Ooops, look what I built...

Been laid out with some poxy cold for the last ten days or so. No riding. No running. A brain that feels slightly removed from reality and the start of a nasty hacking cough. Bored. Bored. Bored.

So I did what anyone in the same situation would do and converted my bastardised singlespeed hardtail into an überbastardised, singlespeed, 69er, rigid. I've ridden a 29er. For all of about five minutes. And it sort of rolled over things in a deceptively nonchalant manner, but honestly, I'm quite happy with my Ragley and the Pace and as a journalist myself, I have healthy distrust of journos and new things.

Anything new or different tends to gets a 50%+ novelty weighting because, well, journos get bored too. They like new things and shiny things. Prime example, the Whyte 46, different but not in an entirely good way. And once the lingering canon smoke of novelty had cleared, most people realised that.

Anyway, I was kind of intrigued by the idea of stuck  a 29er front on the faithful 'vento, so after a bit of thought and research, I splashed out on the 26" version of the On One carbon fork. The Soma Double Cross temporarily donated its front wheel, stuck a 2.25 Ardent on it and bolted it all back together.

And? I have no idea. It looks okay, quite neat even. But I haven't ridden it yet. Weighs an okay 21.something lbs. From the wrong angle it looks like a modern-day Penny Farthing, but then it would. Mostly though you don't even notice. So there you go. .

Frame's a custom Setavento ti copy of a first generation Marin Rocky Ridge, singlespeeded courtesy of an external eccentric bottom bracket from Canada, erm, Future Components seems to ring a bell. More worryingly, the original 26" front complete with Bontrager XR4 is now on the cross bike. Perhaps fortunately it doesn't clear the fork, but just imagine it with a 2.1 Nobby Nic fitted. Or maybe not...