Trail Tested – 26 vs 29er Single Speed Mountain Bike Comparison – Which is Better?

The post below originally appeared on Steve Zdawcynski’s website, The Steve Z Photography Photo Blog and has been posted with his permission.  Enjoy!

A lot of my singlespeed friends are riding 29ers these days. The idea of wheels that roll over terrain more easily is quite attractive. But what about all that rotating weight? Won’t the bike still be slower and harder to pedal up these tough Colorado climbs? I set out to find out the answers myself with an informal little shootout. In this article I will comparison test two somewhat similar steel hardtail singlespeed bikes. I will outline the component spec on each, describe the course they were tested on, and detail my on trail impressions. Finally, I will give my personal thoughts and conclusions, followed by recommendations on which bike might be the best for you. Keep in mind this is a 26 vs. 29er article, tested in single speed configuration. Why single speeds? Why on earth would you want to climb mountains with only one gear? Lets not get into the why’s, pluses, and minuses of singlespeeding, that is another story entirely! This story is already way too long as it is, so let’s get started!

THE COMPARISON

I drove both bikes up to the Betasso Loop outside of Boulder. I rode each bike over a set loop and timed myself, meanwhile making notes in my head, comparing the bikes over the same terrain on the same day. I wanted to compare the bikes one right after another. It can be hard to compare bikes on different days, as my energies and motivations vary day to day. I did not wear a heart rate monitor. I did not have a power meter. I did not set the bikes up exactly the same way. If you want a totally scientific comparison, check out CyclingNews’ Tech Feature: 26 vs. 29 inch wheels. Unfortunately, that project has been in the works for well over 6 months with no final results published, so I decided to conduct my own. While the CyclingNews comparison is all about science and performance, I want mine to be all about fun and feel. With a little bit of numbers; because getting dropped is no fun at all!

The subjective nature of this test is of course the biggest limiter towards any sort of validity relating to my course times. I just tried my best to go the same speed on both runs. I did not go all out, rather, “comfortably hard”, which is around 80%. Well, except on the Canyon Link, because on a singlespeed that trail is an all out event, but more on that later. I have ten years of heart rate race training experience, as well as a season on a PowerTap under my belt. I’m pretty confident in my ability to monitor output and effort. Plus I’m a bit of a wimp these days; I don’t like to suffer too badly, so I’ll generally ride as fast as I can without really suffering too much. I’ve had enough of the pain cave. I like to smell the flowers a bit more these days. On to the 26 verses 29 inch wheel trail review.

THE BIKES

Bike #1: On-One Inbred 29er Single Speed. This bike to me is kind of like the British Surly: Economical, Image-conscious, bombproof, but not particularly light or high tech. The sliding horizontal dropouts are cool. This bike can be built as either a geared or a singlespeed without derailleur. There is pretty good tire clearance, and a lot of standover. Unfortunately the Rock Shox Lockout knob does hit the frame, thus the piece of rubber stuck on there. This is a common 29er problem. The seatstay tubes and yoke are a cool design, although not a particularly weight efficient one. The bike has Avid Juicy 7 hydraulic disc brakes, a Rock Shox Reba 80mm fork, and XT Hubs laced to WTB Trail 29er rims. Traction is controlled by Maxxis Ignitor 2.1 29er tires. The rest of the parts are reasonably light components. Gearing is a 32×20, which on a 29er is 47.2 gear inches.

Bike #2: Curtlo Single Speed. I bought this bike cheap and used at VeloSwap two years ago. I don’t even know the year or the model. This bike was hand made by a small builder in Washington State. It has True Temper Platinum OX steel tubing, butted and ovalized at the bottom bracket. The S bend seatstays have monster tire clearance, 2.5’s are no problem. I love this bike; it is very smooth and very stiff. It still steers pretty quickly even with the 120mm Fox Talas Fork I have on the front. It has Paul’s Components V-brakes, which are the best V-Brakes that I have ever used. The brakes grab ceramic rim surfaces on my 1st generation Bontrager Race Light wheelset with Chris King Hubs. Ceramic rims make a huge improvement for rim brakes. They are a whole level of performance increase over regular machined surfaces. The front tire is a WTB 2.5 Weirwolf and the rear tire is a WTB 2.4 Motoraptor. The rest of the parts are a small bit lighter than the On-One, but the spec is similar. Gear is a 34×19, which on a 26er is 47.4 gear inches, which is almost identical to the On-One gearing.

