I have been riding a 2nd generation Singular Puffin Fatbike on test for a month from Sam at UK company Singular Cycles. With Sam`s following for his well made bikes since his Swift 29er i looked forward to riding the bike here in East Lothian. I have not compared it to all the other Fatbikes i have rode in the last 8 years but will highlight the good points -of which there are many of the 2nd generation Singular Puffin.
Getting in several rides a week for 4 weeks with the supplied 4" Fat tyres, and my own 5" tyres, and also a 29+ wheel set i rode most of my local rides and have made short films with the bike in both wheel sizes and Fat tyre widths...
With a pair of 29+ wheels the Puffin becomes `two bikes in one`, a concept i really like and with an eccentric bottom bracket which i will get to in a minute, makes it really suitable for both wheel sizes...
Built up and Surly rims on Hope hubs, Surly Cranks, 1x10 XT gears and brakes, flat carbon bars and ESI grips, i added matching orange pedals!...
Some real neat attention to detail, like the removable cable mounts if you want a clean looking single speed build, Forward facing seat post cut out for reduced dirt ingress,
The eccentric BB allows chains on single speeds to be tensioned with a simple vertical dropout, but esp useful for running 29+ wheels, as the BB height does not increase a full inch like with a regular BB Fatbike with 29+ wheels...
Good tyre clearance and still a 445mm chain stay to keep with the modern long top tube/short chain stay/short stem for trails. Dropper seat post cable routing and Bluto fork compatible..
No grout collecting areas on braces...
1x10 nice clean set up with good lower chain to tyre clearance...
Plenty of bike packing cage mounts...
A few mods then ready to go;
I ride with riser bars and Ergon grips on my bikes so swapped out to these and also a Brooks Cambium saddle. A few short rides on the 4" fat wheels and pressures set to 8psi front , 8.5psi rear and ready...
It rides light and is fun...
Some film at the woods, typical conditions many riders here in the UK will ride...
Song is `Twice` by Little Dragon...
Singular Puffin Fatbike; Local Woods from coastkid71 on Vimeo.
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29+ Puffin;
Halo Vapor 29" x 50mm 29+ wheels with tubeless Vittoria Bomboloni 29" x 3" tyres turn the bike into a 29+ bike...
And the Puffin handles perfect as a 29+ due to it`s trump card for allowing this...
100mm Eccentric BB;
The Puffin has the worlds first 100mm Eccentric bottom bracket shell and this allows the crank axle position to be adjusted up or down, rearward or forward. Standard Fatbike cranks fit the ECC.
With the cranks in the lowest position it reduces the overall ride hieght increase if using 29+ wheel sets-using 29+ wheels increase the BB height an inch or so on all other Fatbikes with a threaded or push fit 100mm BB, which does make you feel like your riding a bit on top of the bike rather than in the bike as it is with its 4" tyre fat wheels.
This setting is also of use for 5" tyres that are again a larger diameter than 4" tyres and would be an advantage on 4" tyres if riding in snow or moorland heather/long grass conditions where more BB height is an advantage to maintaining forward progress..
29+ Trail handling; Out on the trail;
Down to Tyninghame woods and i was really impressed with how this bike looks with 29+ wheels, it just looks kinda right...
And it rides very well as a 29+...
The steering is very pin point and planted, it feels very nimble on the tight trails through the woods.
Here on the Secret Trail it was in it`s element...
29+ Fatbike impressed;
Having rode a few other proper fatbikes with 29+ wheels mostly made by Surly and also Alaskan based company 9Zero7, this is so far the best handling pukka Fatbike with 29+ wheels fitted on trails that i have rode,
It`s no doubt due to Sam`s 29er trail bike knowledge with his well liked Singular Swift 29er, and the Fatbike knowledge of Singular Team Iditabike racer Adian Harding as mentioned on the Singular cycles website...
Fatbike-29+ ...
Think a proper 29+ bike but with 100mm BB-which is adjustable to suit your riding-ie fully back gives a real short 428mm chain stay, and loads of mud clearance, what some UK riders need, and this bike delivers...
And it has a big front frame triangle with it`s long top tube for a useful large frame bag, and frame and fork bottle mounts for bike packing duties...
I did a lot of riding the bike with the 29+ wheels as it is just so fun and feels so good in this role...
A short film at Tyninghame woods and some of the secret trail,
Song is `I Don`t Know` by The Beastie Boys...
