All Rounder Stripped Down

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

As Spring approaches, I wanted to go shiftless and convert my 2001 CG All Rounder to a single speed. All of my riding these days is on the local rail trail, so keeping things simple, quiet and uncluttered was my goal. Had a set of Bosco Bullmoose I swapped for the Albatross bars I had on it. Dropped in a Paul Melvin sourced from the bunch recently. Not finished yet, but it's rolling. Very comfortable upright position. Will probably go rackless in it's final form, and need to get a pair of those lock-on-cog-thingies Riv sells to make the cassette into a single-cog version. Once I dial in the gearing I'll make a few final tweaks. I think this will be a fun ride. 

May I present: El Oneder

[Benz, Sunnyvale, CA]

It looks like you have a horizontal dropout All-Rounder, so why the Paul Melvin device?

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

Good eye. Not much horizontal travel on this dropout, and I like to keep it all the way back to give the tire as much room as possible. Will also make cog-swapping easier should I want to do that, or even run a second front ring. 

[James Valiensi]

That bike is beautiful, but single speed is the worst of both worlds (fixed and geared).

Cheers!

On Feb 15, 2020, at 9:41 AM, Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA <martin...@gmail.com> wrote:

As Spring approaches, I wanted to go shiftless and convert my 2001 CG All Rounder to a single speed. All of my riding these days is on the local rail trail, so keeping things simple, quiet and uncluttered was my goal. Had a set of Bosco Bullmoose I swapped for the Albatross bars I had on it. Dropped in a Paul Melvin sourced from the bunch recently. Not finished yet, but it's rolling. Very comfortable upright position. Will probably go rackless in it's final form, and need to get a pair of those lock-on-cog-thingies Riv sells to make the cassette into a single-cog version. Once I dial in the gearing I'll make a few final tweaks. I think this will be a fun ride. 

May I present: El Oneder

<IMG_20200215_120836.jpg>

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<IMG_20200215_120836.jpg>

[Joe Bernard]

Indeed, those Melvins are great for doing a two-speed with a big and bailout ring. I'm going to set my custom up that way with a front derailer. That's a nice AR!

[Deacon Patrick]

Great looking bike, Marty! Simplicity is a beautiful thing. Enjoy!

Ha, James! The beauty of single speed comes alive on the downhills vs fixed when there is not spin limit, just coast; on the flats and uphills vs cassette in the utter simplicity of the gear is always right (yeah, I've heard it the other way too. Grin.).

With abandon,

Patrick, who regularly descends steep mountain passes in the "just right" fixed gear spinning like a whirling dervish, 5-20mph slower than with a free wheel.

On Saturday, February 15, 2020 at 11:59:05 AM UTC-7, James Valiensi wrote:

That bike is beautiful, but single speed is the worst of both worlds (fixed and geared).

Cheers!

On Feb 15, 2020, at 9:41 AM, Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA <martin...@gmail.com> wrote:

As Spring approaches, I wanted to go shiftless and convert my 2001 CG All Rounder to a single speed. All of my riding these days is on the local rail trail, so keeping things simple, quiet and uncluttered was my goal. Had a set of Bosco Bullmoose I swapped for the Albatross bars I had on it. Dropped in a Paul Melvin sourced from the bunch recently. Not finished yet, but it's rolling. Very comfortable upright position. Will probably go rackless in it's final form, and need to get a pair of those lock-on-cog-thingies Riv sells to make the cassette into a single-cog version. Once I dial in the gearing I'll make a few final tweaks. I think this will be a fun ride. 

May I present: El Oneder

<IMG_20200215_120836.jpg>

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[Patrick Moore]

Rivendell probably used what they called their "short horizontals;" those were their stock dropout in the beginning; my 1999 Joe Starck had them, the they rather severely limited the amount of axle movement. I had to file 2-3 mm off the back ends for chain takeup with the gears I wanted; fortunately a very little bit of horizontal space allows a a great deal of tooth difference. I did have them replaced in 2017 -- 2018? -- with long ones.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Patrick Moore]

For an off road bike, I have to disagree. I've ridden ss (settled on ~64"), fixed (63" -- horrible, not on the uphills or flats, but downhill and with the wind), and of course derailleurs. SS gives you some of the fun -- getting more out of less; planning ahead; accommodating the terrain and conditions; durability and so little futzing required as to satisfy the laziest rider; and the aesthetic pleasure of the simplicity, by which I mean not only how a ss bike or drivetrain looks, but also the feeling of independence from the absence of complexity. (Which may be a moral and not an aesthetic pleasure, but I won't bother to analyze that.)

I've often been tempted to ss-ify my Matthews, but then remember that I can have the best of both worlds by simply keeping it in one of the middle 2 cogs (out of 10) when I don't feel like shifting.

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[Sam Kling]

Nice. What kind of crankset is that?

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

Crankset is a TA Zephyr. Using a 36 middle ring with an All City guard on the outside. It has a 20 tooth ring inboard now, but only because I didn't bother to take it off. I have a double-version o the same cranks I might swap in if I decide I don't want a double frront ring set up.