Rl and I hit the loop for a quick short ride to “feel” and do minor adjustments to the Soul Cycles Dillinger. After a few quick saddle and seatpost adjustments, we were ready to hit the trail.

OK, so let’s start with the geometry, the bike felt “big” as in tall, but I was not stretched out. I found this “bigness” to be an advantage on the quick and short steep downhills, I never felt as if I was going to fly over the bars.

Climbing off the saddle, I didn’t feel any flex, the bike was solid. The Reba Race’s poplock remote was very convenient, just a flick of the switch and the fork was almost fully rigid.

At 35 psi, the Geax Saguaro Tires struggled for traction on the loose terrain, especially on the uphills. I will play around with the tire pressure to see if I can achieve more traction, I usually run my 29er tires at 30psi.

The Powercordz brake cables felt amazing, I’d forgotten that I was riding mechanical brakes and not hydraulics! Quick note on the Serfas Tegu saddle… COMFORTABLE, even RL noticed it when he was riding the Dillinger for a bit.

I’m hoping to put a lot of miles on this bike, I really need to get in better physical shape and I find that riding a Singlespeed is one of the fastest ways to do it. I will write a full review of this bike in about 2 to 3 months.

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I did it. I jumped on the single speed bandwagon. I suppose it was just a matter of time really…with all these boys around me on their single speeds. I swore I’d never do it. But I really just couldn’t resist. I was blown away when I first saw RL riding his single speed. The guy actually rode faster on a single speed then he does with gears!

Most recently Jeremy built up his single speed and before that I saw David decide to give it a go. Now he is racing ss! I just didn’t understand what all this excitement was about? Why the self-torture? I like all my gears, especially my granny gear as needed. RL has been trying to get me on a single speed for a long time now. I really just had no desire but my curiosity peeked and I said to RL “Well maybe I’ll just give your single speed a try one of these days – but no strings attached! If I don’t like it I don’t want you to ask again.” That’s all he needed. He had me out on the fully loop in a matter of days on his single speed.

David “Superman” Sanderson racing single speed

I really didn’t know what to think of it initially. The bike was all wrong of course for my body but I kept this in mind as we put in a few miles on it. I felt very frustrated with not being able to climb a few hills but the flats were fun. I felt like a hamster turning in her wheel at times and other times the pedal stroke was effortless, yet I moved so fast!

So after a couple of runs RL suggested building up my beloved Motobecane as a ss for me. The chance to saddle up on the Motobecane again??? Yes! And the best part was I got to pick the color of my chain! How COOL is that?!?!?! My KHS is decked out in pink so I thought purple would be a nice change. I’m all about comfort so we threw on my Ergon grips and a nicer saddle. We thought it best to stick to a 32-18 for now.

My sweet Motobecane…..before the transformation

I have been secretly riding the single speed for about 4 weeks now. Why secret you ask??? Well first off, I didn’t want the boys to know in case I completely hated it and gave up after 1 ride. lol. It’s also really embarrassing not to be able to clear some of the hills out there – yes I have got a little pride. Oh c’mon you know we all feel a little bad sometimes when we have to dismount. I know I am not the only one. But I am over it, because I still can’t clear some of those hills! lol.

This past weekend was my first “group” ride on the single speed out at Sycamore Canyon (ride report to follow). I don’t know WHO said this trail was single speed friendly (RANDALL), but in any case I survived. LOL. We got in a little over 15 miles and I am happy to say I still like it. I love that there is so little to think about on a single speed. I don’t have to give any forethought to which gear I want to be in, I just have to adjust my pedal stroke. The boys thought I was showing off when I was zippin up the hills but, really, I just need A LOT of momentum to get up. I still find the short steep climbs very difficult, which is a blow to my ego..lol….but I hope in time I’ll build up my muscles to clear these. There is also something familiar about the set up. It feels very similar to my spin bike, which I am on about twice a week. It’s really hard to describe the enjoyment I feel on that bike. Maybe it’s becuase it’s a new experience? Maybe I like the extra power I feel in my pedal stroke? Or maybe I just am happy to be reunited with my moto. I don’t know what it is, but I like it.

Me and my SS Moto

The single speed set up is also an incredible work out. I’m not just talking about my legs either. My arms and shoulders are still talking about it a day later! Maybe riding single speed will make me more fit?? Maybe that’s the animals secret?!?!? Well I’ll let you know in time! Ha! I am also curious to know if it will improve my riding on my geared bike?