Singular Gen 2 Puffin Fatbike; 29+ trail ride from coastkid71 on Vimeo.
Another film...
Song is `On Vanity!` by The charlatans...
Singular Puffin Fatbike; 29+ trail ride Pt2 from coastkid71 on Vimeo.
And a third film!
Song is `Round th Rigg` by Chris T`
Singular Puffin Fatbike; 29+ trail ride Pt3 from coastkid71 on Vimeo.
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5" tyres on 82mm rims;
I wanted to get some film riding dunes on the Singular Puffin with the 4.7/4.8 tyres fitted...
the Puffin felt good riding some rock sections east of Seacliff, the 5" tyres always give more comfort and stall less, but with the eccentric BB set half way on the shortest chain stay setting there was enough pedal clearance with little striking...
Front Tyre clearance;There is loads of fork clearance with the big floatation 4.8" Schwalbe Jumbo Jim tyre-i think any 4.8" tyre will fit on the front.
Rear Tyre clearance;
The Surly `Big Fat larry` (BFL) 4.7" tyre fits the rear with no trouble with rubbing on the insides of the chain stays when it flexes the side walls at 6 psi...
And as important the full 10 speed cassette with no cassette rings removed does not touch the the tyre in 1st gear, result!
Ideal rear 5" Fat tyre;
So unless you want to shell out £120 for a 45 Nrth 4.6 tyre, a new Surly BFL tyre at £85, or a secondhand one often available is ideal to fat up the Puffin for the soft stuff on the coast.
Handling on dunes;
The Puffin still has the eccentric BB set in the rear setting to give the shortest chain stay and with the 5" tyres fitted there was no problem of pedal strike with the 175 cranks on tussocks and ruts in the dunes.
I never dropped the seat post to roll down the dunes and felt i had enough weight back over the rear wheel and the steering was stable on the descents-seen some Fatbike`s with real scary head shake wobbles riding down the dunes here!, but the Puffin was stable and ace fun!..
A short film of a pre work dawn cycle to Peffersands dunes,
Song is `Pop Song 89` by REM...
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Summing up;
So is this a good option in what is now a saturated field of Fatbike options out there now?,
Yes it is!, i am biased to Steel bikes, and also to Fatbikes that can take 29+ wheels also-which also means 27.5+ wheels which will allow the handling to remain the same as not altering BB height.
The Puffin though you can alter the BB height to suit your wheel size/height and your preferred riding style/pedal clearance and i think that`s a real neat idea.
Being a bit of a Fatbike Luddite i was a bit sceptical about the eccentric BB as adding something complicated and possible to creak/another extra thing to fail ect.., but it has been faultless and a few friends have bikes with eccentric BBs and cannot fault them...
The Puffin is a fatbike to buy if you want a British company designed bike with good heritage and experience in the company short but growing following of fans.
It is also the Fatbike to buy if you want both + wheels for trails and fat wheels, esp if you plan to ride mostly 29+ (or 27.5+) most of the time for that tune able BB height and mud clearance for here in the UK, then couple of times a year fit the fat wheels for holidays at the beach, or come to Forth Fat and other Fatbike Gatherings...
Frame Size;
One point i would like to mention is the frame size for the medium i requested turned out smaller than my equivalent Surly frames and at 5ft 11" tall with a 33" inside leg i am at a size where i can (and do) ride a medium and a large Surly Pugsley, so i could ride a medium Puffin with a laid back seat post and a 70mm stem, an ideal size to throw about for out of the saddle riding, esp when fitted with the 29+ wheels,
Or a large frame with straight seat post and short 50mm or 60mm stem, and i would probably opt for a large and have more room to stretch out for long day rides. So if your my height think about this...
So would i buy one?, well i plan to!, but not this now with my present job and it`s uncertain future, but this frame set is the ideal platform for my affordable dream `All British build` , Some good value Halo Wheels, Middleburn cranks and Hope goodies...i got it all worked out already!...
Big bang for your bucks...
Nice review, like the options for plus tyres. Very keen on the idea of a Krampus, but would prefer to stay British - this might be it!
ReplyDeleteHmm, swaying... 😊
Enjoyed this and your fils of riding around the East Lothian coast. Owninga Singulat Peregrine and Kite I'm not surprised the Puffin gets a good review. Considering a trip with Fatbike Tours to find out for myself what this sort of riding is all about!
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