Collection

Steel Forever

Bikes built from steel and kept far longer than intended.

Curated by Blake Cannon

Surly Krampus single-speed mountain bike leaning on a rock beside a dirt trail, with storm clouds over the foothills behind it

Steel is rarely the lightest answer, but single-speed riders are not famous for choosing the easiest answer. This collection is for the frames that outlasted every plan to replace them.

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The Big-Wheeled Benchmark

A steel 29+ hardtail that turned the lessons of my first single speed into something bigger, faster, and far more deliberate.

Salmon Surly Karate Monkey leaning against a trail sign post in a mountain meadow

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The Karate Monkey That Shares a Drivetrain

One drivetrain, two bikes, and a suspiciously convenient chain length.

A Kona Unit on a repair stand in a garage, seen from the front, with a RockShox Reba fork and a tan-wall Maxxis tire, a long brake hose looping across the handlebars, and a hand holding the end of the hose

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Brad's Kona Unit: A Single Speed in Three Evenings

My neighbor Brad bought a used Kona Unit off eBay, completely disassembled, and we built it into his first single speed in Blake's Machine Shop. A thick cog, not enough spacers, and brake hoses we still haven't cut.

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The Inbred That Started It

The cheap On-One frame and cobbled-together parts that started a single-speed habit.