Single speed = Animal

So in case you have been mulling over a single speed set up – give it a go. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Ask any of the boys. They’ll be the first to let you know I really had no desire to ever ride single speed. I viewed it as a form of masochism! There are some aspects that are difficult but I have come to appreciate the hard work. And the rides have been fun. As painful as some of the ride was this past weekend, I really had a great time and I was proud that I did it on the single speed out there.

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As many of you know, we recently added the Sette Razzo frame to our lineup of bikes here at mtnbikeriders.com WCH. The Sette Razzo was built up as a SS. I have to admit, I was, and still am, very tentative about riding a single speed. I probably got that way due to all the Moe & RL puke stories. I, like many of you, are not a fan of puking.

SS can be quite a workout, especially if you go rigid

I decided to hit my local test loop, the Fully loop, for my first ride on the Razzo SS. The loop starts off for almost flat with just a twinge of an incline. I immediately felt the desire to shift gears and go faster, so much so that my right thumb twitched. Of course, there was no gear to change into so I ended up spinning really fast here and there. But I wasn’t used to all the spinning and my legs quickly got tired of it. I’m going to have to work on that part of SS riding.

What I was really afraid of were the climbs. None of the loop climbs are particularly long, about the only thing the loop is missing, but some are on the steeper side. The first short quick steep after crossing Euclid was conquered without any issues. Rolling along the street after the climb was a bit annoying because again I couldn’t get my legs to spin up fast enough. But ahead lay the climbs and as much as I was annoyed by all the spinning out I was cognizant that the lower gearing would be greatly beneficial on the climbs.

Redline Mono 9 has 9 gears. This helped get me ready for Single Speed riding

The climb that really got me antsy begins with a mild fireroad ascent. It then rolls along a little before hitting a short rooty section followed by a short steeper section. The end of this is a little past the halfway point of the loop. No puking on this climb. I was close… but I held it down. One more climb which is made difficult with railroad ties was up next and only my pride plus the presence of a couple of hikers stopped me from letting it flow.

What I came to realize over my SS ride was that my body had built up a bit of a familiarity to sustained standing climbs which is really your only other “gear” when you’re riding a SS. The familiarity was achieved when I began riding the Redline Mono 9, a 1×9 geared 29er. Before the 1×9, I would sit and spin my way up but when I rode the 1×9 consistently I realized that if I sat and spun all the hills, I’d quickly run out of gears.

So I adopted a different approach to climbing that included a mixture of spinning for a while then climbing while staying in the same gear. For example, if I was in gear 4 on a seated climb and I felt I wanted to change gears, instead of choosing to shift I’d stand up and climb for a bit. This essentially doubled the number of “gears” I had available to me from 9 to 18 and also eased my transition from 27 gears down to one.

Being comfortable with sustained standing climbs turned out to be a great help when I rode the single speed. I truly believe that if I went straight from 27 gears to just one, I probably would have joined RL & Moe with puke stories of my own.

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This week I worked on right-sizing the steerer tube on my carbon fork and the width of my handlebars.  On my last update (#1) I wasn’t quite sure which handlebar/stem to use.  I’ve decided to give the KORE Torsion Bar and B52 stem a try.  Stock length of the Torsion Bar was at 800mm, so I’ve got some work to do in shortening it.

The FORK: I finally got the courage to cut the steerer tube myself.  As I mentioned on the last post, the steerer is also carbon fiber.  Not having cut a steerer tube in the past I was hesitant in doing so.  For awhile I was debating on whether I should do it or take to my LBS.  Always trying to be self-sufficient I did a little research then bought a hack saw at Home Depot.  Following Richard Cunningham’s (Mountain Bike Action, issue July 2007) instructions, I measured the desired length then taped a spare aluminum spacer to use as a cutting guide.  I added an extra 10mm spacer to my desired length to give myself a little room for error.  Fortunately all worked well and the steerer tube was cut evenly.  I reinstalled the fork, added my carbon spacers, tightened the stem then installed the compression plug. 

                            Spacer taped on as a cutting guide.

NOTE: do not use the regular star-nut with carbon steerers; it will damage the insides. Use a compression plug which will expand inside the steerer tube.