Comparing the bike builds: I have a detailed list of all the parts on each bike, and their approximate weight IN A CHART CLICK HERE. The frames are functionally pretty similar. They are both steel hardtails weighing approximately 5-ish pounds. The On-One has a distinct braking advantage with the hydraulic discs. This should not affect the test since there is only one downhill with a lot of braking on this course, and it is not very long. The biggest discrepancy is in the wheelset. The XT/WTB wheels weigh 2400 grams for the pair while the Race Lites are only 1435 grams! Some of this weight is due to the larger size, but most of it has to do with the performance. The Race Lites were $800 retail in their day, have 400g rims, 24/28 DT 15/18 Revolution Spokes, alloy nipples, and top of the line Chris King hubs without discs. The XT/WTB wheels are price point, do-it-all-for-everyone, 32 3 cross 14g spokes with brass nipples, plus disc brake rotors (weight not included above). In order to balance the weight a LITTLE bit, I put my biggest and heaviest 26 inch tires on the Curtlo, the fatty WTBs, along with heavy tubes. The tubes and tires on the Curtlo actually weigh more than the 29er’s, which should balance the inertial drag by a bit. Gearing on both bikes are essentially the same. When all is said and done, the 29er is 26.2 lb and the 26er is 23.3 lb. Exactly two pounds of that weight is in the wheels. Wow. There is also a difference in fork suspension travel. I made the Curtlo’s suspension a little stiffer than normal, to compensate for the 50% increase in travel of the 120mm Fox over the 80 mm Rock Shox.

RIDING THE COURSE

The course consists of 2 distinct parts: The Betasso Loop and the Canyon Link. I know these trails like the back of my hand, so riding order shouldn’t matter from a technical sense. I planned to ride the Loop once, take a split time, then ride down the Link to Boulder Canyon, then back up the climb and stop the clock. The Betasso loop itself is 3 miles long, and is generally rolling, fast, and hardpacked, like a BMX track at times. It is very NORBA race course style, and it is perfect for a singlespeed as none of the climbs are very steep for very long. That changes very quickly when you plunge down the Canyon Link. The Link is straight down, then straight up, maybe a mile each way. This part of the course would be the real test for climbing performance. The lower part of the trail varies from barely rideable to unrideable on a single speed bike. The upper half is steep, but poses no real threat of getting knocked off the bike. Also, the Park Service alternates bike riding direction once a month on the loop. On this day the Loop was ridden clockwise.

26er VERSES 29er ON THE TRAIL

I had been planning this test for a while, but I really have things that I should be doing other than spending my time writing this for fun. But God do I love bikes.

So I woke up Thurs morning, and saw the sunrise peeking in my bedroom window. It was already hot in my room at 5:45. I laid there for a minute, then decided it would be a great day do get up early and beat the encroaching heat. I didn’t find out until that afternoon that it was the Summer Solstice! Cool.

I decided to ride the On-One 29er first. It is only fair that I ride the heavier bike when I am fresher. I headed out on a warm-up lap of the link. Since it was early there was no one was out on the trail yet to get in the way of my blazing speed. Haha.

This was my 4th ride on the On-one, and I’m getting quite used to it. The cornering traction is amazing. Hey maybe it could be the Maxxis Ignitor tires, but I kinda doubt it. It feels to me like the gyroscopic action of the big wheels helps to keep you upright and pointed forward. I can definitely two wheel drift more securely and predictably with the longer contact patch that the 29er wheel offer. The Loop does not have too much in the way of rough terrain. There are a few patches of rocks and roots here or there, but you can blast over most of them without slowing down. The big wheels surely roll over these obstacles smoother. In really rooty terrain such as East Coast riding I’m sure this is even more predominant. I have the wheel moved quite forward in the dropouts, I find that manualling (wheelie-ing) this bike with 17.3 inch chainstays is no problem. Finishing the Loop portion of the course (I actually only did a partial loop before heading down the link); my 29er time was 16:01.

