456 Silly Summer Season Single Speed

angry_bird
angry_bird Posts: 3,786
edited January 2014 in Your mountain bikes
So it's finally time to rebuild the 456. Ordered what I need today, serviced the hubs as they'd been sat doing fark all for the best part of 2 years and I seem to recall they didn't run particularly well when I last used them.

This has been its life to date, but since El Guapo arrived it had been set aside for a while.

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So the plan is to build it with a mix of new and old parts on the fairly cheap (I could do it cheaper I guess but I don't want to spend any more time faffing hunting for bargains).

Will be used for communting to and from uni, around town and into London. It may also get some use as my winter MTB when I'm back home from uni. If so I'll purchase get a separate drivetrain and bar for it… figured it takes all of 10 minutes to swap it over, and as I'll normally be running slicks and need to change to some mud tyres anyway I don't mind a bit of faffing if it means I can run a bigger gear on the road and then a smaller one offroad.


456 Summer Season frame
Deore M525 hubs and XM117 rims, possibly an XC717 if I can bothered/find time to rebuild the front wheel.
On-one rigid steel forks. £60
Avid Juicy 7s with 160mm rotors
Shimano deore cranks £50 (courtesy of VWsurfbum)
Handlebars will be these, on-one Bingo, £15
HBOOBINGO-PBK-42-318_P1.jpg
Got some bar tape doing nothing at the moment so that's ready for them. The plan is to mount the brake levers underneath the horns of the handlebars, kind of like a TT bike but with the levers pointing forwards. Taken a bit of thinking about to come to the decision but it should work nicely… or be fucking uncomfortable but there's only one way to find out :D
Charge spoon saddle £22
Superstar singlespeed kit £20 for both a tensioner and conversion kit.
FSA DH chainring 38t. £18
Going to have a nice long stem on it, 100-130mm I should imagine with such narrow bars.
In terms of tyres I have some schwalbe slicks to go on it and my Maxxis Beavers for offroad duties.



This is going to be a right pig of a bike. Full title will be "The On-One 456 SillySlickSummerSeasonSingleSpeed" or Jenny for those who know her personally.

Comments

  • anj132
    anj132 Posts: 299
    Seems a little weird to me to use this frame for commuting and could probably get something very cheap that would be more effective but hey I look forward to the rest of the 456sssss built up.
  • angry_bird
    angry_bird Posts: 3,786
    anj132 wrote:
    Seems a little weird to me to use this frame for commuting and could probably get something very cheap that would be more effective but hey I look forward to the rest of the 456sssss built up.

    It's sat around doing nothing, I don't want it to be but I don't want to sell it either as I've grown a bit attached to it :lol:

    While I could comforably get something cheap to commute on for what I'm spending on this it'd still leave me with the frame doing nothing.

    Then when I factor in that I can only have 2 bikes with me down at uni, just don't have the room for more, the roadie get's the first spot. Don't want to be using either of the other mountain bikes for commuting or general running around on. This should do that job nicely enough for me as it's looking scruffy enough and while I'd be pissed off it were nicked it's not got the value of the others. It also (admittedly with 10 minutes or so faffing) has the potential to do me as a mountain bike down there should I feel like getting muddy at the weekends.


    But yeah, can totally see why it seems odd, but hopefully explained my (own special brand of) reasoning behind it :lol:
  • sanchez89
    sanchez89 Posts: 567
    cant wait to see what you think of those bars!

