True Fabrication 29er SS mountain bike build is complete!
The build is complete… and wow, it’s amazing!
A pic to show the varying color.
Nice view of the green angle…
Awesome build!
But I think you should have post this on the “post my Ride Section”
why do you want to go single on a MTB?
no suspension on it either… wouldnt the weight and the friction from the tyres hinder the point of being single?
Not at all. There’s no reason not to run a mountain bike as a singlespeed. Especially in Australia. I rode my other SS MTB all through the US, sure there are things I couldn’t climb, or spun out on certain sections, but for the most part the SS is faster through most sections, especially tight singletrack with rolling hills. A rigid fork gives the ultimate ride in terms of handling, no wet noodle upfront will make you a smoother ride overall as well.
Nice ride. I’d love a bike like that.
I would ask you the same about riding an SS on the road. It’s not about weight, or speed, and in MTB it is less about aesthetics than it is in ‘fixed gear bicycles’.
SS MTB is awesome, I think it you to conserve momentum and to attack obstacles, making you a faster rider but I fail to see how it could ever be faster than geared.
Dang nice quality build!
That would be a heap of fun around town
well as long as you enjoy it all…
just things like bunny hops, having your pedals clear obstacles, shifting weight quickly when being washed out on sandy dirt etc, would suck
how would having pedals clear obstacles on a ss be any different to on a geared mtb?
SS <> fixed
So what’s wrong with the left hand side of the bike? 
I guess geared in theory should be faster… but in my experience in 24 hour races where I switched between my geared race bike and my singlespeed I would turn faster laps on the SS. I think it’s down to momentum. On the SS you can’t compensate on hills or on the exit of turns by dropping a gear or two to speed back up, you have to keep the momentum up through the turn or up the climb yielding faster average times. Sure it could be better on a geared bike, but given the opportunity to shed a few gears to lighten the load most of us will. And that doesn’t have to be during a 12/24 race, this could be over the course of a 3 hour XC race as well.
When I say you or your, I’m refering to you plurally - including me.
Sure, but I think it is down to your riding style and attitide. If you put your geared MTB in the same gear as your SS and don’t change gears at all, you’d have to ride it the same way as your SS. So just having the option of gears lets you choose a gear which turns out to be sub-optimal. If you were more disciplined, then, like I said, I don’t see how SS could be faster. When I raced MTB (on geared) I used to train on SS for that reason.
If riding SS MTB was actually faster, then I’m sure the pros would be rocking the single cog.
very nice bike… excellent colour
ss off road is amazing fun…
it makes you a much better rider, and for me is much more fun than gears…
geared correctly i find the only problem is that i spin out on the flats
In very long (12/24 hour) races, quite a lot actually do. And they do well. In the 24 hour solo national champs this last weekend, there were 2 single speeders in the top 5.
Nice. Out of interest what gearing are you running?
Very nice. Love the paint, looks somewhat stealth in the shade, yet lights up in the sun.
Great looking bike.
Big fan of SS mtb as well.
On-One SS ridgid 29er here.
I started on a hardtail, then duallies for a few years, including racing Downhill. I still own a dually and a 26inch hardtail, but happily choose my Inbred for most off road riding.
Is it faster?
Don’t really know…it is more fun however.
Wow… Two years since I had this bike built, and I still absolutely love it! New addition will be a 2012 Fox FIT RLC 80mm fork, ever since the shoulder surgeries I don’t really like riding rigid on fast singletrack. I am reviving this thread because the builders were featured in a story by Austin on Two Wheels, these guys are amazing builders, if you’re looking for a reasonably priced fully custom steel rig then look no further. A frame can shipped from Texas for around $150-200 which puts them still well below what most custom builders charge. I can’t recommend them enough.