The Singular Cycles frame and fork have been flogged in various conditions from ice and snow to dust and rocks and everything in between. Now it is time for a final look at this U.K. bred drop bar specific hard tail 29″er.
The Singular Gryphon is a rigid specific, drop bar specific frame that probably seems like the answer to an unasked question to most folks. Certainly, the appeal of such a design may be limited, but that said, more folks should be looking this way for their “general purpose” 29″er needs. If you need a “utility” off roader, or if you just like having a simple, reliable hard tail/single speeder in your stable, the Gryphon delivers and is a fun bike to boot. Let’s take a closer look at the off road performance of the Gryphon.
The first thing I noticed was how “in” the bike I felt off road. The Gryphon is lower in the front than many 29″ers due to the non-suspension corrected length of the fork. Throw the eccentric bottom bracket to the lowest setting and you really feel “between the wheels”, so to speak. This enhances cornering feel in a positive way and encouraged me to rail corners at higher speeds than I might on other bikes. In fact, I over shot a couple of corners due to the high speed I was trying to enter the corner in at. Fun? You bet! The downside to all of this is that if you have rocks, ruts, or a really “U” shaped trail, you may incur a pedal strike or two. Not a deal killer for me, but in some areas of the country, the low-ish bottom bracket may be a hindrance.
The bike is a pretty good climber too, what with the shorter chain stays, (Just shy of 17 3/4s”), and drop bars, which give a better amount of leverage. I ran the bike as a single speed throughout the test, and the shorter chain stay measurement kept the rear wheel glued to the trail better than some longer stayed single speeds I have tried. The frame doesn’t yeild laterally much at all either, which makes for a solid feel while climbing.
One of the interesting things about the Gryphon is how you don’t get a lot of jarring from the front end that you might expect to get due to the short fork blades. The Gryphon seems to have some magic going on with the fork, but is it really the fork? I don’t think so. My observation has been that the front triangle on this bike is really working in conjunction with the fork to take some of the bite out of trail chatter. Make no mistake: This is a rigid forked bike and it will let you know as much if you bang into a root or a small rock, but it does have a remarkable smoothness that some other non-suspension corrected forks/bikes do not have at all.
Conclusions: The Singular Gryphon is an “odd duck” in the mountain bike world. Only Salsa Cycle’s Fargo is anything like it. (And they are similar in more ways than you might think!) A drop barred, rigid specific bike with 29″er wheels. The thing is, it is a great general purpose mountain bike, has the versatility to be run single speed or geared, and is a very capable single track machine. It has classic appeal with the panel and cream colored paint. So, if you like that sort of thing, the Singular will peg your looks meter.
The Gryphon would slot into most rider’s stables as the bike you grab for a quick spin to the store, the local single track XC loop, or for an adventure including mixed terrain- pavement, gravel, and dirt. The frame rides with a smoothness that belies its short, rigid fork blades and has a geometry that puts the rider “in between” the wheels for a more stable feel. It turns quickly, but not overly so, and should please most riders in tight, buff single track. On the right race courses it can even be a top performer.
The downsides? Well, you better like a rigid, drop bar specific bike! Beyond that, the Gryphon is a straight up, purposeful mountain bike with no extra braze ons beyond those for cable routing and water bottles. It might be difficult to overlook the lack of fender mounts or rack mounts for some folks, but here again, the look is cleaner for those riders looking for that sort of simplicity. The lower bottom bracket may be an issue for some, and the Phil Wood eccentric bottom bracket may be a deal killer. (But it shouldn’t be, I’ve had zero issues with the EBB) Of course, drop bars may not be your cup of tea, but if that is the case, you probably are not reading this.
For a decent price, (U.S. $590.00 frame and fork), you get a refined ride feel, spot on geometry for drop bars, and a purposeful, straight ahead mountain bike frame that can be run geared or single speed. It has great, classic looks, and makes no apologies for being a dedicated rigid design. The Singular Gryphon isn’t for everybody, but it is the sort of bike that will strike a chord with some riders for its peculiarities. The good news is that it rides really nicely and handles smartly. It isn’t just an exercise in being different for “different’s” sake. In this instance, “different” is a heck of a lot of fun!
