Come to the Dark Side

 The latest in what I hope will be a steady stream has come to the dark side, of single-speed cyclocross (SSCX) that is. I just finished putting the final touches on Ben's spiffy new Felt dedicated SSCX bike.

This was an Ebay slightly used Felt alloy frameset with a BB30 BB shell that we converted over to a completely legit SSCX using the Beer Components EBB30. I have been using those things for about four years now and Cathy has been on them for a couple. They are on the expensive side but work very well. The results yield a real deal SSCX bike that does a great job of tensioning the chain accurately and effectively.

The parts are a mix of things that I've come to find over the years, hold the best bang for the buck. Tektro brake levers, Tektro mini V-brakes, 3/32" Sinz BMX 40 tooth chainring, carbon-fiber outer guide ring, loose freewheel spacers and a pair of guides on sandwiching the rear 17 tooth Surley steel cog made from old cassette cogs. For a chain I've had the best luck with cheap 8 speed chains. Less stretch than with the SRAM PC-1 dedicated SS chain and significantly less weight. The cranks are Shimano CX-70 compact which are great for the job. I actually prefer the Shimano over the FSA but the FSA Gossamer MegaExo are a close second.

All told, this is a pretty sweet rig for pretty short dough. Hopefully Ben will dig it as much as Cathy and I like ours. Honestly, I wish we had more SSCX events around. I know, I can race it in the normal races. Truth be told, it doesn't actually make that much of a difference, at least in my opinion.