For those interested, Rivendell may have some medium-sized single-speed frames available soon:

If these are anything like the Quickbeam, I may have difficulty constraining myself...

Sweet

I'd buy a Quickbeam in a heartbeat given the means and an opportunity.

awesome!
I'm currently twiddling my thumbs waiting for my Clem Smith Jr. to arrive.

And here I thought Grant would snub his nose at fixed gear bikes. Sounds like the folks at Blue Lug have convinced him that it's worth it. Stoked to see what they come up with!

I imagine that he finds track bikes on the street a little silly, though if his own bike is any indication, the simplicity of a nicely-designed single-speed doesn't contradict his whim:



I'm stoked to see what this new thing is as well...

But, but, but, but.....

Rivendell bikes have a bad look. And grips with tape is wrong and bad.

The dropouts (or ends or whatever they're called) on that Quickbeam bike slant upwards towards the back. This makes adjusting the chain tension annoying. I worked on Tyler (Polish made) bikes that had that misfeature. The trick is to sit on the ground behind the bike, put feet on pedals, and pull the bike back towards me while tightening the axle nuts. What advantage does this design offer?

I think for me those might be an advantage. I'm one of 'Those Guys' that works on his bikes upside-down. They might assist by making the wheel slide (and stay) rearward.

Like you though, I do wonder what the intended benefit was.

The advantage is that you don't have to adjust the rear brake block position as you move the wheel in the dropouts. Look closely and you'll see that the dropouts are perpendicular to the seat stays, same as the mounts for the brakes.

If you put the pointy end of a compass on the brake pads of a well-adjusted brake, the pencil-end should swing more-or-less through the dropout. Then one can move the wheel in the dropout and probably not have to adjust the brakes.

The bike came stock with a double up front and a 2-speed freewheel, if I recall correctly, so they figured you'd be moving the wheel a bunch.

Beautiful frame, but I decided to just keep riding my old frames. No need for the four-speed setup.

Nice try. But IMHO tape only and no grips is the best looking.

Would ride anything on this page.

Ah ha! That makes perfect sense.

OK, riddle me this Mr. Engineer. Since the chain is pulling the cog from the top during acceleration, would that dropout also help (a little) prevent the axle from sliding forward. Or would a rearward-down-sloping dropout be better?

Also, it seems like moving the axle any significant amount in such strongly angled slot would alter the head tube angle. It "seems" like it could be enough to feel it in the steering and/or stability.

I was just being a pot-stirrer.

Well, to answer your first question, it matters not at all if the axle nuts are sufficiently tight, since 100% of the load is taken by friction between the axle nuts and the dropouts. Once the axle begins to slip due to insufficient tightness, the wheel will move regardless of the precise angle of the dropouts, since they are predominantly horizontal.

As to your second question, it seems to me that the change in headtube angle would be relatively small, but frankly I'm too lazy to give it a lot of thought.

Sincerely,
The Riddler

That is interesting... The only Quickbeams I've seen have been fixed (above) or single-speed (and these are Rivendell employees'), for example:



It is neat to get an education on the history of the frame (I don't remember when it was being sold).

You are absolutely, undeniably, correct. These fools with grips and tape on literally all of their bikes should be shunned from polite society.

I was just curious if one angle would aid in "resisting" movement more than the other. Doesn't matter, just bored and curious. Raining like hell for weeks here.

Now this response is just plain unsatisfactory. I need you to whip out your compass and protractor and provide me with some hard numbers. 61 cm frame for starters. I'll wait...

One thing I don't get - track ends? Why? If they were turned around so they opened to the front (or to the front and down, a sort of "L" shape) pulling the wheel is so much easier. With a chain peg you can pull the wheel, flip it around and remount to change gear ratios is less than 2 minutes using a Pedro's Trixie and never touch the chain.

Track ends are fine on the velodrome where dirt must be checked at the door. But on the road they suck. Yet every road fix gear or single speed I see purpose built for production uses track ends.

Grant Peterson could have any bike he wanted made. Why perpetrate this bad idea?

Ben (a guy who spent big money out of his own pocket to have a true road fix gear with a proper dropouts that are a joy to use - and handles 12 to 24 teeth on the same chain and allows the tire to near hit the seattube with the 24 and still be able to pull the wheel cleanly. I rode around Crater Lake just using a 12 tooth and 23. 6 wheel flips. Easy. Clean hands.)

My bike with its custom dropout has the slot at 11 degrees, roughly half way between horizontal and perpendicular to the seatstay. (I actually used the brake position, not the seatstay.) I can run any cog between 12 and 24 teeth, keep the brake pad on the rim (cheating and using the Velocity Aero rims which are pretty deep) and the BB height doesn't suffer too much when I slide the wheel all the way back for the 12 tooth.

Andrew, I have an easy routine for mounting the rear wheel and dealing with the chain. I stand behind the bike (no way I am going to sit, what with doing this out on the road on a regular basis), wrap my left little fingers around the left chainstay, index and middle around the tire and just pull the tire back and hard against the left chainstay. Tighten the right hub nut with the wrench, handle down so it is pulling back. Straighten the wheel, tighten the left hub nut and check chain tension. I almost always have exactly the slack I want. (I never run the chain tight.)

Ben

If this this thing had a threadless steerer I'd totally SSCX it. Geo looks spot-on for it IMO.

Maybe the angled track end has something to do with tire clearance? To combat the rise in height a fatter tire would add?

1. I remember when these were first introduced in 2004! - an acquaintance got his photo in the Rivendell Reader as an early buyer, in fact I saw Grant himself riding one in 2006. The stated intent was that different axle positions wouldn't affect the braking position. I don't know how effective it is at that.

https://www.cyclofiend.com/rbw/quickbeam/index.html

2. Yeah, I think more road fixies should have horizontal forward dropouts, there aren't that many around if you're looking for new frames. Got lucky with this one - I think it was only offered one year.

Here it is - note the fourth paragraph:

Not.

This made my day... Thank you.

And good call, [MENTION=168526]TejanoTrackie[/MENTION]...