I finally got a good ride on the Monocog today. Sure is a different animal compared to the Hi-Fi. When I throw my leg over the bike and settle on the saddle its sensation I am not used to: Theres no suspension sag!
One of the habits I have being on a geared bike is checking what gear I am in once I get rolling. I mean who doesn’t? Today that habit manifested itself. As soon I as I got on and pedaled, I looked down on the handlebar. Nothing there except the rear brake lever, HA HA. No shifters to fiddle with. My handlebar is kinda bare right now. The only gadget there is my Cat’s eye light, I haven’t attached my Cat Eye cyclometer because I don’t have any small zip ties to secure it.
Rolling on level pavement the 32-20 gearing was fine until I discovered that due to its higher gearing, I could not go any faster. I was spinning fast and bouncing on the saddle to what I estimate would be around 11 MPH. Oh man, if I was on a geared bike I would be shifting to a higher gear at that point. At the bike path I take the pavement is a very slight downhill. I didn’t pedal for almost a mile! I was fine cruising along, upright position with one hand on the handlebar until a gaggle of roadies zoomed by. Normally I would speed up, try to keep up or give chase but not on the Monocog. At least most of them yelled out ‘Rider on your left!’.
What I did notice its that even though there was a slight uphill grade, I didn’t pedal as much. Maybe this what the big wheeled momentum 29er riders speak of. I noticed that both on and off the pavement. Even on the dirt trail I would pedal a few times and coast.
Riding through this part my martini gets shaken, not stirred
Once I reached the rocky section of the trail I regularly ride, I started missing the suspension. Some say they dont need suspension as the big wheels and/or the steel frame soak up the bumps, not me. Unless I was going real slow the ride was a bone jarring affair. I couldn’t even roll over the big rocks and test the better angle of attack.
On light dirt trails the hardtail was fine. I’ll just continue to air down the rear tire until I reach a comfortable bounce on my ride. The Monocog seem to climb well even when seated. The 20 tooth gear was good for that. On a side note the WTB Exiwolfs were great. I don’t think I’ll reach its performance potential since I’m going slow on the rigid single speed.
I took frequent breaks especially when riding over dirt to keep my carpal tunnel syndrom addled hands and bad shoulder from going numb. My knees and legs didn’t ache either, not because of conditioning or the low gearing but probably from those frequent stops.
The pedals I’ll change out to something with real pins for better grip. When the soles of my shoes were wet it was slipping off the pedals. The Redline saddle though it wasn’t uncomfortable it could be better and will be replaced in the near future.
