deeClimber

On monday, I finished up building up my new baby. Its a single speed (32-18) niner one 9 frame, with the niner carbon rigid forks. I decided to run ghetto tubeless so i can run lower psi in the tires to take A LITTLE of the edge off without suspension. I put ENO cranks on it with the white industries ENO freewheel, thomson seatpost and stem, blah blah blah.

I've taken it out on 2 long rides so far, and my initial report is it is FAST. I am so happy with the climbing ability of the bike. I find myself far less fatigued than my riding buddies after long climbs. However, the pace on a singlespeed is very different. You really have to hammer the uphill to keep the cranks turning, but it just takes way less energy.

On the flats/downhill, I have to spin a little fast, but the bike just keeps the speed up so well. It almost has the feel of a high end road bike in that respect. I do miss the slow cadence at times on the downhill, but I find myself keeping up pretty well with friends on geared bikes. It's definitely a bumpy ride, but completely worth it for me.

I only weigh 115, so im already a climber, but this bike makes a huge difference for me. Any of you have similar experiences riding similar bikes? I'll post some pictures when I get around to taking some!

sooprvylyn

Bully for you on the SS MTB. I have a moto fantom uno cross bike that I have set up as a 29er with 30c tires, the thinner tires make it pretty fast for an "MTB". Used to ride off road pretty regularly out east where the hills arent as bad, but the LA area might just change my oppinion of SS. I run a 34:17 right now but I might go ahead and switch up to a 19 in back for offroad and throw the 17 on the flop for city riding since it seems to be enough right now anyway. I must agree that I really love the feel of the rigid single, as long as you can "get light" on the bumps its all good baby.

4evrplan

dee, you're even lighter than me, which makes me curious; How tall are you? I figure a 29er would be too big for me at 5'7", but maybe your experience proves me wrong.?

deeClimber

Im actually 5'10".. still on the shorter side. I was a little worried about going to a 29er for the same reason. Although the cornering feels quite a bit different, I haven't had any issues with my size. As long as the frame's geometry isn't funky, I think you should be fine on a 29er. Go for it man!