Twin Six Standard Rando v2: Review Update

Current state of the Standard Rando v2

 Back in 2021 I posted a "One Year Review" on my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 which has proven to be one of the most consistently accessed pages on the blog here since that time. The last time I posted anything significant on this bike was in my "Bikes of 2021" review where I mentioned that I'd like to get a single speed specific hub for the bike. Then in January I got that wheel built up and a quick test ride on it was reported back in February.

All else on the bike has remained the same, so I thought that now that I have had a few short rides on the bike, that I'd update the review on this bike so far. It seems to be a popular searched item here, so why not? 

There are a couple of things about this build on this frame and fork that I wanted to point out that, I feel, make this bike work a lot better for me than it should. Then I will get into what differences the wheels make to that overall ride quality. 

The frame and fork are not what I would term a very good definition of a 'steel frame/fork ride', whatever that may mean to you. All I know is that this frame is stiff, and as a single speed platform it is perfect. The last thing I want in my single speed frame is a frame that twists up under extreme torque loading. You'll know what I mean if you are a single speed person. That leads to popping chains, breaking chains, or derailing chains, all of which are bad things. 

I maybe have gotten this frame to pop the chain a couple of times. maybe- cannot remember for sure- so you know it is solid and pretty much twist-free in that regard. But that means it is a stiff frame in terms of ride quality as well. So this is where the big tires, Redshift ShockStop stem, and PRO Dyneema Carbon Post work a trick to make the Standard Rando v2 a nicer ride. 

Having a stiff frame is key when single speeding up the rollers. (Image from the 2021 Turkey Burn Ride0

Someone reached out to me recently regarding a choice on the Standard Rando v2 of steel or carbon for the fork. Honestly, it doesn't matter in terms of ride feel. Both are stiff little buggers, just in different ways. I went carbon to see what I thought. My Standard Rando v1 had the steel fork. So, I've ridden both enough to know that the carbon is the way to go, if only for the lighter weight. It won't 'smooth out' anything, regardless of what your internet forum groupies may say. 

That's the job of the Redshift ShockStop stem. If you have not tried one, it does way more than any steel, carbon, or whatever material fork you choose could do for 'smoothing out' things. Way more. If you ride gravel roads- real gravel roads, with crushed rock- then get one and try to tell me I am wrong. I know it won't be good for 'this-or-that' terrain, I get it. But for where I ride this is indispensable. 

Add a nice, vibration damping seat post and/or saddle, big, aired down tires, and the Standard Rando v2 rides great. Really great. This is due to the geometry and how it affects handling. Twin Six did a pretty nice job here. But back to that fork question- Just get the carbon one and be done with it. 

The Paul WORD through axle hub and that Origin 8 free wheel.

So, now a WORD (ha!) or two about that Paul Components WORD hub and wheel build. Well, I went from carbon hoops to these mixed Velocity/Stan's hoops with that Paul hub. Can I tell a difference? 

If anything, yes- The back of the bike feels more stiff than it used to. Again- great for single speed. Not so great for ride quality! I think the bracing angle of the spokes is why. The compromise one has to accept with bracing angles of spokes on geared, rear hubs makes things a bit flexy. I could discern that in the back of the bike as a sharper feeling over bumps and cracks. 

Did I also lose something going with aluminum rims over carbon? No....just different, and heavier, of course, by a little bit. But that said, I can see me getting the matching Paul front hub, a pair of carbon fiber rims, and re-lacing the rear hub up again. Lighter is 'more-gooderer', or something like that, when it comes to wheels- to a degree. 

So, besides that, I am testing a Redshift Sports ShockStop Pro post in another bike that may find its way over here to this bike after a bit, and then who knows? I'll just be fine tuning beyond that point. But this bike is a real keeper and I have plans to have a lot of fun rides, challenges, and miles onboard this thing in the future. It's a great gravel bike.
 

I paid for this bike, and I was not paid, nor bribed to give this review.

Twin Six Standard Rando v2: Review Update

Current state of the Standard Rando v2

 Back in 2021 I posted a "One Year Review" on my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 which has proven to be one of the most consistently accessed pages on the blog here since that time. The last time I posted anything significant on this bike was in my "Bikes of 2021" review where I mentioned that I'd like to get a single speed specific hub for the bike. Then in January I got that wheel built up and a quick test ride on it was reported back in February.

All else on the bike has remained the same, so I thought that now that I have had a few short rides on the bike, that I'd update the review on this bike so far. It seems to be a popular searched item here, so why not? 

There are a couple of things about this build on this frame and fork that I wanted to point out that, I feel, make this bike work a lot better for me than it should. Then I will get into what differences the wheels make to that overall ride quality. 

