27 October 2010 - 7:12Pandora’s Box?

This Superfly flies! Literally, unless you want it to go up. This of course has everything to do with the engine and not the bike. The engine is a lot heavier than fighting weight these days. I know full well that I will regret not taking my opportunities to ride when they come, but that is the bane of Offtober.

I walked a lot.

But only slightly more than my first trip up Perry Hill on Mr Furley this calendar year. I did have somewhat of an excuse though. I’m pretty sure my old Boone Ti 20t cog was not up to the task of handling the full squish set up. After all the adjusting and aligning I did to get it to not drop the chain, only made it jump ahead on the rear cog with the slightest bit of “power” applied. I was OK with it though, I lacked power, and found myself walking most inclines on my short shakedown ride. I was able to get a very good sense of the bike’s personality despite my quasi mechanical handicap.

My first concern was that the handling was going to be a bit, well, off. The frame was designed around a 100mm G2 fork (52mm offset)***. All I had available to me was a 46mm (standard) Reba. I didn’t feel that the bike handled weirdly at all. This will be a completely separate rant/blog post later, but I can tell you that as far as I’m concerned, the whole offset thing is a bunch of hooey.

My second concern had more to do with the fact that I was making something that was designed to be a certain way, be something completely different. I spent a lot of time getting the drivetrain lined up and cooperating. Well, this oddball set up actually works pretty well.

Besides my fatness err… I mean fitness, the bike did nothing short of impress my socks off. I only noticed a couple of things. I did clip the pedals a bit more than I expected to, but I guess that would come with the territory. I also felt that the bike could be pushed a lot further than I was prepared to let it go on it’s maiden voyage.

Considering my 3 week absence from 2 wheels, I tried to ride conservatively. I did find myself “in the moment” a few times though, and it made me wish that it was late March instead of late October.

Full suspension singlespeeds are somewhat of a odd duck. Not something you could ride all the time, but something you could definitely use to your advantage in certain scenarios. A quiver bike if you will. I will unlock the secrets though. This is something…

I’ve pulled off the old Boone cog and installed a brand spanky Endless 20t Kick Ass Cog, and have yet to replicate the skipping issue. I hope to have another good ride in the very near future to see if this whole contraption actually works.

*** we are going to talk about this whole offset thing when I am good and ready