Fri 14 Dec 2007
Project Single Speed *on a budget* Part I The Search
Posted by foofighter under Lifestyle[2] Comments
I’ve been hankering to punish myself recently so I decided that I will look for a hardtail frame and start my Single Speed Project; the only caveat though is that I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on this build because if i absolutely hated it, I wouldn’t be in the whole too much.
MY first suggestion by an STR member was to find a used front suspension mountain bike, strip all the drivetrain gear out of it and convert it to a single speeder. Not a bad idea actually, if you have the patience to look for one make the trip to look at it examine it and haggle. If any of you readers know me, you know I cannot wait. Plus my itchy fingers likes to build things and put things together. So I decided to look for a used bike as well as look for an extremely affordable hardtail frame as a basis for my single speed budget build.
WOULDNT you know it? My buddy Thai (who loves the thrill of finding the bargain) found a great deal from a local bike shop (LBS) called Adrenaline. The frame is your standard double triangle frame with some really nice gussets and welds stout enough to make this into a dirt jumper if you’re so inclined. The price on this frame you ask? On the Adrenaline site, it lists for $99 + shipping and tax if you’re a California resident. But if you’re a member of STR you actuallyEn 1986 el difunto senador Jack Lindsay, Marlboro, indujo discretamente una clausula en una ley complicada que permite que las maquinas de poker entreguen pagos. get additional discounts from the shop, kind of a way to say thank you for supporting a local shop instead of some conglomerate chain. As luck would have it the frames he had in stock were all painted a flat black! I LOVE BLACK. Chatted with Neil (Manager at Adrenaline) and he told me he’s built a handful of these Marin AXC 1.1 B-17’s before and they are great geared or as a SS. With those words, there was no turning back for me. This guy was not set to embark on a journey that I hope will not only challenge me but also open my mind to what some mountain bikers refer to as being one with your bike. Neil even jokingly said, are you sure you want to do this? Because most people that try single speeding will never ride their full suspension bikes again. I hope not! Because I spent a lot of money on my other bike and my wife would kill me if I didn’t ride it as much!
компютри втора употребаSO the tally so far, I spent $80.00 on the frame and have made myself a list of what I needed to get, either through donations or through shrewd bargain hunting. Here are some pics of the frame.![]()
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THIS is what I need: seat post, saddle, front fork (100mm travel), stem, handlebar, single speed conversion rear cog kit, wheelset, tires, disc brakes, crank arms, bottom bracket, and clipless pedals! Seems like a lot, because it is a lot, I’m basically building this bike from the bottom up! But this is where the fun begins! In discussing this build with my co-worker who himself is an avid mountain biker, he offered up some parts from his Enduro that he had just upgraded parts from and is no longer using. He offered up (I got giddy with excitement), a seat post, saddle, stem, and handlebars. FOR FREE!!!! STOKED I was! He also has a Manitou front fork in 100mm travel (ironic eh?) that’s sitting at his house in Houston that he’ll bring bake with him when he heads home to visit for Christmas! Not only that, but he’s planning on upgrading his disc brakes to some real Gucci disc brake system from Magura. So we struck a deal that I would get those brakes from him for $100 to help him offset his new brake investment.
THIS build is really starting to take shape!
BUT wait, there’s more! I went and looked on eBay and watched, bidded and WON a brand new set of wheels for $156.00 SHIPPED to my door. The wheelset consists of Shimano XT hubs front and rear, DT Swiss straight pull spokes and nipples, and Mavic 317 wheels all laced up in black…it matches
Another item to tick off the list. The next item that I got through the immense generosity of a fellow mountain biker on the STR forum (Jeff) donated a spare set of Truvativ Single Speed crank arms and bottom bracket! He read my post about my ambitious project and was thrilled to hear/read that I was taking the SS plunge that he wanted to aid me into the spiraling descent into the SS world. Didn’t I tell you that the mountain bike community here in socal is probably one of the closest and most caring and generous group of individuals you will ever have the pleasure in meeting and riding with. Before I end Part I of the build I wanted to recap. What do I need now? seat post, saddle, front fork (100mm travel), stem, handlebar, single speed conversion rear cog kit, wheelset, disc brakes, crank arms, bottom bracket, tires, and clipless pedals! So I’m still just $236 into the project and managed to secure 10 of the 12 items on my checklist. That’s 83% of the needed parts already! How cool is that? All of this cannot be possible without the generosity of other passionate riders. I’m just bursting with excitement waiting to build this bike up!
TUNE in the next installment when I finalize my build list and start the installation process!