidding on a fixie is only harmful to your tyres, and leaves some cool marks on the tarmac. This is the run down to my flat's front gate, the green one there. I practice my skid stops here rather than in the traffic. I've just discovered that having your pedal at 6 O'clock, rather than 9, is easier on the knees and produces a longer lock up. Now, back to work on those track stands.

Chop job

2007-08-26T22:26:00.000-07:00

Mikey's SS commuting sled was giving him some grief, being a bit to stretched and low for the little fella. Now we can't have that, can we? So taking a cue from pics of fixies on the net, I offered to do some modifications for him, which he stupidly agreed to all too willingly.

After a couple of hours of sawing, filing, experimenting with different levers, taping, un-taping, re-taping again and again, we had success. Except minion Nigel thought it was sacriledge to chop a Japanese Nitto bar, but who listens to him anyway? They're sellin 'em for twenty bucks, forgodsake! And if Mikey's happy, everyone's happy.

Freaky fixed

2007-08-23T02:12:00.000-07:00

Most fixie riders are a little out there, and their bikes usually reflect that fact. Here's a few sourced from the bible of fixed, fixedgeargallery.

Aero bars? On a fixie? Asking for trouble...

Looks like it came straight from an alleycat.

Schminky pinky.

The pimpin big brother of the Langster, all dressed up and no brakes to slow.

What can you say about this?
Interesting brake lever placement, but cool mixte frame.

Check out the size of that plate!
Looks like a bike a prisoner would ride. There's a Langster under there somewhere, apparently.

Back from the dead

2007-08-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

Dan sent a link to these fixies, being sold in Australia for $1950! They are old 1960's Speedwell frames done up with new parts. My dad has one hanging up in bits in his shed, original one owner! I might have to resurrect that sucker.
Check out more pics here.

Big O's (and little Mike's) candy

2007-08-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

Could this be NZ's most abused fixie? Owen certainly gives his Langster a good workout, riding it everywhere from the city streets to some off-road jaunts! He just added the retro-stylee fenders, with some modifications to make them fit, i.e. filing off the lawyer tabs on the fork and spacing the axle to allow the gaurd to fit under the brake, and leaving enough room at the back to get the wheel out in case of a flat (which happens a bit from his skid stops). Check out the seatpost height... how tall are you now Owen, 7'2", 7'3"?
Mike has just started working with us, and he commutes on this retro SS roady. He didn't know it's origin, but I recognised the frame from the earkly 90's as a SR Sakae Litage.

Josh's candy (and Bretto's too)

2007-08-04T20:11:00.001-07:00

This is a cool bike. It's Josh's Surly CrossCheck, not sure what size, but he's a midget so pretty small. Good ol' 4130 steel frame and fork, DT rims on Surly hubs, Ultegra crank, Thomson post, ITM stem and sweet Campy Record carbon levers (only one in operation). Running 45/16 man's gearing. Bretto's Langster. 58cm alloy frame, carbon fork and post, bog standard wheelset that came on it, 105 crank with FSA ring. Running 44/16 ladies gearing.

Sums it up really...

2007-08-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

The following is Dan's answer to a question posed by a geared rider on the Glenrock Trail Alliance forums. The question was "Gears weren't invented for nothing, why does everyone on this forum choose this primitive form of MTB?"

Dan, take the pulpit, word to my brother!

"I am like many other riders. Love flicking through the mags, looking at manufacturers web sites, and also love to look at the new bike a mate has bought. I, like many other riders believe in the hype that we are fed about what we need to enjoy the sport.

Then I got an SS.

I very quickly realized that I do not NEED 5 inches of travel at each end, I do not NEED super light componentry, I do not NEED top end bits and bobs to enjoy a ride.

I NEED 2 wheels, handle bars, a suspension fork for a little comfort and control (don't even really NEED that) some pedals, and some trail, that's it. SS can teach you that you don't NEED all this other crap to enjoy the ride.

SSing saved me from riding boredom. It saved me from NEEDING all that crap that I don't really NEED.

Every one will ride SS for a different reason.

The above is mine. "

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Alta'd images

2007-07-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

This is a cool ad from Norwegian SS/fixed bike manufacturer ALTA. Their bikes look awesome too, simple, clean and functional. Like all good SS's should be.

Some Welly fixies

2007-07-29T20:26:00.001-07:00

Here's a couple of fixies found on Wheelworks' website, where Josh got his rear wheel built by Tristan (see previous post). This is Tristans personal bike, a steel framed job in a huuuge size. Having not met him, I can only assume he's a man mountain!

