Engin Cycles Custom 650B Singlespeed

By Sarah Hansing

Tester Name: Sarah Hansing
Age: 30
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 111lbs.
Inseam: 30"

Vital Stats:
Country of Origin: U.S.A.
Price: Frame, fork, stem and seatpost – $2350, complete bike as tested – $4350
Weight: 21lbs. complete with pedals
Sizes Available: Custom
Contact: www.engincycles.com

Upon first receiving the offer of an opportunity to test a hand-built, custom steel singlespeed from Engin Cycles, I practically shouted "Heck yeah, I will!" before the final words even registered in my brain, the final words being "a 650B bicycle." Drew Guldalian, a builder in Philadelphia, PA who recently won Best Off-Road at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, makes beautiful bicycles from what I had seen. For once, I felt grateful for being short. Apparently, it was not so much my reviewing prowess that landed me this opportunity, as it was the fact that I am only 5'2", a height that makes it improbable for me, and shorter riders like me, to fit on a 29"-wheeled mountain bike.

Larger than a 26", smaller than a 29", the 650B wheel is beginning to make an appearance on the mountain biking scene as a happy concession to a shorter rider: it provides similar benefits touted by the 29er group, while still providing a bike fit that is comfortable.

Before receiving the test bike, I was put into contact with Drew. He asked me to reply to a fairly extensive list of questions; some typical of a custom build (height, inseam, shoe size, arm length, hand size), and others I wasn't expecting: the dimensions of my current favorite bike, riding style, steering methodology, preferred riding position, etc. He seemed very concerned with the finer points of my current style of riding, which to me, was indicative of a good thing: he would build a bike adapted to me, not a bike to which I would have to adapt.

After a few weeks of waiting, a shiny new singlespeed arrived at my shop. The frame is a custom blend of steel tubing: Pacenti Heavy Mettle down tube, True Temper top tube, Deda seat tube and seatstays, and Columbus chainstays. Drew had spec'd it with a White Industries crank, bottom bracket, hubs and freewheel, a Chris King headset, and Stan's NoTubes rims, sporting a Pacenti Quasi-Moto tire on the rear and a Neo-Moto tire in the front. Also included were some beautiful custom, handmade pieces: stem (90mm, 0° rise), fork, and stainless steel seatpost of his own design.

The measurements Drew had ascertained to be the best for my size and riding style were:

• 71.75° head tube angle
• 45mm rake, suspension-corrected rigid fork
• 74° seat tube angle
• 22" effective top tube length
• 14" center-to-center seat tube length
• Approximately 12" high bottom bracket
• Chainstays measuring 16.34" (center of the bottom bracket to center of the rear axle)

The Engin aspired to be well-balanced and fluid; a good climber with a nice, low front end for stable handling, and a fairly aggressive ride position to accommodate my riding style. Ideally, Drew wanted to create a frame that kept the chainstays as close to a 26" bike as possible, while not making the wheelbase too much longer to compensate for the 650B wheel. In fact this bike has slightly shorter chainstays than the 16.73" ones on my 26"-wheeled singlespeed (which does not have horizontal dropouts). The Engin's sliding dropouts can accommodate a wide range of gear options, so given chainstay measurement was specific to the bike's 32x18t gear ratio.

Having eagerly assembled the bike according to Drew's instructions, I took it for a spin. Unfortunately, the seatpost he provided was too short. When I initially gave him my measurements, Drew expressed surprise at the fact that I have a 30" inseam mixed in with my 5"2 stature, and he decided to err on the side of a more common physiology. After a quick email, a longer post was on the way, but I was too eager to wait and installed a 400mm seatpost that allowed for proper leg extension. Fortunately, the standover was plentiful in spite of the larger wheel diameter, which eased my mind considerably. All the 29ers that I had thrown a leg over in the past were unquestionably in the potential-trauma zone.

The first test to be had was a 1200ft., 3-mile fire-road climb to the singletrack trailhead. Although the Engin was geared a bit easier at 32x18t than my personal singlespeeds, I found the wheel diameter let me push a little harder without slipping out on the steep, dusty, dry climb. With just about the same effort (and maybe a little less) as I exert on a 26" bike, I quickly pulled away from my 26"-wheeled riding cohorts. Further, the rigid fork made this type of climb something that I found myself enjoying, instead of counting the landmarks until it was over, like I usually do. The bike felt comfortable, and I stayed seated more than usual, not to keep the rear tire from slipping, but because I could.

The rigid fork—a beacon of efficiency on the climb—was no longer my friend as I negotiated through some rocky, bumpy downhill sections. The turning radius of a 650B-wheeled bicycle meant I had to put a foot down on every technical turn, because the accompanying wheelbase offered a bit of a different ride, and I wasn't used to it yet.

It took me over a week before I figured out how to ride the Engin, and became familiar enough with the geometry to be comfortable. The bike seemed to be made for flowing singletrack; it loved to be leaned into turns. But with only very sharp hairpin turns on 90% of my local trails, I only got to sample a little taste of just how well it could swoop. These tight turns are a challenge on a 26" wheeled bike, and they became even more difficult when trying to swing a larger wheel around the turn.

About six rides later, I found a comfortable groove on the Engin, and I had to admit: I was sort of in love with it. Although I never developed an affinity for the bike's handling on tight switchbacks, I did learn to shift my body weight accordingly so that I didn't dab. The bike was well-balanced enough that I could sort of track stand and swing around them.

When I first started riding singlespeeds, I had to relearn how to ride a bike; the same applied to riding a rigid fork. Once I had become more adept at choosing cleaner, smoother lines, I could point and shoot (most of) the gnarly sections of trail without feeling skittish: the fork Drew designed was quite supple, and coupled with the custom stem, it allowed me to come out of some fairly sketchy, loose-rocks and surprise-drops alive.

Climbing, which isn't a strong point of mine, became one of my favorite things to do on this bike; it's a lightweight, well-balanced climber, both in and out of the saddle. I actually found myself planning rides full of nasty climbs on purpose. Scary, and cool.

The custom design of the frame and fork suited me very well once we got to know each other, and the longer seatpost felt less intense on the rutted-out sections of trail. I did experience a minor issue with the stem; it clamps onto the steer tube via one 4mm stainless steel bolt. Although Drew deemed this a preventative measure against over-tightening the bolt, to me it seemed easy fodder for an overzealous do-it-yourselfer to strip out. Even as a professional mechanic armed with a torque wrench, it still made me a bit jumpy.

The Engin Custom, in all of its 650B glory, won me over with solid performance dressed in a sexy design. It's nice to know that some of the benefits of a 29er aren't completely lost to shorter riders; a 650B-wheeled bike can fill the role, providing form and function without compromising fit. Where Engin is concerned, it's quite clear that the 650B wheel is fully incorporated into the bicycle design and not simply designed around, or treated like a pesky detail. It is truly a viable, well-thought-out option for a shorter rider.