# Debate Time - Best Singlespeed Mountain Bikes as judged by Bicycling



## Shalom (Nov 7, 2008)

Are they right?

Bicycling's best single speeds

Let the war of words begin!


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## CB2 (May 7, 2006)

So many gapping holes in there "test".


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## driver bob (Oct 12, 2005)

"Best" relative to what ???

If we don't know the other bikes they tested then we have nothing to make a comparison against.


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## Shalom (Nov 7, 2008)

Their skewed view of reality?


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## SpiderMike (Oct 5, 2005)

Next they will say the best "TexMex" is Taco Bell.


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## SeaBass_ (Apr 7, 2006)

No Niners......Guess my bike sucks. I'm crushed:cryin:


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## CupOfJava (Dec 1, 2008)

Jabberwocky on order as we speak.....


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## the pope (Mar 23, 2004)

driver bob said:


> "Best" relative to what ???


All the rest.


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## Wiggs (May 11, 2006)

I'm guessing Specialized has a lot of ad space in their magazine...


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## Shalom (Nov 7, 2008)

Wiggs said:


> I'm guessing Specialized has a lot of ad space in their magazine...


My thoughts were along the same lines....


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## racerx04 (Nov 27, 2005)

Shalom said:


> My thoughts were along the same lines....


+2

So many, many great bikes overlooked. A Moots? Really? Only guys I ever see riding one are baller wannabe's.


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## Mr Pink57 (Jul 30, 2009)

I've actually ridden that Stumpjumper the carbon version and really thought it was a POS. Not to just bash Specialized, I have ridden a few of their bikes and like them, a lot but this thing was just terrible to me.



> So many gapping holes in there "test".


This one is just too easy


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## SMT42 (Nov 9, 2006)

What's a Baller? I would love a Moots and I don't wannabe anything, except wealthy enough to afford a Moots. For now I will continue on with my 87 Bridgestone fully ridged bone rattler. By the way SeaBass the Specialized is a 29er. One other thing, they only test what they can get their hands on so it would seem that the intern in charge of rounding up frames/bikes did not have much initiative and therefor be let go.


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## BrianU (Feb 4, 2004)

Glad to see a Jabberwocky in the mix, I still dig mine after 3.5 years. Although I would also like to know what else they tried and compared. The fact that every complete bike they show is a HT makes me wonder how much time the test staff normally spends on singlespeeds.


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## racerx04 (Nov 27, 2005)

SMT42 said:


> What's a Baller?


Urban Dictionary: baller


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## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

Mines the best.


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## PoisonDartFrog (Jul 8, 2010)

$2400 for a single speed? You can bite my hairy nads.


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## Cygnus (Jan 7, 2004)

that's goofy. there is no best. every SS is best.


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## 96p993 (May 21, 2011)

In the actual magazine does it say "advertisement page" at the top of the pages of this test


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## CB2 (May 7, 2006)

AZ.MTNS said:


> Mines the best.


:thumbsup:


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## Saddle Up (Jan 30, 2008)

nevermind


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## 88 rex (Aug 2, 2007)

Eh, I like my bike better. It's lighter and cheaper than all those. And it looks better.


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## MarcusSommers (Sep 11, 2008)

Dirt Rag should use this to gain subscriptions.


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## Mattyd (Dec 21, 2005)

It kills me to see those cranks on such a beautiful frame (Moots). What are they thinking!


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## umarth (Dec 5, 2007)

Come on. One doesn't sign up on MTBR to read ****ing magazines. 

And every bike is a SS waiting to happen.


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## Shalom (Nov 7, 2008)

umarth said:


> And every bike is a SS waiting to happen.


I cannot agree more with your sentiment that every bike is a potential SS! :thumbsup:


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## DJP412 (Aug 27, 2008)

The aluminum Specialized SS is such a great bike / frame that Specialized discontinued it for 2012.


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## Godless Communist (May 8, 2007)

PoisonDartFrog said:


> $2400 for a single speed? You can bite my hairy nads.


No kidding. If I spent that much on a frickin' singlespeed, it had better be the "best." Ridiculous.


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## edouble (Apr 16, 2004)

*They got the HT angle on the Jabberwocky...*

wrong. It is not 72 degrees. Seems like they just picked expensive bikes from well known manufacturers and threw in the Vassago as an inexpensive option. I do not get the feeling due diligence was done here :nono:.


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## erichwic (Mar 3, 2004)

I actually own the '11 Specialized SJ SS frameset and like the ride. Of course, I can't compare it to any of the others, but that's my $.02. It's light, stiff, and the EBB maintains tension.


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## PAmtbiker (Feb 2, 2005)

Judging which SS is best is just silly. They are all pretty cool in their own way, and by now, the market has weeded out the ones that no one liked.

Lets face it... there really are few crappy bikes anymore (once you get above a certain price that is); everything is pretty damn good.