Downhilling is where big wheels get really fun. All that spinning inertia between your legs is confidence inspiring. I feel more secure with the big wheels, like it will take a bigger obstacle to knock me off my line. I rode a prototype Ellsworth Evolve full suspension 29er in Moab back in October. I noticed that on the rock drop offs and ledges that Moab has to offer, that big front wheel made it feel like I could nose dive bigger without feeling like I was going to go over the handlebars. Back to Boulder, I finished the descent without much fuss. Now the work begins, 15 minutes of singlespeed pain, here we go! Summer is here and the trail is drying out quick. The dirt is getting loose and sandy, and rear wheel traction is the difference between cleaning the section and walking. Oh, I should mention that the second pitch is unrideable on a singlespeed; it is just too steep. (Disclaimer: I’ve heard that Travis Brown has cleaned this section on a single. Olympians don’t count!) After a short push up the second pitch, there is another very steep and painful but not technically hard third pitch. Then, a VERY short flat spot, followed by the crux of this climb, a 4 tiered maximum output section that is rocky, loose, and rutted. The rear wheel traction of a 29er is wonderful. I’m able to grind away at 40 rpm and still hook the rear wheel up into the dust. I cleaned the rest of the climb without any real close calls. Make a left at the picnic table, to the top of the next short climb, second split was 19:02, for a total loop time of 35:03.

Now, I’m out on the Betasso Loop on the Curtlo Single Speed mountain bike with 26 inch wheels. I’ve been riding 26 inch wheeled mountain bikes for 16 years. Four rides later and now I feel like I’m on a kids bike! The wheels are just so LITTLE! Into the first high speed corners, whoa, almost lost it trying to drift as fast as the other bike. I felt like I had to take the corners a tiny bit more carefully than I did on the 29er. OK, but the 26er should feel more nimble, more flick-able, a better jumper, right? Yes, it does. A little. But not much. On the rough patches I could feel the wheels packing up in the ruts more than the 29er, but I didn’t feel like I was going any slower. It was just felt a little more choppy. On the short and steep climb that finishes the Loop I could feel the lighter wheels. I could definitely hold a seated position more easily while grinding away at 50rpm. I held the more efficient power position for longer on the 26er, which was fortunate since out of the saddle traction was greatly reduced compared to the other bike. As it was getting later in the morning, I had to slow down twice to pass hikers this time around the Loop. I tried to sprint spin back up to speed to make up for lost time. I finished the loop in 15:47, 14 seconds faster. I’m certain that much of it was gained in the steeper uphill portion where I remained seated. Or maybe I was just riding faster after my previous warm-up laps?

On the upper parts of the Link downhill I felt like I was riding exactly the same speed this second time. Both bikes maneuvered the twisties and the turnies equally. The bottom quarter of the run features steep loose and rocky high speed sections. This bike maybe felt a little twitchier and nervous, but I’ve ridden this trail so many times that I’ve got it pretty down. I DID notice the decreased power of the V-brakes, and these Paul V’s with ceramic pads are the best V’s that I’ve ever used. I was getting noticeable forearm pump on the descent which I did not encounter at all on the previous run. So I may have lost a little bit of time on this bike, but I doubt that it was more than a handful of seconds.

