At the 2006 Salisbury Plain Winter Challenge I lost my rear mech to the mud. Not the first time the vulnerabilities of deralieur gears had showed themselves, it set me thinking along two lines of thought.
I had to shorten the chain to get back to the finish and the fixed chain length prevented virtually any movement of the rear suspension, making the bike more of a soft-tail than full-susser. I found myself still enjoying the ride, apart from the lack of gears. It reminded me of my thoughts when I first rode full suss…much of the feeling and feedback from the back wheel is lost – not always a good thing. And is suspension necessary when the soft going of winter cushions much of the ride?
So, thought no.1 – I became convinced that in winter mud, full suspension is probably more a hindrance than help to me.
Thought no.2 – Why dangle all that gearing where the elements could take their toll? The Rohloff Speedhub seemed such a good idea with all the working parts sealed away inside the hub.
These two ideas combined to point the way for my next bike. A Rohloff geared steel hardtail.
My cheapest option was an On One frame with sliding dropouts. Then there were the Orange P7, the Kona Unit, and the very expensive Moots titanium single speed frame. Moots no longer make it. I also considered having a frame built by Mercian and Roberts, no longer in business. In the end I found the Solitude website and decided to have a frame built by Alex Baker.
I sent Alex at Solitude Cycles all the contact point measurements off my Whyte and listed my expectations for the frame, the sort of riding I do and what forks etc. I intended to use. Once he had this info and a deposit he started work on the design.
A little while later I got back his initial drawing with some basic measurements…
As a check, I overlaid the drawing onto a side view of the Whyte…
I couldn’t get a perfect alignment in Photoshop, but close enough to see that the contact points all match up pretty well.
Time moved on and I got the first glimpse of my new bike posted in the blog on the Solitude website…
The images show the brazing around the gussets and head tube.
Next, the finished frame, back from the powdercoaters. Initially, I was going to go for a stealth look. Possibly black or gunmetal grey, but on reflection, I felt those colours would make it look just like so many others out there. This frame is special. Unique and made just for me. I wanted a colour that would stand out from the norm. One that would make heads turn and raise questions. So I plumped for a yellow-green…
Alex got in touch to tell me there was no powder coat to match, so I asked for the closest on his swatch – a bit more yellow and a bit less green than I really wanted, but close enough.
A week or so later and the frame was back with Alex for finishing off…
Mid June the frame was dispatched to Pedal On, my local bike shop. They were to build and fit the wheels and put most of the other ‘bits’ onto the bike. Shortly after the frame turned up at Pedal On I popped up with my camera to take a few detail shots…not the best I’ve ever taken.
The frame is a lot lighter than I thought it would be. (No, that’s not me in the pic…or Harry Potter!)
July 4th 2007 and the finished product with obligatory glamour model!
One or two folks commented on the stack of spacers below the stem. “Should they be there on a made to measure bike”?
Alex was concerned about standover height (I’m 5″8″ and shrinking) so made the front end higher – something I’d asked for – using the spacers.
Before I decided to go this route, I’d been looking at spending over £3000 on a Whyte E5. In choosing the frame and kit, I went for quality and the final price reflects this, matching almost exactly the cost of an off the shelf E5. This will seem a lot for a steel ‘hardtail’, but I now have a hand-built bike that fits like a glove, designed for just for me. The Rohloff should provide reliable, low maintenance, all-conditions drive and last a lot longer than I will.
The Rohloff may face criticism for being heavy and weighting the back of the bike, but actually, the CG is about 1.5″ forward of the BB and all up with tubeless tyres and pedals weighs 27.7lbs – about the same as my Whyte in conventional mode.
From chat on mtb forums, I was expecting the gear to be noisy but I am pleasantly surprised by the lack of it noise. It ‘whines’ a bit between 1-7 but 8-14 are very quiet. Gear changing is quiet, smooth and quick. I going to have to get used to the twist grip again (my first mtb had them).