Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Kona vs. Redline vs. Surly

Hey I've got the SS bug. I'm a confirmed fixie road rider but I'm wanting to build/buy a SS for off road cruising. What's yall's opinion of the Kona Unit and Redline One Cog bikes. How about that Surly 1x1 frame? I trying to figure out the best bang for the buck.

Thanks,
Dave

Kona - no direct experience, but looks to be a good bike for a good price.

Redline - Heavy. Inexpensive - complete bike for less than some frames. Mixed bag of parts: some good, some junk. Rear wheel spacing is 110mm (BMX) as opposed to 135mm (Mountain).

Surly - own one. Love it. For my type of riding, I think it handles great, better than my Ibis Mojo. Good price considering you get a frame AND fork. Decent weight.

Keep in mind that Surly is coming out with the Karate Monkey, in case you have a single-speed 29er in mind.

I have a Bianchi frame, but Surly hubs. I also have the Surly Pacer (their road bike with gears). I am completely satisfied with Surly products.

I can't speak for the others though. I have no experience with the Kona or Redline.

Also, don't forget the Bianchi S.I.S.S. - $800 complete, steel frame w/ Avid discs.

I had a Kona Kaboom(2000 - an aluminum w/ steel fork SS). What a great bike, it was incredible for the price. A complete SS ready to go with nice quality parts for cheap. The Kona Unit looks to be even nicer with the steel frame.

I think it would be hard to beat the Kona Unit for a complete ready to go SS with good value, the Bianchi is probably also comparable but I tend to really like Kona for mountain and cyclocross bikes(I have a Jake Cyclocross). But, the Bianchi also looks nice.

That said, if you want build one up it would be hard to beat the Surly. They are a great and really tough frame/fork for the price. I really like Surly products as well(I have a Crosscheck that was a SS for a while, now has gears), and that is great bike and durability is it's strong point for sure.

The Redline would be the one if you are on a stricter budget. Just has some cheaper parts and the frame may not be as refined as the others, but would get you into it for a good price. I don't have any experience with Redline, but the price sure seems right.

stick with redline, they have been making one speeds for years. just get the larger frame and bmx parts. i have been riding one speed since 1987. i know one speed

The Redline is nice, my buddy has one. My true single speed(horizontal drops, bmx hubs) is a Kona "Humu Humu Nuku Nuku Apua'a" . Don't ask me what that means, because I don't know. But it's a sweet bike. I got it for 200 from my favorite shop. They got 3 of them from abike show, and shop employees bought two of them, and this one had been there for nearly two years. Well, I had seen it every time I went into the shop for a year or so, and I had to have it. So I got my sister to buy it, because I didn't have any money.

It is all about what you want, and what you want to spend. I have a Redline Monocog and except for the crappy hubs, I love it. But since it is a 110mm rear hub, you have tons of choices of awesome BMX hubs to go with. It is very simple, a used Judy, XTR brakes and a Spot chaingring, but otherwise stock.

However, my roomate has a wicked 1x1 w/ a SID SL, tubeless wheels, and a righteous crankset. He is into racing, I am not. He wanted the nicer bike, I did not. He spent around a grand, I did not.

So I guess figure out what you want to do with it, and go from there.

Hey I've got the SS bug. I'm a confirmed fixie road rider but I'm wanting to build/buy a SS for off road cruising. What's yall's opinion of the Kona Unit and Redline One Cog bikes. How about that Surly 1x1 frame? I trying to figure out the best bang for the buck.

Thanks,
Dave
since you asked everyone for an opinion. i say get the surly. surly surly. it won't do ya wrong.
i have no idea how much your other options cost, but surly is not that expensive is it? no, its not.
i say try that one.

I have a monocog. I really like it but its a tank in terms of durability, weight, and handling. But if you want something thats affordable and can take alot of of abuse as I do its perfect. Also while it may be a bit unresponsive its really fun to ride.

Humu Humu Nuku Nuku Apua'a

is a hawaiian fish

popularized in the song "My Little Grass Shack"

I got a karate monkey set-up for single speed.48 upfront with a 16/18 thing I got from sheldon brown.it`s a double gearing for single speed so you can go for disc brake in back.I have the surly singalator to take up all chainslack.I also have a drop handle bar plus knobbies for a mind blowing year round rider.

Just thought I'd point out a couple more options that are in your (apparent) price range...

IRO Mia - A bit more than the Redline, disc brakes, and 135mm spacing.

On-One Inbred - Comparable to the Surly, comes complete, you can usually find some on ebay for circa $700 complete.

I'm guessing who ever asked this question already found their answer....it was posted 2 years ago :)

Alas, Surly will be the best frame. MonoCog is the cheapest to start out with...might end up replacing parts along the way and the Kona is a good option that's above the MonoCog.