The frame and fork are not what I would term a very good definition of a 'steel frame/fork ride', whatever that may mean to you. All I know is that this frame is stiff, and as a single speed platform it is perfect. The last thing I want in my single speed frame is a frame that twists up under extreme torque loading. You'll know what I mean if you are a single speed person. That leads to popping chains, breaking chains, or derailing chains, all of which are bad things. 

I maybe have gotten this frame to pop the chain a couple of times. maybe- cannot remember for sure- so you know it is solid and pretty much twist-free in that regard. But that means it is a stiff frame in terms of ride quality as well. So this is where the big tires, Redshift ShockStop stem, and PRO Dyneema Carbon Post work a trick to make the Standard Rando v2 a nicer ride. 

Having a stiff frame is key when single speeding up the rollers. (Image from the 2021 Turkey Burn Ride0

Someone reached out to me recently regarding a choice on the Standard Rando v2 of steel or carbon for the fork. Honestly, it doesn't matter in terms of ride feel. Both are stiff little buggers, just in different ways. I went carbon to see what I thought. My Standard Rando v1 had the steel fork. So, I've ridden both enough to know that the carbon is the way to go, if only for the lighter weight. It won't 'smooth out' anything, regardless of what your internet forum groupies may say. 

That's the job of the Redshift ShockStop stem. If you have not tried one, it does way more than any steel, carbon, or whatever material fork you choose could do for 'smoothing out' things. Way more. If you ride gravel roads- real gravel roads, with crushed rock- then get one and try to tell me I am wrong. I know it won't be good for 'this-or-that' terrain, I get it. But for where I ride this is indispensable. 

Add a nice, vibration damping seat post and/or saddle, big, aired down tires, and the Standard Rando v2 rides great. Really great. This is due to the geometry and how it affects handling. Twin Six did a pretty nice job here. But back to that fork question- Just get the carbon one and be done with it. 

The Paul WORD through axle hub and that Origin 8 free wheel.

So, now a WORD (ha!) or two about that Paul Components WORD hub and wheel build. Well, I went from carbon hoops to these mixed Velocity/Stan's hoops with that Paul hub. Can I tell a difference? 

If anything, yes- The back of the bike feels more stiff than it used to. Again- great for single speed. Not so great for ride quality! I think the bracing angle of the spokes is why. The compromise one has to accept with bracing angles of spokes on geared, rear hubs makes things a bit flexy. I could discern that in the back of the bike as a sharper feeling over bumps and cracks. 

Did I also lose something going with aluminum rims over carbon? No....just different, and heavier, of course, by a little bit. But that said, I can see me getting the matching Paul front hub, a pair of carbon fiber rims, and re-lacing the rear hub up again. Lighter is 'more-gooderer', or something like that, when it comes to wheels- to a degree. 

So, besides that, I am testing a Redshift Sports ShockStop Pro post in another bike that may find its way over here to this bike after a bit, and then who knows? I'll just be fine tuning beyond that point. But this bike is a real keeper and I have plans to have a lot of fun rides, challenges, and miles onboard this thing in the future. It's a great gravel bike.
 

I paid for this bike, and I was not paid, nor bribed to give this review.

WORD Is The Word

The Paul Components Disc WORD Hub (Image courtesy of Paul Components)

 Back when I was doing my "Bikes of 2021" posts I covered my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 and mentioned that I had pretty much arrived at what it would be for a set up. No big changes were planned at that time. 

Well, I forgot one thing....

Whenever I set a bike up single speed anymore I generally just use a geared hub, some spacers, and a cassette body compatible cog. It's easy to do and you don't have to use a special hub. However; part of the whole single speed experience is the joy and feeling one gets when using a single speed specific hub. 

Why? How could that even matter? 

Well, it has to do with wheel structure and why rear wheels are not as strong and stiff as they could be. Are geared rear wheels 'stiff enough'? Yes......and no. They work, certainly. As a structure, we've figured out how to engineer a compromise to be as good as it can be within the given boundaries. However; when running a single cog, you do not have those same boundaries. 

Look at the Paul Disc WORD hub above. It has threads on the hub shell on the right. Let's imagine that you are going to thread on an old seven speed free wheel to that interface. Now imagine how that would look. The cogs would hang out past the end cap of the axle on the right. There isn't enough room for seven cogs on that side! To make that work you'd need to move that spoke flange on the right there more toward the center of the hub. But now look at how that changes the triangulation of spokes to an imaginary rim here. Not good.....

The spokes on the left don't use the same angle as the spokes on the right to get to the rim.

Spoke angle is critical for wheel strength. Too flat an angle from the hub to the rim with too narrow a distance between hub flanges results in a weaker wheel than if you have more angularity from hub to rim and a wider spacing between the flanges. This is- partially - why we have Boost spacing on mountain bikes. 

