 Here she is, a few tweaks here and there, soon she will be ready for racing. Some of the tweaks had to happen for me to be willing to enter this rig in a race. The V-brakes did not play nicely when jamming down some regular single tracks that I know like the back of my hand. Luckily the MonoCog 29er is disc ready, I installed some Shimano SLX Hydraulic brakes font and rear, very Nice braking action.
Â
The stock chain snapped after mashing though a sand pit at Whiting Ranch with less than 200 miles on it. After trying to patch the chain with the help of friends and their 9 speed chain links to no avail I walked back to the truck. I got home and cut a SRAM 971 {My Favorite} chain to size, I soon realized this rear sprocket was not set up for a 9-speed chain {or 3/32″}. It was sitting on top of the sprocket teeth.
Â
 I started thinking do I put a BMX chain {or 1/8″} on or a more common 9-speed chain that can be fixed with the help of geared riders if I run out of supplies on the side of the mountain. I wanted to stay with a chain that I know will last at least a 1000 miles doing SS duty. The SRAM 971 chain wasn’t going anywhere but the rear sprocket was tossed in favor of a SURLY HD 20 tooth sprocket.
When I went to change the rear sprocket I tried a new tool out, Pedro’s Trixie Fixed Gear Multi-Tool [$25.00] while shopping in the store I Goggled this tool on my phone and the first site that pops up is our friends at Bike Commuters, some more detail here  http://www.bikecommuters.com/2009/07/06/review-pedros-trixie-multi-tool/. The rear hub has a small splined free wheel with a track style lock ring that needs a hook wrench {Pedro’s Multi-Tool} to be loosened with the help of IceToolz http://www.icetoolz.com/icetoolz/index.php chain tool supplied in my toolkit.
Most recently; 50 miles on new chain and rear sprocket and no problems, lets hope for another 1000.
-
-
-
-
-
Show CommentsI think that 9-speed chain will work out better. Believe it or not, it is FAR stronger than a generic 1/8″ BMX chain!
I am probably 350 miles in with my stock chain and it has already stretched enough to be replaced. It is just not as sturdy as I would like. Thanks for all the info, I think I am probably going to end up following suite and switching to a Surley cog soon and the tool you posted is going to help a lot with that.
Any idea if you are going to upgrade the fork soon?
Hey Dummey, you are right the stock chain stretches like a rubber band. Do yourself a favor and put a nice chain on and forget about it stretching after break in.
Fork upgrade? As of right now, I am sitting tight, if I do a fork it will need a remote lockout with 80-100mm travel.
To move up to the SRAM 971, did you have to do anything to the front ring gear? This was a 1/8″ chain, right?
I’d like to pick up another rear sprocket for road riding this winter and might as well upgrade the existing 20t while I’m at it for the same reasons you list.
FWIW, I added the Reba Race with remote lockout this season and have to say I really like it.
Bart, I reused the front chain without any issues, it has been working great. Keep in mind that the 971 chain will stretch a small amount during the break in. It will need to retensioned after 50-100 miles.