Monocog 29er winter commuter?

[flipped4bikes]

I cross posted this in the Commuting forum. Does anyone use this rig (http://www.redlinebicycles.com/adultbikes/monocog-29er.html) to commute? I love the idea that it is a singlespeed, 700c wheels, and cheap! Less than $400 for the '06 from my LBS. I want to get the 15" size, and wondering how it rides. The only drawback I can see is that the frame doesn't have eyelets for racks or fenders...

[mihlbach]

I normally commute with more road oriented bikes, but in the nastiests of conditions, I use my 26" Monocog. It works well..I usually take an alternate offroadish route when I commute with it. The 29er is basically the same bike with larger wheels and would probably work even better in snow. During the summer I use it as a mountain bike...during the winter it becomes my nasty weather commuter. It doesn't get better for the price.

The lack of fender eyelets is a drawback...but there are simple workarounds. When its raining/sleeting/snowing, I put on a pair of planetbike clipons. The fork crown of the monocog is not drilled, so mounting the front fender is a challenge. You could either drill a hole, or install a starnut into the bottom of the fork steerer tube. I opted for the latter and now I simply bolt the front fender into the fork from below. Becasue of the suspension corrected geometry, you have to run the front fender above the v-brake. Its not optimal...but once you get the star nut installed, its farily easy to set up and it works very well.