Comments on: Siren Song 29″er Single Speed: First Ride Impressions

By: Dirt McGirt

Dirt McGirt — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:33:33 +0000

Ano Purple? You old skool fool, you!

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:19:33 +0000

RJ: Sorry! Just pulled back into the home base 1250 miles away today.

By: RJ

RJ — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 07:13:17 +0000

Hey,

Is that bike still in the El Paso area. I would love to check it out.

By: OhNooo

OhNooo — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 02:53:27 +0000

Cool! Thanks for the great review!

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:41:36 +0000

OhNooo: #1: No chain issues what so ever. No weird noises, no popping, nothing. I would think that if the chain slackened during compression at all it would be a recipe for derailment. No such issues with the Song.

#2: Hard to quantify. The ride on the Song was only my second ride ever on this trail and the first one was over a year earlier. I did have a few pedal strikes, but these trails were super rocky and technical and I was running 180mm cranks to boot. If pedal strikes are a concern simply have Brendan design around that.

#3: No. None.

#4: Obviously the frames down tube would necessarily need to be stiffer for me, as I have mentioned. Maybe a squidgen shorter top tube, but really, nothing else comes to mind. Oh! I would have it anodized purple! I almost forgot!

By: OhNooo

OhNooo — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:24:33 +0000

Guitar Ted,

Since this bike is at the very top of my drool list, there are a few points during your review that I would be interested in knowing.

1) Have you had any chain drop issues? Is there significant difference in chain tension when moving between the sag and max compression points? I guess you would have to depressurize the can to easily check the chain tension under max compression.

2) Any significant increase in pedal strikes over what you are accustomed to? Noticably fewer pedal strikes?

3) Any frame creaks while riding? My last aluminum bike was nicknamed the “creaking beer can” because every bump resulted in lots of noise. I’ve only been riding a steel hardtail since. Since this is a softail, aluminum is once again an option to consider. But I’m leery of the creaking.

4) If you could change something on your own custom build of this bike, what would you change?

Thanks!

By: MMcG

MMcG — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:42:21 +0000

Desert9r - Curtlo makes a steel soft tail.

Blammo - your problem is solved.

By: Desert9r

Desert9r — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:05:53 +0000

I too like the bent top tube, esp after the new fork raised the front of my XXIX, I can get un-comfy Real Quick, I am concidering a few new frames including the Soma Juice.

Guitar Ted-

Thanks foe the post, I just wish some one would make a steel soft-tail.

By: blackbean

blackbean — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:09:18 +0000

Spoke to a buddy of mine back in South Africa a few weeks ago and he told me he was looking at buying a hard-tail or a soft-tail. Only to realize back home they call a full-suspension bike a ’soft-tail’ (because a front-suspension only bike is called a ‘hard-tail’!). Little did I know there is a difference between a soft-tail and a full-suspension bike! This is a sweet looking bike. It’s SS and it has 29-inch wheels. Whats not to like??? Makes me want to go ride my bike right now. Luckily the weekend is on hand…

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:14:45 +0000

This is a very interesting design and I am excited about the possibilities. I raced last season on a Mooto-x Ybb. I am a big fan of the bent top tube - I have it on my Astrix Rook. To me this bike seems to be the cross between the two with a very desirable final product - an affordable custom soft tail 29er.