2013 Genesis Fortitude Singlespeed

[rigidftw]

This has to be my favourite bike, in a way, as I own it the longest and I change parts on it the least.

I got it in July 2014 as an ex demo bike from a bike shop where nobody was willing to buy it. It was reasonably priced at €500,-.
It originally came with 160mm rotors, which meant the rear caliper and spokes were interfering. A change to 180mm rotors fixed this issue nicely. The rear hub was seemingly a little special and the only really decent part of the original build.

This is how it looked after the initial changes:

Next stage:
Better tyres front and rear, nicer crank and chainring, as well as stem, bars, seat clamp and brakes.

 

[rigidftw]

Then came a custom wheelset, that I ordered from a well-known german wheel builder. Purple Hope hubs, black Spank Oozy Trail 295 rims, Sapim Laser spokes allround and coloured nipples to match the bike.

The dropper post was also a big improvement. Might not look that nice, but it's been in there for about seven years.

 

[rigidftw]

In 2017 it briefly became an adventure bike for a couple of days.

 

[rigidftw]

In late 2018 I started to experiment with Shigura brakes. Those were ultimately too powerful for a rigid bike.

 

[rigidftw]

In 2019 I tried different bars and a shorter stem and changed back to a full Shimano brake setup, albeit with a Zee caliper in the front and a XT for the rear.

I then managed to find a 0° 70mm Thomson stem and put back on the Fleegle bars.

 

[rigidftw]

This is how it stayed up until last year, when I dreamed up a new brake setup. XTR 988 levers and two-piston Magura Trail SL calipers.

Works as intended. The older style Magura rotors seemingly use a different kind of steel, compared to the new ones. These brakes are much less powerful than the ones I put together before and are also much less noisy. The lack in power is partly down to the XTR levers, as these do not use the Servowave mechanism. So I am planning on changing to a four piston Magura caliper in the front.

Apart from the odd tyre and maybe that front caliper there is nothing left to change on this bike.
Pedals are HT M1 with titanium axles. I snatched them off ebay for a fraction of what these cost new. Just had to change the bearings.

 

[IJohnson]

Lovely frame-sets these. I have an adventure but I wish I had picked up a SS too when they were available.

 

[rigidftw]

Lovely frame-sets these. I have an adventure but I wish I had picked up a SS too when they were available.

Indeed. I liked the green more. But availability is and was an issue.

Best part of these framesets is the fork, though. A few years ago I emailed Genesis to try and buy a fork off them, but there were none left. The guy told me however that these forks use a 40mm offset. Which is not a lot for a 29er. Most of them used to come with 51mm offset. Which makes the steering lighter and the bike easier or for some people 'nicer' to maneuver at low speeds. Less offset makes it more stable at higher speeds, but a little harder to handle at lower speeds.

Worst part of these framesets is also the fork, because the dropouts face downwards, which means the disc brake is trying to push the front wheel out of the dropout. Hope QR's do a good job of keeping the wheel in place, though.

I wanted another fork because I had ordered a custom frame with nearly identical geometry as the Fortitude for my girlfirend. I managed to find one on ebay-uk and had it shipped to the frame builder in the Czech Republic, so that he could paint it together with the frame.

It turned out pretty nice. These photos are from 2017, so bars, stem, grips, saddle and tyres were changed in the meantime, but the rest of it is still the same and my girlfriend still likes to ride it.

Cable routing was an important point in the order

 

[rigidftw]

Took out the Genesis again in the last few days. This thing rides so well I got carried away on a rooty/rocky descent and pinch flatted the rear tyre (tubeless) on the second ride. Felt no harsh impact, though.
Luckily I had a replacement tyre available which is even a tiny bit burlier.

Also the recent rain made the dirt in the local woods tacky. This has been exceedingly rare this year.

 

[coomber]

Lovely stuff