That’s a wrap on this fine frame and fork. Look for a follow up in the months to come and a comparison with the Salsa Cycles Fargo.
Note: The reviewed frame and fork is being provided to Twenty Nine Inches at no charge for review. We are not being paid or bribed for this review. We will give our honest opinion or thoughts through out.
Soooo digging mine! its a fun change of pace and really does feel quite snappy!
GT, can I ask what gearing you set this up with? Was that in first impressions?
@WKilburg: I am running a 34X18T.
The Singulars are very well thought out bikes.
17 3/4 inch chain stays short? Seems average to me. Now if they would only offer a slider option and get rid of EBB’s(I hate EBB’s)!
GT, any input what it would be like using this as a cross bike? Wondering how I could run with it on the longer run-ups. Nice looking rig to be sure.
@Willie: I know there are “EBB Haters” out there, but I think it has a lot to do with the EBB you are using. I have a split shell EBB, and now this Phil Wood, that have been nothing but quiet and perfect for me.
@dewster: I think it could, but not all CX races allow disc brakes, and you might find shouldering the severely sloping top tube difficult. If you are the type that carries the bike by the bar and top tube though, it may work just fine for you.
GT – I’m curious as to how the Drop Bar set up on the Gryphon gives a rider better leverage for SS climbing than say a nice wide flat bar set up with some sweep to the flat bars?
Genuinely curious as I have my current 29er set up with wide flat FSA Gravity 777 bars that I cut a little bit so I can fit through tight tree-lined sections of trail here in CT.
Previously – the builder of this frame – had it set up with Midge bars. Hence my curiosity.
@MMcg: Think of a wheelbarrow handle arrangement. The way your body is aligned with the grip section of an offroad drop bar allows your body to more effectively apply leverage in a standing climb than it does with a traditional flat bar. This is one of the reasons why sprinters in road racing and track are in the drops when applying maximum power.
Just to elaborate on GT’s explanation – I don’t think it’s so much a matter of leverage as which muscles are being employed to do the pulling. A flat bar means that you primarily use your triceps to pull on the bars while when you are in the drops you use more of your biceps – a much larger and stronger muscle. This is really the same reasoning behind using bar-ends.
But what if the flat bars have a good amount of backsweep?
MMcG: Typically I find that bars with backsweep to the point that it starts to have a similar effect to drop bars have to have a fair amount of “forward wiggle”, (a Brant Richards term), to offset the backsweep. So, your Mary bar, and to some extent, the Carnegie’s Bar, would fit that mold. Another similar bar would be the Jones and variants. But that said, nothing gets you right in the “sweet spot” like a drop bar with some flare to the extensions. The Woodchipper and Ragley’s Luxy Bar are going to be the best at this. Then add in that you have a “two tiered” grip choice, (bar tops or drops, not to mention others), and no flat bar with any amount of sweep is as comfortable, versatile, or weird.
(Let’s face it. Being different is part of this)
That said, there is a very good reason roadies do not use flat bars. Mountain bikers could enjoy many of the same benefits, many of which a flat bar alone can not offer you.
Finally, it isn’t all roses, because as mentioned, you have serious limitations in stem choices, brakes, and shifting with the current component choices and off road drop bars.
thanks GT for another excellent review. I know you have heap-lots of experience with the Karate Monkey. How does the Gryphon compare with the KM? Would you still have bought your Monkey if Gryphon’s were around in 2002? Which do you think would handle better on tighter, twistier type trails?
@Sam & MMcG – You’re half right – but you don’t use your triceps to pull. Its strictly a pushing muscle. But I know what you mean. Its the muscle on the back of your forearm – I forget what its called. Pulling on the flat bar is like doing bicep curls holding the dumbell with your palms facing down. Pulling on the drops, on the other hand, is like doing curls holding the dumbells in a “handshake” position. Definitely more strength doing it that way.
