FUBars Inverted

I saw a post on the Misfit Psycles Facebook page a shot of a diSSent with inverted FUBars and thought maybe that is what is missing on the diSSent, my bars are too high.  No chance to ride Sunday morning because of the shellacking of a rain storm we got on Saturday night so what's a mountain biker to do when you I can't ride?  Bike maintenance!  So I inverted the FUBars.

Riding around the driveway, it felt good, different but good.  Now I have to get it out on the trail to see if that different is really good or not.  Of course, the next step would be to just lower on the stem.  I will wait on that one.  I have never felt like I got this bike dialed in before I started racing it.  It has great legs but I just haven't found it's sweet spot for me and my big behind.

Of course, geared I think the bike will excel and to that end all I need right now is the hanger I ordered from Misfit and a new chain.  And when that happens it looks like I may find myself without a Single Speed mountain bike to ride for the first time in five years - yikes!  Of course I do have my sights on some new frames like the Vassago Jabberwocky and the Salsa El Mariachi.

Aside from the cute marketing on Vassago's website, the Jabberwocky appeals to me as a no-nonsense, single speed, steel, 29er that is made to be ridden long and hard.  It has horizontal drops and tensioners built right in, something I wish the Qball had and is why I must have them on the next bike.  Of course a Surly Tugnut took care of all my tensioning needs on the Qball but I hate having to go after market.  The only drawback that I have read so far on the Jabberwocky is that the tenioner is not so hot with QR wheels.  No biggie, I have a bolt on 29er wheel I can use, in fact I have two wheel sets that I am not using at the moment.  I don't like to get rid of (sell) things in case I might need something in the future.

I thought that is what I was getting on the diSSent but I must of gotten the Fe mixed up with the Al frames.  Don't get me wrong, I get good tension on the diSSent, it's just harder to come by.  In the field, I use the water bottle trick and at home, hang the rear wheel from a hook.  It would be nice to just tighten something.

The Salsa El Mariachi's unique drop design makes it the ideal bike for the best of both worlds riding that I find myself doing now, ride and race as an SS and if another frame comes along, go to gears, and then as we saw with the Dillinger, sell it.  I hate selling bikes, though.  This frame, however, is probably one that I would never sell because I have always wanted a Salsa and it's the type of do it all, steel frame, that I have been looking for.  In fact, when you boil it down, both the El Mariachi and the Jabberwocky are essentially the same, just different price points.  decisions, decisions.

Of course, any steel frame with a built in tensioner will float my boat.  I have time and probably wont make a move on a new frame any time soon.