Convert Your Old Road Frame Into a Single Speed With Wood (Phil Wood)

Do you have a spare bicycle frame that you would love to turn into a single speed or fixie, but the frame does not have horizontal dropouts? Do you want to avoid running a singulator chain tensioner especially in a fixed gear setup? The innovators from San Jose, California, Phil Wood & Co., have come to the rescue. Phil Wood recently announced the upcoming release of their Square Taper Phil Centric bottom bracket to solve this problem.

The Phil Cetric’s center point of the spindle on this bottom bracket pivots closer or further away for the rear dropout where the rear wheel mounts allowing the chain to be properly tensioned. There is currently not much information released about this bottom bracket yet, but from the photos it looks as if there is about 3/8″ – 5/8″ of adjustment in the chain tension. This should be enough adjustment to allow proper tensioning of a chain in almost every frame. Continue reading Convert Your Old Road Frame Into a Single Speed With Wood (Phil Wood)

Hands On: Redline Conquest Team Cyclocross Bike

Over the years I’ve had about a half a dozen road bikes, and at least an equal number of mountain bikes. But a recent move from New York City to Michigan opened up new possibilities for me. Not only could I buy more bikes since I have a garage to fill, but there were now a far great number of options with places to ride. With the change in venues also came a change in attitude. In the past few years I’ve opted to do more road riding, and far less off-roading.

To that end I decided that my middle aged body just wasn’t up to the hard core mountain biking any longer. I’m not alone, as many of my old riding buddies have moved on as well. That said, I still like to ride through the woods and trails, especially in the fall as the colors of the leaves change. But hitting the more technical trails, riding complex single track and choosing the right line were in the past for me. I might still head out for some mountain biking, yet what I really wanted was to enjoy the road style riding but on dirt paths, fire roads and other non-technical type trails. Thus it was time to get a cyclocross bike. Continue reading Hands On: Redline Conquest Team Cyclocross Bike