A few years ago, I built one on a budget from left over parts in the garage and a few purchased parts on-line. I invested around $550.00 bucks (which to some may sound like a lot for a mountain bike with no gears), and used it mainly as a commuter. My ride to work at the time was only 2 miles so it was fun to bounce up and down curbs again and in my mind harking back to a time when things were less complicated.....add some mud puddles (and maybe training wheels) and I'm 5 years old again!
I took my new single speed to the trail and it performed adequately, but was not obviously built to handle my 190 lb frame. I blew spoke after spoke and stole replacement ones from another old wheel hanging in the garage. Because of my budget, I chose the cheapest brakes I could find to stop my new ride, which it did poorly when it came to trail riding. I also had issues with the chain popping off. Due to my budget minded build, I used a cheap cog for the rear wheel and a recycled front chain ring that was never designed for the loads I was generating on the trail. I soon was missing teeth from my chincy Shimano chain ring borrowed from an old geared bike. Alas, this was not the simplicity I was after
The search continued.
I stumbled onto a guy selling a used Niner One 9......you've got to love that name, I don't care who you are! Niner is the brand (built in Colorado), One 9 is their in house designation for single speed only. I searched for reviews feverishly wondering what owners had to say about the bike. As usual people either loved it or hated it. The basic premise of chain tension adjustment is a simple concept when you're a 40 lb 5 year old on a bmx bike. Slide the wheel back, tighten, and boom! Go ride. When you're a 200 lb adult, the stresses placed on this simple mechanism are simply too much to hold the wheel and maintaining chain tension can be a night mare.
Enter the Niner EBB or Eccentric Bottom Bracket. Not to bore you with technical detail, suffice to say a picture is a worth a thousand words (well to mountain bikers anyway):
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Anyway, many complained of creaks and groans, and others say it works just fine as long as you set it up per the manufactures specifications.....I'm a specifications kind of guy, so I'm satisfied.
I looked at the bike in September of last year (2012) and was ready to purchase. We came across a house at that time however that would derail my plans to return to a simpler time of one gear and no hassles. The dream (well, that one anyway) would have to wait.
We bought the house, moved in and were exceedingly happy for it. That of course is another story. Fast forward 6 months. We squared away our financials, rented our old house and once again I resumed my quest for the elusive single speed.....to my surprise, the same One 9 was still for sale.
I contacted the owner, drove down, gave it a once over and realized, though several years old, this bike was well cared for. I threw it in the back of the van on a cold rainy March afternoon and admired it in the rear view for the next hour on the return trip home.
The ride already! Right.
So, the maiden voyage actually occurred a couple of weeks ago in a mud soaked corner of Michigan, slogging through mud in 36 degree weather, wind blowing through the naked trees of spring. While interesting, this was not the ideal stomping ground for my new machine.
Yesterday was more like it. 60 degrees, Sunny with a light wind. Destination Pontiac Lake Recreational Area. 2 laps around a 10 mile Loop with some ready and willing Team Sand Baggers.
6 of us in all (even a couple of Canadians) hit the trail without so much as a roll out and I was riding my new trail scalpel turning 120rpm for the first half mile....whew!
We hit the first climb and my trepidation began. I was nervous that I had no bailout, nor granny gear to save me should I run out of power. I was also reminded that I was the one who signed on for this as the "Pedal Damn It!" sticker (the moniker for Niner Bikes) on the top tube so subtly reminded me. I was out front (I was afraid of getting dropped on the climb so I tried to get a head start) as we hit the base of the first major climb. I settled in to grind it to the top and noticed that it wasn't as bad as I was afraid of.
I was 5 again! Now I just needed that mud puddle!
I picked my way up the climb and finished the first two miles off the front of the group. Heart rate was nothing to be proud of as I was pinging north of 190 bpm......but hey, I signed on for this!
The rest of the group joined me a moment later and we began the roughest, rooted, rocky section of the course. This is where I would test my mettle for certain. For not only was my new Niner a single speed, but a rigid nonetheless. That's right, no suspension. Oh, picture would be appropriate at this point:
So down we went. I was pleased with the handling and quickly realized that the rider not the machine would be the limiting factor in this pairing. Overall the carbon Niner fork did a great job soaking up all but the worst of the bumps. I was running 35psi in the tires and will likely drop a bit more on the next run.
We rocketed through multiple sections, transitions, and climbs and I was immediately entranced with the quickness and handling of this surgical instrument! It's like there's a rail system in the woods as you hook up and carve around obstacles and banked turns. I was able to hang on with the Team Sand Baggers for the entire ride and was immensely happy with the performance of my "new" bike. The exit of the trail proved that I could do one other thing I had previously thought unattainable.....we hit 25mph on a gravel section, which likely pushed me near 150rpm! Yeah it wasn't pretty as I was bouncing and bobbing all over the seat, but we got er' done!
As I hit the parking lot, my hands were the only thing aching. The pounding at Pontiac Lake was substantial. I'll be swapping out for a wider handle bar to hopefully increase the leverage for the climbs as well as the bump absorption for my hansds. All in all though, sore hands were a small price to pay for a return to a simpler time!
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