The HANDLEBARS: Using the same method above, I proceeded to shorten the Torsion bars.  Original length is 800mm.  I decided to take off 3/4” on each end.  After measuring the desired length, I marked the handlebar, clamped on an old set of ODI Lock-on rings for a guide, tightened the screws then cut away.  Final length is 30.25″.

Once I’ve mounted the stem and handlebars to the appropriate position, I installed the red Oury grips.

                          ODI Lock-on rings as a guide.

Above is the end result.  Not bad ehhh?  Here is where I’m at w/the build.  Almost there…

Frame:                 ZION EBB
Fork:                   SASO Carbon fork
Skewers:              SASO Carbon Levers
Single speed cog:   16t Wheels Mfg SSK-3
Stem:                   B52s 
Handlebars:           KORE Torsion bars
Grips:                   Red OURY Lock-ons
Wheelset:             Sun Ringle laced to XT hubs
Crankset:              Race Face Deus, silver
BB:                      Race Face ISIS spline
Tires:                   Maxxis Larsen TTs 2.1(f)/1.9(r)
Headset:              Woodman Axis SL COMP 
Tubes:                 various brands
Spacers:               Carbon
Misc:                    FSA Compression plug

Current weight: 19.74 lbs

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As we all know, Eric Hunner has earned a nick name of being the ANIMAL because of his ferocity and his massive size of man. Plus he’s got these gigantor hands that surprises anyone that shakes them. We’re pretty lucky to have him part of the team. As in traditional fashion, Eric wrote a race report that talks about the world of Single Speed Racing.

Race Day is not just a day for me, it is an event that is weeks in the making. I think of these races as a report card to myself to see how my riding is progressing and where I stand in the pack of local riders.

In order to get good grades on my report card I had better do my homework. Southridge was the last stop in the Triple Crown for our Team. I was the only person on the team that had not ridden Southridge before. Planning for the race included making time in my busy schedule to preride the course.

Time was short, but I made it out to Southridge by 4pm two days before the race. Thankfully I left my lights on the bike from an early morning training ride. The sun was falling fast, I was lucky enough to run into some other racers that were packing up to leave, and they pointed me in the right direction of the trail head. The trail head consisted of little orange arrows spray painted on rocks to lead you on your way. Some of the arrows are are far apart so preriding this course is a bit of scavenger hunt especially when the sun is going down. When making my way back to the parking lot I ran into Griffith Vertican. I proceeded to ask Griffith questions about the course and he was nice enough to show me some of the turns I missed on my preride, we ended the tour with some high intensity sprints up the hill to the water tower.

Saturday: Race Day. I am entered in the 34 and under Single Speed. I am sitting at the start line and I hear RL Yell out Go get those skinny guys Animal. The race starts I am amped, and feeling good. All of Single speeds left 5 minutes after the pros, at least ten SS together riding in a pack all pretty even paced for the first mile. The terrain at Southridge can be tricky rocks and ruts that are not avoidable, you need to be on your “A” game.

I make it though the race almost without any problems. On the second lap after some jarring downhill sections it feels like I am pedaling with the rear brake dragging. I try my hardest to just pedal and try to keep some distance in front of Andrew a fellow competitor in my class. I later discover after the race my rear SS specific hub was letting its life slip away, another rear hub with trashed bearings.

Now my other problem surfaces; holding off Andrew with my rear hub sucking the life out me. Andrew was geared a little faster than me I think he said he had to walk the hill in the back of the course, I was able to pedal up this nasty hill running 32/18. When the two of us hit the flat straight he pulled ahead, until the last major hill climb I pushed my bike and body to the max, I took the lead and held it until 10 yards from the finish line.

Andrew tried to pass in the last turn of the finish and crashed into the racers in front of us, then tangling handle bars, pedals, and plastic fencing together with me he got out of the fencing first. The difference between 3rd and 4th place ONE second. I ended up in 4th place, Andrew apologized for the mix up at the end. I kept my cool and was glad I finished the race in one piece. I did however collect a very nice Trophy for the 2nd place overall Single Speed in the Triple Crown Series.

The www.MTNBikeRiders.com Racing Team made this enjoyable team experience possible with all of our sponsors help in supporting us.

www.HossMTB.com, Ergon, Evomo Clothing, www.bikecommuters.com

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A while back I did a review of the Yess Pro Full Suspension Single Speed Tensioner.