@John B: Well, that is a very interesting question. KM or Gryphon? Well, I’ll tell you what, there has to be some “if thats” and “what ifs” to this comparison. First off, and most importantly, the KM is a flat bar bike by design, and the Gryphon is not. Also, the KM is a veritable “do-it-all” type bike, and the Gryphon, although gear-able, is really a single speed at heart. (I suppose one could say that about the KM, but there are obvious concessions to geared set ups with the Surly which are not as obvious with the Singular)
So, “if that” Gryphon were available in 2003 versus the Karate Monkey, you have to think “what if” I got both? (Because I probably would have at that time) Bearing in mind that in 2003, you couldn’t find anything that wasn’t a custom that didn’t say “Gary Fisher” on it.
But let’s leave all that behind and look at a KM versus a Gryphon as a drop bar 29″er, which is what I think you really want to hear about, no?
Gryphon wins!
How would that nice steel fork play with a “normal geometry” frame?
@Willie: The Gryphon’s fork is pretty short, (440-ishmm axle to crown, off the top of my head, I believe), so it would steepen your head angle, lower your bottom bracket, change your saddle position, and cause the handling to become quicker/less stable. Not to mention that it would bias more weight towards the front wheel without making component swaps.
So, there ya go, it isn’t as simple as it would seem. I’ve been there, done that.
(see my front end geometry series from 2008 for more details)
What brake set-up did you use on the Gryphon? Thanks
@Poledo: I used a set of Tektro RL 520 levers, Jagwire housing, and road cables pulling a set of Avid BB-7 mountain calipers over a set of Avid Clean Sweep rotors. The rotors are 185mm F/ 160m R.
Thanks GT. Good answer. Yes, maybe I was indirectly asking about dropbars in part. Plenty of people run their KMs with dropbars (including you, I think). But the KM seems like a good point of comparison because it WAS one of the first production 29ers not labelled “Gary Fisher”, it sort of set the “gold standard” for 29ers for while at least, and lots of people have them. So what I gather from your answer is that Gryphon is not necessarily a “jack-of-all-trades” like the KM and would be more fiddly to set up wtih gears (lack of cable stops? Difficult routing?), but it is much better for SS (bullet-proof Phil EBB?) and dropbars (of course). In other ways – handling, ride characteristics, “vertical compliance wtih lateral stability”, and that sort of thing – they are more or less equal. Is that about right? Well, Gryphon has a cooler hand badge and I still think that green B17 matching the DT decal is to die for.
Oh (I’m too reliant on the “edit” button in other forums), I forget to add… as much as I like British spellings of mythical animals, “Karate Monkey” is much cooler name. So I guess it all works out in the end. If only Surly actually put the Karate Monkey drawing (the one with the conical hat) on the headbadge. That would rock!
@John B: As far as how the two handle and feel, yes, they are similar with a nod to comfort to the Gryphon. You are also correct that I run the KM with drop bars and I have for several years now. Finally, I would also agree that your guess that I think the KM is a “jack of all trades” bike is spot on. Of course, it had to be back then to appeal to the skittish buying public, who in 2003, were very skeptical as far as the longevity of the “big wheeled fad”.
I wouldn’t say that the Gryphon is “fiddly” to set up geared, just not as obviously a gear compatible bike, which was intentional to keep the sleek lines of the single speed look intact. I think Sam @ Singular did a very nice job of this short of removable cable stops. Is it better for single speeding? Well, the Phil Wood EBB is dead reliable, and creak free, even after a thorough dunking in a big pot hole and several wet, snowy rides. (I had water running out of the weep holes in the stays after one excursion!) So I would say that the EBB is quite worthy, but I wouldn’t say running the Gryphon one way or the other is good or bad.
And Surly should consider your idea with regards to the monkey. I agree that it would rock!