Giant's aren't my favourite bikes, but this is an interesting conversion of an alloy TCR to fixie. I've been toying with the idea of converting my Tarmac to a singlespeed recently, maybe not fixed so I can coast downhill on long rides, and also still be able to use my pimp DT Oro wheels. But then again, I'll probably just use the Langster.

You'll hear me coming...

2007-07-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tristan delivered my newly built up rear wheel yesterday. In the end I settled on the Hope Pro II singlespeed hub option, which he laced onto a DT 4.2 disc rim using DT revolution spokes. It came out lighter than I expected, considering how the rear hub is such a beefcake.

I've only ridden it around the block so far, but it feels lighter and stiffer already than my old wheel. Tristan is a product development and design student, and has made numerous tools which he uses in his workshop. One of these is the torsional stiffness jig:

Which measures the lateral stiffness of wheels. Research shows that non-dished wheels are significantly stiffer than dished ones (ie, wheels which use a standard 8-10spd cassette body), making a great case for singlespeed specific, non-dished hubs. Tristan also built the wheels on my Surly Cross Check fixie (which I need to get around to posting a picture of on this site), which are lightweight DT road rims on Surly track hubs. These non-dished wheels have been hammered and haven't seen a spoke key near them since the day they were built. They still run true.

This ratchet on this hub is louder than any that I've ever heard... you'll hear me coming.

A gaggle of Langsters

2007-07-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

Specialized has added a range of city-themed Langsters for 08. Some look hot, others not. The Boston.
Chicago.
London.
New York.
Seattle.

Plus a new singlespeed TriCross, which is on my shopping list for sure. Definately hot.

From our U.S. correspondent...

2007-07-16T23:02:00.001-07:00

This is from my Langster Bro in New Jersey...

New York City Single Speed Pictures - July 16, 2007

I had to go into the New York office today and I made sure I brought my camera to get some pictures of some Single Speeders (extra points for fixie!!). I forgot for most of the day but I remembered I wanted to get some pictures when a messenger rode by me. I started looking so hard for bikes that I almost walked out into traffic. I did end up missing one train and I had to take a later one which meant I missed my evening ride window.
This was taken in Little Italy over the weekend but I figured that I would rerun it the way newspapers do. My first attempt at catching a messenger. This one was easy to get. I had already crossed over to the west side of 6th Avenue when I spotted this bike. I ended up crossing back over to the east side to get this picture. I have noticed that the messangers that ride fixie have a lot more pride in ownership. I saw this guy coming but I had to wait for a bus to pass before I could get the picture. By the time the camera reset. After a few minutes I realized I could tell a fixie rider just by the way he was riding. I can not explain the difference but my eye started to pickup on it.The DIY Single Speed method.This kid was walking with his mother and I had the camera on so I snapped the photo. BMX bikes are still single speeds.

Posted by Flametop59.

Well, it has one gear..

2007-07-16T00:47:00.001-07:00

Ok, so it's not a mountain bike, but Stevie G's MirraCo Black Pearl is one of the best looking BMX bikes I've seen. It's got all the trick bits on it too, and he can ride it a bit.
The owner of this Ventana El Toro can ride a bit too. It's A-Dub's (Aaron) beast, and he gave me a couple of good kickings on it at the Crater Rim and Karapoti races earlier this year.

Dan's candy

2007-07-10T15:38:00.001-07:00

Here's Dan's "refreshinglygood" GT singly in all it's glory. I love how he took the time to set the bike gently in position to capture it's true aesthetic beauty... more like just threw it against the wall before giving it a good thrashing. Once again, the red grips are a no-no. The rules boys, the rules....

Lenny's candy

2007-07-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

Here we have a fine example of a bitza bike, the best way to get into singlespeeding in my opinion. Mountain bikers always accumulate stuff, and Lenny had some good stuff lying around by the look of it. But dude, the red grips have gotta go... there are rules, you know.
For our non-Newcastle readers, this photo was taken at Killingworth aka Killi, where our local club puts on it's XC and DH races. Apparently there will be an SS class at our club championships in September, just in time for my return....

Blingle speedin

2007-07-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

At some point, sometime soon, the plan is to ditch the very ordinary Shimano 525 hub on the rear wheel of my Specialized and replace it with something that has some balls. The question is, which one to choose?

At the moment, I'm considering the Hope Pro2 Singlespeed:

Or the DT Swiss 240 Singlespeed:

But am open to other options, too. Probably not this, though:

Pricing will have some influence on the final decision. Working in a shop helps, but none of these hubs are particularly cheap, retail priced at $499 (Hope), $699 (DT) and approx $849 (King).

I'm liking the Hope option at this point; Owen has one on his trials bike and it works mint. If you're going to ride a bike with a freewheel, it might as well make a satisfying loud clicking sound as you cruise along, and with 48 engagement points the Hope buzzes like an angry hornet and definitely lets people know you're coming.

