OS Bikes Blackbuck: First Impressions

It’s been awhile since I posted anything about the OS Bikes Blackbuck, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been putting this rig through it’s paces! Here are my thoughts after six months of snow, ice, mud, slurry, dirt, and gravel aboard the curvaceous black beauty.

I’ve been busy off and on with this bike, trying out diffrent versions that implement some things I’m testing or theories I’m checking out. More on that later, this is about a really nice steel bicycle frame.

Once I got a chance to ride this on some “real” offroad trails, I could start to see the “real” Blackbuck shine through. I can’t really go on without a bit of comparison here. The bike the Blackbuck replaced in my stable was an On One Inbred. I really, really liked the Inbred, but it had to go to make room for the Blackbuck. I was sure hoping the Blackbuck would be something as nice, but it’s one of those things you never know about until you’ve been deep in the throws of blasting some single track. Well, the Blackbuck is more than a worthy replacement. Yes…..it is a great single speed 29″er. Here’s why I think that……….

Many folks point to the funky rear end and ask if “that makes it ride better”. Well, I don’t know about that, but the Blackbuck is smooooth! Is it the seat stays? The smaller diameter top and down tubes? Heck…..I don’t know, it just plain feels good. That’s really all I can say. It’s a steel frame. Either you are into that, or not. The Blackbuck is one of the nicer riding ones that isn’t a custom.

I like the way it handles as well. Under power mashing climbs, it behaves itself very well. The single frame size offered just happens to jive with my body, but obviously, it may not work for you. I found the top tube rangy enough to make weight adjustments easy, but not so long that I couldn’t pin the front down in corners and steep climbs. Seated the Blackbuck doesn’t have those sharp, jarring hits, but make no mistake- it is still a hard tail. You won’t mistake it for a soft tail bike. Still, it’s a nicer ride than some.

I paired the frame up with the On One Carbon Superlight fork we’ve had on test and the longer 47mm offset works just fine with the Blackbuck. I am planning on using a Reba, the Blackbuck rigid fork, and a few others to get a handle on what different fork geometries do to the handling of a bike. Next up is the Blackbuck fork. More on that later.

The Blackbuck has an eccentric bottom bracket insert to tension the chain. Much has been written and said about EBB’s and I guess you either love or hate them. Me? Hey, they’ve been around for years on tandems, so they can’t be all that bad. The Blackbuck actually has an EBB that is a take off on an old tandem idea, the split shell. Instead of using set screws/bolts, which can deform a bottom bracket shell, or a wedge type affair, which is prone to creaking and slippage. The Blackbuck’s split shell is simple to use, and resists slippage, creaking, and won’t deform the shell. Plus, it is easy as pie to disassemble, clean, and re-grease. I found it to be a snap to use in the field and a two tooth change in gearing was no problem and all without breaking the chain to do that. I’ve used other EBB’s that wouldn’t allow that!

So far, so good. I’ll be swapping out forks now and doing more Blackbuck riding real soon. Stay Tuned!