This culminates our short test review of the Siren Song single speed. The Song concept is a softail design utilizing a titanium flex plate at the bottom bracket/chain stay junction and is a fully customizeable frame set.
Well, as the last rides wound away on this Siren Song demo bike, I had a lot to think about. How would I change things for a personalized version of the Song? Would it be a viable endurance racing platform? How does the flex plate design deal with Mid Western dirt/mud? How does the Siren Song stack up against the competition? Lots of questions and not much time to discern the answers to them all. Here’s my best shot at it for your reading pleasure.
I can not stress enough that the Siren Song is a custom design. This sets it apart from the crowd as it is one of the few aluminum 29″ers that you can get made to order. Add to this the soft tail effect and you have a very, very unique bike to consider. On top of all of this, the Song demo I got to ride wasn’t made for anyone in particular, so it was a bit of a conundrum in that it didn’t suit me to a “T”. Here’s what I would have done if I ordered one up. I’m a big guy ( 6’1″ 240lbs) A bit of a “line backer” and not so much an “XC whippet”, if ya know what I mean. I would have the Song built with a stout front triangle for better handling, a bit more standover, and perhaps some stouter chain stays if I had a single speed version done. All of these things can easily be accomodated and wouldn’t cost me any more than the base $1850.00 for the frame and Cane Creek damper unit.
I think the Song would be an excellent all day race or trail machine. Going either single speed or geared, I can’t think of a better platform for endurance than a soft tail design and having 29″er wheels underneath you just makes it all the better. The simplicity of the rear suspension design wins me over in this regard as well.
One of the things I was curious about was how the Siren Song would deal with mud. The flex plate looked a bit like a “crud catcher” to me and this was a concern. In my last ride aboard the Song, I was able to ride a river bottom section that frequently floods over and has some of the nastiest river mud around. I didn’t think that the Song would show as well as it did, but the picture above shows that the flex plate didn’t collect much in the way of mud after all. I suppose a mingling of grass or fine roots would have plugged it up, but this was an encouraging sign in terms of how the flex plate dealt with mud. More time in adverse conditions would have been necessary to truly ferret out how the Song would ultimately fare in this regard though.
Finally, I felt that the value in the Song was that it had a very unique, very funtional soft tail design and was an aluminum frame that could be made to fit you perfectly. These two things should endear this bike to serious endurance freaks and people that are very discerning in terms of their trail bikes. The fact that it can be had as a single speed specific bike is also another plus in the Siren’s camp. There will be those who do not see the Siren as being a reasonable choice due to the expense of the frame, but there are definite reasons for the price. When you consider the bits that go into making the flex plate, the appreciation for the value in this design shouldn’t be hard to find.
My sincerest thanks go out to Brendan Collier of Siren Bicycles for this opportunity. Please check Siren’s website for more information regarding the Song or any of the other Siren models.
Clearly the Siren is a great option for those with more custom needs than what a stock softail 29er frame like a Dos Niner can accommodate, and though I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing one in-person, from the pictures I’ve seen of your demo bike, it seems that the craftsmanship of the Song is really sweet.
Thanks for the solid review Guitar Ted! It’s been fun to hear about your experience with the bike.
Cheers,
MG
Its a Custom bike, But the will not make a steel version