You are reading a single comment by @Velocio and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@Velocio
My Robin Mather is a 29er, sure it looks like a cyclocross or touring bike but it's actually a wolf in sheeps clothing.
Sliding drops are wonderful. You get the simplicity of verticals with the tensioning of horizontals. EBB's by all accounts are a bit messy, if you find yourself with chain slack and you want to re-tension a bottom bracket caked in mud isn't where you want to be working... whereas loosening a few allen bolts and pulling the back wheel feels very natural (especially to those who ride fixed and are used to tensioning this way).
The On-One frame is a beast. In a good way. It's a very pared down and strong bike. I like the ends they have, in fact I was very tempted to go with something very similar on mine as they are technically really nice but I felt they lacked the elegance I was looking for. The hard forks they sell with the frame are pretty awesome too, but if you're taking it off-road proper then you may well want a soft front... though I'd keep with a hard-tail.
This photo from the On-One blog shows how clean the frame is:
http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/dsc00318.jpg
I've got clearance on the Mather for tyres like that but haven't yet gone there (though if this kind of weather threatens to persist for weeks or months I surely will).
I'm pretty sure Object could give some advice, I think he's been perving over 29ers for ages.