HG & Simple-Speeds
Single-speeding is, and always has been, a funny offshoot of mountain bicycling. And, as part of that, there has always been a degree of adaptation or small-brand customization involved. For me, thinking about the latter always invokes an image of a Paul WORD hub.
One-speeding’s popularity rises and falls, and with that, the availability of different #1FG-friendly parts. At one time, it was possible to buy chainrings in all sorts of {obviously not narrow-wide} uneven tooth-counts. For example, I pedaled a 33x22t for quite a while on my Shore-XC bike to optimize my chainstay length. Somewhere, for a micro-drive SS project that didn’t happen, I have a 27t NSBillet chain ring that uses the SRAM 3-bolt mounting standard.
I’ll argue, with a playful bit of cheek, that we’re currently in a one-speeding upswing because of the 50,000:1 Club. Yes, an entirely made-up number. For every 50,000 riders embracing pedal-assisted-motoring on the trails, there’s one who is hungry to boil bike riding down to a simpler form.
Maybe that’s a hardtail, maybe it’s a double-hardtail, maybe it’s a single-speed, and maybe it’s all three. There’s a good chance that it’s steel, because steel is real. But aluminum is actual, and carbon is corporeal, so I’m not sure material matters at all, but attitude matters absolutely.
{Photos: MEATengines}
So this one-speeding upswing we’re in, what can I offer as evidence? Here in my echo chamber, there’s been an exponential increase in questions about converting bikes without sliding dropouts for one-speed use. I also know a few folks talking about buying a Honzo ESD who would straight-up prefer a more boutique aggressive-geo hardtail from Chromag, Knolly, etc., solely for the sliders.
But stepping outside for a moment, the most contemporary one-speeding adaptation is cog carrier systems for XD hub drivers, and, more recently, Micro-Spline hub drivers. If you’d like to dig a bit more into that, Wheels Manufacturing makes the nicest XD and MS solo-converters I’ve seen {but not used}, in a plethora of anodized colours, if you want to chase more information.
Typically, when asked about these sorts of conversion systems and about cassette options in general, I’ve long recommended jailbreaking your hub to an HG {HyperGlide} driver. That beautiful, almost forty-year-old, interface standard. Then it’s a matter of choosing from the plethora of readily available nice or cheap HG single-speed cogs, in a wide variety of sizes.
But what if buying an HG driver is only an OE option, or not an option at all?
{Photos: MEATengines}
LG X HG X #1FG
Now, the HG freehub driver standard was never going anywhere on budget-friendlier bikes or wheelsets. Even with groups priced about Shimano’s Deore M6100, using MicroSpline, and SRAM’s GX, using XD, there are plenty of bikes designed for performance off-road use that ship with HG. That includes rigs where brands have min-maxed in a SunRace cassette with Shimano or even with the lowest-level of SRAM’s T-Type drivetrains, cable or electronic.
So, when I use the word ‘save,’ I’m specifically talking about higher-end wheel options. And with some brands, especially those chasing the nice-wheel OE spec, there was, and is, a level of HG scarcity – OE only or out of inventory. Indeed, I know of riders running conversion kits who would have happily just bought an HG driver had it been an option.
And so, it’s not simply that Shimano’s LinkGlide choosing the HG interface has reinforced that option for one-speed aficionados. U4000, U6000, maybe even the nicely made Deore M5130 components, I don’t know if many folks would have cared. But, with the newest Japan-made, freshest top-end cable-actuated, XT M8130 sharing mass-intercompatibility with those lower-end LG components, it makes sense to have an HG driver for boutique wheels.
{Photos: MEATengines}
I’ve had the same discussion with a few different bike brands about putting sliding, or swinging, dropouts on their mid-to-higher-end hardtails, à la Kona or Santa Cruz. It’s not even about single-speeding; sell it as an adjustable option for folks hungry for size-specific chainstays. Choose your own stay-venture!
But, perhaps, it is also more about single-speeding than it has been in the past? At least the option to run a #1FG setup?
Yeah, so. All that 50,000:1 make-believe aside, if you are in the market for a hardtail frame this year, there are many other ways to tension a chain, but if you are thinking you might like to try single-speeding, then definitely consider something with sliding, or swinging dropouts, or an eccentric BB {see Stooge}.
And, if you’re in the market for a really nice bike or wheelset that you {may} want to ride one-speeded {someday}, I’d suggest confirming up front that there’s an available HG hub driver option for it. I think it will more often be the case now, or at least it won’t be less often the case now, and to roll that wheel back around to the top, I think some credit goes to LG being HG instead of MS.
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