    Roadie drop bars are mind blowing for me so i think i would go into melt down if i had to use them aswell
    2011 KHS Full Susser Carbon 29er Race Build
    Clank wrote:
    M'eh, I might just go back to zapping it with frikken lay-zur beeeems. And sharks.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Put the brakes on as you describe and you'll be braking with the wrong (little and second) fingers, and the levers will cartch stuff, I'd be inclined to put the clamp on the tip (like a TT bike), otherwise I'd love to hear how you get on with them!
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • angry_bird
    angry_bird Posts: 3,786
    That's a good point, I had wondered whether I'd be able to brake with them, mounting them pointing backwards is an option if the hoses are long enough to allow it of course. I may just mount them like normal brakes though. I chose these bars as they were cheap and I fancied an aggressive position. The most stable place when cornering etc. will be on the horns so that's kind of where I'd prefer the brakes but if they won't work there then c'est la vie. They've arrived anyway so once I've got some grub down me I'm going to fit them, been on the go since 8 without any food.
  • angry_bird
    angry_bird Posts: 3,786
    Time to report back. Can't find a few bits and bobs like my headset spacers, and need some rotor bolts (I've popped the orange wheels in for now so I can test the brakes), also need a stem still so will pop down to the LBS when I get chance, may be a week or so yet and sort those things out. Then I can decide on stack height etc.

    The brakes work fine like this

    9610654864_3dd9663ecc_z.jpg

    Easy to brake with 1 or 2 fingers, feels more natural with 2 in this position. Even with the bar tape it should be fine, got plenty of reach in the fingers so could wind the lever out a tad more if I really needed to. Did pop the seatpost and saddle from the orange in and roll around down the road and didn't have any trouble stopping.

    9610651900_3f8ebd882b_z.jpg

    Anyway, excuse the stubby stem, wheels, tyres and brake hoses. This was just a quick mock up to test the brake lever positioning. Hopefully some more parts should arrive tomorrow and I can get the drivetrain on. Whole thing should be rolling in a fortnight as I'm off to the lakes for a week on Friday so progress will come to a halt.

    9607419717_dc177e6a22_z.jpg


    Finally, apologies for the quality of the pictures, getting dark outside.
  • angry_bird
    angry_bird Posts: 3,786
    Getting there

    9696619323_ae3f949c58_z.jpg

    To do list includes…

    Get some shorter chainring bolts, then I can take that big ring off, I have some at home but not a complete set :roll:
    Choppy choppy steerer.
    Put star nut in, spacers, etc.
    Tidy up brake hoses.
    Bar tape the left side of the handlebars


    Taken it out for a few quick pootles pootle and it's quite nice, gearing is a bit too easy possibly, but think I've got to put in some more miles really before I know for sure. Don't want to do too much on it given the front end is a little loose still.

    Handling is interesting, it's not too disimilar from my road bike, slightly twitchy when climbing maybe. I think the bars maybe need a couple of spacers under them, feels like I'm putting my weight just a little too far forward at the moment. Certainly riding down my road which is a nice steep hill it's stable enough at speed and when I'm spinning out.

    Most importantly, as they are the bars are comfortable enough for me and I can easily stop it.

    Edit, also getting rid of that seatclamp in place of a simple bolt up.
  • @lexD
    @lexD Posts: 340
    Cant say I am fan of the bar setup but I am loving the rest, glad you are keeping the 456 in active service :D
  • angry_bird
    angry_bird Posts: 3,786
    98% done, just the chainring bolts to sort out now. Went out for a spin yesterday, only 8 miles or so, was very nice, like the gearing, just have to make sure I hit any big hills nice and hard. Corners very nicely too.

    9731120056_f5fc4bf7ef_z.jpg

    9731121674_cd0c5abcdf_z.jpg
  • It's a bit of a queer one.
    Should be an interesting ride and you wont ever see another the same.
  • angry_bird
    angry_bird Posts: 3,786
    Update on this, put in a few hundred km on it. Can comfortably keep up with the pace of our club road rides, it's not too bad climbing (unless it's really steep) and the handling is really good.

    Take it offroad a bit too, not as stable as a normal mountain bike with those stupid bars but it does the job and does it quickly. Can chuck it down flights of steps and stuff without crapping myself too much- it's quite hard to get the weight into a balanced position and because of where the hands need to be placed to soak up the edges then there's no option to break until the steps are well and truly over and the hands can be repositioned.

    Overall, love it to bits :D
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but if it works for you, then that is all that matters, I'm glad you had the cajones to go for it your own way! If they are City Jets then some lighter weight slicks will make a huge improvement.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.