Turning around to come up the link, I realized that the first Link run took more out of me than I wanted. I’m not quite fit enough to maintain maximum anaerobic efforts with repeatability. On the first pitch I could feel the lactic acid built up in my quads. Oh crap, the rear tire is spinning out, A LOT! I dismounted for the hike a little earlier than I did last run to try and save my legs a little bit. On the 3rd steep pitch I was glad that I had wheels that were two pounds lighter because I needed to stay seated to keep that rear wheel hooked up. On the small recovery spot I started having nightmares about the lactic acid that was going to pack through my body over the crux. And what if I don’t clean it? That will throw off my times! Well, my lapse of mental focus bit me in the ass, and I missed the very first small root and rock section for the first time in a couple years. I had grown used to those big wheels rolling over the section smoothly and forgot to slam the pedals as hard as I could. I lost maybe 7 seconds and remounted. 20 seconds later while grinding up the hardest part of the section I accidentally pulled my worn right cleat out of the pedal and had to dismount a second time. Bummer. This bike is definitely more difficult to clean these maximum traction technical sections. Once I regained my composure on the more moderately graded upper half I felt like I was going a little faster on the lighter bike. Maybe it was mental. Maybe I just thought I was going faster because the light wheels are supposed to be faster. I can’t say for certain, but once traction was no longer a concern, it just seemed easier to keep the pedals turning over while staying in the saddle. Final time for this split was 18:53. So even with 2 dismounts I was still 9 seconds faster. Total time was 34:40 which was 23 second faster than on the 29er.

THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSIONS

It doesn’t surprise me that my times were very close to being the same. 23 seconds variation over 35 minutes is a difference of only 1%. Since I only had one gear it makes sense that I rode roughly the same speed! What I wanted to find out is which bike made that 35 minutes more enjoyable.

Riding around the loop, the 29er had superior cornering capability due to a larger contact patch. The larger wheels lessen the angle of attack that the wheels hit obstacles on the trail, thereby rolling over them with less jarring. On this loop I was not bothered by the longer wheelbase. There is only one real switchback on this trail, and this bike negotiated it without problems.

On the steep downhill, the larger wheels are confidence inspiring. The bigger bike feels more stable at high speeds. Flicking small kicked out tabletop jumps off of waterbars may have been a little easier on the 26er, but not much. On previous trails I have noticed an increased level of confidence on drop offs with the bigger wheels.

Steep and technical climbs on the limit of singlespeedability (Yay, new word!) are where the big wheels really shine. Cleaning the Canyon Link was undoubtedly easier on the 29er, despite a 3 pound weight penalty.

So far I’ve been mostly promoting all these benefits of the 29er. I’ve listed; a less jarring ride, better cornering, stability at speed, increased rough terrain performance, and better standing climbing traction. Yet, it was still slower. When you look at the stopwatch, when it comes down to steep high altitude climbing, VO2 Max is King, and light makes right. This is why I want to get a custom 29er wheelset that is very light, so I can have the best of both worlds.

WHICH BIKE IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Well how tall ARE you anyway? Not in Internet Inches, like, I mean for real. I am 5 foot 11, so the big wheels fit under me quite nicely. I would imagine that the threshold for 29er sizing is around 5 foot 7. At that point toe overlap with the front wheel begins to become a concern, and the frame head tube angle needs to be slackened to increase front center distance, all of which are all trade offs that lead to a less nimble bike in the singletrack. This is a *rough* guideline for around the point where size becomes a consideration. Can you be shorter and ride one? Sure! But it *may* not give you the best performance possible. Conversely, if you are a gi-normous 6 foot 2 or above type, well, don’t even think about it. Airplane seats were not made for you and neither were 26 inch mountain bikes. That said, flame away.

Secondly, where do you live? If you live in flatter to rolling terrain then go for the 29er! The rougher the trails the more you are going to like one. If your terrain finds you keeping more of a constant speed on average then you are not going to be spending a lot of energy spinning big wheels up to speed. In fact, that inertia that you put into the wheels is going to help you maintain that speed when you encounter something that is going to try and slow you down. On the other hand, if you spend a lot of time on long climbs, then maybe you would be better off with the lightest option that you can find. And that is going to be the smaller wheeled bike.

Thirdly, what is important to you? Are you a go fast at all cost racer? Do you just ride trails for fun with no other agenda? Do you like cleaning climbs on a singlespeed while geared full suspension guys walk? Do you have every part of your bike weighed and calculated in a spreadsheet? If you are a racer, you still might go faster on a 26er depending on your racing discipline and location,. But then again, maybe not. 29ers make a lot of sense to me for endurance racing, where the race is more about conserving energy and maintaining a high average speed than it is reacting explosively and powerfully. And that is what big wheels are good at.

