Now that riding has commenced again around these parts, I have some updating to do on the Milwaukee Bicycle Company 29″er. I will hit up on some main points that I think about everytime I ride this white rig.

Milwaukee Bicycle Company 29

Smooth: This is the smoothest riding single speed I have yet ridden that wasn’t a soft tail. It rides so nice, you just want to keep riding and not stop. Something about those steel tubes and the stretched out chassis just flips me into cruising mode. This can’t be stressed enough. This bike’s ride is amazing.

Springy, not noodly: While the bike does flex in other directions than vertically, I don’t see a really negative effect from it. In fact, it gives in such a way that it is very predictable and comfortable to deal with. I can not fault this bike for being flexy, even though it is just a bit. I will say that if you have an aggressive, “man-handling” single speed style, this bike won’t suit you. However; if you are smooth as a rider, the Milwaukee will reward you with plush feelings along the way. Oddly enough, I never really could catch the bottom bracket doing anything funky, so the frame is stiff in that area. The front triangle exhibits a wee bit of torsional flex, but really, nothing you would notice unless you are a thrasher.

Mud clearance

Workhorse: The Milwaukee is a great training tool that could be raced too. It could be a great bike for your own personal single track adventures. It just seems to be nuetral enough that it works for several things. Lots of mud clearance, and room for big tires mean that this bike could be set up in several ways to suit lots of riders.

Downside: The Milwaukee Bicycle Company 29″er is not perfect though, and there are a few things I might not be able to live with if I were in certain situations. Tight, twisty switchbacks or technical trails may be the longish bikes undoing here. This bike has a pretty long wheel base, so more open terrain may be a better home for it. The bike is set up as a race bike, and the frame has no provisions for anything other than a couple of water bottle cages and the rear brake housing. Clean and sano, for sure, but it limits the use of the bike. I’d like to see maybe a rack mount and at least a third water bottle cage underneath the down tube.

Update: Andy from Milwaukee Bicycle Company contacted me today to tell me that, “Extra’s like downtube water bottle bosses, rack mounts, cable stops etc… can be added for minimal charge before we get it painted. In fact cable stops and hanger (Paragon provides both ss right hangers and ones with a hanger) are options in the order page.” So, it looks like you can actually turn this into something more versatile if you want it that way. Cool!
Otherwise things are great with this bike. We’re going to thrash on it for a few more weeks here, and then we are going to come back with a final review, with a breakout on a couple more of the components on the bike as well. Stay tuned!