Big, Long, & Uncut.

September 10, 2010

Big, Long, & Uncut.

So after I had my flat-imus maximus encounter the other day I began to have seller's remorse on getting rid of my single speed 29er. I began to think I hadn't given it full consideration and was pretty much just being a Jimmy addict and thought I should give it a go.

A friend of mine once told me he could take his bike from geared 1x9 to SS in 30 minutes. I'm not calling bullshine on him, I was just always curious how long it would take me to do a similar project. I headed to the bike room to start my project and had to make an abrupt u-turn to get my beer. I began by removing my big ring and setting up my middle ring with SS appropriate bolts. I then fiddled with the front derailleur to see what kind of shifting performance I would have running a 2x9 set up on my bike.

Then I began really tearing stuff off and placing it neatly in a gallon bag. I was really cussing my decision of not doing this at work as my bike room in the apartment is less than awesome for bike repairs. The tools and work bench end up separated by the bike you are working on. I got my stuff all figured out and then I fiddled and bickered with myself on tire choice. I have been running a Karma 1.9 on the rear and it does really well, I have been wanting to try a WTB Vulpine 2.1 so it won the bet and on the bike it goes. I then get everything but chain tension dialed because I don't have an 18mm cone wrench at home for tensioning the Singulator. This all took me about 45 minutes, and I fiddled with the front derailleur and changed a flat. He is spot on and I think I could do it that quick, the second time.

The next day I went to Brickhouse's humble abode and put some tension on the chain and she let me borrow some Ergon Corks to try out. I had ridden a pair of Ergon's in the past and gave them a big thumbs down, but wanted to try them out again because my style of riding has changed. (I ride more than 45 minutes at a spell these days.) The grips slid onto my favorite handlebar like they were a match made in heaven.

So far everything has been good. I raced the Niner bar at ORAMM and have been a huge fan since the first second I put it on my bike. I like how it is big and long, I ride it an uncut 710mm wide. The flatness is cool because I love me some drop. I have been riding the bike rigid for atleast the last month and I like that too. The grips are feeling pretty good and the wings do have a cushioning effect that is pretty cool. Also, I did one good ride on it so far as SS and the whole setup seemed pretty spot on. SS isn't as bad as I thought, I just don't think I need a dedicated bike for it. Now a bike with some options, I could handle that.