After 16 years of riding wheels of one size, to try something new is just fun, plain and simple. Feeling a bike that rides differently is fresh, interesting, and exciting. Additionally, I find that riding a 29er makes me feel more of a man. Ooooh, Big Wheels (insert Tool Time Man Grunt). Does this mean it can also make a female feel more like a woman? I guess all you 29er riding ladies will have to blog us and let us know. There is one thing that do know for certain. Last week I went up to Nederland and did my first highly technical ride of the year (too much photo and computer time . . .). I was on the 29er and I cleaned a section up there for the first time of my life, on my first attempt of the year. I was on a 29er; was it coincidence?

Mountain Bike History 101 and the Single Speed

With the growing buzz about single speeds and the bike industry answering what many riders request of “back to the roots of mountain biking”, I feel its time we talked about the history of mountain biking and how single speeds mountain bikes fit in.

Like snowboarding, mountain biking has evolved a lot since its first conception. Around the turn of the century it is said that road racers in Europe would race each other to neighboring towns but were allowed to take any shortcut they wanted. Even if it meant that they would be climbing fences or riding through fields. This would evolve into the sport of Cyclo-cross. It became popular after Octave Lapize credited winning the 1910 Tour de France because of his off-season Cyclo-cross training. In 1950 Union Cycliste Internationale, a cycling association that oversees competitive cycling events internationally, held its first Cyclo-cross race in Paris. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that Cyclo-cross gained popularity in the US and in 1975 Berkeley California. was the site of the first US National Championship.

Also around that time in California, people were starting to take old fat tire cruiser bikes and modify them with gears and BMX style handlebars. After people started racing these modified fat tire bikes, people started to think about improving the bikes. One of the first things improved was the wheel hubs and breaking system. Racers were always having to repack the bearings in the wheel because of the speeds they were reaching while racing down hill. Racers started to build new wheels combining road wheel hubs and stronger rims to handle the bumps off road.

In the early 1980’s road bike manufactures started making bikes for the mountain bike arena. Using the technology of the time, these new bikes were lighter and stronger then the old fat tire cruiser bikes. Like road bikes, mountain bikes go through the same kind of trends. In the mid 1990’s the single speed trend started with the road bikes and moved its way to mountain bikes by the late 1990’s. The start of the trend for road bikes was from bike messengers. They started taking the gears off their road bikes and making them into single speeds. The reason single speeds appealed to them were because they were more reliable and noticeably quicker and easier to pedal.

Fast-forward to today and you will notice that bike manufactures are now starting to produce single speed mountain bikes. Just like bike manufactures answered the trendsetters’ call to make mountain bikes in the 1980’s they are doing the same for a new bunch of next generation innovators. The benefit today is that technology has come a long way, components on bikes are better then ever and more reliable.

So why should you get a single speed mountain bike? Well single speed mountain bikes are not for everyone. They lack the gears that allow you to make up hill climbs easier and down hill descents faster. That’s not to say you can’t go fast down hill. You just won’t be able to do it as efficient with out gears. If you want a mountain bike that is easier to maintain, more responsive when you pedal, and are looking for a great workout, single speed mountain bikes offer all of that and more. There is nothing wrong with either type of mountain bike. It is more of a personal preference. If you’re looking at getting a new bike I strongly encourage you to look at single speeds. There are some great ones out there and they are a ton of fun to ride.

In the next couple of months we are going to bring you every single speed mountain bike in production that we can get our hands on and put them through their paces. We are working on some of our favorite picks right now but if there are specific bikes you want to hear about let us know.   All I can say is “Are you ready for the ride!”

The Single Speed Guide

I remember when I was trying to put together my first single-speed. Being the guy I am, I HAD to know everything about them. Gearing, chain tension options, do I need different wheels? I spent hours scouring the net and consulting everyone who ever heard of one. Like most things in life everyone has a different opinion, and making sense out of all the differing information was difficult to say the least. I created this guide to help others make sense of the sometimes overwhelming amount of information regarding single speeds. I want to keep this guide open to additions, so if any SS aficionados have any tips or corrections please leave a comment. Any questions are more than welcome as well.