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## Shalom (Nov 7, 2008)

DJP412 said:


> The aluminum Specialized SS is such a great bike / frame that Specialized discontinued it for 2012.


Yeah no. Depends on the region you are in. We still have it here in NZ, along with the carbon one and the Carve SS frame.

It all depends on what is selling where. But the market does speak!


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## bad mechanic (Jun 21, 2006)

Shalom said:


> Bicycling's...


Who gives a ****? Bicycling magazine is the bastard love child of Cosmo and a road bike. Their opinion is about as useful as the drunk derelict's on the street corner.


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## Shalom (Nov 7, 2008)

bad mechanic said:


> Who gives a ****? Bicycling magazine is the bastard love child of Cosmo and a road bike. Their opinion is about as useful as the drunk derelict's on the street corner.


So is that better or worse than MBA?


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## umarth (Dec 5, 2007)

bad mechanic said:


> Who gives a ****? Bicycling magazine is the bastard love child of Cosmo and a road bike.


Anyone else watch the sex tape?


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## bad mechanic (Jun 21, 2006)

umarth said:


> Anyone else watch the sex tape?


Yes. It was...unsettling. It was like Rosie O'Donnell being intimate with a particularly hirsute koala.


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## fos'l (May 27, 2009)

Hey! Give them credit --- they may have ridden the bikes almost all of the way around the parking lot. Seriously, an acquaintance's bike shop was voted one of the best and (as far as he could tell) they didn't even visit the place. He found out that his was selected by phone call.


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## MarcusSommers (Sep 11, 2008)

IMBA threatens to send you a subscription to Bicycling if you join. I bet that is costing them members. Luckily my mail box and recycling bin rest side by side.


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## CycleAddict (Aug 8, 2009)

Don't care which bikes they liked, but on a side note-

One thing about Bicycling that always makes me laugh is when they print things like "$490 for the frame only makes this an economical option." With the economy the way it is, and 500 bucks being a lot of money to most people, it really shows who their target audience is. (not hating on Vassago even though that was a comment printed about their frame). My KM frame set retailed for nearly as much, and it certainly didn't feel like an economical option to me when you add in additional build costs. Worth every penny though.


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## BrianU (Feb 4, 2004)

*Good Point.*



CycleAddict said:


> Don't care which bikes they liked, but on a side note-
> 
> One thing about Bicycling that always makes me laugh is when they print things like "$490 for the frame only makes this an economical option." With the economy the way it is, and 500 bucks being a lot of money to most people, it really shows who their target audience is. (not hating on Vassago even though that was a comment printed about their frame). My KM frame set retailed for nearly as much, and it certainly didn't feel like an economical option to me when you add in additional build costs. Worth every penny though.


I have one of those economical Vassago frames and all said and done, got about $1800 tied up in it. That is with a rigid fork and what I would consider maybe just a little more than a middle of the road build as far as cost.


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## mo0se (Jul 31, 2006)

MarcusSommers said:


> Dirt Rag should use this to gain subscriptions.


They only review $4000.00 steel single speeds...:skep: Latest issue..I threw up in my mouth.


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## M_S (Nov 18, 2007)

MarcusSommers said:


> IMBA threatens to send you a subscription to Bicycling if you join. I bet that is costing them members. Luckily my mail box and recycling bin rest side by side.


_That's _why I've been getting Bicycling. I seriously couldn't figure it out.


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## PoisonDartFrog (Jul 8, 2010)

Cygnus said:


> that's goofy. there is no best. every SS is best.


Every single speed is "best" in the same way that everyone is a winner and there are no such things as stupid questions.


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## Cygnus (Jan 7, 2004)

PoisonDartFrog said:


> Every single speed is "best" in the same way that everyone is a winner and there are no such things as stupid questions.


do i really need to explain? every bike is special (best) to its owner, in the same sense that parents love their children. "there are no such things as stupid questions"; can you phrase that as a question?


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## ISuckAtRiding (Jul 7, 2006)

no Ibis Tranny? Apparently they don't like awesome handling.

A good fork and a good set of wheels can cost close to $2k in itself, it's pretty easy to get over 4k into a singlespeed if you let yourself pay retail.


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## PoisonDartFrog (Jul 8, 2010)

ISuckAtRiding said:


> it's pretty easy to get over 4k into a singlespeed if you let yourself pay retail.


I only pay full retail when I order CNCed bling from some dude in SD


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## Qonrad (Sep 12, 2011)

Oh cool, let me just go to a bike shop and get me a Moots, it's no problem.


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## Justinbunyon (Apr 27, 2010)

88 rex said:


> Eh, I like my bike better. It's lighter and cheaper than all those. And it looks better.


+1

Yeah really?!?! A $4100+ titanium moots still tips the scale at 22.3lbs? I woulda thought this good till the shop weighed my F29 1FG I put together (for less than 1/2 the cost of the Moots) and its at 22.15....and its an XL...with BB7's


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