The Single Speed

Last night I dug through my garage to the very back--behind the strollers, past some PVC, around the piled up extension cords and retrieved the oldest bike in my possession: a 1992 Cannondale.  

There isn't really a model number for it, since Jon purchased it as a frame and built it up himself. He put on Suntour MicroDrive (the first of the smaller diameter chainrings and cogs), a sweet 3 lb titanium handbar--ok, it's not 3lbs, but close, darn it--and other assundry parts that were the stuff to buy way back then.  The wheels are Nashbar--then called Bike Nashbar, their biking side of the biz; the other side was Spike Nashbar, a volleyball mail order catalog--and had some of the smoothest rolling bearings at the time. They are still pretty darn smooth, too, 17 years later.

A number of years ago, Jon and I made a swap.  He got my Fisher Sphinx--which I eventually, um, needed back, but I somehow managed to retain the 'dale--and I got his old Cannondale.  My reason for wanting the old bike was this I wanted to try this single speeding thing, and had no money.  There were a few hitchs, though.  The fork is Cannondale's Pepperoni fork.  

The fork was recalled sometime in 1993, I think.  It's all aluminum, with an aluminum threaded 1 1/4" headset.  If my memory serves, it was the threaded steerers that were breaking.  Oh well.  The other quirk is the Suntour Microdrive cogset.  No other cogs fit that freehub, so if it dies, or the cogs break, I'm stuck.  The stem is a tiny bit too long, but I can't find a replacement, so I deal with it.  I'm standing much of the time anyway.  Back then, mountain bikes had steeper head angles, so the bike has lightning quick steering.  Since removing most of the drivetrain, the bike weighs 22.20lbs.  I set the bike up with 32x17 gearing, so it's slightly easier than a 2 to 1 ratio.  

About 5 years ago, I spent most of my summer on this bike.  Because it is so light and stiff, it climbs like a mountain goat.  Because the heat tube is on the steep side, it's a tad nervous going downhill.  

Lately, though, I've been neglecting it.  It doesn't have discs, so I tend to use my 'cross bike more in the winter, when rim brakes aren't so useful.  In the summer, I prefer my full suspension--and geared--bike.  So the poor single speed sits, waiting for me to take it out.  

And so I did, last night.  We were going to do a gravel road ride with a moderate, sustained climb.  I know the climb well, and about 3 years ago, used the single speed to post my best time ever up this particular hill.  Becuase of other time demands, I knew that I wasn't in that kind of shape, but I wanted to see if I was as out of shape as I thought.  Would I have to walk any of it?

Nope.  The bike was as fun to ride as ever, and I felt great grinding up the hill.  The bike's willingness to climb was an eye-opener... again.  No matter how steep the hill was, all I had to do was push down on the pedals and the bike launched forward.  When we transitioned to a brief section of singletrack--and the slope got steeper--I stood and pulled back HARD on the bar ends while hammering the pedals.  Again, I was rewarded with the surge forward with no energy wasted.  

Sure, the downhill wasn't as fast since I spun out at 15mph, but I still managed a respecable 36mph.  Not too shabby for just coasting.  

I'm going to have to dig out the old beast more often.  What a fun bike, what a good ride.