What is it and why should I Have One?
The single speed, commonly abbreviated SS, refers to a bike with only one gear or speed. SS’s exist in many different forms including mountain bikes, road bikes and BMX. There are also fixed gear bikes that have one speed but no freewheel: As long as your bike moves, your pedals move, so no coasting. These are referred to exclusively as fixed gear bikes, SS’s always have a freewheel for coasting. Single speed bikes, especially in the mountain bike world, have been steadily gaining popularity over the years, and for good reason. This guide is specific to single speed mountain bikes, although a lot of the information can be useful for road, BMX or even fixed gear.

The big draw for single-speeds is the simplicity. In a world of increasing complication SS’s mean two brake levers and pedals: There are no shifters or derailleurs to master, adjust and maintain, just jump on and go. They offer a retro feel, like you’re going back to a simpler time, getting back to basics. Besides that they are great for training: Spend a few weeks doing hill sprints, and deep sand and tough climbs will come easy. Another thing SS’s teach you is how to use the trail. With our full suspension bikes and infinite gears we like to plow through and over objects trying to conquer the next trail. Trust me, I’m one for the monster truck mentality, but finesse is good too at times. Singles will quickly teach you a new definition of momentum. Small dips and embankments that you used to classify as obstacles become tools to increase your momentum. You learn to become one with the trail and use every twist and turn to help you move faster and expend less energy. When you jump back on your geared bike you will notice a huge increase in your efficiency.

Besides training and simplicity a new culture has evolved around SS’s. Today many race circuits offer single speed categories and many websites are dedicated to the phenomenon. Perhaps the best thing about single speeds is they can be built from carbon and Ti, or created by transforming that old backup mountain bike you never ride. Either way try it! It doesn’t cost a lot to get a bike built up, and it offers a completely different experience.

Chain Tension
On a standard bike the rear derailleur uses a system of springs and pulleys to keep the chain tensioned. Chain tension is important so your chain fully engages with the cogs. Without proper tension your chain will slip and skip over teeth. Since you won’t have a derailleur on your single speed, you need to find another way to keep your chain tensioned.

Dropouts
If you do not already know, dropouts are the parts on your frame that the axles on your wheels sit in. There are three major types of rear dropouts, standard, track and horizontal. The standard dropout is the most common and means you will need to use a tensioner or something else to keep chain tension. If you have the angled style horizontal dropouts, or track (rear facing horizontal drop outs), you can tension your chain simply by pulling the wheel tight before closing your quick release. I have heard various opinions on the quick release’s ability to hold chain tension, so if you find that your wheel slowly drifts forward and you are using horizontal dropouts, buy a BMX style chain tensioner/tug nut (not the derailleur type, this tensioner mounts inside of the dropout and has a setscrew to keep the wheel’s axle from moving forward).  Read more

First Ride On My Fully Rigid Singular Swift SS Mountain Bike

Homeboy’s skiing blog provides you skiing tips & tricks, road-trip stories, movie and book reviews, technical information, competition watch, resort reviews, news and photo sessions. Our main focus is to provide you how-to-information, such as how to ski in different conditions, how to fix your equipment and how to organize your ski trip. In the summer time our main sport is mountain biking and you will find quite a lot of mountain biking related content on the blog at the moment.

I recently wrote a short article about converting my 29er hardtail to fully rigid single-speed. Carl from Made-to-Order Bikes found my text and asked me to feature here on this site with a post about my Singular. Well, I found this a good opportunity to promote our blog a bit. I was also just about to write a first ride report with the new set-up, so the timing suited me very well.

My Singular

I guess the Singular brand is not the most well known in the USA. So, I start with a brief introduction of the manufacturer:

Singular is a small frame manufacturer from UK specializing in 29er bikes. A quote from their website tells the following:

”Singular Cycles brings you bikes for the type of riding you do. A blend of modern concepts with proven design and materials makes for beautiful bikes, which ride like a dream.