Single speed rear hubs can take advantage of wider flange spacing, resulting in more angularity of the spokes from hub flange to the rim, which ends up giving you a stiffer, stronger wheel. Of course, the compromise there is that you only get one gear in the back! (There are always compromises to any choice regarding bicycle design) 

This hub will get laced to a Velocity Blunt SS rim.

And yes...you can feel a difference. It is better for single speeding to have a specific hub for the job. Because I know this, I wanted to get a single speed specific 12mm through axle rear hub for the Standard Rando. So, yeah......who makes those? Well, come to the source of single speed specific rear hubs (outside of track bike hubs) and you'll find out. That would be Paul Components, who have been making their Wacky One-speed Rear Device (WORD) hub since the late 1990's. They have expanded the design's range to cover disc brakes and now through axle interface hubs as well. So, I went to them for a look. 

Turns out they were out of stock in mid-2021. Big surprise! Getting anything then was a crap shoot. Still is..... Anyway, I put a rear hub on back order, (what they really have is a sort of "Item Watch", but basically the same thing) Then I completely forgot about it. Last week I got an e-mail notification. "Hey! You said you wanted one of these last Summer. Still interested? If so, get online and fill out the order and payment page," 

Those weren't their exact words, but basically- that's how that worked. So, someday in the future, I'll have that rear hub to lace up. It's going to happen...... Stay tuned. 

I'll be lacing the hub to a Velocity Blunt SS rim I already have in hand, so as soon as that hub arrives......

WORD Is The Word

The Paul Components Disc WORD Hub (Image courtesy of Paul Components)

 Back when I was doing my "Bikes of 2021" posts I covered my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 and mentioned that I had pretty much arrived at what it would be for a set up. No big changes were planned at that time. 

Well, I forgot one thing....

Whenever I set a bike up single speed anymore I generally just use a geared hub, some spacers, and a cassette body compatible cog. It's easy to do and you don't have to use a special hub. However; part of the whole single speed experience is the joy and feeling one gets when using a single speed specific hub. 

Why? How could that even matter? 

Well, it has to do with wheel structure and why rear wheels are not as strong and stiff as they could be. Are geared rear wheels 'stiff enough'? Yes......and no. They work, certainly. As a structure, we've figured out how to engineer a compromise to be as good as it can be within the given boundaries. However; when running a single cog, you do not have those same boundaries. 

Look at the Paul Disc WORD hub above. It has threads on the hub shell on the right. Let's imagine that you are going to thread on an old seven speed free wheel to that interface. Now imagine how that would look. The cogs would hang out past the end cap of the axle on the right. There isn't enough room for seven cogs on that side! To make that work you'd need to move that spoke flange on the right there more toward the center of the hub. But now look at how that changes the triangulation of spokes to an imaginary rim here. Not good.....

The spokes on the left don't use the same angle as the spokes on the right to get to the rim.

Spoke angle is critical for wheel strength. Too flat an angle from the hub to the rim with too narrow a distance between hub flanges results in a weaker wheel than if you have more angularity from hub to rim and a wider spacing between the flanges. This is- partially - why we have Boost spacing on mountain bikes. 

Single speed rear hubs can take advantage of wider flange spacing, resulting in more angularity of the spokes from hub flange to the rim, which ends up giving you a stiffer, stronger wheel. Of course, the compromise there is that you only get one gear in the back! (There are always compromises to any choice regarding bicycle design) 

This hub will get laced to a Velocity Blunt SS rim.

And yes...you can feel a difference. It is better for single speeding to have a specific hub for the job. Because I know this, I wanted to get a single speed specific 12mm through axle rear hub for the Standard Rando. So, yeah......who makes those? Well, come to the source of single speed specific rear hubs (outside of track bike hubs) and you'll find out. That would be Paul Components, who have been making their Wacky One-speed Rear Device (WORD) hub since the late 1990's. They have expanded the design's range to cover disc brakes and now through axle interface hubs as well. So, I went to them for a look. 

Turns out they were out of stock in mid-2021. Big surprise! Getting anything then was a crap shoot. Still is..... Anyway, I put a rear hub on back order, (what they really have is a sort of "Item Watch", but basically the same thing) Then I completely forgot about it. Last week I got an e-mail notification. "Hey! You said you wanted one of these last Summer. Still interested? If so, get online and fill out the order and payment page," 

Those weren't their exact words, but basically- that's how that worked. So, someday in the future, I'll have that rear hub to lace up. It's going to happen...... Stay tuned. 

I'll be lacing the hub to a Velocity Blunt SS rim I already have in hand, so as soon as that hub arrives......

Hubba

Paul WORD hub- Now with Boost

Its no secret that I like hubs, spokes, and rims for bicycles. I enjoy building my own wheels and I like riding them when I do build them up. There is just something really amazing about taking a bunch of wires, brass nuts, a hub with nice bearings, and a nice rim and making all of that in to a wheel.

