It's been done. I saw this at SS the other day. The owner let us lift it. A svelte 30 pounds. It's lighter than my trail bike. It was pretty sweet.
That is a belief that has long been debunked. In any type of speed sport, lighter is better The point to the post is beyond lightness though. Single speeding down a DH track is unique, and to me, the concept is intriguing.
I doubt, anyone's goal is to make a 50lb bike, the weight is just the cost of burly components and suspension. Plus going single-speed saves a ton of money, no derailleur, shifter or costly chain to mangle in a crash.
Very cool. With that said, I think I would prefer a few gears on a downhill bike. Holding out hope they someday produce a LIGHTWEIGHT gearbox / internal transmission system.
Thats heavier than a cassette and derailleur, plus you'll get a much better range of gearing, plus the Hammer has the compatibility requirement.
True day. For one, 83mm BB on the dh bike. I had a Hammerschmidt for a few days. I pulled it outta the box, looked at it and promptly returned it. That chit is a boat anchor and looks way to complicated to last much before each service.
Why? You need gears on a DH bike so you can accelerate when you need to. As as for the weight that's to light for a DH bike, there is appoint where they do get to light.
I chose to disagree when a bike can get too light. As long as it doesnt collapse from under you, it's ok The guy riding it was a 40ish DJ rider with his BMX racing son who was on an Evil Undead, single speed as well. He said he never got used to gears, and that's just how he rolls. Pretty cool if you ask me.
Old thread I know.... The SS would be fun if not racing and the gearing was appropriate for the course. All the DH racing I did was 8 and 9 speed and some tracks I used all the gears and wanted more, other times I only used 2-4 gears. I had a hard tail bike I set up for slalom, 4x and DJ years ago. I used a spacer on the hub body and put on 2 sprockets and a surly chain tensioner. In this way it was a manual change 2 speed!!! No derailer. It was helpful when I showed up at a trail and needed to gear up or down on ring.