Bikes Of 2025: Singular Cycles Buzzard

 It's another end-of-year period on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2025. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

 This bicycle hasn't been featured on this list in years. I had it torn apart and the frame was in mothballs for all this time waiting for someone to buy it. Trouble was the bike was designed during a transition period for 29"ers. 

We were just coming out of the era of "Gen I" geometry for 29"ers and the progression toward slack, low, and long geometry, which we still have today, was just beginning. Furthermore, trail bicycles were all going to through axle rear ends. The Buzzard came out with a QR rear drop out arrangement. You can kind of see where Sam Alison was caught in between changes as the Buzzard does have a bit lower bottom bracket and a bit slacker head tube angle. There was no dropper post routing, or consideration for long-travel droppers as those items were just coming on the scene, or would in a few years after the Buzzard's release. 

So, the Buzzard is an oddball. No one seems to want a bicycle like this, unless..... unless you turn it into a bike packing bike. Then a lot of the geometry makes sense. A quick release rear end is not a big deal, and with the mid-slack head tube angle, it wouldn't handle like a wheelbarrow and it would play nice with a front load. 

The use of a fat bike fork and rear specific hub made this idea unique. 

 I suddenly had a crazy idea. What if I laced up a single speed, quick release or bolt-on hub and used my old Salsa Cycles Enabler front fork for the Buzzard? The idea being if a rear derailleur failed I could swap wheels and have a single speed "bail-out" feature. 

Usually Singular has a single speed option for their models, most commonly in the form of a bottom bracket eccentric. However, this is not the case with the Buzzard. So, I got a Velo Orange eccentric bottom bracket and stuck this in the bike in case of a need to tension a chain for single speed bail-out situations. Although, I have to say I was disappointed in this product and I will likely be packing a Singulator as well just in case the eccentric doesn't work, or in case, (more than likely) I replace the Velo Orange unit. 

Anyway, the idea came together and it was a success overall. I need to square away a few details, but the bike is rideable and handles really well. The big thing here is I actually have to go on a trip. That would probably help.  

Crazy Idea: Testing Again

 Last week I posted on the Velo Orange Eccentric Bottom Bracket and let you know I had decided on switching over to 1X 10 for the drive train. In this update I wanted to share my thoughts after the latest test ride of the newest set-up.

Going without a front derailleur seems like the "smart way to go" for many of you readers, I would guess. I do not prefer it, to be honest. I will admit to being pretty overly sensitive to certain elements of a bicycle's drive train, touch points, or other nuances many people do not even consider a "real thing".  I think many read my thoughts and probably think I am making things up. Well, that simply is not the case for me, at any rate. These things are real.

So, when my chain gets pretty angled going from a single drive ring to one of the lower gears on the cassette, I can feel this. Don't ask me how, but I can shift to a gear I feel is "good" and almost 100% of the time it is the straightest from the cassette to the drive ring possible. So, 1X set ups have never really been my preference as 2X or 3X allows you to keep your chain the straightest and most efficient.

This makes me wonder if I need a lower end range if I would not be better off going smaller on the drive ring. Bigger rear cogs create more extreme chain angles in the lower gears, so sacrificing high speed combinations for the lower end makes sense while allowing me to keep the rear cassette I have now on the bike. I'll have to examine some gear ratio comparisons before I decide, but this is where I am at with the drive train at the moment.

The bearing still needs to be upgraded on the non-drive side of the bottom bracket, although it spun well enough on this test ride. I still need a proper lower cup on the head set. And I still have not found my stash of six bolt rotors. I cannot mount a single speed cog on the front wheel until I settle on what is happening with the drive train. I'm getting closer to being done, but I'm not quite there yet. 

More soon.