I've been hankering after a single speed for while, after throwing together one of the $100 "Ronald McDonald" bikes from Walmart<http://www.walmart.com/ip/Thruster-700C-Men-s-Fixie-Bike-Black-Red/23810254> (the colors have improved from red/yellow/black to just red/black in the link) as a beater bike for my youngest teen.
Given that this is already an n+1(or s-1) household, I've been taking my time with the research and there are a few ideas that I've seen which I'd love to see transferred into a Rivendell Single/Fixed frame offering. Firstly, the ability to change between single, geared, belt or chain drives as well as an option for discs - the only frame I've seen that does this is: the Speedhound Only One <http://speedhoundbikes.com/sds/> and this is accomplished by using a very clever replaceable dropout system. The replaceable dropouts also appear to allow for flexibility of the rear spacing from 120 to 135, depending on the inserts & really opens the field for wheel/hub choice. Second, a reinforced steel 1-1/8" front fork with disc mounts AND removable canti-studs AS well as being drilled for a regular caliper - allowing the most choice between braking systems without needing to have an inventory of forks. (Internal routing for a dynamo would be a super nice-to-have) Third, as many potential rack mount eyelets as can be added without destroying structural integrity (ie. no swiss cheese) - I particularly like the top mounts for the front rack on the Geekhound Woodville bike<http://prollyisnotprobably.com/2013/06/beautiful-bicycle-my-geekhouse-woodville-touring-bike/#4>owned by John Watson. 3 bottle mounts would be great too... Fourth, removable cable guides - ala the Fyxation Quiver<http://www.fyxation.com/collections/framesets/products/quiver-road-frameset> which would allow for a cleaner fixed build should I decide to forego the brakes and test-drive my health insurance... I'm not too concerned about color choice, although strong contrasts will show off the lug work nicely - perhaps Klein Blue<http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=80103>main tubes with Pale Cream insets ? More important would be the anti-corrosion pre-treatment of the frame (electrostatic ?), as there would be many points of potential water ingress with that many eyelets/bosses. Geometry wise, lowish bottom bracket for additional stability, steep head tube for agility (but not too steep to have my size 10s overlap), longish seat stays for rear cush. Looking for reasonably lively steering response, but stable enough for long distance randonneuring and gravel/firepaths. Clearance for 42s would be great (with or without fenders). I know that weight is somewhat of a non-issue for most Rivsters, but if the frame and fork was on the light side of lbs, that would be spectacular.... (At any point now, I'll realize that I'm going to have to bring this list and a big check for a custom Riv...) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