At Interbike, we met up with Yess Pro and they showed me one of their other tensioners and I asked if we could test it, they agreed and handed me a unit right there.

This is the ETR-B, its a bottom bracket mounted tensioner. I wanted to try this baby out because I want to make my drive train look cleaner and eliminate the tensioner that hands from the derailleur hanger.

The ETR-B is adjustable to ensure a perfect fit and tension.

Once I get it installed, I’ll report back on the performance.

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After reading Eric Hunner’s article about single speeding, he and I had a conversation about rigid single speeding. I had many questions to ask him about how it feels, which fork to get and anything else I could think of at the time. So after looking around for an affordable fork, I decided to go with the KHS Rigid One fork. This thing is made out of good old steel, so that means its going to compliment my Red Rocket Single Speed (old Gary Fisher steel bike).

Here’s the fork in all its goodness…

Scheck it out mang, if I wanted to, I can install Disc Brakes on my single speed.

Now I have to cut the steerer tube down and install a star nut, but it should be ready this week.

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We asked Eric Hunner, a single speed rider to provide us a guest article that helps geared riders understand why so many people are doing it.

Just in case you wanted to know, Eric is a pretty legit rider, here’s a BIO on him:

Eric Hunner age 30,
245 pounds, 225 fighting weight, married, one child, mechanic, home: South Orange County. Started riding mountain bikes in second grade. Began riding SS seriously 2002. Racing on SS Counting Coup 2008, set a new SS course record. Raced the Traverse 2008, finished in the extreme heat. Leisure riding Whiting, Aliso/Laguna, and Saddleback Mountain. On a race riding a 9 speed bike @ 24Hour Hurkey Creek 2007, he was frustrated by all the single speeds passing him. Eric thought it was time for change. He has been running SS in the last two races trouble free, he stated “it was hard but worth the extra effort.”

Ok enough of the introductions, I present to you Eric Hunner’s article.

No Gears, No suspension, No problem. I ride Rigid Single Speed mountain bikes for a variety of reasons.

1. Most importantly it is simple. By simple, I mean to maintain, or total lack of maintenance. You can get on your bike and know it is going to run hard and not be upset that you didn’t wipe her down, pump up the shocks, and oil the chain right before the big ride. No derailleurs to adjust, chains last a lot longer no fear about a bad shift that tweaks the chain and breaks right when hammering down.

2. I ride to get away from all of life’s distractions, it is easier to change your cadence then changing gears when going uphill and keep your flow, such as driving up and over a rock pile in the middle of a trail that every one else is taking the safe easy way around, great passing opportunity.

3. You find out exactly what you are made of when riding a familiar loop. Single Speeds are great training tools, you just don’t have the option to bail out on a climb to an easier ratio, you find out real quick how strong you really are.

4. No gym required. Riding SS aggressively is a full body work out and a great personal challenge. Set goals on making a hill climb and keep trying till to make it. I have lost weight kept it off and gained muscle just by riding SS.

5. Knowledge gained while riding SS is transferred to all other forms of riding. Bike handling skills improve due the fact you are always in the same gear and can concentrate on how to plant the tires instead thinking what gear should I be in.

6. King of the hill, first one up first one down. Time gained on climbing can be used going down hill when the others are still climbing with their geared bikes.

7. Sand crossings are not and issue, you carry your speed pulling bigger ratios than your geared counterparts that ran out of speed and gas half way though the sand.

8. The respect from other riders single and geared calling out “Go SINGLE” in races will give the energy to finish.

9. SS look cool, No clutter on the bars. They are easier on the wallet as well, my first SS was around $500.00 a Redline Monocog in 2002. 3800 miles later and only $300.00 it still rolls today.

10.I feel like a kid again on an over grown BMX bike

Eric Hunner

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Black and White on my bike that is…I simply love the color combination. Recently we mentioned Pricepoint.com has some white lock on grips for about $10. Jeremy and I ordered a set for our bikes and I finally was able to install it on my Sette Reken Single Speed.

Like my Cow Horn? I figured it would match the theme of the bike.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I also upgraded from V-brakes to Disc.

These are the reliable Avid BB5’s with Roundagon rotors. I’m using a set of WTB Speeddisc wheels.