So Paul Component Engineering just released news about a new version of their WORD hub. This is a hub that claims to be the very first production single speed mountain bike hub. If it wasn't, then it is close to being that. I know it has been around a long time. I bought a set of the first version of the Disc WORD for mt Karate Monkey back in 2003. Those hubs are still around although I need to re-lace them to new rims.

While I don't have a Boost spaced, single speed device around, it may happen someday. Who knows? It's good to know that a hub option exists that will work for a dedicated single speed set up. And even in polished silver! That's even sweeter.

While I am on the subject of Boost spacing, I've heard a rumor that it is coming to road bikes. Gravel road bikes, actually. It seems that a "certain component manufacturer" that doesn't have a great front derailleur design and is pushing 1X wants to introduce this so they can get you to buy a 1 X12 system for your next gravel bike. This is not all that surprising, and it will be touted as a solution for the gravel people who race in the earlier Spring events with mud and what not. But here's the thing......

DK200 2015- The infamous 3 mile mud march. Image by A Andonopoulous

Front derailleurs are not the problem. It is the rear derailleurs that stop folks from finishing these muddy, wet gravel events. The Land Run 100, the 2015 version of the DK200, Trans Iowa, and various other events have seen their fare share of rear derailleur carnage due to mud and bad conditions. Maybe a clutch style rear derailleur will be more mud resilient, but then again, maybe not.

At least it will be easier to set up a damaged bike single speed with a narrow-wide chain ring......possibly....maybe.

But why Boost? Well, it seems that many manufacturers are looking to stuff 2.1" 29"er tires into these "adventure/gravel" bikes. But you might say that many mountain bikes are using the "old" dimensions and are doing fine. You would be correct. So, again- why? Well, we are going to hear all the "stiffer, stronger. lighter" arguments, of course, but that isn't really why either. Think about it- If you already have tooling for Boost 1X12 why develop it in any other format than Boost? So, you are going to see a split in gravel/adventure. More "Cutthroat-ish" bikes with Boost and the more narrow Q factor bikes we have now with compatibility with road components. Then again- I could be all wrong about that.

In the meantime, I'm thinking those Boost WORD hubs and a nice, simple steel gravel rig, set up single speed would be the ticket. Hubba-hubba!

Hubba

Paul WORD hub- Now with Boost

Its no secret that I like hubs, spokes, and rims for bicycles. I enjoy building my own wheels and I like riding them when I do build them up. There is just something really amazing about taking a bunch of wires, brass nuts, a hub with nice bearings, and a nice rim and making all of that in to a wheel.

So Paul Component Engineering just released news about a new version of their WORD hub. This is a hub that claims to be the very first production single speed mountain bike hub. If it wasn't, then it is close to being that. I know it has been around a long time. I bought a set of the first version of the Disc WORD for mt Karate Monkey back in 2003. Those hubs are still around although I need to re-lace them to new rims.

While I don't have a Boost spaced, single speed device around, it may happen someday. Who knows? It's good to know that a hub option exists that will work for a dedicated single speed set up. And even in polished silver! That's even sweeter.

While I am on the subject of Boost spacing, I've heard a rumor that it is coming to road bikes. Gravel road bikes, actually. It seems that a "certain component manufacturer" that doesn't have a great front derailleur design and is pushing 1X wants to introduce this so they can get you to buy a 1 X12 system for your next gravel bike. This is not all that surprising, and it will be touted as a solution for the gravel people who race in the earlier Spring events with mud and what not. But here's the thing......

DK200 2015- The infamous 3 mile mud march. Image by A Andonopoulous

Front derailleurs are not the problem. It is the rear derailleurs that stop folks from finishing these muddy, wet gravel events. The Land Run 100, the 2015 version of the DK200, Trans Iowa, and various other events have seen their fare share of rear derailleur carnage due to mud and bad conditions. Maybe a clutch style rear derailleur will be more mud resilient, but then again, maybe not.

At least it will be easier to set up a damaged bike single speed with a narrow-wide chain ring......possibly....maybe.

But why Boost? Well, it seems that many manufacturers are looking to stuff 2.1" 29"er tires into these "adventure/gravel" bikes. But you might say that many mountain bikes are using the "old" dimensions and are doing fine. You would be correct. So, again- why? Well, we are going to hear all the "stiffer, stronger. lighter" arguments, of course, but that isn't really why either. Think about it- If you already have tooling for Boost 1X12 why develop it in any other format than Boost? So, you are going to see a split in gravel/adventure. More "Cutthroat-ish" bikes with Boost and the more narrow Q factor bikes we have now with compatibility with road components. Then again- I could be all wrong about that.

In the meantime, I'm thinking those Boost WORD hubs and a nice, simple steel gravel rig, set up single speed would be the ticket. Hubba-hubba!