With both 'cross season and winter on the horizon, the topic of drive train maintenance was percolating in my mind - or more accurately, reduction of drive train maintenance. I went down this road once before with a relatively standard commuter bike, which was ok, but the weight got to me and it rode like a brick. One thing led to another, and before I knew it a single speed 'cross frame hunt was underway - more inline with the feel of a pure race bike.I came across the 2013, carbon limited edition Raleigh Hodala, which has quite a cult following, as a nice target frame. The specs and design impressed, as did the match to our club colors. Amazingly enough, I found one in pristine condition in my size relatively promptly and spent a week or two contemplating the deal.
The Hodala (which apparently is "bottom's up" in Tiawanese - like when you're chugging beer), is belt drive compatible, and the seller was willing to include a few items to kick start the build: a belt, the front and rear cogs, cassette spacers, and a handful of other items I could either use or trade if the sizing didn't end up working.
Here are the specs for this frame:
Size 57cm MD/LG
Seat Tube Length 550mm
Standover Height 815mm
Top Tube Length 560mm
Head Tube Length 150mm
Head Angle 72
Seat Angle 73
Wheel Base 1020mm
Chain Stay Length 425mm
Fork Offset 45mm
BB Drop 55mm
BB Threaded
Rear wheel Spacing 130mm
Seatpost 31.6mm
Headset 1-1/8”
The build took a month of thinking and having pieces come together. Custom highlights include:
- customized Origin8 tensioners, which are much lighter (both sides combined is a fraction) and more subtle than the popular Surly option. After much contemplation, I simply modified them via hand file in my vise.
- After swapping out the headset bearing cap with the brake cable hanger for a standard one, the rear canti hanger needed to go as well for a consistent aesthetic. This consisted of careful Dremmel work, a J-B Weld patch, then cosmetic cover up.
Frame: Raleigh Hodala large + Enve cyclocross fork
Cockpit: Extralite stem, FSA headset, Thomson 'cross carbon bar, SRAM Red, gutted levers + TRP mini-V 8.4 brakes
Syntace P6 Hiflex post + Tune Komm Vor plus saddle
Drive train: Ultegra 6601 crank (with 130 bcd 5 bolt pattern), Stages Dura ace non drive side, Dura ace BB, Crank Brothers Eggbeater 11 pedals, 50x22 Gates belt drive, Origin8 tensioners (customized). I had a Paul and a Surly tensioner, and they're lovely - the Surly even opens beers. But as nitpick as it sounds, you can feel their weight back there. They're each about 75g, for 150g in total if you tension both sides - which I'd recommend for aggressive riding. The Origin8's total 18g for the pair, meaning the Origin8's save 1/3 of a pound back there, plus they have a much more minimalist aesthetic.
Wheels: Fairwheel bikes made FSE EVO carbon tubeless road 25mm, Carbon-Ti X-hubs 24 rear, 20 front, Sapim CX ray spokes with Schwalbe X-One, X-One Bite tires.
Fancy bits of a well contemplated build: KCNC bottle cage bolts and skewers, Arundel cage, carbon seat post clamp, Far and Near garmin mount, delrin headset spacers, Yokozuna Reaction compressionless brake cables (lovely).
The end result is quite svelte for a functional machine, and this even includes the bell!
I've been riding 50 - 22 gearing, which I've been happy with. 100rpm is about 32km/h,