We’ve become disillusioned with ever more fragile bikes and components which offer no real benefit to the everyday rider who wants a bike which rides sweetly, looks lovely, and doesn’t need replacing every year.

Singular Cycles – singularly distinctive bicycles.”

The company also has a nice blog – check it out for more detail about e.g. product development, race results and customer’s bikes.

I have ridden the 29er now for a bit over two seasons. Before my current bike I rode (the original) Gary Fisher Rig for about one and a half season. I bought the Singular last November and didn’t ride it much during the winter months. I was pretty happy with the original hard tail set-up in e.g. this endurance event. However, having enjoyed the excellent rolling features the 29ers offer, I started to think that maybe it is the rolling and the geometry that weight more when defining the good riding characters of a bike than the suspension per se (Especially when thinking about cross-country/trail bikes).

With that said I was still a bit nervous about this project. After all, I pretty much learned to ride a mountain bike on a full suspension rig, as I already wrote in my original blog post about this issue. This feeling got stronger as the day for the test ride came – as the first notion on the morning was “damn, it has rained the whole night before…” (This means slippery with capital s on our trails…)

We rode some five miles to the trailhead and paused to let some air pressure out of the tires. I pumped the tires (Panaracer Rampage 2.35”) to about 3 bar (around 42psi) for the road and tried now to adjust them to about 2.5 bar (around 36psi).

The trail started with some series of technical short climbs. Which were not easy for me – I should have probably let even more air out of the tires as the rear wheel kept slipping. (I’ve read somewhere that Rampages are not the best wet-conditions tires anyway?) Also the bigger factor after riding gears for couple of months was sprinting for some square-edged “steps” on the climbs: I think I just got used to the seated/geared climbing again, and now the single-speed riding style just wasn’t immediately there. The 38-18 gearing felt a tad heavy; previously I’ve had 32-19, which suits maybe even better to our rooty/quite technical trails. (I think I keep it like it is though, because now the transition to trail head was bearable. With any lighter gearing the roads would start to feel total PITA in my humble opinion.)

However, the flatter sections of the trail were ok and the 29er wheel rolled nice and easily just like it should. With the rigid fork your hands are going to feel more impacts for sure but on the other hand lifting the front wheel and/or making small corrections were very easy and accurate – a pretty cool and new feeling to me.

Then we got to some nice steep rollers. Whoa, I never believed an old-school rider friend that blasted how rigid fork is actually very good on steeps as the geometry never change during the descent. Check the pictures, I really dug to ride these slick rock sections, and was surprised how well it all went.

After that the trail got easier and I found the rigid bike very fun on some mellower, faster sections. After all, weight savings over a suspension fork must feel somewhere. Rigid bike, mellow up-hill and single speed – you don’t need any “pro pedal” set-ups, right?

Typical Southern Finland Singletrack

It was only when we hit one particular slippery part of the trail with big, wet roots when I got in trouble again. I wasn’t attacking the obstacles aggressive enough and kept slipping around – frustrating for sure but next time I know I should just pedal on and not hesitate…(funny how easy it always sound at the desk!)

Also, after about two hour of riding, I really started to feel the impacts on the arms, especially when the speeds got higher in the downhills. Today’s loop wasn’t much longer than that thought. I’ve yet to see if I can take some four-five hours ride with the rigid fork – at least you get some decent arm pump if nothing else…

At the end I also have to praise the Singular on some well thought design. Their rigid fork that is designed to go with the frame offers very good handling. The fork is quite long for a rigid one (485mm A-C) and has a rake/off-set of 48mm (that’s a good amount of it folks!). But this combinations just works – riding this bike will keep you smiling. Check this review from MTBR for further proof. It seems like riders way better than me liked the bike too.

And at last, I’d like to thank Carl for an opportunity to write on this excellent site. Happy trails and just keep pedaling! I hope you enjoyed my review.

Janne/ Homeboyski Team

Just another shot from today’s ride