It all started back in the winter of 2000. I was into cross country and I was into light weight, I also had a couple of extra bucks to spend too. I spied this nice fluorescent green Brodie Unibomber at one of my local shops. It was used, but the price was fair so I picked it up. The thing that impressed me most about it was that it was so light. It weighed just under 22lbs and that was even with the heavy IRC Kujo DH tires. Specs on the bike were aluminum frame, steel rigid fork, run of the mill headset, stem, bar, seatpost, Sugino crank, Mavic rims, Spot Single Speed rear hub. I wanted this bike because I had read about single speeding and how it was great to ride without having the complexity and maintenance requirements associated with 24 speeds. I took the bike home, cleaned it up, put on a suspension fork, and waited for a good day to try it out.

The day finally came when I took the Unibomber to one of my local trails. It only took a few minutes for it to nearly kill me with its tall, tall gear ratio on the first hill. I thought, "This single speed thing is for the shitter. How am I supposed to ride this thing anywhere but on flat?" The bike was equipped with a 32 tooth ring in the front and a 16 tooth in the back. Great respect must be given to those who compete in single speed racing events and use a bike like the Unibomber full time. I admit that my fitness level was not where it should have been, but even if it was, I am not sure that my knees would have been able to take the pounding of going up hills with such a hard gear. I tried a few times to ride the Unibomber on trails and was never happy. Sure there was less complexity, but I can hold my own in the shop, so what did I care about that? The Brodie Unibomber soon found itself to be nothing more than garage clutter, used occasionally to ride at the beach or go to the convenience store.

Skip to 2002. I had an idea.

Recently I have been doing most of my riding on what could be described as a freeride hardtail. I use a Brodie Bigshot with a five inch travel fork. This bike is a fun bike, and that is good now that riding is all about fun. Hanging around in the woods with friends, going downtown...Riding seems to be more of a lifestyle/social thing these days, than "lets get from A to B as quick as possible." Because of this slowed down, having fun style of riding, I found myself always in one gear, 32 at the front and third down from the top at the back. This seemed to be my favourite ratio because I could climb moderate stuff, I could wheelie and I could get up speed quickly on sketchy terrain. I started to wonder if I could get that same ratio in a single speed format, and while looking at that spot hub in the garage, which I saw on the internet for $150.00 US, by the way, I decided I would try.

First off I got a new frame, Norco 250 from 2001, through some warranty / discount thing. It wasn't the 4hun like I really wanted with the horizontal dropouts, but it would have to do. A new frame may not always be required, but in my case, it was immediately apparent after trying out the Unibomber with a 5" fork, that it would have to go. Next step was to try out my Bigshot and see if I could duplicate my favourite ratio, but in the granny ring. I knew that rear freewheels are not available in anything larger than 20 or 22 teeth, so I would need to create my new single speed based on a granny ring up front. I found that a 22/16 tooth combo was almost the same as my favorite 32/third one down combo. (I have never taken the time to count the teeth on that third one down ring, but it is easy to go by feel.) There is probably also some mathematical formula available that would have saved some time, maybe someone could let me know...The bike ended up with Profile DJ cranks, DMR spider, 22 tooth front chainring, Blackspire Granny God bash ring, 16 tooth freewheel at the back, Spot rear hub, built into a new Mavic 521 rim (for the bike's having fun duties), Blackspire headset, and seatpost, Marzocchi Mr. T fork, cross country front wheel, and the most important part, the Surly chain tensioner. The Surly chain tensioner is crucial to having a successful single speed set up with vertical dropouts. This little device keeps the chain snug at all times. It bolts on where your rear derailleur would go, but is very minimalistic, offers great ground clearance and is always quiet.

This bike is amazing, It sneaks through the streets and the trails in stealth mode, while allowing me to do anything technical that I could have done before on my geared bike. I am most definitely limited in speed by the gear ratio, but none of my bikes have had "big rings" for about three years now, and having fun seems to hardly ever be about just going fast. The bike is solid, and the chain hasn't come off once in the two months it has been built. One of the most impressive things about it is that when you come off a ledge, or bomb some stairs, all you hear is the tires slapping the concrete, nothing else.

I would advise everyone to try out a single speed bike, keep an open mind while doing it, and remember that all it takes is a bit of experimentation, creativity, and time to create a "favourite" bike. Because this bike has turned out so well, I am now a true Single Speed convert The result of my efforts has given me an extremely strong, yet light feeling "no hassle" fun bike that can be used in all situations.