2013 Genesis Fortitude Singlespeed

[rigidftw]

It’s working fine. Feels much more solid than the regular drivetrain.

Next step is to strip it down and touch up the paint.

 

[rigidftw]

Primer is done.







The steerer was a little corroded. So I figured a light sanding and some anti-rust primer would do no harm.

 

[rigidftw]

It’s been my first time using spray paint. I‘ll spare you the details. But at least it‘s more green than before. That was the goal, mostly.



Piecing together the driveline and adjusting the „belt line“ went much better.




Next step will be mudguards.

 

[rigidftw]

It’s done. The belt drive is fairly impressive.
Feels rock solid and very efficient.

The frame itself seems to be out of alignment, though. Possibly due to the coupler having been inserted. The issue is fairly complex and tricky to explain without the bike at hand.

Also the fenders rub when I go over bumps.

As a proof concept this works out just fine, though.
There is still the option to add fender mounts and coupler to the black frame.
So the green one will merely be the winter beater.

 

[nicklej]

Not gonna lie but the mudguards for me tied it all together nicely. I love a close fitting set on a 29er. This is a really nice build. Makes me wanna go back to a single speed. How do you find using the belt for SS over a chain? Id prefer that setup myself!

 

[klunkrider]

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It’s done. The belt drive is fairly impressive.
Feels rock solid and very efficient.

The frame itself seems to be out of alignment, though. Possibly due to the coupler having been inserted. The issue is fairly complex and tricky to explain without the bike at hand.

Also the fenders rub when I go over bumps.

As a proof concept this works out just fine, though.
There is still the option to add fender mounts and coupler to the black frame.
So the green one will merely be the winter beater.

Frame alignment - it’s steel, make it straight! Unless you think the coupler has added/subtracted length from the stay? Who did the work?

Mudguard rubbing - I’m using a set of these big plastic SKS guards in a similar size and I think it’s inevitable they rub. Ive used the smaller sizes before and they seem ok but I reckon the stays aren’t strong enough to properly support the bigger ones.

I’ve also used a few sets of the newer, flatter ‘Blumel Style’ guards in the wide sizes including the widest they are available in and they seem better. The stays are a lot heavier and I suspect the guards themselves are a bit stiffer too.

 

[rigidftw]

Frame alignment - it’s steel, make it straight! Unless you think the coupler has added/subtracted length from the stay? Who did the work?

Mudguard rubbing - I’m using a set of these big plastic SKS guards in a similar size and I think it’s inevitable they rub. Ive used the smaller sizes before and they seem ok but I reckon the stays aren’t strong enough to properly support the bigger ones.

I’ve also used a few sets of the newer, flatter ‘Blumel Style’ guards in the wide sizes including the widest they are available in and they seem better. The stays are a lot heavier and I suspect the guards themselves are a bit stiffer too.

I spoke to a frame builder. Rear triangle misalignments can be dealt with easily. But it seems the front triangle is also misaligned. And that is impossible to correct with his means.

I got the frame from a distant friend, who got it from his father-in-law. The original forks are missing. As these frames originally only were sold with forks, something seems off. Frame could be from a crashed bike, forks beyond repair, frame moved on...

Incorrect seatstay length after the modification is also a possibility. Work was done by a backyard bike builder on the cheap. Coupler is not oriented the way I specified and the frame was shipped without spacer in the dropouts. The spacing is most definitely not the original 135mm...

Those mudguards are 69mm wide SKS Bluemels Basic. Tyres are 58mm exactly. So right in the scope as stated by SKS.
I'll look into 'Bluemels Style', thanks. Maybe those stays are available serparately.

Edit: Stays are incompatible!

 

[rigidftw]

Not gonna lie but the mudguards for me tied it all together nicely. I love a close fitting set on a 29er. This is a really nice build. Makes me wanna go back to a single speed. How do you find using the belt for SS over a chain? Id prefer that setup myself!

The initial setup is a lot more involved. The belt needs to run absolutely straight.
I ended up measuring the front pulley's position from the center of the seat tube and positioned the rear pulley accordingly on the hub, measuring from the hubs end cap and subtracting that to get the measurement from the hub's center.

In terms of use the belt drive feels surprisingly different.

I found this article on a belt drive's efficiency vs. chain drives: Are Belt Drivetrains More Efficient Than Chain Drivetrains? (Lab Testing)
Very interesting read and those results are noticable in the real world, if you run the belt without any sort of gearbox.

The belt feels much more direct. With proper tensioning the hub's engagement is so harsh, I thought something might be broken. But it's not
Getting up to speed there is noticably less resistance, meaning it's easier to up the cadence.