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Well its been a few months since I first received the Sette Reken from PricePoint.com. I’d like to thank Magally Gomez and Brian Cleveland for sending us this frame to test and review. So let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

Sette Reken Frame

Price: $99.00, not bad if you ask me!

Specs:

Model Reken Hardtail
Material Full 6061 Alloy, Double Butted Main Triangle
Welding Tig Welded
Wheel Size 26″
Headset 1-1/8″ Standard
Front Derailleur Size/Mount /Type 31.8mm, Clamp, Top Pull/Top Swing
Bottom Bracket 68, English
Seatpost Size 27.2
Seat Clamp Size 32.0
Disc Mount 51mm IS
Max Tire Clearance 2.3″
Available Sizes 14″, 16″, 18″, 20″
Color Black
Weight 4.5 lbs/ 2041g (18″)
Warranty 5 Year Manufacturer’s Warranty

Size 14″ 16″ 18″ 20″
Headtube Length 117mm 117mm 130mm 145mm
Top Tube Length (actual) 54.5cm 55.2cm 56.9cm 59.2cm
Top Tube Length (effective) 56cm 57.4cm 59.4cm 61.5cm
Seat Tube Length (C-to-T) 14in 16in 18in 20in
Chain Stay Length 424mm 424mm 424mm 424mm
Headtube Angle 70.5 70.5 70.5 70.5
Seat Tube Angle 73.5 73.5 73 73

If you scour the internet for product reviews of the Sette Reken, you’ll have a tough time finding it. For some odd reason people are either scared or skeptical of a mail order brand frame or bike. People like to stick to the well known brands thinking that they are of superior quality. But in reality, the same factory that made those chic brands was probably the same factory the Sette Reken came from, besides the frame has a 5 year warranty!

The Sette Reken started off as a single speed project back in Winter. I had talked to Magally Gomez about wanting to build an affordable single speed mountain bike. After a few words, she agreed to send me the Reken frame for our project along with their single speed conversion kit and tensioner.

The Reken would be my second single speed to build up. I came off another single speed full suspension project I had started around Christmas time. But by January, the Sette Reken was on the trail.

A couple things I noticed about the Sette Reken that made me immediately fall in love with it. First was the geometry. It had a slack 70.5 degree head tube angle that made it more comfortable to ride. I ran a 90mm stem on it because I have short arms, the frame was a 16″, stout, and flickable.

Single speed riding causes quite a bit of stress on any bike. The Reken held up nicely throughout the months of abuse that I gave it. I’ve taken that bike on some of the hardest climbs I can handle to the technical trails such as Rockit, and Lynx at Aliso Woods.

One of my favorite aspects of the Reken is the color, flat black. It’s unassuming, very humble and low key. It’s what you would call a sleeper bike. But once you put some power to those pedals, this thing responds. The Reken doesn’t have a lazy bike feel. It was light enough (25lbs), so that mean I could get up to speed really quick and since it weighed like an anorexic teenage girl, the bike was easy to handle.

Then at one point I had this idea of converting the Reken into a 69er. The frame did well, and there was some concern that the head tube angle was too slack to accept a 29er wheel. But during that time, the bike never felt like a chopper and rode just fine. However, that didn’t last too long since it wasn’t my cup of tea to ride a rigid 69er.

Now at a cross roads where I am considering turning the Sette Reken into a geared bike, perhaps a 1×9. This actually brings me to the summary of this review.

The Sette Reken by far has surpassed my expectations of this frame. I honestly thought that the frame would be OK to use on a build and possibly do well in the review. But after months and months of hard single speed riding, the frame has performed way better than I and anyone else thought. This is a frame that I could literally do just about everything with. Not only does it make a great single speed, but its disc brake ready, gears ready, has an awesome paint job(never chipped during review) and its totally versatile! This frame has seen more projects and tests done on it than any other bike we’ve tested.

So to say that I highly approve of the Sette Reken is an understatement. This frame ROCKS and as the Co-Founder of MtnBikeRiders.com, I am authorizing and approving that this frame gets the Stamp of Approval from MtnBikeRiders.com. Um…that’s a big deal! That means this bike has done its job and a bag of chips! I cannot say enough about how much I absolutely love this frame. Besides the $99 price tag makes it easy on your budget

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