Have decided to shy away from screw-on freewheel types like the Surly or White industries hubs. Although you can get some awesome screw-on freewheels (like White Industries' offering), the non-adjustable default chainline that you end up with seems like a negative. Maybe I'm just being fussy, but I used to ride a SS that had this sort of hub and sometimes, when you were least in the mood for it, changing freewheels could be a total pain in the arse.

Opinions? Suggestions?

Short but sweet

2007-07-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

Last night I was all primed for a jaunt around the Bays on the Langster. The temperature had dropped a bit by the time I knocked off work, so the 10 minute get dressed ritual was in full swing. Feeling brave, I opted for knee warmers rather than full legs. Locking up the shop and swinging out into the street, I was met with rain. By the time I'd ridden 100 metres, my exposed calves felt like ice. My glasses were rendered useless, and the Bay ride was quickly put on the back burner. But there was one final task... the climb up Carlton Gore Road. Usually I take the longer, not-as-steep option of Maida Vale Road, but the direct route would get me home earlier, but not necessarily drier. Now as any fixie/singlespeed rider knows, you have to attack the climbs or suffer the ignominity of walking. Up ahead I saw a red flashing light and made it my prey. This guy was going up at a good clip, spinning a nice cadence at a good pace. Asd I passed him I offered a cheery 'hi', not wanting to seem like some show-off wanker. That's the conundrum... because you have to stomp it out of the saddle, you can seem to others as some sort of commuting hero. But on the upside, climbing on a fixie is faster, more painful and definately character building. And when you sit down, you have to get 'in the drops' to generate some power, which has the benefit of making you feel like Pantani... forza fixed gear!

And now for today's eye candy

Eye Candy of the Day 2

2007-07-04T15:51:00.001-07:00

A sweet Rocky Mountain fixie from this guy's blog.

And this bike just looks incredible.

Eye Candy of the Day

2007-07-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

I miss having my SS here in NZ with me, especially now there's been a bit of rain around, and with Josh having his new beast built up. I took the Langster option rather than the (geared) Stumpy option last night when the crew headed up to Makara. Apparently the SS was the weapon of choice in the slop.When I get back to Aus, I'll be putting on Juicy 7 brakes with a 180mm front rotor, which came off my Stumpy. It also now sports XT cranks, which were put on after this pic was taken (post 2006 Killy 8 hour, where myself, Christian and Tomkinson took second in 3 man team under the SSSS banner). For now I'll just look at it and pine...

And here we have Josh's first Stumpy hardtail SS from a couple of years ago.
The man loves the less gears, more beers approach... can't fault him for that!

Stumpjumper reborn as singlespeed bastard child

2007-07-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

I'm back on a singlespeed mountain bike again at long last:

My Specialized Stumpjumper hardtail that I bought during the summer when I worked at On Yer Bike. All of the bits that came with it were transferred across to the i-drive frame I recently bought, leaving just a frame hanging on the wall. I love this frame so much and missed riding singlespeeds, so turning it into one made perfect sense... to me, anyway. Few people outside of the SSSS really get this bike and can't comprehend my excitement over it. Fools!

A DMR tension seeker 2 is holding it all together. I've been out on just one ride so far - in pouring rain through some sloppy trails - and the magic gear of 32x16 is working out well, as is the tensioner... really smooth and quiet.

Makes me wonder how much attention my fully's going to get now. The less the better at this time of year, I guess... the singlespeed's well and truly in its element right now.

Keep it single, stupid...

2007-06-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Do you like pain? Do you like simplicity? Then you probably ride a singlespeed. Or taking it to the nth degree, a fixed gear. Revel in our pain as we bring you the adventures of the Scared Shiftless Singlespeed Society (SSSS), a group of like-minded masochists from all over the world. It all started in Newcastle, NSW Australia back in 1998, when a young(er) brettok converted an old hardtail into his first singlespeed MTB. In one form or another, he has owned an incarnation of these off-road torture devices ever since. The SSSS has always existed, if, up until now, only in his head, and in conversations with other ss cohorts. Since arriving in Wellington NZ in 2007, he has joined the ranks of ss/fixed gear road riders, due in large part to the influence and goading of SSSS co-conspiritor and beer drinker Josh. Along with other fixie freaks like Owen and Bella, my (freewheeling) Langster bro in New Jersey and ss mtb'ers back in Newcastle like Tomkinson, we hope to form a rabble of rowdy rebels who share the love of the quiet hum of one speeding, mixed with the gentle creaking and tearing of knee cartilidge.... if you'd like to contribute to the madness, drop us a line at no-shift@hotmail.com